Question

External Antenna Makes Massive Difference For Me!!!

  • 6 October 2021
  • 35 replies
  • 16178 views
0
Userlevel 5
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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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35 replies

E
Userlevel 2

I saw speeds of 23-25mbps down before installing an external. After install I consistently get speeds of 425-450mbps down during peak use times and 550-600mbps down in the overnight hours. Its probably the best piece of gear that provided the greatest improvements that I have ever bought. 

S
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Anyone install one of these panels inside? I get 3 out of 5 bars where I want to place it and 4 of 5 for LTE and get 350-450Mbps regularly, but if I go outside or move to improve, I get 450-500 regularly and sometimes see 750+. Wondering if I kept it where it should be and just mounted and used one of these antennas inside on the wall if it would make a big enough difference, being a higher gain antenna than whats in the unit. 
For reference, I am around .5-.75 miles from the tower. Just prefer not to have to pull the wire up the attic and outside, mostly because I have like R80 blown in insulation now which will be a pain to find and get a wire up and out now. 

0
Userlevel 5
Badge +5

Anyone install one of these panels inside? I get 3 out of 5 bars where I want to place it and 4 of 5 for LTE and get 350-450Mbps regularly, but if I go outside or move to improve, I get 450-500 regularly and sometimes see 750+. Wondering if I kept it where it should be and just mounted and used one of these antennas inside on the wall if it would make a big enough difference, being a higher gain antenna than whats in the unit. 
For reference, I am around .5-.75 miles from the tower. Just prefer not to have to pull the wire up the attic and outside, mostly because I have like R80 blown in insulation now which will be a pain to find and get a wire up and out now. 

I think if you are satisfied with it inside and you have good signal don't sweat it keep it inside.

S
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Anyone install one of these panels inside? I get 3 out of 5 bars where I want to place it and 4 of 5 for LTE and get 350-450Mbps regularly, but if I go outside or move to improve, I get 450-500 regularly and sometimes see 750+. Wondering if I kept it where it should be and just mounted and used one of these antennas inside on the wall if it would make a big enough difference, being a higher gain antenna than whats in the unit. 
For reference, I am around .5-.75 miles from the tower. Just prefer not to have to pull the wire up the attic and outside, mostly because I have like R80 blown in insulation now which will be a pain to find and get a wire up and out now. 

I think if you are satisfied with it inside and you have good signal don't sweat it keep it inside.

Well, I guess that’s it. Going from $97 a month to $50 a month and having about the same speed I was paying with Spectrum, its savings but with close to same service. So would just have the thought in the back of my mind that hey, if I do an antenna, may be able to keep it inside too and then get another 100+Mbps. I work from home full time (prior to COVID as well) so reliability and latency is key for me due to voip calls, video calls, etc. yet having kids in the house and streaming 4K content and such while I am working. 

B

Anyone ever tried all 4 antenna ports for external antenna or antennas and which antenna you used. Speed difference would be useful too.

M
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When asked they told me an external antenna would not help me. I get between 4mbps and 30mbps with constant lost signals every evening. The only thing more disappointing was Centurylinks 1mbps to 3 mbps. Elon Musk rescue me.

N

Does the antenna improve video quality also?

B

When I used a panel antenna from a XPOL-2-5G Poynting Antenna I went from 60 down to 270 down. 426 down once. If your getting under 100 down and can get n41 then you can get faster speed with external antenna. My question is has anyone used 2 external antennas for better signal and faster speeds?

B

I tried using all 4 antenna ports with using 2 panel antenna spaced 5 ft apart and it helped. Not worth the money to me unless you want the fastest speeds possible. After adding the other panel antenna now averaging 290 Up and 20 down.

 

B

 I used:

https://store.nwtowers.com/products/poynting-xpol-2-5g-us-antenna-a-xpol-0002-v3-11

 

Or:

https://smile.amazon.com/Bolton-Technical-Directional-X-Polarised-Connector/dp/B08SFP9XMZ/ref=sr_1_11?crid=37JTM2FCBQRAI&keywords=bolton+technical+long+range+antenna&qid=1643567874&sprefix=bolton%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-11

Have to get n41 & n71

3.01 Miles from 5G newly updated T-Mobile tower. Some trees but not dense.

Cylinder mounted outdoors and only using one set of antenna ports for above antenna.

Sometimes speeds are into the 400 Up range but normally 250 Down 10-20 Up. Before antenna

half of the above speed.

I am very Happy with External Antenna Route. Use this video to add pigtails:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXSpbP8NuWw&t=773s

 

Or

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiO-xqFbVho&t=7s

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