4G router - Aerial upgrades
Discussion
Just purchased and set up a 4g router
https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/5g-4g-r...
We are due to move to a small village that doesn t get 5g next month so It is likely I might get an external aerial(s) to replace the rabbit ears.
Any suggestions for an aerial upgrade or tips when doing this?
https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/5g-4g-r...
We are due to move to a small village that doesn t get 5g next month so It is likely I might get an external aerial(s) to replace the rabbit ears.
Any suggestions for an aerial upgrade or tips when doing this?
4/5G aerials can be a bit of a minefield.
I’d give these guys a call and see what’s suggested.
https://www.solwise.co.uk/Poynting-XPOL
I’d give these guys a call and see what’s suggested.
https://www.solwise.co.uk/Poynting-XPOL
Firstly, I'd check whether those 'ears'
are 4G aerials or Wifi?
RTFM and check that it supports external 4G aerials.
There are various external 4G aerials you can experiment with, starting from about £10 on Amazon.
Getting the aerial outdoors and high up is as important as the choice of aerial.
Once the system is running where it needs to work you should be able to interrogate the router and see what 4G band it's using.
4G is all over the spectrum, from 800 MHz upwards.
So a different 4G band can influence choice of best antenna.
You can find basestation locations and bands online, which might help with choice of aerial location and network provider.
I'd get some cheap SIMs and try the various networks.
You can find that the limiting factor is not your antenna, but the amount of base-station capacity that the provider decides to give to you.
If it's limited by you sharing the 4G capacity with too many other people, a better antenna won't make much difference.
are 4G aerials or Wifi?
RTFM and check that it supports external 4G aerials.
There are various external 4G aerials you can experiment with, starting from about £10 on Amazon.
Getting the aerial outdoors and high up is as important as the choice of aerial.
Once the system is running where it needs to work you should be able to interrogate the router and see what 4G band it's using.
4G is all over the spectrum, from 800 MHz upwards.
So a different 4G band can influence choice of best antenna.
You can find basestation locations and bands online, which might help with choice of aerial location and network provider.
I'd get some cheap SIMs and try the various networks.
You can find that the limiting factor is not your antenna, but the amount of base-station capacity that the provider decides to give to you.
If it's limited by you sharing the 4G capacity with too many other people, a better antenna won't make much difference.
https://3grouterstore.co.uk/product/dwmm4-6-60-5sp...
Although I paid £212 for it back then.
Bought one of these back in 2022, when I was using 5G on Three.
Was able to download circa 700Mbps and upload around 200Mbps. Mast was located about 3/4 of a mile away.
This was installed on a pole at the top of the chimney to try and get a clear line of site, and I extended the cables down the roof into the study.
As this was omnidirectional, when the 5G mast was down, I could switch to a 4G EE mast in the opposite direction, and still get a out 100Mbps bandwidth.
Although I paid £212 for it back then.
Bought one of these back in 2022, when I was using 5G on Three.
Was able to download circa 700Mbps and upload around 200Mbps. Mast was located about 3/4 of a mile away.
This was installed on a pole at the top of the chimney to try and get a clear line of site, and I extended the cables down the roof into the study.
As this was omnidirectional, when the 5G mast was down, I could switch to a 4G EE mast in the opposite direction, and still get a out 100Mbps bandwidth.
OutInTheShed said:
Firstly, I'd check whether those 'ears'
are 4G aerials or Wifi?
and check that it supports external 4G aerials.
The ears on the router are definitely 4G, and It supports external aerials albeit they just replace the ears which unscrew on SMA connectors.are 4G aerials or Wifi?
and check that it supports external 4G aerials.
The village I am moving to has a choice of one (very expensive) broadband provider, or a weak 4G signal. Hence wanting to maximize my chances of a good signal.
The only mobile network s that get coverage are Vodafone or O2 as I have friends in the village who have tried them all. I m currently on Talkmobile (Vodafone) and that gets some signal as I walk round.
So the plan will be be to get an aerial in the loft / on the roof and point it to the mast at the edge of the village. I m just unsure whixh one.
Edited by Ham_and_Jam on Thursday 26th February 09:21
I had a 4G 'dongle' a few years ago, when I first had it, it gave fine performance, talking to a mast about a mile away.
I don't recall the speed in M, but we were streaming TV and all the normal stuff just as good as the broadband.
A couple of years later, the exact same dongle in the exact same place was terribly slow.
Many more people sharing the basestation's capacity.
I would start by trying in, maybe next to an upstairs window, then try a £10 aerial if it works but shows weak signal.
If your basestation is on the edge of your own village, I doubt RF path will be the problem.
I have friends in the boondocks of Devon who've spent a fair bit of time and money on directional aerials and tall poles, with mixed results.
If you just want Wifi calling and a bit of youtube, your needs are a lot less than some remote worker or families heavily into streaming.
Some will tell you they get better service using an EE or voda SIM rather than a cheapo airtime re-seller.
One cynic would probably suggest the best way to use your router would be to plug a Starlink into its WAN port.
Aerials are a dark art, even to electronics engineers. A 4G aerial is a huge compromise, because it has to cope with a wide spectrum, or at least two chunks of spectrum. So the best one at Dave's place might not be the best one at your place.
Even in the sticks, you might get service from more than one base station, or not the 'obvious' one, so a directional aerial isn't always best.
Also, do keep up with 5G roll-out, it's surprising where a bit of 5G is cropping up in the middle of villages etc.
Another point is, they are continually messing about with basestations and networks.
In 2023, I was using o2 and getting fast emailing of attached images a few miles offshore.
In 2024, it stopped working and I had to change to Lyca/EE to do the same job in the same place.
In 2025 both worked but a bit slower.
For £5 a month, I find having a second e-SIM in my phone good value.
I don't recall the speed in M, but we were streaming TV and all the normal stuff just as good as the broadband.
A couple of years later, the exact same dongle in the exact same place was terribly slow.
Many more people sharing the basestation's capacity.
I would start by trying in, maybe next to an upstairs window, then try a £10 aerial if it works but shows weak signal.
If your basestation is on the edge of your own village, I doubt RF path will be the problem.
I have friends in the boondocks of Devon who've spent a fair bit of time and money on directional aerials and tall poles, with mixed results.
If you just want Wifi calling and a bit of youtube, your needs are a lot less than some remote worker or families heavily into streaming.
Some will tell you they get better service using an EE or voda SIM rather than a cheapo airtime re-seller.
One cynic would probably suggest the best way to use your router would be to plug a Starlink into its WAN port.
Aerials are a dark art, even to electronics engineers. A 4G aerial is a huge compromise, because it has to cope with a wide spectrum, or at least two chunks of spectrum. So the best one at Dave's place might not be the best one at your place.
Even in the sticks, you might get service from more than one base station, or not the 'obvious' one, so a directional aerial isn't always best.
Also, do keep up with 5G roll-out, it's surprising where a bit of 5G is cropping up in the middle of villages etc.
Another point is, they are continually messing about with basestations and networks.
In 2023, I was using o2 and getting fast emailing of attached images a few miles offshore.
In 2024, it stopped working and I had to change to Lyca/EE to do the same job in the same place.
In 2025 both worked but a bit slower.
For £5 a month, I find having a second e-SIM in my phone good value.
OutInTheShed said:
I had a 4G 'dongle' a few years ago, when I first had it, it gave fine performance, talking to a mast about a mile away.
I don't recall the speed in M, but we were streaming TV and all the normal stuff just as good as the broadband.
A couple of years later, the exact same dongle in the exact same place was terribly slow.
Many more people sharing the basestation's capacity.
I would start by trying in, maybe next to an upstairs window, then try a £10 aerial if it works but shows weak signal.
If your basestation is on the edge of your own village, I doubt RF path will be the problem.
I have friends in the boondocks of Devon who've spent a fair bit of time and money on directional aerials and tall poles, with mixed results.
If you just want Wifi calling and a bit of youtube, your needs are a lot less than some remote worker or families heavily into streaming.
Some will tell you they get better service using an EE or voda SIM rather than a cheapo airtime re-seller.
One cynic would probably suggest the best way to use your router would be to plug a Starlink into its WAN port.
Aerials are a dark art, even to electronics engineers. A 4G aerial is a huge compromise, because it has to cope with a wide spectrum, or at least two chunks of spectrum. So the best one at Dave's place might not be the best one at your place.
Even in the sticks, you might get service from more than one base station, or not the 'obvious' one, so a directional aerial isn't always best.
Also, do keep up with 5G roll-out, it's surprising where a bit of 5G is cropping up in the middle of villages etc.
Another point is, they are continually messing about with basestations and networks.
In 2023, I was using o2 and getting fast emailing of attached images a few miles offshore.
In 2024, it stopped working and I had to change to Lyca/EE to do the same job in the same place.
In 2025 both worked but a bit slower.
For £5 a month, I find having a second e-SIM in my phone good value.
Thanks for that info. Very useful.I don't recall the speed in M, but we were streaming TV and all the normal stuff just as good as the broadband.
A couple of years later, the exact same dongle in the exact same place was terribly slow.
Many more people sharing the basestation's capacity.
I would start by trying in, maybe next to an upstairs window, then try a £10 aerial if it works but shows weak signal.
If your basestation is on the edge of your own village, I doubt RF path will be the problem.
I have friends in the boondocks of Devon who've spent a fair bit of time and money on directional aerials and tall poles, with mixed results.
If you just want Wifi calling and a bit of youtube, your needs are a lot less than some remote worker or families heavily into streaming.
Some will tell you they get better service using an EE or voda SIM rather than a cheapo airtime re-seller.
One cynic would probably suggest the best way to use your router would be to plug a Starlink into its WAN port.
Aerials are a dark art, even to electronics engineers. A 4G aerial is a huge compromise, because it has to cope with a wide spectrum, or at least two chunks of spectrum. So the best one at Dave's place might not be the best one at your place.
Even in the sticks, you might get service from more than one base station, or not the 'obvious' one, so a directional aerial isn't always best.
Also, do keep up with 5G roll-out, it's surprising where a bit of 5G is cropping up in the middle of villages etc.
Another point is, they are continually messing about with basestations and networks.
In 2023, I was using o2 and getting fast emailing of attached images a few miles offshore.
In 2024, it stopped working and I had to change to Lyca/EE to do the same job in the same place.
In 2025 both worked but a bit slower.
For £5 a month, I find having a second e-SIM in my phone good value.
I’m really trying to keep costs down. I can get decent fibre into the house for about £50 / month, so Starlink isn’t really needed.
My target is to use an unlimited sim on 4G for £16 / month.
I have achieved this in my holiday home, and get decent results which allows multiple users to use it simultaneously, including uninterrupted TV streaming. So just trying to mirror this, but know the signal is weak.
Ultimately I won’t really know until we are in, but just trying to gauge the success or not of external aerials.
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff