Question

External Antenna Makes Massive Difference For Me!!!

  • 6 October 2021
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Ok I decided to see what an external antenna would do and wow.

I got the kit from Waveform as it’s an ok price and reputable money back company.

So I have an n41 tower 3 miles to the SW, a B66 .5 miles to the W, and a n71 2 miles to the NW.

If I put the can in the NW window it get the B66 ok and never holds the n71 for long. If I put the can in the S window it just does not hold the n41 or the B66.

So I have been living with the can in the NW window with the B66 and 75/25 average and solid for days on end slow and steady.

I wanted the n41 tower as my test show it rock on my phone so I figured let’s see if an ext ant can do anything.

So remember can in S window cannot get the B66 to the W and also n41 is to weak. Open up can, remove 3 and 4, snap on new leads, put can back together, hook up ext ant that is just outside window aimed right at the n41 tower. Time to rock great signal and 650/110 speeds.

So not that bars matter but in the NW window B66 was 3 bars almost -100dBm with SNR of 10db so ok but not great. Now in the S window where I had nothing really of used mounting the ant just outside I have that B66 at -76dBm but SNR is 7db 4 bars speed is good. Also that n41 comes in at 4 bars and wow -81dBm with an SNR of 7db so ok. So huge improvement in signal strength and overall quality slight degradation in SNR but bigger ant picks up more of what you don't want too.

They say you will get 9db improvement I have more so I am happy. I mean the b66 improved over 24db and I am not even pointing the ant at that tower. Also if I could get the n41 it was -107db now wow that is at -81db so again same massive gain in power.

The cable they give you is huge 30ft and as thick as your pinky. If this works out for several days I think I need to order a shorter cable as this is to much in my case I need like 3-5 ft max. As you see for testing I have the cable run thru the window with duct tape holding the gap. Again I don't want to go drilling holes until I decide this is good for several days and I am keeping this setup. Plus maybe since my run is so short I can go with a thinner cable and way shorter.

Again only time will tell if this setup hold for several days solid but initial results are looking good.

 

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Still holding strong the next day things are looking good still getting 600+/100+.

T
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Seems like your lucky day is here finally. Going from 75 to 650 is incredible! Is this the biggest leap anyone has gotten with an external antenna on this or what?

A couple of them I’ve watched or read about, it hasn’t helped at all. Or when it did, it was marginal. But I think people in your situation between towers should pay attention as it might do the trick for them also.

I wish they put an external antenna jack on the gateway to make this easy. Even I would try it, although I’m very  happy with my 100 to 350 speeds, and getting over 200 most of the time. I just think you might as well have as much speed as you can get. It’s not like there’s a speed limit.

So does this antenna need an external power supply, or just hooking it up to the can the way Nater Tater did is it? I’ll have to re-watch his video now and take the antenna situation more seriously.

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Seems like your lucky day is here finally. Going from 75 to 650 is incredible! Is this the biggest leap anyone has gotten with an external antenna on this or what?

A couple of them I’ve watched or read about, it hasn’t helped at all. Or when it did, it was marginal. But I think people in your situation between towers should pay attention as it might do the trick for them also.

I wish they put an external antenna jack on the gateway to make this easy. Even I would try it, although I’m very  happy with my 100 to 350 speeds, and getting over 200 most of the time. I just think you might as well have as much speed as you can get. It’s not like there’s a speed limit.

So does this antenna need an external power supply, or just hooking it up to the can the way Nater Tater did is it? I’ll have to re-watch his video now and take the antenna situation more seriously.

Agreed I am lucky as in my situation with the location of the towers. Also the fact that this can needs both 4G and 5G to operate at high speeds from the 5G network. Since the 4 and 5G towers are not the same being in different directions that causes the issue for me.

I so far am shocked I did not expect the results I have. I mean yes I thought I had a shot at improvement but wow not this much. Real reason is before I could not hold any of the 5G towers so really I was getting only 4G service and speeds so the big jump is to 5G Ultra vs 4GLTE.

An external ant jack would be great but really so easy to hook this up takes like 10 min to take it apart and put it back together.

Lots of pre-planning mapping towers, taking speed reading, noting position of the n41 antennas, using Google maps to plot angles, finding the best angel and placement to catch the towers antenna. I tried moving the ext ant around to see if it got better and my original position was the best so planning and investigation pays off.

No power supply just hook it up to the leads and you are done. There is a guy on youtube that takes the Waveform ant apart its just looks like some big circuit boards with foil. But he says it is the design and placement inside that makes it what it is.

I think you have to have the right situation for there to be an improvement. If you already have a good signal there is not much to improve. I guess it could not hurt but may not help. Even on there site they say if your in the -90’s you many not see much improvement. For me 5G towers were over -100 and 4G tower was high -90’s so I could use the boost.

That guy Tater is a bit all over and not sure his testing is accurate. He put all the test antennas in his window or on the desk chair. That’s just not a fair test as you need to put an external ant well outside and aim it at the tower you want improvement from. So this test of all those antennas is flawed and inaccurate.

In my pre testing to see if an outside ant would improve things I held the can outside that window. While the can was just 1 foot outside that window there was a huge improvement. I cannot keep the can outside so an ext ant is the answer. If I just put this ant on the inside of the window it does not work because I do not get the 4G tower good. So once outside the window the ant has both angles SW and W to get both when inside there is a wall and roof blocking the W so that’s why not 4G inside. This proved that the only way to test an outside ant is outside.

 

T
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 Even on there site they say if your in the -90’s you many not see much improvement. For me 5G towers were over -100 and 4G tower was high -90’s so I could use the boost.

All the stuff you wrote is good for people to know. Both my signals, B2 and n41 are between -90 and -98.

I have only the one tower 5 miles away to deal with, but it surprised me with the gateway alone, it’s the same inside the window as it is outside the window, and I get no better signal on the roof, like I do with my 4G phone.

But inside my house, there is only the one window, facing the tower, where I get the best signal, and a lot of places inside the house where the speed drops really low.

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 Even on there site they say if your in the -90’s you many not see much improvement. For me 5G towers were over -100 and 4G tower was high -90’s so I could use the boost.

All the stuff you wrote is good for people to know. Both my signals, B2 and n41 are between -90 and -98.

I have only the one tower 5 miles away to deal with, but it surprised me with the gateway alone, it’s the same inside the window as it is outside the window, and I get no better signal on the roof, like I do with my 4G phone.

But inside my house, there is only the one window, facing the tower, where I get the best signal, and a lot of places inside the house where the speed drop really low.

Probably you would see improvement with the ext ant, worst case you don't and you return it for a refund.

 

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Ok things are still going well both of the tower I want are holding till now and still speeds are 600+/100+.

 

Some updates seems now that I have speed much more speed then I ever had with Comcast I am finding other issues not related to the can.

  • Speeds off my Google Wifi are not the full can speed. Main puck 200 other pucks 50. However when testing in the Google app speed is 400+/100+.
    • The network cable that runs from the can to the main puck was patched to the wall then in a patch panel in the basement then to the main puck. Replaced this cable with a single run from the can to the main puck CAT5e (had it around and it supports 1G) Now same speeds wireless from the pucks but Google app shows 500/100 so new cable improved things 100.
    • Mesh test shows pucks connected at Good (IMO this was better and with updates Google has made the connection worst so you upgrade to the new Nest) anyways decided to run cables to each puck now speeds wifi off pucks is 200 main and 97 remote pucks. So pucks are now connected to main puck via ethernet but they go through a 10/100 switch. I have ordered a new gig switch should come tomorrow. This should put the other pucks at the same as the main puck.
  • OK those crazy long 30 foot cables between the can and ext ant. Wanted much shorter and was hoping thinner so ordered a few off Amazon and installed them. They are not as low loss as the original cables but since they are only 3 feet long they are actually better. All readings on all bands have improved at least 1db with the shorter cables. So this shows that you really should only used as long of a cable as you need.

Still thinking how to get the cables from outside to inside. I really don't want to drill or modify the window itself. I was thinking drill a 1 inch hold from the side of the window to outside next to the ant. Need a hold large enough for pass those large connectors. Fill the outside with dum dum and put a plate on the inside. When I move this all is a easy patch.

 

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T
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Looking at your photo attachment, I’m assuming the can is in the window still and oriented a certain way because the 1 and 2 antennas in the gateway are operating as usual and their position/orientation still plays a role in your signal?

Because of your stupendous experience, I watched a video again showing the detailed installation. Between not wanting to do that -- my luck would be that as I was unplugging the little connector, I’d break off a pin or something -- and my average speed of 200 being great for me, so much better than the single-digit speeds of my former DSL provider, I can’t see myself removing the sim card cartridge, removing the battery -- both which you have to do to get to the area to attach the pigtails -- going through all that and risking that I might have to return the antenna because either it does nothing or my speed is only marginally better.

Before my gateway arrived four months ago, I was looking at the possibility of an external antenna, because I thought I might need one, given my distance of 5 miles to a tower.

I have an advantage over some people regarding antenna use, in that living on a few acres where I do, I could even hoist the antenna in the air, using that 30 feet of cable that comes with it, if I had to. However, my experiments with trying the gateway on the roof, and holding it up and how disappointing my speeds were there, makes me think, getting the gateway higher, or an antenna higher, would not help me, and might even make it worse, because I have medium-duty power carrier lines on that side of my property between me and the tower. They aren’t the giant power towers and lines, but they are bigger than ordinary neighborhood telephone lines. Anyway, it’s possible getting closer to the level of those wires is not going to help me.

I would recommend that anyone considering trying this, try to read (or watch videos) of the experiences of all the people who have done it that you can find, especially those in comparable situations to your own.

Bond’s situation is on the extreme end of success, but for some people who got only a few Mbps speed, and this boosted it to 35, they are pleased with that. Well, one guy whose video I watched did that, but he was using the antenna in the window instead of outside, maybe because he lived in an apartment.

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Odd I just posted a reply seen a typo so I changed the one typo and it said my post now needs to be approved by the moterators? I had typed hole and wanted hold both are not bad words.

M

Looking at your photo attachment, I’m assuming the can is in the window still and oriented a certain way because the 1 and 2 antennas in the gateway are operating as usual and their position/orientation still plays a role in your signal?

Yes sort of. Originally I wanted to use 1 and 2 since the ethernet is on the left but it was much more easy to use 3 and 4 as no further disassembly was needed. As you now see I had to install a home run to the Google puck so I put that on the right side now. Back to you question it does not seem to make a difference. No matter how I move the can nothing changes. I even wrapped the can in foil for 5 min no change in any signals so seem it is not using the internal ant at all. I assume the large outside is so powerful it overrides the inside one. I still like having it just in case who knows.

Because of your stupendous experience, I watched a video again showing the detailed installation. Between not wanting to do that -- my luck would be that as I was unplugging the little connector, I’d break off a pin or something -- and my average speed of 200 being great for me, so much better than the single-digit speeds of my former DSL provider, I can’t see myself removing the sim card cartridge, removing the battery -- both which you have to do to get to the area to attach the pigtails -- going through all that and risking that I might have to return the antenna because either it does nothing or my speed is only marginally better.

I did not have to remove the battery just 2 screws on the bottom then 4 inside, slide out, pop off and snap on the new leads put back together 10 min job. I would say if you have an n41 antenna near you it is worth it as you can get over 500 but if you have a n71 I don't think you will gain anything.

 

Before my gateway arrived four months ago, I was looking at the possibility of an external antenna, because I thought I might need one, given my distance of 5 miles to a tower.

I have an advantage over some people regarding antenna use, in that living on a few acres where I do, I could even hoist the antenna in the air, using that 30 feet of cable that comes with it, if I had to. However, my experiments with trying the gateway on the roof, and holding it up and how disappointing my speeds were there, makes me think, getting the gateway higher, or an antenna higher, would not help me, and might even make it worse, because I have medium-duty power carrier lines on that side of my property between me and the tower. They aren’t the giant power towers and lines, but they are bigger than ordinary neighborhood telephone lines. Anyway, it’s possible getting closer to the level of those wires is not going to help me.

As they note on the site that sell the ext ant height is not always best. As you see with me I gained tremendous signal power but also my SNR is worst. So going outside and ext gives you more of the signal you do want and also more of what you don't want. In my case higher would hurt me as I don't want to get that n71 tower. So where I am I point at the n41 tower, I now get the B66 since it is just to the W, and my roof blocks the closer n71 tower to the NW. So if I was higher I would have a worse SNR as the signals from the N would now compete on the antenna.

I would recommend that anyone considering trying this, try to read (or watch videos) of the experiences of all the people who have done it that you can find, especially those in comparable situations to your own.

Bond’s situation is on the extreme end of success, but for some people who got only a few Mbps speed, and this boosted it to 35, they are pleased with that. Well, one guy whose video I watched did that, but he was using the antenna in the window instead of outside, maybe because he lived in an apartment.

My case is very unique and I put a lot of research into my plan. Plotting towers and angles mapping antenna locations on towers, measurements with my cell, holding the can outside for testing. Also I think unique since the 4G tower is to the W .5 miles, the n71 is 2 miles to the NW, and the upgraded n41 is 3 miles to the SW. So in my case I need want the faster n41 but due to can logic I need to also have the B66 and I don't want the closer n71 to the NW.

So each person needs to do their own homework and see if adding an ext ant will help. The company does have a money back guarantee so there is not real $ risk.

Yes this is 007BondMI6 I tried to reply to you but for some reason it says I cannot post until moderators approve me posting no idea why as I cannot even reply to anything. There is nothing bad in my post and all I have done is try to help people keep and get their TM can working better. So no idea why my account needs to have approval. Anyways I think this is as close to my original reply as I can remember.

 

 

T
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There is nothing bad in my post and all I have done is try to help people keep and get their TM can working better.

Uh oh, I’ve been consorting with a suspected GW alterator? I didn’t do it! Don’t they know you’re with MI6? I read the terms of service about the gateway  when I got it and when it worked well by itself it was a relief. No outlaw activities for me.

On one hand, the people doing this to the gateway have the potential of being loyal customers in years to come, and just want the service to work for them, and by sharing information are just trying to help some truly desperate people, who may be crushed that they can’t get the speed they hoped for. But...it is against their rules. And this is the TMO discussion board set up by the company. You know what I mean?

I was thinking about the reason they might not have included an external ant port to begin with, and other than saving a few dollars, it might have something to do with lightning strikes damaging the gateway when connected to something that is going outside. Or, too many people getting doubly frustrated that they went to such lengths ordering an antenna, and having to return it when it didn’t work, and it just makes them madder at T mobile. 

On some equipment you buy, sometimes there’s a seal on it that if broken, the warranty is violated, but they aren’t even charging for this gateway, so you can understand why their policy is to not allow its disassembly or alteration.

In ancient times, Ma Bell used to charge for phone rental of a Bell phone, calling it an “instrument.” I had an uncle that got their new touch-tone phone and paid something like $5 more a month than a rotary dial phone would cost. When the phone plug was modular and companies started selling cheap phones that worked very well, Bell made threats that anyone caught using an “instrument” which was not one of theirs could be prosecuted. Their claim was one of these cheap phones could damage their network, which was not true at all. All it would do was cut into the profits they made from the absurd prices they used to charge for a phone. Eventually, Bell’s monopoly was broken up, and you could get any phone you wanted, and even sign up for other long distance services. 

Anyway, I think TMO is being reasonable about their policy compared to Bell, and it’s not about profits. It’s that they know that they would get customers leaving and wanted to have as many undamaged gateways as possible to recycle.

M

There is nothing bad in my post and all I have done is try to help people keep and get their TM can working better.

Uh oh, I’ve been consorting with a suspected GW alterator? I didn’t do it! Don’t they know you’re with MI6? I read the terms of service about the gateway  when I got it and when it worked well by itself it was a relief. No outlaw activities for me.

On one hand, the people doing this to the gateway have the potential of being loyal customers in years to come, and just want the service to work for them, and by sharing information are just trying to help some truly desperate people, who may be crushed that they can’t get the speed they hoped for. But...it is against their rules. And this is the TMO discussion board set up by the company. You know what I mean?

I was thinking about the reason they might not have included an external ant port to begin with, and other than saving a few dollars, it might have something to do with lightning strikes damaging the gateway when connected to something that is going outside. Or, too many people getting doubly frustrated that they went to such lengths ordering an antenna, and having to return it when it didn’t work, and it just makes them madder at T mobile. 

On some equipment you buy, sometimes there’s a seal on it that if broken, the warranty is violated, but they aren’t even charging for this gateway, so you can understand why their policy is to not allow its disassembly or alteration.

In ancient times, Ma Bell used to charge for phone rental of a Bell phone, calling it an “instrument.” I had an uncle that got their new touch-tone phone and paid something like $5 more a month than a rotary dial phone would cost. When the phone plug was modular and companies started selling cheap phones that worked very well, Bell made threats that anyone caught using an “instrument” which was not one of theirs could be prosecuted. Their claim was one of these cheap phones could damage their network, which was not true at all. All it would do was cut into the profits they made from the absurd prices they used to charge for a phone. Eventually, Bell’s monopoly was broken up, and you could get any phone you wanted, and even sign up for other long distance services. 

Anyway, I think TMO is being reasonable about their policy compared to Bell, and it’s not about profits. It’s that they know that they would get customers leaving and wanted to have as many undamaged gateways as possible to recycle.

 

Well my first brand new best I could tell gatway day one was upgraded and got stuck in a boot look I was down for 3 days, then they sent me a refurb that was clear not checked before sending as it started right up to RF failure, now we are at over a week of brand new service down and the third refurb shows up and lucky it worked. The real issue is they are getting them back but just reboxing them and not even checking them for issues. I put a note in both saying what was wrong and that it needed to be fixed before sending to someone.

Yea I guess but bottom line is my home shows as Ultra 5G and that’s just not the case really at least not with just the can. Also I was told on the phone I was close enough to have 5G as they were only sending to customers that could use the 5G at the time I signed up. So I expected 5G service can only but they did not deliver. Also there is no way unless they build a new tower that I would get 5G can only. The can in any window cannot hold the 5G it is to weak so that leaves me with ok signal from the 4G tower only. That is not the service I signed up for. So TM should be happy I am not sending the can back that I have invested weeks of time to investigation, several hundred dollars in equipment just to make it work as good as they sold me on.

I don't like or want to use Comcast it was my only options I am glad to have an option that’s why I have put so much into making it work for me.

I can sure understand the lightning angel but shoot they tell you to put it in a window of a second fl if possible so go figure. Did you see the one guy he put it on a pole and covered it with a plastic bucket now that’s desperate. I seen another guy with it in his roof vent to get a signal. At least I have done something practical and along the lines of good design.

The full price of the Gateway is like $300 if I break it I will pay for it if needed. I actually bought one off ebay should come next week. I want to have a backup unit in case of failure as it takes at the least several days for them to send a replacement. Not sure how the people are getting them to sell but I see many for sale. Heck with the money I am saving by not paying Comcast the outrageous fees I can afford to pay for the can if I break it.

There are other post about ext antennas this is not the first on here maybe the most detailed but again I was looking to help people that want to keep the service but are in a similar spot as me.

 

T
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I did see the video of the plastic bucket on a pole guy. LOL. I thought it was genius. He knew how to insulate and ground it.

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I did see the video of the plastic bucket on a pole guy. LOL. I thought it was genius. He knew how to insulate and ground it.

That bucket not sure if it will hold in a windstorm but I like his determination.

Seems I can post.

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OK I decided that I was satisfied with the setup and performance so I went perm.

I was on the fence about how to get the cables inside from outside drill a hole/cut a groove in the window frame or drill a hole in the wall. Not wanting to damage Anderson windows for the homes resale value I went with the hole in the wall as it is easy to patch. Drilled a 1 inch hole and it was just big enough to fit the cables as the ends are big and you need to get 2 of them threw the wall. Just made it with the 1 inch hole and these thinner 3 foot cables.

Used dum dum on the outside as it's easy to remove if needed. Also taped the connections as this is recommended by the antenna seller. The connectors do have a rubber seal but they say to tape as a double seal so I did.

Attached are some pics of the outside and inside setup. This is a mostly a unused room so no issue with anyone messing with the setup. Overall I am happy with the layout of the cables and the fact that all will be hidden behind the window blinds.

This has really given me a great setup I now have over 500/100 speeds, good signal, a solid connection, and the service that I originally had hoped for when signing up.

Antenna setup from Waveform $220, shorter cables from Amazon $15 each so grand total of extra parts needed $250. I could have ordered shorter cables from Waveform but those are thicker and same price and over a week for shipping so Amazon was a good option as such short cables does not matter much. Do note using the shorter cables improved all db reading by 1 so it was worth it and so much neater looking.

Hope this helps someone with their quest for TM internet.

 

 

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Nice description and pics of your setup. 
 

With the outdoor antenna, is it necessary to have the gateway near the window?

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Nice description and pics of your setup. 
 

With the outdoor antenna, is it necessary to have the gateway near the window?

No actually you can have it many feet away I just chose this because it was convenient for me. Based on my testing you can locate the can anywhere you need just run the cables to it.

J
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What were your readings before installing the antenna? download and upload speed please?

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Ok so before installing just the can best location in my home 75/25 best case. It was solid at this speed but again not what I signed up for but solid 75/25.

 

My signal was weak 2/3 bars near -100dbm so really weak and could not hold the 5G signals they would drop soon after reboot so I was stuck with 4G speeds.

Now I can hold the n41 tower so we are talking 500/100”+++ speeds solid now for 2 days.

 

 

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Just now.

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Still holding strong the next day things are looking good still getting 600+/100+.

what antenna did u use, would you be able to post a link

 

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Still holding strong the next day things are looking good still getting 600+/100+.

what antenna did u use, would you be able to post a link

 

https://www.waveform.com/products/mimo-panel-kit-for-hotspots-routers?variant=39349359476839

There are 2 types one if you have direct line of sight one if not, I used the regular one since I do not have line of sight.

 

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OK I just installed the 10/100/1000 switch so now all the Google Wifi pucks are connected at 1000 and speed at all pucks matches the speed of the main puck. Really the pucks are not that far apart and in the past I always had a great connection so no idea why recently with no changes the wifi connection between them went to good/ok dropping the mesh speed. I seen a few guys claiming that Google dumbed them down for speed so they could get ppl to upgrade to the newer version. I kinda believe this could be true as I see no reason for the reduced mesh connection. But upgrading the switch and connecting them by ethernet has solved the issue. If I am going to buy a new mesh it will be wifi 6 not 5 so Google is not getting my business anyways.

So again to summarize what I did to take advantage of my new found speed.

  • Replace the cable that runs from the can to the main Google puck as the old in walls cable was not up to par.
  • Ran ethernet to each Google puck since wireless connection would only handle 75-80.
  • Replaced house switch with gig since I needed the faster connection to the pucks.

At this point I think I am ok and if anymore is upgraded it would be to a wifi 6 mesh sys. But not sure that’s really needed as speeds all around the house are fast enough and every room has an ethernet port if you really want a full speed connection.

 

T
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Bond, a bit of good news on your outlaw status. A comment in the comment section of a recent YouTube video by Peter Carcione, another external antenna enthusiast, said they called T mobile about their position on external antennas. I’ll just quote the comment:

“I called T-Mobile. Just got off the phone with them and we had a lengthy discussion about adding an external antenna to the gateway that I have. She told me that as long as there is no damage to the device that I would be able to return or upgrade.”

From watching videos of it, be careful when getting the tabs that are attached to the bottom out, and use any trick people suggest to do it carefully. The little tabs can break as you are trying to remove the bottom. I haven’t done anything to my gateway. But in one guy’s video, he cracked a tab. Of course, the bottom of the gateway will still stay on with one cracked tab fine.

0
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Bond, a bit of good news on your outlaw status. A comment in the comment section of a recent YouTube video by Peter Carcione, another external antenna enthusiast, said they called T mobile about their position on external antennas. I’ll just quote the comment:

“I called T-Mobile. Just got off the phone with them and we had a lengthy discussion about adding an external antenna to the gateway that I have. She told me that as long as there is no damage to the device that I would be able to return or upgrade.”

From watching videos of it, be careful when getting the tabs that are attached to the bottom out, and use any trick people suggest to do it carefully. The little tabs can break as you are trying to remove the bottom. I haven’t done anything to my gateway. But in one guy’s video, he cracked a tab. Of course, the bottom of the gateway will still stay on with one cracked tab fine.

 

Well when you need an ext ant the choice for TM is let them add an ext ant or lose a customer.

I had no issues with the tabs but I have taken things apart since a young kid so maybe that’s an advantage.

Based on the amount of bad refurb units they ship out you could probably send one back half apart with big holes in it and it would get sent right back out to a new customer. I am exaggerating but probably not far off the mark.

I found a Facebook group dedicated to the can I joined that quite interesting.

 

T
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Read through several posts on the T-mobile Home Internet Facebook group you mentioned, Bond, and one stuck out for me in particular, which is pretty much the polar opposite of your experience with an external antenna. A person installed an external antenna and lost their connection completely and doesn’t know what they did wong. One person suggested their sim card might be a little out of position.

Okay, I know that’s a worst case scenario, especially if they can’t get their connection back without exchanging their gateway, but another reason I can add to the pile of reasons it is taking a risk. My main reason for not getting it is that I’m used to crawl speeds on DSL so the 200 down average I get now with TMHI is blazing.

There was one post on the Facebook group I liked especially of a guy getting speeds in the 200s and very happy to ditch his 1G speeds with Cox at $180/month. Realistically, unless you have like 5 kids all downloading games or watching different 4K TV programs, or a real need for speed because of frequent work-related uploading/downloading, the speed part alone isn’t all that important between getting 200 and getting 600.

However, I can see how an external antenna might help some people get better latency and maybe even fewer disconnections, if that is their problem, and that’s part of why I would go for it if it were a simple plug-in, although for me my latency is fine (under 50 on the ping test), jitter is usually between 3 and 5 which is very good at my distance. And after the 1609 update, my minor disconnection problem, maybe once every other day, has disappeared. Haven’t gotten a single disconnection in over three weeks since the update. And of the past disconnections, all were reconnected in the 2 minutes it took to restart.

The Facebook group is good though, because I found a lot more comments there about, for example, people with faulty gateway issues, what their problems were, and if they were resolved with a new gateway. Again though, I’ve been fortunate with my gateway, as I notice no overheating issues or other issues.

I think you are probably right about their lack of testing gateways before they recycle them. With electronics though, sometimes problems don’t surface until they’ve been on for a while. If the problem with the gateway is that it starts malfunctioning after it has been on for one hour, the person testing it would not find that issue. I don’t even know if they have the means of testing something like this without having to find problems just as a user would.

I’m sure that Nokia is doing fine on this deal but I see TMHI as entering a period of exponential growth in this service. It is revolutionary for rural users who were stuck on slow speeds, as well as people who are sick of having their fees jacked up by cable and other providers. The thing that stops it from exploding into millions of users in a month is the reliability, and the variability of people’s experiences with it.

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