Boosting mobile BB signal

Muahahaha

Im on Vodafone mobile BB and am wondering what equipment would I need to boost the signal being received by the router at the moment. Im about 500m away from the mast which gives me a decent enough 3G connection most of the time. However streaming on weeknights when lots of people are online is patchy with buffering. Do those little satellite dishes you see on peoples chimneys boost the signal? What are they called and does it involve running a wire all the way down from chimney to plug into the router on the ground floor?

ED E

At such short range an antenna will likely do nothing. If your device is only 3G capable an upgrade might improve things.

Muahahaha

What kind of upgrade should I be looking for? Would one of these boosters/repeaters improve the signal? And what are the main brands of them that work decent

ACLFC7

Muahahaha wrote: »

What kind of upgrade should I be looking for? Would one of these boosters/repeaters improve the signal? And what are the main brands of them that work decent

I think he's suggesting upgrading to a device that supports 4G. Do you know if there is 4G in your area?

ED E

It was a lazy answer tbh.

If 3G only, upgrade to a 4G device.
Otherwise those dishes will be for an FWA provider like Nova or Imagine. Those services can be ok, can be dire. Ask a local as performance is on a per site basis.

Muahahaha

ACLFC7 wrote: »

I think he's suggesting upgrading to a device that supports 4G. Do you know if there is 4G in your area?

No defintely not any 4G in my area, only 3. What kind of device might increase my speed, as it stands Netflix generally works okay for me but recently trying to stream football has been a disaster. I've a roofer going up on my roof to do some work soon so was thinking of asking him to install one of those small satellites/antennas in the hope of getting a better signal. But theres just so much unbranded stuff on the market its hard to know what might work.

ED E

Whoever you go for will install their own equipment.

listermint

You could install an antenna on the roof linked to a good router e.g Huawei E5186

This sort of setup would be better than a dongle or stand alone router in the house.

The most optimal would be an antenna suited to 3G signal spectrum for Vodafone. Cable down to the router should be kept to a minimal run. Say 10meters or so.

Muahahaha

Thanks lister. The modem I have at the moment is supplied by Vodafone and is a Huawei B528 -5B6E. Would getting the Huawei E5186 and matching it with a good antenna be a decent upgrade on what Vodafone have supplied me. Also any recommendation on whats a good antenna to match it with?

And whats best in terms of placement of the modem. Im in a standard 3 bed semi, 2 storeys plus attic. Most of my internet usage is on the ground floor so is the best thing to do is run a 8m cable from the antenna on the chimney to the modem on the ground floor? If I were to place it in the attic or second floor instead of the ground would that slow down the sighal having to get through walls/ceilings, etc?

Keen to get this right first time as I'm been driven demented with trying to stream football on an overloaded/slow 3G network. Would also like to get some IPTV box at some stage but thats pointless if I cant get a decent signal.

AirBiscuit

Muahahaha wrote: »

Thanks lister. The modem I have at the moment is supplied by Vodafone and is a Huawei B528 -5B6E. Would getting the Huawei E5186 and matching it with a good antenna be a decent upgrade on what Vodafone have supplied me. Also any recommendation on whats a good antenna to match it with?

And whats best in terms of placement of the modem. Im in a standard 3 bed semi, 2 storeys plus attic. Most of my internet usage is on the ground floor so is the best thing to do is run a 8m cable from the antenna on the chimney to the modem on the ground floor? If I were to place it in the attic or second floor instead of the ground would that slow down the sighal having to get through walls/ceilings, etc?

It looks like the B528 has ports for an external antenna, so an omnidirectional 4G antenna might give a bit of a boost.
As for 3G only, check siteviewer.comreg.ie to see if any of the masts nearby are 4G enabled. It's unlikely that none of the masts near you are 4G capable.

ED E

Stoppit.

Muahahaha wrote: »

Im about 500m away from the mast which gives me a decent enough 3G connection most of the time. However streaming on weeknights when lots of people are online is patchy with buffering.

Reception is NOT his problem. Contention is. Improved reception will do diddly squat.

AirBiscuit

ED E wrote: »

Stoppit.

Reception is NOT his problem. Contention is. Improved reception will do diddly squat.

I'd take my chances with highly contented 4G over any 3G any day, and 3G is what was repeatedly said was being recieved. Went on what I saw.

I also know for a fact that not all masts are created equal. My own nearest mast is about 5KM away, but it's still UMTS only so isn't worth considering for internet. A better antenna will make other masts an option, high contention or not.

listermint

ED E wrote: »

Stoppit.



Reception is NOT his problem. Contention is. Improved reception will do diddly squat.

You actually don't know that .

ED E

No but its a pretty solid guess and the OP is clearly not technical so sending him down the rabbit hole of installing new kit among a bunch of unknowns is a fools errand.


Do the 4AM test. After that no way cell breathing impacts him. Looking at FWA providers is the logical choice.

Muahahaha

Just an update on this. Had another problem on Friday with the internet dropping out every 5 minutes. Rang Vodafone and they confirmed that the mast just 500m away from me is 4G enabled but that all I am getting is 3G. She did also mention that I might be in a black spot but that was just specualtion tbh.They refreshed their system and its been working okay since but I know it will drop out again at some stage.

ED E on the 4am speed test what should I be looking for to find out if the network is just too busy to get a decent speed.

ED E

Is your home a modern build or recently insulated?

The B528 is middle of the road but should normally bring up an LTE link easily in your circumstance unless you've got very good UV shielding.

Do you have a vodafone phone and do you get 4G? What about in your garden?

Muahahaha

The house isnt modern or properly insulated. My network for the phone is with Tesco Mobile who I believe use the old O2 now Three network. When indoors I get 3-4 bars, when outside about 50m away it changes to a H+ symbol which Im not sure if it means its on 3 or 4g. I think I've seen the H+ symbol a couple of times when indoors but it doesnt stay for long, it is mainly just bars. Which is why I was thinking of getting the antenna on the chimney connected to the modem, I get the feeling that the signal is okay outside the house but its having problems getting inside of it. I've a stove installer going up on the roof in the next few weeks so it would be a good time to do it.

Or would upgrading from the B258 be a better way to go?

I did a speedtest on the Voda BB last night at 2am, got 8.1mb/s download and 1.4mb upload.

AirBiscuit

Muahahaha wrote: »

The house isnt modern or properly insulated. My network for the phone is with Tesco Mobile who I believe use the old O2 now Three network. When indoors I get 3-4 bars, when outside about 50m away it changes to a H+ symbol which Im not sure if it means its on 3 or 4g. I think I've seen the H+ symbol a couple of times when indoors but it doesnt stay for long, it is mainly just bars. Which is why I was thinking of getting the antenna on the chimney connected to the modem, I get the feeling that the signal is okay outside the house but its having problems getting inside of it. I've a stove installer going up on the roof in the next few weeks so it would be a good time to do it.

Or would upgrading from the B258 be a better way to go?

I did a speedtest on the Voda BB last night at 2am, got 8.1mb/s download and 1.4mb upload.

H+ means good 3G, but still 3G nonetheless


Bars are a measurement that don't mean all too much. 1 bar on 4G might be better than multiple on H+ in terms of data throughput.

I really don't think an upgraded modem would fix the low signal, but I'd also advise against spending a whole bunch on an antenna that might not even pick up 4G at the end of the day.
It seems where you are you're dealing with chance; There's a chance it could pick up 4G adequately, a chance it could be hugely improved, a chance an antenna would be a chocolate teapot.

Muahahaha

AirBiscuit wrote: »

I really don't think an upgraded modem would fix the low signal, but I'd also advise against spending a whole bunch on an antenna that might not even pick up 4G at the end of the day.
It seems where you are you're dealing with chance; There's a chance it could pick up 4G adequately, a chance it could be hugely improved, a chance an antenna would be a chocolate teapot.

Yeah I see what you mean, an antenna on the chimney could turn out to be useless. But I think for about €80 or €100 it might be worth a punt, I have a lad going up on the chimney soon to install a stove and he said he'd rig the antenna as part of the job. I would rather spend a little bit now and at least try to get a better signal rather than pull my hair out for the next how ever many years till fibre gets installed in my area.

In the meantime though the internet has really been playing up this last few days and having been onto Vodafone tech services for the fourth time in as many weeks they've now instructed me to bring the modem back to the shop for a technical check over, it may be faulty. Will see how that goes first before making a call on what to do.