Hey all. Got a quandary. My family live in rural North Staffordshire, UK, on a property that gets next to no 4G (zero inside, very patchy outside). I spoke to ofcom about getting better broadband and they told me I had to try 4G because my area was supposedly a 4G area. They suggested I try an antenna.
So, I signed up with EE and got a hub. Also booked a TSG engineer. He turned up, did some signal checks and found faint signal to the south of the property, probably at a mast at a wood just outside the village of Longnor, Staffordshire.
He refused to install the antenna, saying it’d be pointless. We both discussed the idea of putting the hub in a waterproof box and setting it up 100m away, on a hill above the property where we get up to 10mbps. For context the farmhouse is in a valley. 100m away you get 4G at up to 10mbps on a smartphone. Meanwhile half a mile away at the top of the drive, you can get up to 20mbps. I ran an extension and put the hub 100m away and speeded tested the wifi on my phone and got reasonable speeds. If I could consistently get 3-8mbps I’d be over the moon since copper (our existent and only internet) affords us 2-3mbps.
Subsequent to this, I climbed up onto the roof and put the hub next to the TV aerial and ran a 20m ethernet into the house. Lo and behold it works and gets 2-6mbps. I then placed a bag on the hub to simulate a rain cover and speeds dropped. Still, I can download up to 800kbps which is a definite improvement on what I’ve been used to.
Questions; do I opt for the 100m ethernet (or longer), with the hub installed in a waterproof box up the drive. Or do I try to put the hub 3-6m above the house near the aerial and stick with the 20m ethernet. In other words what’s the trade off between worse signal and shorter ethernet vs better signal and longer ethernet. Also, are their particular materials that 4G struggles to penetrate if I house the hub in a waterproof container.
Secondly, was the antenna guy just being idle? He said the antenna needs line of sight and that the hub is my best bet in the circumstances as it receives signal more like a phone. He also said his antenna cables were only 5m and you can’t extend them (I’m suspicious of this). Is it worth my while privately buying an antenna and running say a 10m cable down from the antenna (placed approx. 6m above the roof)?
I can’t get fibre, I’m waiting on Musk’s Starlink, I’m, exploring bonding/combining two copper broadbands. This whole 4G thing is other iron in the fire.
What are people’s thoughts? Would love some advice on the technical side of things. Ethernet and antenna cables, antenna reception vs hub etc.
Just for further info, with the 4G hub stuck in a bag hanging off the TV aerial above the roof I just clocked 22mbps with an upload speed of 4mbps. Even with the inconsistency I've never experienced speeds remotely that high at this property so I'm keen to keep the service. I just need to optimise how... hub outside waterproofed or hub inside, connected to an antenna.
Having looked at the forum it seems the TSH wasn't being totally straight with me as their antennas are omnidirectional. Question is then, are they better/same as the hub itself it put outside in terms of 4G signal reception.
