Hello all. In a rural area I have around 20 MBit/s download with the supplied antennas. The connection is quite stable. In the UI, I see Bandwidth at “20 MHz / 5 MHz” and RSSI (dBm) switching between Good and Excellent. This is the table below:
Would it make sense to invest in an outdoor antenna to improve the connection speed? I should note that only 4G is available here.
Many thanks in advance!
Hi…
External antennas in rural areas are always a good option to get better LTE signal. (stability, quality and speed).
What lte moden do you use? If you don’t already have carrier aggregation it possibly would be more effective to upgrade to a cat. 6 or higher modem, e.g. rutx09. But, as already stated, a better antenna would not hurt either, also when you already have a c.a. modem.
Unfortunately, it also depends on the telco connection. A dl test with a phone could be useful.
See web page internal modem, Data transmission, Carrier aggregation: Active
Oo, silly I missed this. I’m using a RUTX50. I guess it’s already relatively strong. “Carrier aggregation” shows “Active”.
My guess is that an outdoor antenna is the way forward…
Is that something people disconnect when there is thunder?
With regards to antennas, are there any specific compatibility requirements or will it just work if the connector matches up?
It seems mostly cheap 4G antennas are sold here (no 5G available service yet).
Hi…
Check for the frequency used in your country…
LTE B1,B2,B3,B4…
Need to be suported by the antenna of your choise.
Also…
External?
dBi?
Directional antenna?
Omini directional antenna?
I understand that generally any antenna that plugs into the device should work, but the needed specs really depend more on the mobile service provider. That’s good to know.
Regarding the used bands, I see:
- Bandwidth: 20 MHz / 5 MHz
- Connected band: LTE B3 / LTE B8
I guess it’s connected to two cell towers. (I only have a single SIM card inside.)
Hi…
Device with LTE-A capability, yes… they use two band at same time.
At this moment, in your country, the device is using lte b3 and lte b8. So… The antenna, must support lte b3 and lte b8.
Try this URL…
and check all lte band used by your country…
Then… buy a antena that can use the same lte band.
This is a great page! Many thanks!! I’ll be researching this!
I would get the best 5G antenna you can afford now so that it’s 5G ready when your local 5G service goes live.
An external antenna will improve service a great deal, well it did for me. I would have a look at cellmapper.net, find yourself and using the options available work out in what direction your Mobile masts are and how far away they are. Do you have a clear line of sight or are there obstacles in the way, such as buildings, trees, hills etc etc.
Assuming your router is inside a building, i’d try to place the router in a room / place nearest / facing the masts you’re getting connected too. If you go for a directional antenna, place it somewhere on your building that directly faces the masts you’re connecting too as high as possible.
To get the best out of your RUTX50, you’ll need a 4x4 MiMO antenna.
I can highly recommend a Poynting XPOL-24: Poynting XPOL-24
