Antenna Location and Type of Antenna Recommendations for Spark Smart Modem 2

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Antenna Location and Type of Antenna Recommendations for Spark Smart Modem 2

oliversimpson1563

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#316163 21-Sep-2024 14:39

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of moving houses, however, the new house does not have as great 4G reception as my current house does.

The 4G serves as a backup internet source - with the main being Hyperfibre.

However, I am looking for a couple of pointers and recommendations from you all.

There are a couple of overlapping cell tower coverage areas. However, I am not sure which one would be best to point the antenna toward. I have attached a link with some pictures of these coverage areas with a black dot representing the house.

The house is on the end of Beechwood Road, Rothesay Bay.

On this note, I am also asking for recommendations for a specific antenna that I should use on the roof. I probably don't want to spend more than ~$300 though.

Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing more.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GEVZk5eTqJhxWTXx9

Talkiet

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#3284819 21-Sep-2024 15:39

As a backup to fibre I would suggest that you probably don't need to do anything except check that you can get a reasonable signal by putting the modem in various locations (windowsills on the sides of the house facing the towers) and testing.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

oliversimpson1563

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3284820 21-Sep-2024 15:42

Even though it is a backup, I still wish to do it nicely - especially so that it can go into the network cabinet that is installed.

Besides, the signal is generally so terrible that I fear without an antenna, it might be quicker to send a letter rather than email

Goosey

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#3284835 21-Sep-2024 17:06

One of these?
https://www.gowifi.co.nz/antennas/yagi-antennas/ant-252.html

yad need to mount it with a pole or similar…

Would work if there’s a local fibre outage but if it was more catastrophic then those nearest towers might also go on the blink too…

oliversimpson1563

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3285055 22-Sep-2024 14:08

Would you consider one of these over your one?

https://www.gowifi.co.nz/antennas/ant-228.html

Would I set this up as high on the house as I can and facing in the direction of the closest cell tower that covers my house?\

Thank you

nztim

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TEAMnetwork

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#3285063 22-Sep-2024 14:25

Goosey:

Would work if there’s a local fibre outage but if it was more catastrophic then those nearest towers might also go on the blink too…

^^^^^^ This in early August a car accident took out the fibre and LTE data to a large part of paramatta in Porirua

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

coffeebaron

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#3285274 22-Sep-2024 21:26

oliversimpson1563:

Would you consider one of these over your one?

https://www.gowifi.co.nz/antennas/ant-228.html

Would I set this up as high on the house as I can and facing in the direction of the closest cell tower that covers my house?\

Thank you

Yes that antenna will do the job nicely. I have installed many of these. The other backup option to consider is Starlink on the deprioritised plan. This would be a more diverse backup option.

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elpenguino

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#3285286 22-Sep-2024 23:06

There's a couple of further details to consider. The suggested aerial looks like a good one but bear in mind it has two aerial cables (MiMo) to go to the modem. It also has N-type female connectors. They are unlikely to connect directly to your modem, you'll need adapters and / or extension cables depending on the cable run.

And cable is very lossy at upper frequency bands so you want to keep this run as short as possible.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

oliversimpson1563

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3286541 26-Sep-2024 11:43

coffeebaron:

oliversimpson1563:

Would you consider one of these over your one?

https://www.gowifi.co.nz/antennas/ant-228.html

Would I set this up as high on the house as I can and facing in the direction of the closest cell tower that covers my house?\

Thank you

Yes that antenna will do the job nicely. I have installed many of these. The other backup option to consider is Starlink on the deprioritised plan. This would be a more diverse backup option.

I think that Starlink is the way going forward. I'll sort that over the summer.

In that case, I think I'll choose the cheaper option and buy this https://www.gowifi.co.nz/antennas/yagi-antennas/ant-252.html with one of these https://www.gowifi.co.nz/go-wireless-nz/p-76.html.

From what I see, there is only one n-type connection from the aerial. In this case must I adapt it to split it for MiMo or just plug into one of the ports on the modem?

I will then point the aerial directly at the cell tower — which has a direct line of sight from one part of the roof.

Thoughts on this?

coffeebaron

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#3286614 26-Sep-2024 13:26

If you are using one antenna, then only one cable that will plug into only one of the antenna ports. Normally there is a primary LTE port that you'd plug into for this mode - sometimes labled "main".

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