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Signal Booster Question - Feasible? Which?

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WiWavelength Member Level: LTE Advanced

WiWavelength

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Well, I opened up the box and the device has an F-connector for the outdoor antenna.  (SMA for the indoor.)  I've only ever seen F-connectors used for 75 ohms; are they ever used at 50 ohms?

 

Not sure.  I think my spectrum analyzer uses a 50 ohm antenna, and it is connected via coax with F connectors.  But 50 ohm coax more commonly is terminated with BNC.

 

AJ

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Trip Member Level: 4G LTE

Trip

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Not sure.  I think my spectrum analyzer uses a 50 ohm antenna, and it is connected via coax with F connectors.  But 50 ohm coax more commonly is terminated with BNC.

 

AJ

 

The included coax doesn't appear to have any labeling besides "RG6".  Sounds like 75 ohm to me.

 

- Trip

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  • 1 month later...
Trip Member Level: 4G LTE

Trip

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I've been meaning to follow up on this, since it might be helpful to others in a similar boat.

 

So I did buy the WeBoost 4G Home for this project and in mid-January went to test it out.  The results were... mixed.  Testing outdoors, on the ground, delivered nothing helpful.  I think it was oscillating because the two antennas were too close together and with nothing blocking them from each other.  Then we tested indoors, with the antenna in a second floor window aimed at the distant Sprint facility, and the indoor antenna in the center of the house.

 

For one shining moment, my phone connected to Sprint eHRPD and 1X 800.  Strength on my phone was about -95 dBm, so not good enough for LTE.  And then I lost it and it never returned, despite lots of struggling with it.

 

Ultimately, we kept it because it improved the US Cellular signal on the hotspot from 1 bar to 4 bars, which makes the Internet service he has now much more reliable.  Long-term, I'd like to try something like perhaps an outdoor Yagi antenna in the hope that adding 10 dB of gain (plus getting it outside) will make Sprint LTE work there.  One can hope, anyway.

 

- Trip

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ajm8127 Member Level: iDEN *chirp*

ajm8127

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Glad to hear you had some success. Using a yagi with higher front to back ratio and higher gain then the panel antenna you have now should improve performance. Moving the donor antenna outside should also help improve isolation and reduce attenuation.

 

Looks like the antennas along with the cable are 75 ohms, so be careful not to buy a 50 ohm antenna. You could try an impedance matching transformer if you wanted a specific 50 ohm antenna, but you may end up doing more harm than good because most use a resistive matching network that has 5-6 dB of loss by virtue of it's construction.

 

I would try placing the panel antenna outside first. WeBoost does appear to have 75 ohm yagis if you decide to try that.

 

Good Luck.

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Trip Member Level: 4G LTE

Trip

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I tried it outside on the ground first, and got nothing.  I think it was probably oscillating due to lack of obstructions blocking the two antennas from each other.

 

Unfortunately, the roof is very steep and is one of those older metal roofs, a combination which makes finding anyone willing to go up on it very expensive.  That makes any additional height very difficult to attain.  If someone goes up there, we're probably going to go as big as possible up front.

 

I'm well aware of the difference between 75 and 50 ohms, and actually used some of my own 75-ohm coax to do the installation I left him with. 

 

- Trip

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belusnecropolis Member Level: 4G WiMax

belusnecropolis

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Could anyone provide an example of how to build a successful outdoor to indoor antenna? I have seen the charts on the weboost sites and such, I would just like to see a completed homebrew or one of the retail models in action. I have looked and am unable to find one of these yagi indoor to outdoor setups in a how to fashion. I have viewed many sites and the plethora of hardware is a bit confusing if you are not sure where to start building your own vs. off the shelf, and my search results have tended to end up in a ton of shopping options and not build options.

I have read also that one is recommended to register this with your carrier; does that entail a phone call and a setup? I have seen some that convert the airlink to WiFi hotspot style, but that just seems another radio to kill your battery when it is already struggling, do the yagi ones generally repeat the LTE airlink indoors? I am guessing it depends on your indoor antenna and a signal mixer/transducer. I would like to build one, or at least study the structure and feasibility of an example for my property. I just have not found a forum for folks who have had success in this area. Thanks in advance, I appreciate the personal advice this forum offers in this format, my usual inquiries to companies are just trying to sell me items I do not fully understand.

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  • 5 months later...
bipbapbam Member Level: iDEN *chirp*

bipbapbam

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So I'm going to revive this old thread. Are there any signal boosters that boost Band 41 yet? I read a while ago that Wilson/WeBoost couldn't make them due to the FCC not allowing them (not sure why. If you know, I'm more than happy to learn), but they were trying to appeal that decision. Does anybody know of any signal boosters that work with all three Sprint bands? Or does the FCC still not allow boosters for B41?

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