4G RBI upgrade from 1 antenna to 2

Forums › New Zealand Mobile and Wireless › 4G RBI upgrade from 1 antenna to 2 - great results

ablears

13 posts

Geek

#233295 9-Apr-2018 13:38

I have 4G RBI through Ultimate Broadband. I'm about 20km from Kaitaia 4G tower and decided to add another external antenna as performance has been kinda sketchy and would occasionally drop back to 3G or 4G with Rsrp around -105dBm.

Speedtest with 1 antenna. PING 62ms, DOWNLOAD 41.23Mbps, UPLOAD 8.06Mbps.

Speedtest with 2 antennas. PING 59ms, DOWNLOAD 94.47Mbps, UPLOAD 24.78Mbps.

Tests taken a few minutes apart.

Check this old post out for the details of why using 2 antennas is best for 4G. https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=40&topicid=191699

Now if only I could do something about these accursed data caps!

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Awrrr
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#1992001 9-Apr-2018 13:45

I sure wish I could do that. I also have two antennas but my speeds only seem to get worse. Right now my RSRP is -106 and speed test is 24 Mbps down, which is exceptionally good compared to recent results. What is the traffic like in Kaitaia? Do you ever have congestion issues?

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

hio77

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#1992003 9-Apr-2018 13:46

Right there is MIMO showing it's true colours :)

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Rikkitic

Awrrr
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#1992007 9-Apr-2018 13:53

I feel like everyone in the world can fly except me. Why oh why was I born without wings?

(As an aside @coffeebaron is kindly helping me test the modem. I hope this will provide some clarity.)

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

ablears

13 posts

Geek

#1992014 9-Apr-2018 14:02

Rikkitic:

I sure wish I could do that. I also have two antennas but my speeds only seem to get worse. Right now my RSRP is -106 and speed test is 24 Mbps down, which is exceptionally good compared to recent results. What is the traffic like in Kaitaia? Do you ever have congestion issues?

Yeah, congestion is awful on weekend evenings. I normally do online gaming but can't at those times as I'm lucky to get >2Mbps upload and my ping goes to over 250ms to Valve servers. I was thinking of swapping to Spark as theoretically there should be less congestion, but I need the extra 50GB offpeak I get on my Ultimate Broadband legacy package (they don't offer it to new customers). I'll see how it goes this weekend but I'm not expecting miracles if the degraded service is because of high usage at the tower. Still, a win is a win.

coffeebaron

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#1992075 9-Apr-2018 15:03

It should make "some" difference during the peak; i.e. it effectively gives you the potential to grab a bigger share of the available capacity.

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colinuu

246 posts

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#2004303 28-Apr-2018 21:38

@ablears:

Very interesting to hear of your results! What are your impressions now, a week or two on?

I too have been contemplating this for some time, but I fear the congestion issue will swamp any advantage gained. With Rsrp -95dBm I get d/l better than 50 Mbps at quiet times, but this can drop to below 10 Mbps in the evenings. I am concerned about how it will hold up for RWC, wih multiple users all streaming video at the same time...

Can someone please explain the significance of Rsrq? It jumps around a bit, mainly between -12 and -3 dB. Which direction is better?

ablears

13 posts

Geek

#2004402 29-Apr-2018 09:32

I can play online games in the evenings again, so that's good. Still can't get over 15Mbps down during any evening, but can hit 100Mbps+ on speedtest.net during work hours in the week.

I'm really struggling with the setup though. The router works fine for a few hours (connected to both antenna) then performance drops as if it's only connected to one antenna. I have to reboot the router to get full speed again.

Stats after a reboot:

Rsrq:-3dB
Rsrp:-95dBm
Rssi:-73dBm
PCI:200
Upload Frequency:1770MHZ
Band:3

Give it a few hours though:

Rsrq:-3dB
Rsrp:-102dBm
Rssi:-81dBm
PCI:200
Upload Frequency:2562.5MHZ
Band:7

I asked Go Wireless about the setup, they said "Its better to have them as far away as possible from each other, both on 45 degree angles". I also asked Ultimate, and they said to mount them on the same pole. So I will have to experiment with the placement.

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pillmonsta

73 posts

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#2004660 29-Apr-2018 18:50

ablears:

I have 4G RBI through Ultimate Broadband. I'm about 20km from Kaitaia 4G tower and decided to add another external antenna as performance has been kinda sketchy and would occasionally drop back to 3G or 4G with Rsrp around -105dBm.

Speedtest with 1 antenna. PING 62ms, DOWNLOAD 41.23Mbps, UPLOAD 8.06Mbps.

Speedtest with 2 antennas. PING 59ms, DOWNLOAD 94.47Mbps, UPLOAD 24.78Mbps.

Tests taken a few minutes apart.

Check this old post out for the details of why using 2 antennas is best for 4G. https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=40&topicid=191699

Now if only I could do something about these accursed data caps!

20km in which direction?

hio77

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#2004667 29-Apr-2018 18:58

Try adjusting the angle yep.

Also might be worth trailing setting modem to only attennas mode.
Just make sure you never use it without antennas while in that config as it can fry the radio.

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pillmonsta

73 posts

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#2004668 29-Apr-2018 18:59

That's a 3G LTE antenna which doesn't meet 4G wireless broadband requirements.

hio77

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#2004669 29-Apr-2018 19:01

Oh derp. I didnt notice. Your switching from band 3 to band 7.

Are you sure your 20km away?!

#include <std_disclaimer>

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pillmonsta

73 posts

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#2004707 29-Apr-2018 20:43

hio77: Try adjusting the angle yep.

Also might be worth trailing setting modem to only attennas mode.
Just make sure you never use it without antennas while in that config as it can fry the radio.

Something def not right with this picture.... Can you see what I'm referring to? Or anything which smells like false advertising? Maybe it's my imagination.....:D

hio77

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#2004727 29-Apr-2018 20:58

pillmonsta:

hio77: Try adjusting the angle yep.

Also might be worth trailing setting modem to only attennas mode.
Just make sure you never use it without antennas while in that config as it can fry the radio.

Something def not right with this picture.... Can you see what I'm referring to? Or anything which smells like false advertising? Maybe it's my imagination.....:D

It's just wideband...

regardless OP's issue looks to be switching to a signal that wont travel 20KM well at all.

There are firmwares that can assist with this sort of issue for the B315s but it seems like an ideal usecase for the b618s tbh.

a shame that isn't possible in this instance ;)

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

pillmonsta

73 posts

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Inactive user

#2004742 29-Apr-2018 21:33

hio77:

pillmonsta:

hio77: Try adjusting the angle yep.

Also might be worth trailing setting modem to only attennas mode.
Just make sure you never use it without antennas while in that config as it can fry the radio.

Something def not right with this picture.... Can you see what I'm referring to? Or anything which smells like false advertising? Maybe it's my imagination.....:D

It's just wideband...

regardless OP's issue looks to be switching to a signal that wont travel 20KM well at all.

There are firmwares that can assist with this sort of issue for the B315s but it seems like an ideal usecase for the b618s tbh.

a shame that isn't possible in this instance ;)

Where is OP located specifically, maybe find another tower closer to him? ;) If north anyway... or poss VDSL?.patchy Who do GoWireless use for WBB?

Btw on a side note how would one go about a DSLAM port scan? ....I'm kidding :D But is it possible to verify if spare ISP ports are available, remotely?

pillmonsta

73 posts

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Inactive user

#2004762 29-Apr-2018 22:14

Found this...Interference pdf

Maybe it's nothing.. but if the antenna doesn't support 700mhz LTE maybe it's something after all. Is the celltower line of site? If not an omni directional or one with more power might be better...

Idk just bored ramblings lol later

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