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Recommended Directional Antennas


Brad The Beast

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All,

I'm going to be working on some rural sites and will be using a wireless internet solution. I think Sprint would be the cheapest option but I'll only be able to use them in some places and I'll need a directional antenna. What do you guys recommend for directional antennas and what useful range can I expect? I don't need it to be super fast. If I'm able to get speeds of 5 down 5 up that would be fine. The setup will be directional antenna connected to a Cisco IR1101 Integrated Services Router. Any feedback is appreciated.

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I use two of these https://ltefix.com/shop/antennas/700-2700mhz-15dbi-4g-lte-directional-antenna/

They work pretty well. Right now I'm using them on AT&T on a site that is 3.4 miles away. I get about -110 to -115 on a B2 20 MHz carrier, which gives me ~20 Mbps down. On my phone with an AT&T SIM, I can just barely get a B12 signal that doesn't work particularly well.

The frequency of those antennas works for Sprint as well. The Sprint site is much closer in my case, but due to antenna positioning and topography doesn't work as well. Just make sure you orient the antennas properly for MIMO.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

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4 hours ago, ingenium said:

I use two of these https://ltefix.com/shop/antennas/700-2700mhz-15dbi-4g-lte-directional-antenna/

They work pretty well. Right now I'm using them on AT&T on a site that is 3.4 miles away. I get about -110 to -115 on a B2 20 MHz carrier, which gives me ~20 Mbps down. On my phone with an AT&T SIM, I can just barely get a B12 signal that doesn't work particularly well.

So I can expect to get a couple of miles of useful range? That will be good. How high do you have your antennas mounted?

Quote

Just make sure you orient the antennas properly for MIMO.

Two antennas. One vertical and one horizontal correct? 

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Two antennas. One vertical and one horizontal correct? 
Yes, two antennas. They look like two stacked diamonds, with the bottom one rotated 90 degrees from the top one. The last picture on the product page shows the orientation.

I have them mounted to a PVC pipe in the corner on the second floor of the house. I was going to mount them outside, but since tested it inside and it worked fine, so I didn't see a reason to move it outside and deal with running the coax through the wall.

The height will depend on your topography. I modeled my particular scenario using a tool on Ubiquiti's site, plugging in GPS coordinates and approximate height measurements.
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Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

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20 hours ago, ingenium said:

I modeled my particular scenario using a tool on Ubiquiti's site, plugging in GPS coordinates and approximate height measurements.

Is that tool free to use?

20 hours ago, ingenium said:

Yes, two antennas. They look like two stacked diamonds, with the bottom one rotated 90 degrees from the top one. The last picture on the product page shows the orientation.

That gives me 2x2 MIMO correct?

20 hours ago, ingenium said:

I have them mounted to a PVC pipe in the corner on the second floor of the house.

If you had to guess, how high off the ground would you say they are?

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If you had to guess, how high off the ground would you say they are?
Yes, the tool is free to use. It's for modeling locations for a Ubiquiti point to point or point to multipoint wireless product. https://link.ui.com

Yes, it's 2x2 MIMO. The modem I use (Sierra Wireless MC7455) is only capable of 2x2. That modem has issues with Sprint though (loses connectivity a few times a day). There are few 4x4 capable modems available, but the issue I always had with Sprint was support for all 3 bands. Only the MC7455 supports all 3. If you can guarantee that you get B41, then your options open up a lot. B25 support was more challenging.

I modeled mine at 20 ft off the ground. They're mounted probably.... 5 ft and 6 ft respectively from the floor on the PVC, on the second story of the house, and would probably work if I lowered them. But they're in a corner and mostly obstructed from view inside the house (there's a bookcase behind it blocking the view).

Be vigilant of the length of coax that you use. The signal will attenuate quite a bit the longer the cable, and can negate the gain from the antennas. More than you would think. It's best to have the modem as close to the antennas as possible, with as short of a cable as possible. Same reason why RRUs mounted on a cell site are used. You'll also need adapters. The antennas I think use N type, and the modem uses u.fl, but is in an enclosure that has sma. The coax I used had N type on one end and sma on the other. But you'll want to look at the specs of everything to confirm.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

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