Alternative 5G Router/Aerial...

[robtheplod]

Hi All

 

I'm interested to get views on this device which is coming out shortly. I work extensively with Unifi as part of my job (WiFi/CCTV in businesses) and this has caught my eye for a job I'm looking at, but it may also be a good option on a boat. I know it requires a Unifi Gateway and PoE to work (both inexpensive), but its interesting as it contains the modem/sim in the aerial, so no issues with signal loss/cable length etc. Unifi is excellent quality and the price doesn't look toooooo outrageous!

 

The spec isn't too clear on MIMO though but it does say 6 aerials so not sure if that is as good as 4x4 MIMO?

 

UniFi 5G Max Outdoor - Ubiquiti Store United Kingdom

 

really interested in thoughts, especially Ian as always!!

 

This is a review.....  if not interested please dont watch...  

 

 

Edited January 23 by robtheplod

[Tonka]

21 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

Hi All

 

I'm interested to get views on this device which is coming out shortly. I work extensively with Unifi as part of my job (WiFi/CCTV in businesses) and this has caught my eye for a job I'm looking at, but it may also be a good option on a boat. I know it requires a Unifi Gateway and PoE to work (both inexpensive), but its interesting as it contains the modem/sim in the aerial, so no issues with signal loss/cable length etc. Unifi is excellent quality and the price doesn't look toooooo outrageous!

 

The spec isn't too clear on MIMO though but it does say 6 aerials so not sure if that is as good as 4x4 MIMO?

 

UniFi 5G Max Outdoor - Ubiquiti Store United Kingdom

 

really interested in thoughts, especially Ian as always!!

 

This is a review.....  if not interested please dont watch...  

 

 

You have too much money obviously 

£315 for a non essential item, you must be joking

[GUMPY]

Interesting 

A downside is you need to know where to point it, easy enough for some but not all.

Also not sure how clear of the roof it would need to be.

2 minutes ago, Tonka said:

You have too much money obviously 

£315 for a non essential item, you must be joking

Plus VAT and the cost of a hub £99.

[IanD]

Unidirectional isn't ideal for a boat, every time you moor you need to rotate it to face the nearest mast. There are plenty of other outdoor access points (CPE) available (with internal router) which don't need the gateway, see here (which includes the one you posted), but most are also directional:

 

https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/store/5g-routers/?t=218&sort=5&page=1

 

There are also (omni) antennas with space for an internal router like this -- but it's also very tall, and gain is several db lower than the best roof-mount antenna which cancels out cable loss saving:

 

https://3grouterstore.co.uk/product/teltonika-pr1ica70-outdoor-lte-5g-wi-fi-gps-antenna-for-rutx50-and-rutm50/

 

26 minutes ago, Tonka said:

You have too much money obviously 

£315 for a non essential item, you must be joking

For you, yes. For others who actually need Internet access (e.g for WFH), no... 😉 

 

(remember, it's not all about you... 😉

[robtheplod]

7 minutes ago, IanD said:

Unidirectional isn't ideal for a boat, every time you moor you need to rotate it to face the nearest mast. There are plenty of other outdoor access points (CPE) available (with internal router) which don't need the gateway, see here (which includes the one you posted), but most are also directional:

 

https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/store/5g-routers/?t=218&sort=5&page=1

 

There are also (omni) antennas with space for an internal router like this -- but it's also very tall, and gain is several db lower than the best roof-mount antenna which cancels out cable loss saving:

 

https://3grouterstore.co.uk/product/teltonika-pr1ica70-outdoor-lte-5g-wi-fi-gps-antenna-for-rutx50-and-rutm50/

 

For you, yes. For others who actually need Internet access (e.g for WFH), no... 😉 

 

(remember, it's not all about you... 😉

what do you make of the 'MIMO' aspect Ian ?  is it 4x4 or similar do you think?

[IanD]

6 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

what do you make of the 'MIMO' aspect Ian ?  is it 4x4 or similar do you think?

Almost certainly, though they don't specifically say -- it would be crazy not to do that in a unit like this.

[DShK]

It's not a new idea - I had the same sort of setup Ian linked and currently have a zyxel NR7103 which is a router/sim/antenna combo that is powered by PoE - and a directional panel like what you have linked. I am now moving away from the idea, doing what Ian suggested a when I first bought my teltonika QuSpot combo a few years ago - an internal router with a short signal cable. I think the only time the PoE method makes sense (on a boat) is if you can mount it high up on a mast, where the signal loses would be too great.

 

Personally I think the directional panels look hideous too.

Edited January 24 by DShK

[Wafi]

22 hours ago, Tonka said:

£315 for a non essential item, you must be joking

I think most of us had already crossed that particular Rubicon when we first decided to buy a boat.

[Davidgabriel]

I had my teltonika router inside a q spot antenna connected by poe. But the signal was no where near as good as now, when I have the router inside the boat with an external antenna. It was much neater all in one. But just not as good. I don’t know why as I’m definitely no expert. 

[cheesegas]

On 23/01/2026 at 09:51, Tonka said:

You have too much money obviously 

£315 for a non essential item, you must be joking

Depends how you use the boat. Internet for me is absolutely essential - I work from home 2-3 days a week and need a stable internet connection. I've got a Teltonika RUTC50 which cost similar, second hand... Tried cheaper 5G routers, nothing was as good.

On 23/01/2026 at 09:29, robtheplod said:

I'm interested to get views on this device which is coming out shortly. I work extensively with Unifi as part of my job (WiFi/CCTV in businesses) and this has caught my eye for a job I'm looking at, but it may also be a good option on a boat. I know it requires a Unifi Gateway and PoE to work (both inexpensive), but its interesting as it contains the modem/sim in the aerial, so no issues with signal loss/cable length etc. Unifi is excellent quality and the price doesn't look toooooo outrageous!

I would say that on most boats, cable losses from antenna to router are minimal as the cable runs aren't likely to be more than 5m or so. Needing the gateway also adds power consumption - I think the Gateway Lite runs on USB-C so it would be easy to power it from 12v, but it's quoted at drawing around 4 watts. Doesn't sound like much but in winter if you're without shore power, every watts counts especially for something that switched on 24/7.

 

Mikrotik also do some outdoor router/antenna combos for about a quarter of the price. They're definitely not as user friendly to set up but don't need any external hardware to work aside from a PoE injector. I've used a lot of their kit at work for remote site monitoring and they're rather good.

https://mikrotik.com/products/group/lte-5g-products

 

[IanD]

On 24/01/2026 at 10:39, cheesegas said:

Depends how you use the boat. Internet for me is absolutely essential - I work from home 2-3 days a week and need a stable internet connection. I've got a Teltonika RUTC50 which cost similar, second hand... Tried cheaper 5G routers, nothing was as good.

I would say that on most boats, cable losses from antenna to router are minimal as the cable runs aren't likely to be more than 5m or so. Needing the gateway also adds power consumption - I think the Gateway Lite runs on USB-C so it would be easy to power it from 12v, but it's quoted at drawing around 4 watts. Doesn't sound like much but in winter if you're without shore power, every watts counts especially for something that switched on 24/7.

 

Mikrotik also do some outdoor router/antenna combos for about a quarter of the price. They're definitely not as user friendly to set up but don't need any external hardware to work aside from a PoE injector. I've used a lot of their kit at work for remote site monitoring and they're rather good.

https://mikrotik.com/products/group/lte-5g-products

 

5m of cable is not "minimal losses", this would typically mean 2-3dB extra loss, enough to significantly reduce coverage and data rates in poor signal areas -- after all, it's similar to the difference between "cheap" and "expensive" antennae.

 

Just because it's "normal" (because that's the length many antennae come with to make installation easy) doesn't mean it's not a bad idea and worth avoiding if possible... 😉 

[Gybe Ho]

14 hours ago, IanD said:

5m of cable is not "minimal losses", this would typically mean 2-3dB extra loss, enough to significantly reduce coverage and data rates in poor signal areas -- after all, it's similar to the difference between "cheap" and "expensive" antennae.

 

Just because it's "normal" (because that's the length many antennae come with to make installation easy) doesn't mean it's not a bad idea and worth avoiding if possible... 😉 

 

The more I think about the challenge of narrowboat internet connections, the more I realize that independent simple antennas are inherently compromised. The cheapest solution for improved internet speeds is elevation, as a walk past a community of narrowboat liveaboards confirms. However elevation requires longer leads thus more signal loss. A common compromise setup is a Poynting mounted on top of a B&Q decorators extension pole at the forward end of a cabintop giving an extra 5ft of elevation within an overall 5m cable limit.

 

What the narrowboating community needs is an external combined Antenna + LTE Router that repackages the electronics of a mobile phone's tiny Mimo4x4 antenna with the LTE router circuitry in a mobile phone. Such a device should be 1/3 the size of a mobile phone. A poe ethernet socket would allow the tiny palm sized package to be mounted high up with no cable signal loss.

[robtheplod]

4 hours ago, Gybe Ho said:

 

The more I think about the challenge of narrowboat internet connections, the more I realize that independent simple antennas are inherently compromised. The cheapest solution for improved internet speeds is elevation, as a walk past a community of narrowboat liveaboards confirms. However elevation requires longer leads thus more signal loss. A common compromise setup is a Poynting mounted on top of a B&Q decorators extension pole at the forward end of a cabintop giving an extra 5ft of elevation within an overall 5m cable limit.

 

This is probably true.... buy a lesser aerial with longer leads and mount it on a pole, or a buy a better aerial with shorter leads and mount it on the roof for similar effect.... our aerial sits lower than our mushroom vents...  

[Gybe Ho]

2 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

This is probably true.... buy a lesser aerial with longer leads and mount it on a pole, or a buy a better aerial with shorter leads and mount it on the roof for similar effect.... our aerial sits lower than our mushroom vents...  

 

Your flush puck antenna looks neat though I assume is it barely above the height of your solar panels? I might as well flip a coin because despite expending many brain cycles of searching for the ideal setup I cannot find it. The temporary solution of an internal iPhone stuffed between a porthole button is starting to look like a viable long term fix. The only problem is that the Victron Cerbo does not hang onto the iPhone's wifi hotspot and I loose the stored logged data destined for the VRM. When all is sorted properly I want a wired LAN connection from the router to the Cerbo.

[IanD]

4 hours ago, Gybe Ho said:

 

The more I think about the challenge of narrowboat internet connections, the more I realize that independent simple antennas are inherently compromised. The cheapest solution for improved internet speeds is elevation, as a walk past a community of narrowboat liveaboards confirms. However elevation requires longer leads thus more signal loss. A common compromise setup is a Poynting mounted on top of a B&Q decorators extension pole at the forward end of a cabintop giving an extra 5ft of elevation within an overall 5m cable limit.

 

What the narrowboating community needs is an external combined Antenna + LTE Router that repackages the electronics of a mobile phone's tiny Mimo4x4 antenna with the LTE router circuitry in a mobile phone. Such a device should be 1/3 the size of a mobile phone. A poe ethernet socket would allow the tiny palm sized package to be mounted high up with no cable signal loss.

 

You're right that elevation helps but a longer cable loses signal again -- here's a plot where this effect was modelled. A cabin-mounted antenna will typically be about 5' up, pushing that up to 10' in rural areas will give maybe 6dB more gain which is a lot more than cable losses but needs an extending mast. An antenna designed for roof mounting will give maybe 3db more gain (closer to 5dB in the lower bands) without needing a mast, plus another 2-3dB if you use short cables, so ends up with about the same gain as the Poynting on a mast -- maybe even higher in the lower long-range bands.

 

Your comment about size shows that you don't understand how an antenna works... 😉 

 

One reason an external antenna can pick up stronger signals than a mobile phone (higher gain) -- especially in the lower bands where range is longer -- is that the actual antenna structures inside are physically bigger, in a mobile phone there isn't enough space and they're smaller (and lower gain) than they should be -- which is one of the nightmares of handset designers, as well as making them work when held in a hand and next to a big soggy lump of brain.

 

This is why the external antennas with higher gain are always bigger than the smaller lower-gain ones, like the cheap pucks. An antenna smaller than a mobile phone would have even less gain than these, in fact lower than the phone... 😞 

Edited January 26 by IanD

[robtheplod]

1 hour ago, Gybe Ho said:

 

Your flush puck antenna looks neat though I assume is it barely above the height of your solar panels? I might as well flip a coin because despite expending many brain cycles of searching for the ideal setup I cannot find it. The temporary solution of an internal iPhone stuffed between a porthole button is starting to look like a viable long term fix. The only problem is that the Victron Cerbo does not hang onto the iPhone's wifi hotspot and I loose the stored logged data destined for the VRM. When all is sorted properly I want a wired LAN connection from the router to the Cerbo.

it was always difficult to find and now seems even harder as the supplier i got it off seems to have moved on to other ones....

 

When i was looking, this always scored high and i was tempted by it: External 5G Antenna | 4x4 MIMO Antenna | UK Antenna Company I'd be interested in Ians view one these. I got as far as asking as to their detailed spec and got this back off them:

 

Frequency (MHz)    Peak Gain (dB)
700    7.8
800    7.2
900    5.4
1800    8.4
1900    8.6
2100    6.6
2400    6.3
2500    5.9
2600    6.4
3500    7.9
6000    8.3
 

[IanD]

26 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

it was always difficult to find and now seems even harder as the supplier i got it off seems to have moved on to other ones....

 

When i was looking, this always scored high and i was tempted by it: External 5G Antenna | 4x4 MIMO Antenna | UK Antenna Company I'd be interested in Ians view one these. I got as far as asking as to their detailed spec and got this back off them:

 

Frequency (MHz)    Peak Gain (dB)
700    7.8
800    7.2
900    5.4
1800    8.4
1900    8.6
2100    6.6
2400    6.3
2500    5.9
2600    6.4
3500    7.9
6000    8.3
 

If those numbers are accurate they're pretty good -- but beware the use of "peak gain" numbers, these can be little spikes and the typical gain across a band is much lower. I also have to say that they look suspiciously high, especially at the bottom end of the response... 😉 

 

For comparison this is the actual measured response of the Panorama dual sharkee 4x4 MIMO antenna that I have, which is the best omni antenna I could find from a reputable antenna supplier -- which I have to say is not a reputation that Maxview have... 😉 

 

Edited January 26 by IanD

[Quattrodave]

On 24/01/2026 at 10:39, cheesegas said:

Mikrotik also do some outdoor router/antenna combos for about a quarter of the price. They're definitely not as user friendly to set up but don't need any external hardware to work aside from a PoE injector. I've used a lot of their kit at work for remote site monitoring and they're rather good.

https://mikrotik.com/products/group/lte-5g-products

 

 

Ooooh they do some nice looking products!!! I really like the look of the ATL 5G R16... Ever used one, what do you think???

Edited January 26 by Quattrodave

[IanD]

10 hours ago, Quattrodave said:

 

Ooooh they do some nice looking products!!! I really like the look of the ATL 5G R16... Ever used one, what do you think???

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/threads/mikrotik-finally-joining-the-5g-external-device-party-with-atl5g-r16.43492/

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/threads/review-mikrotik-atl-5g-r16-outdoor-router.43676/

 

Very high gain but also big and heavy and expensive and also *very* directional, needs pointing at the nearest basestation. Great for a house a long from a basestation, maybe not so much for a boat... 😉 

[Quattrodave]

11 minutes ago, IanD said:

Very high gain but also big and heavy and expensive and also *very* directional, needs pointing at the nearest basestation. Great for a house a long from a basestation, maybe not so much for a boat... 😉 

 

Ah, missed the directional part... Yup wouldn't work too well on a boat 🫣

[DShK]

Yes the directional panels are quite interesting. Where I am moored right now I go from basically unusable internet (constant drops at peak times) up to 100mb down depending on how I face the antenna.

 

I had assumed pointing it at the nearest cell tower was correct! But it seems not. Annoyingly I can't seem to find the right tower specifically on cellmapper, the the cell id/PCI...

[GUMPY]

34 minutes ago, DShK said:

Annoyingly I can't seem to find the right tower specifically on cellmapper, the the cell id/PCI...

If you are on 3 then it could be a Vodafone tower.

Mine swaps seamlessly between the two and I have to swap provider on cellmapper to find where the tower is located.

[IanD]

5 minutes ago, GUMPY said:

If you are on 3 then it could be a Vodafone tower.

Mine swaps seamlessly between the two and I have to swap provider on cellmapper to find where the tower is located.

You're lucky to be next to a tower with Three/Vodafone sharing enabled, there aren't that many of them yet and it'll be several years before they all are... 🙂 

[GUMPY]

27 minutes ago, IanD said:

You're lucky to be next to a tower with Three/Vodafone sharing enabled, there aren't that many of them yet and it'll be several years before they all are... 🙂 

Well I must live in a parallel universe because whilst I've been away this last weekend I've noticed several times I've been on a Vodafone mast.

There is one particular one near Southampton  where the two masts are next door to one another and from Weston Parade  the phone can't decide which one to use. Vodafone is way quicker there than Three, unsurprisingly really.

 

Vodafone

 

Three

 

Of course I'm wrong and it just doesn't work like that. Nor does it switch when I'm at the car wash in Bideford.

 

 

Edited January 27 by GUMPY

[IanD]

15 minutes ago, GUMPY said:

Well I must live in a parallel universe because whilst I've been away this last weekend I've noticed several times I've been on a Vodafone mast.

There is one particular one near Southampton  where the two masts are next door to one another and from Weston Parade  it can't decide which one to use. Vodafone is way quicker than three .

 

Vodafone

 

Three

 

Of course I'm wrong and it just doesn't work like that. Nor does it switch when I'm at the car wash in Bideford.

 

 

 

So you've been in some areas where MOCN is enabled, lucky you... 🙂

 

The facts -- as opposed to your opinion/anecdotes -- say they've done this on 8000 sites out of 65000 (12%), the rollout is planned to take 6 years (2031) to reach 95% and be completed after 8 years (2033). Which is literally *exactly* what I said, but you're poo-pooing... 😉 

 

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2025/11/vodafone-and-three-uk-deploy-joint-network-sharing-to-8000-mast-sites.html

 

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." -- Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Edited January 27 by IanD