Mifi device with twin antennas

[pearley]

Changed my MiFi device recently to a Huawei E5577C which has 2 antenna sockets but I'm only using one with a 6 year old Laird 4g mag mount. Will there be any discernible gain by either getting a splitter cable or a second antenna?

[rusty69]

I thought modern 4g aerials had two connecting leads. Mine does, can't comment if the gain is improved though. 

 

Some good info here

 

https://www.solwise.co.uk/4g-lte-antenna-considerations.html

Edited September 26, 2018 by rusty69

[Dr Bob]

I would think so, which is why they have 2. Solwise , as Rusty says, is a good source of info. We have a twin antenna which I am sure works better than a single one based on my experience designing HF antennas.

[Guest]

Just to clarify. A splitter will most definitely not help. As the name implies they send half the signal to each output.  (At best)

Dual aerials should help, but as per the info in the link it depends upon the configuration of the aerials. On a boat there may even be some virtue in having separate aerials mounted well apart because if you are cruising each mooring location will potentially have dead spots.

You may be only picking up on one  (hence slower) but better than nowt. :-)

[TheBiscuits]

12 minutes ago, Floating Male said:

A splitter will most definitely not help.

Popular Front of Judea?

[Chewbacka]

It’s probably an LTE router, if so, it has 2 antennas because it can use 2 different frequency channels back to the base station giving double the data rate, so 2 transmitters (in your router) going into a splitter to a single antenna is going to end in tears.

i have A LTE modem and didn’t have a spare 80 quid to buy a good antenna so used an old single antenna which works fine.  Not all base stations will allow 2 channels and unless you are streaming hi def tv you probably don’t need 2 channels anyway.

 

The other thing to remember is there are 4 or 5 frequencies allocated to 4G but not all frequencies are used by all operators as it depends upon the frequencies they bought from the government, so you need to ensure the antenna you want to use covers the frequencies that your operator uses or the antenna will be very ‘weak’ and you will be disappointed with reception.  Note eBay antennas from international sellers may say 4G but that may only be for the US where we have some different frequencies so check before you buy.

 

added - if you use a single antenna I would plug a rubber duck antenna or similar into the unused connector on the back as the unused transmitter in your modem may not like having no load, maybe one of our hf knowledgable people can comment

Edited September 26, 2018 by Chewbacka

[OldGoat]

Both the Huawei and Netgear router that I have  work fine with only 1 antenna connected, but then I only use the kit for 'simple' browsing and email use.

(Being old fashioned it's never occurred to me to watch TV on a mobile device)....

[Richard10002]

14 hours ago, rusty69 said:

I thought modern 4g aerials had two connecting leads. Mine does, can't comment if the gain is improved though. 

 

Some good info here

 

https://www.solwise.co.uk/4g-lte-antenna-considerations.html

Seemingly, an aerial with twin leads, to a MiFi with twin inputs, only improves things if the mobile provider is transmitting a MiMo signal in a 2 x 2 configuration. I think many only transmit in a 1 x 1 configuration. I dont pretend to fully understand what all this means

[rusty69]

7 hours ago, Richard10002 said:

Seemingly, an aerial with twin leads, to a MiFi with twin inputs, only improves things if the mobile provider is transmitting a MiMo signal in a 2 x 2 configuration. I think many only transmit in a 1 x 1 configuration. I dont pretend to fully understand what all this means

That's how i understand it from the link. Next question is which network carriers only use a 1x1 configuration? 

[Chewbacka]

3 hours ago, rusty69 said:

That's how i understand it from the link. Next question is which network carriers only use a 1x1 configuration? 

I heard that even if the provider offers 2x2 it tends to be in urban areas, rural areas maybe later?

[Johny London]

Just what I'm looking to do next - get a better mifi router with aerial socket(s) and aerial on my "coms" mast.

There is a very good thread if you search the forum, 

I have been looking at Huawei routers, of which there are many. 

Aerials, I like the look of this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mobile-Broadband-Omni-Antenna-Boat-Huawei-Aerial-Booster-E8377-Buzzard-2-EE-4G/282079904397 Don't really want to get bogged down aligning the thing every time so omni should be fine.

There is another commonly available sort... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/35dBi-4G-LTE-Dual-MIMO-Antenna-Booster-Aerial-TS9-Plug-Cable-for-Huawei/173532470854?hash=item2867575e46:g:XKcAAOSwbVdbmiyb maybe a bit too cheap.

I may however buy the good aerial then a little single one for just on the roof, so I will have some signal most of the time and better signal when moored.

[Richard10002]

I've got this one, with only one aerial wire connected to one of the two connectors on my Netgear Mifi. It takes it from 3 bars to 5 bars, in Stretford, Manchester. 

 

https://www.solwise.co.uk/4g-antenna-omni-xpol-a0001.html

[rusty69]

40 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

I've got this one, with only one aerial wire connected to one of the two connectors on my Netgear Mifi. It takes it from 3 bars to 5 bars, in Stretford, Manchester. 

 

https://www.solwise.co.uk/4g-antenna-omni-xpol-a0001.html

That's the one I have too, but with both leads connected to a teletonica router (thanks Dr Bob).  No great increase in the number of signal bars, but the download speed is improved a bit, and the upload speed significantly. 

 

I used to use a high gain directional aerial which was rubbish compared to the low gain omni. For the reasons suggested in the link i posted i suspect. 

Edited September 27, 2018 by rusty69

[Chewbacka]

1 hour ago, Johny London said:

Just what I'm looking to do next - get a better mifi router with aerial socket(s) and aerial on my "coms" mast.

There is a very good thread if you search the forum, 

I have been looking at Huawei routers, of which there are many. 

Aerials, I like the look of this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mobile-Broadband-Omni-Antenna-Boat-Huawei-Aerial-Booster-E8377-Buzzard-2-EE-4G/282079904397 Don't really want to get bogged down aligning the thing every time so omni should be fine.

There is another commonly available sort... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/35dBi-4G-LTE-Dual-MIMO-Antenna-Booster-Aerial-TS9-Plug-Cable-for-Huawei/173532470854?hash=item2867575e46:g:XKcAAOSwbVdbmiyb maybe a bit too cheap.

I may however buy the good aerial then a little single one for just on the roof, so I will have some signal most of the time and better signal when moored.

The ten quid antenna does not cover the 800 & 900MHz frequencies commonly used in rural areas for 4G so it may not improve your reception, in fact it may be much worse.