http://www.dslreports.com/forum/External-antenna-for-4G-good-idea-or-not-25742015 en Wed, 22 May 2013 04:54:18 EDT Wed, 22 May 2013 04:54:18 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-External-antenna-for-4G-good-idea-or-not-25743993
Interestingly enough, I got the performance dock today and it made everything MUCH worse, so it immediately went back in the box. I figured worst case it would make a nice stand to keep the modem from getting knocked off, but it significantly decreased performance. Maybe if I didn't have the 10' extension it would have been a nice addition, but perhaps all of that cable length was just too much signal loss for the aux antenna to overcome. I guess I'll just have to resort to a hook and zip ties to keep the USB stick where it is. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-External-antenna-for-4G-good-idea-or-not-25743993 Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:04:39 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/External-antenna-for-4G-good-idea-or-not-25742015
What I have noticed though is the modem is very temeprmental. It is installed at the end of a 10-foot USB extension to get it away from the router RF. Being as small as it is, it gets moved easily, and moving it just a few inches in one direction or another has a huge effect on speed. I bought a USB performance dock from eBay which will arrive in a few days which should theoretically help, at least as far as keeping the modem in one spot.

My question is now that I have made the decision to go with WiMax as my primary home internet service, would it make sense for me to consider an outdoor antenna? Would I gain anything from going that route? Faster speeds? Shorter ping times? Less fluctuation between "peak" and "normal" speeds? It seems like a relatively small amount of money to pay ($200 or so) for a halfway decent antenna, and I would be more than willing to do that if I gained a consistent couple of megs in speed. I have good signal strength at my location so I'm not sure what I could expect by going external.

Ok, I admit I'm getting greedy. I just went from poor DSL speeds to "good" 4G speeds, but now I want more! :)

I'd be interested in hearing from anybody with experience in running external antennas.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/External-antenna-for-4G-good-idea-or-not-25742015 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:10:05 EDT