LHG LTE kit-US - Cellphone antenna?

axo · Tue Dec 04, 2018 3:36 am

Please educate me
LHG LTE kit-US
https://mikrotik.com/product/lhg_lte_kit_us

I live in a house in Miami Beach, its a dense and populated area inside the islands, but im unlucky to be in a dead spot
of coverage with my cellphone provider. The whole family needs to come outside the house to grab merely one reception bar, "if".... so, having a clean phone
conversation is just a painful nightmare. The wifi calling option is unreliable as well, because the ISP itself is having issues providing a steady signal of GIGABIT internet..
gotta love AT&T

I will try to see where exactly the nearest cell tower is located, and i am thinking to mount a pvc pole up high in the back with one of these Mikrotik dishes pointing in the
direction of the cell tower?

So now talking about this antenna. i am not exactly sure if this is what i need? I see it has a 4g modem, LTE whatever.. but i am not looking to insert a SIM card with 4g service,
i am trying to catch the signal from the cell tower and be able to talk inside the house.
I used a 4g set "weBoost"... piece of garbage, it did absolutely nothing.
Where should i be looking at?

Thank you

mkx · Tue Dec 04, 2018 8:37 am

You should be looking for a repeater.

However, if cellphone signal is iffy outside as well, repeater won't do miracles. Repeaters (and modems with directional antennae) work fine if cellphone signal outside is reasonably good and it's the wall attenuation that kills the service. Even if outdoor signal is fine, it is vital to place both repeater antennae (outdoor and indoor) such that they "don't see each other", or else they are creating sort of a loop.
All of that is most probably the reason you've had bad experience with "weBoost" solution ... which by the looks of it is a repeater.

axo · Tue Dec 04, 2018 2:03 pm

Ok Thank you.
Yes i know the basics about repeaters too.

I am not asking about how repeaters work actually, but about the actual purpose of the Mikrotik dish antenna.

The weboost kit setup guide shows you how to measure RSRP/SINR signal strength/quality and to locate the the main antenna outside trying to
grab the best possible hairline of cell tower signal, but looks like the receptor part of it was not enough to amplify anything.
I am looking sort of a "cantenna" / dish that can be pointed in the direction of the cell tower.
Is the Mikrotik dish compatible with this goal or not?
Thank you

Tue Dec 04, 2018 2:30 pm

No, you can't do that with this device. It is stictly a LTE client device for sharing data to your AP inside the house, not for signal boosting

mkx · Tue Dec 04, 2018 2:34 pm

"Mikrotik dish" is a data device (antenna, LTE modem and router in one). It doesn't boost LTE signal for other devices in surroundings.

The stock antenna of weBoost has gain (read: amplification) of 8 do 10 dBi. Which is good but not great. I'm pretty sure you can find antennae with better gain (up to 15dBi should be possible, but possibly only for part of frequency bands supported by repeater), but won't be as nicely looking. The antenna connector on the main unit (F Female) is standard so this shouldn't be a problem.
The other thing to care about is length of cable between outdoor antenna and repeater unit. Anything longer than 15-20 feet will affect the overall performance quite much. It would be benefitial to have outdoor antenna cable as short as possible at expense of having indoor antenna cable longer. While repeater has fixed gain nad in theory doesn't matter where the cable loss occurs, one has to think about signal/noise ratio and in with really low signal strength, majority of noise might be thermal noise which, unlike useful signal, doesn't get attenuated by cable (it produces as much thermal noise as it attenuates it).

But then, again: if the signal outdoors is so weak that ordinary cell phones have big trouble detecting it, even best repeater will sweat.

axo · Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:58 am

"Mikrotik dish" is a data device (antenna, LTE modem and router in one). It doesn't boost LTE signal for other devices in surroundings.

The stock antenna of weBoost has gain (read: amplification) of 8 do 10 dBi. Which is good but not great. I'm pretty sure you can find antennae with better gain (up to 15dBi should be possible, but possibly only for part of frequency bands supported by repeater), but won't be as nicely looking. The antenna connector on the main unit (F Female) is standard so this shouldn't be a problem.
The other thing to care about is length of cable between outdoor antenna and repeater unit. Anything longer than 15-20 feet will affect the overall performance quite much. It would be benefitial to have outdoor antenna cable as short as possible at expense of having indoor antenna cable longer. While repeater has fixed gain nad in theory doesn't matter where the cable loss occurs, one has to think about signal/noise ratio and in with really low signal strength, majority of noise might be thermal noise which, unlike useful signal, doesn't get attenuated by cable (it produces as much thermal noise as it attenuates it).

But then, again: if the signal outdoors is so weak that ordinary cell phones have big trouble detecting it, even best repeater will sweat.

Thank you so much. your reply is a work of art

I found other booster antennas with higher specs and tutorials explaining all the dark secrets to properly measure and use the readings to pick the right device,
but before even buying they mention you need at least a few bars of STEADY signal just like you pointed, so unfortunately there is not such a convenience here.

Ok i get it now with the MT "Dish" purpose thanks the guys before too!

LHG LTE kit-US - Cellphone antenna?

LHG LTE kit-US - Cellphone antenna?

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