4G directional antenna advice

Something to think about is keeping the antenna cables as short as absolutely possible. You could have a super great antenna with 15m of cable perform worse than an average antenna with short cables, due to losses. I'm using a Poynting XPOL2-5G which is sort of a directional antenna, just not a "yagi" type. It does use 2 cables, which in my understanding the most performing antennas do.

Second thing is to get a modem/router with possibilities of changing bands (and preferably configure carrier aggregation). I use a Huawei B535-333. I actually got two of these (one is the earlier -232), however the newer one performs even better than the old one due to a different modem. To configure the modem I use an application called HuaCtrl (android application). It allows me to configure which bands to connect to and it also simplified installation quite a bit. Spent quite some time on the roof adjusting the antenna, using the graphs in the application to aid as where to point it.

I have 4 cell towers to choose from, only one of them gives decent speeds (and happens to be the one furthest away, about 2,5km). I'm using 700MHz band with 2600MHz as CA. Note that usually only one band (the primary) is used for upload only.

Another thing to note is that different towers usually use different frequencies. A year ago or so it was possible to look up the cell tower locations on a map, however due to physical sabotage (IIUC) the carriers removed that information from their publicly available maps.

The Poynting antenna mentioned covers the used frequencies btw + 5G frequencies. I think Dustin sells the modem+antenna as a pack these days, for a discounted price.

Links to what I'm using:
https://www.dustinhome.se/product/5011165791/xpol-2-5g-riktan...
https://www.dustinhome.se/product/5011229706/b535-tradlos-4g-...

Telia will probably have better reception in remote areas.
Search for "täckningskartor"+internet provider for your area. They are usually quite true to reality.

https://www.telia.se/privat/support/tackningskartor

@Cyberian hmm.

Use your smartphone outside with a prepay card from the two providers (Halebop and Comviq), make sure you get the right sim cards that have some amount of mobile data on them. You can buy the sim cards in different places, coffee shops, gas stations etc. If you are lucky you will get good speeds and might not need a externa antennas. Perhaps it will be good enough by placing the 4G router in a window facing the mobile mast.

You can also use your smartphone when driving around looking for the masts in the area and checking your phone to monitor your smartphone connection. Try to figure out where the masts are and what providers use them. There is no point in getting a 4G router, external antennas and doing all that work before you know how good connection is at your house. You could also get onto the roof to check, not something I would do right now as it is winter and dangerous with all the snow.

Halebop use Telias network
Comviq use Tele2 network

There are other providers that will give you more data for a better price etc. But start with the two above. If they do not work you could try Hallon (Tre network) or Vimla (Telenor network).

https://www.induo.com/s/g/mobilnat/vilka-mobiloperatorer-dela...

https://www.mobilabonnemang.se/

If this does not work you will need some sort of external 4G antenna for better reception. Perhaps something like this is good enough. You could mount it outside close to the window as I am sure you could do some handy work to get that cable inside and connect it to the 4G router.

https://www.kjell.com/se/produkter/natverk/mobilt-bredband/an...

https://www.kjell.com/se/produkter/ljud-bild/antenner-tillbeh...

I have my 4G modem/router placed in the attic. The linked antenna has 5m coaxial cable permanently attached to it. If you look at the pictures you’ll see that there are two cables. There is a version with two N-type connectors on the antenna instead of a fixed cable. It’s quite a lot cheaper as well, but you’ll need to buy your own high quality cables. Again, I would strongly recommend avoiding anything longer than 5m for antenna cables.

If possible, mount the modem/router as close as possible to the antenna and then run longer network cables.

I don’t know if it’s the best one tbh, but I’m happy with the performance and it works fine for me It’s pretty neat and easy to install.

It doesn't seem to support external antennas.

https://www.prisjakt.nu/produkt.php?p=5741379#properties

My suggestion is to look at a MikroTik solution. https://www.routerboard.se/5glte3g/68-sxt-lte6-kit.html]This[/url] will work good for Your need. Add a Cat 6 network cable for outdoor use and a mid price router.

The basic criteria is as low attenuation as possible per meter. Signals will degrade within the coax cable, usually refered to as signal loss in the cable, measures in dB (just as sound). 3dB loss is basically cutting the signal quality in half. The actuall loss is usually frequency dependent, meaning that the loss differs. Could be like from 0,25dB/m for 900MHz to 0,7dB/m for a couple GHz signal. You see then that using a long antenna cable will degrade your signal a lot, hence why it’s super important to keep them short.

Here’s the antenna with two N-type connectors: https://www.dustin.se/product/5011291035/xpol-2-5g-riktantenn...

Note that the modem takes SMA if I remember correctly, so you’ll need a cable with that in one end and N-type in the other. It’s possible that Poynting sells suiting cables, I’ll leave that for you to check (EDIT: The XPOL-2-5G antenna with fixed cables have 2xSMA male connectors on it and it plugs directly in to the modem/router, so that ’s what you need on one end.)

My recommendation for the Huawei modem (/router) is based solely on the fact that it’s the only one that I know of where its possible to configure frequencies/bands (then it’s a bonus it works reliably and good, from personal experience). If someone else knows of another modem/router where that is possible, I would also very much like to know.

@Cyberian there are no issues placing a 4G router (or any router) outside in a cold attic, even during winter. The most important part is that the weather and rain can not get to the device. You will need a 230v outlet for the AC-adapter. This is how I use a mounted AP with two antennas. One is a regular one and the other is connected to a outside 2.4Ghz antenna, the cable is 3m long with a RP-SMA connector to a N-connector. It is possible to connect a outdoor AP directly to the antenna but then i would loose most of the signal inside the house, I wanted a mix of both even if I loose out on some signal strength for the WiFi.

In short, it is best to keep the 4G antenna, cable, 4G router etc as close together a possible. You can always fix the LAN or WiFi side with different tools and gadgets if you need better coverage etc.

Merry Christmas