Verizon Wireless → Re: Using an antenna to make a LTE connection - half a mile out

Don't worry, I got rid of the shanty shelf, and used a nice tripod stand.

Just wanted to share my experience with my attempts using an external antenna.

Modem : UML290

Modem adapter cable from MaximumSignal.com

ZDAGP750 -15 -17 from ZDA Communications

I bought the ZDAGP750 from ZDA communications. My first concern was whether I had the feed horn orientated properly(assembled in pic above) . They give no instructions with the antenna and when you contact them they give you instructions from L-com website. I was unsure because the feed horn didn't look like any I've seen on other parabolic grid antennas. So, I just winged it and assumed it followed the same rules and followed the direction of the "ribs" of the antenna.

Anyways.... something in the connection from the antenna to the modem is not working.

Long story short, I spent hours aiming the antenna with no discernable difference in signal strength or SINR. Anytime I thought I had something it would jump back to -80, or the SINR would go negative. The kicker is once when I disconnected the external antenna the signal strength still remained at around -75 to -80 and jumpy SINR & same range of speeds.....so that is when I assumed it wasn't me pointing the antenna, but the antenna was doing zilch.

I even tried pointing the antenna at a hill, or opposite direction of the tower, and it still was in the same range of signal strength.

The speeds from the modem itself is still a respectable 5 to 9 down and .5 to 3 up. But obviously I was looking for maximum output with the antenna, specifically in regards to consistency in signal.

Maybe the pigtail is the problem, or the antenna itself, or the feedhorn(haven't tried switching it yet). Anyways, I'm in about 200 deep already, and not very enthusiastic about spending more money to try and trouble shoot this.

Thanks for reading.

Your antenna itself looks OK. The feed appears to be mounted correctly for vertical polarization. The feed looks a dipole (shorter element) with a reflector (longer element) to reflect most of the signal back to the grid.

What was your elevation during testing? I've only used a grid for WiFi, but my experience with LTE yagis is that it helps tremendously to get as high as possible. Ideally, line-of-sight to the tower, though I shoot through trees OK. If you're testing from the ground, I don't think it will work unless you happen to live on a hill.

@ dmc271
You are correct.

The problems I had in my last post were from testing on the ground, but the following test was done on the roof and had better results. On the roof I was able to get as low as -73 signal and really good SINR in the high teens. Without the antenna the SINR would drop off significantly, but the signal strength would still stay around -75 to -80. So, the antenna is doing a very good job with the SINR, but not as great with signal as some others have reported, but I could just need better aiming. Speeds on the roof were around 12-18 down and 5 up performed on a Saturday evening.

I am also pointing directly at trees, and almost "winging" my neighbor's house.

I will be mounting the antenna 30' from ground level(hopefully this weekend)....on a tree, no less. That will probably get me around 5' -10' higher than I had on my roof.

I am still questioning using an amp, but I will have to see how everything works once when the antenna is up. Also, are there any tools I can use to get the best aim at the tower as possible? I just winged it on the roof, with a basic sense of direction using google maps.

I will measure the elements when I get home.

Thanks for the replies. I will keep updating the thread with my results.

Higher is better, a 100% clear line of sight to the tower is best.

Glad to hear you got it working!

I've experienced the same as you. The SINR is more affected by the antenna than the signal strength. But, SINR also seems to be a better indicator of speed than RSSI. A SINR in the upper teens is good.

Regarding aiming, I use Google maps and a compass to get the general direction (actually a compass app on my phone), and then fine-tune from there with small rotations and checking the signal levels. I also run speed tests occasionally as a sanity check. The aiming process is a bit frustrating due to inevitable small fluctuations, but eventually you should be able to find a sweet spot direction-wise.

I've also found diminishing returns after a certain height. I use an extendable 10' mast mounted on a tripod stand on my roof. During my last tests, I didn't see any gains by going 10' vs. 5'. I'm interested in hearing your results of mounting on a tree. I'm tempted to try and go higher again.