Would external antenna increase upload speed on 4G router?

[Tony219]

I’ve recently moved to a rural location and signed up for a 4G router. I’m getting download speeds of around 30mbs which is tolerable but upload speeds of 3 to 4 mbs which is dismal.

Is this a reception issue or just a limitation of the system? 

If it’s reception would speeds be improved by an roof mounted external antenna? What type are most effective? Omni or directional? Does signal boosting make a difference? Is mimo important? The router has two antenna connections, are there versions with 4 and would that help? What brands are recommended? Is the EE antenna any good?

I’m new to all this and any advice would be a great help. Many thanks.

[Tony219]

Thanks. This takes me to the same "20 min" queue as Leanne's number above. I don't think there's any real prospect of talking to anyone from Ted support today.

[Leanne_T]

Hi @Tony219 

Thanks for coming back to us. 

Please try us again selecting mobile queries, when you have the chance and the team will certainly take a look into this for you. 

Leanne.

[bristolian]

A good test would be to try an EE phone in the same location, subject to hardware differences they use the same network signal.

Increasing antenna height will improve radio conditions - as to whether that improves your speed is something you may potentially only find out by trying. Speeds are largely dictated by the available spectrum on the sites you are connecting to - but improving the quality of the RX can never do any harm.

MIMO is widely used on EE's network.

[Tony219]

Thanks for this.

Yes I have wondered if RX is the limiting factor or if it's just inherent in the system.

Perhaps the question I should be asking is what upload speeds can be achieved via an EE 4G router in optimal conditions?

[JohnnySegway]

Improve your download speed, I also live in a rural area where fibre will probably never reach me! I also used an external aerial Poynting 4G-XPOL-A0002 (believe they are also good for 5G but that is about a distant dream as fibre!).

Work out where the masts are (the best might not necesarily be the nearest), mine is literally miles away, and point it directly at the mast ensuring you have all bars lit up on your router and fix it to your outside house wall with a nice chrome satellite bracket, drill a hole in your wall to connect cable to the router and silcone it back up.

Though, why are you concerned about slow upload speeds?

73 Mbps download

4.5 Mbps upload

[Tony219]

Thanks Johnny, that really useful advice. 

What upload speed da re you getting now you have the poynting antenna?

How do you know which  mast is “best”?

[JohnnySegway · Accepted solution]

Hi Tony,  upload is always about 5Mbps, download is always about 60 to 70 Mbps. Yes the aerial did improve it lots - you can buy from Amazon, as well as the bracket.

How did I know was best? There is a website with all the masts mapped so I had a good idea where they where (there's only 2 to choose from that are remotely near!) I also Google mapped them to check them out. Its best if there are no trees, houses etc in the way and point the aerial directly at it - how many bars have you on your router? All?

[Tony219]

Thanks that’s very interesting. So  your antenna is directional not omni?  That’s still a very slow upload speed though. 
I think I was getting two bars signal strength on the router last time I looked. Upload is important to me as I need to transfer hefty video files at fairly short notice. At my previous address I could upload at about 150mbs. 3 or 4 mbs is hopeless for me. 

[JohnnySegway]

ah okay, so that is an important factor. Its never certain with a antenna (yes mine is directional) and if you read some of the reviews you can talk yourself out of getting one, but I would say its worth a try - I'm sure it will help light up all the signal strength. 

[Tony219]

Assuming conditions are optimal, what is the highest upload speed that can be achieved with a EE 4G router?

What is the highest upload speed achieved by users in real world situations?