5gee router which antenna

[simonharryharri]

Can someone point me in the direction of the best Antenna for the 5gee router I got delivered today, EE tell me they don't sell one to go with it?!

[unseen]

I've been following this thread and was hopefully going to be adding that after TSG installed the antenna everything is great...  Well it "was"....  Then I moved the router not a foot to one side of the shelf it was on, not realising that the antenna cable was essentially resting on the shelf too so taking any strain.  Think you can see where this went!!

That is literally from the cable falling off the shelf, I heard a thump thought the router had fallen but the cable was on the floor with the remnants of SW2 still in the adaptor!!  Many expletives have been said and I've just spoken with Tech who say it'll need to go for repair (I got it in June..) with estimate being £40-200 for repair or if it's beyond repair "from" £140 to get a new one.

I have to agree with the comments on here that they are just too flimsy for "general" use.  Hell my only experience of these type of connectors has been wifi in laptops when it's literally connect once and it's protected by the rest of the laptop!  Assuming I get it repaired although the TSG chap was happy with the basic adapter I think I'll try and get some fly lead style would they be fine?

Thanks

[Bunchofkeys]

Hello, 

Can anyone recommend a supplier, that will be able to see 4 SMA to TS9 cables?
They need to be of the DC0-6GHz calibre though. 

In addition to that, they need to be the flex type, rather than just a converter, as the HDF400 cables are thick, and so cannot sit so close to each other. 

[EssexBoyEE]

Never used HDF400 cable but I'm guessing it's a copy of the original Times Microwave LMR400, used plenty of that stuff, My advise would be to use N Type Females on the end of the them then use a short Fly lead N Type Male to your choice of connector.

What is it you trying to achieve exactly.?

[S1GAR]

Just An update

So I have installed everything now with some really good results. First of all I pointed the aerial, poynting xpol-2-v3-5g, to the antenna that my phone connected to. This gave me a 4g signal and at this time on Friday morning gave me this result

 It was OK. Around 4 times what I was getting off the router with the internal antenna.

I took a note of the other 3 antennas servicing the area I am in. I pointed it to one that is furthest away and got this result 

 Which amazed me. I don't know if the signal strength is any good but I am happy with the speed. I will tweak it a bit more to see if I can fine tune it.

What was a surprise was its a 5G signal when on ee's website 5G isn't available here. It's only a 3 bar 5G but never the less still 5G. Postcode LL54 5TW.

Oh the only other thing I have done, which I am going to change today, is because the antenna is 2x2 I have put splitter cables on from sma to 2 ts9 into port 1&3 and 2&4.

I have read that people tend to use 1&2 for a 4G signal and 3&4 for 5G so I will be trying it out and will feed back.

I am learning at all this. 2 weeks ago I didn't have a clue. I will say this though. I have noticed that as the day goes on the speed reduces, probably as more people use the same mast, to around 50% of the upload speed only. Which is why I am testing the same time of day when making changes.

So this was the first mast

 X is my location.

This is the mast I am currently connected to

 So all is good and the kids are now happy 🤣🤦‍♂️

[EssexBoyEE]

@S1GAR Glad to see its all working out for you, keep up the fine tuning and keep us posted.

Looks like the Router is Report a 5G Signal for you, although you may only be using the 4G Side, its not unusual for a good equipped 4G Mast to give in excess of 100mbs or more DL on 4G Only with good signal.

Couple of pointers for you, the Router is Reporting 5G, but the Signal Info is probably only relative to 4G so bear that in mind, the Signal info to watch is the RSRP which is -104dbm (reasonable but could be better) because this is a Negative Value then a lower number is better, ie, -99dbm is a better Signal than -104dbm (+5db more), the B3+B3 reports you are using CA (Carrier Aggregation) and you are using Cell ID 436899 which calculates at enbid 16941 which is what you have confirmed, so to recap you logged into 16941 Sector 3 North East and are using 1800mhz+1800Mhz CA (4G+).

Also worth pointing out that that site probably isnt providing 5G your 5G Signal is coming from another Site so now you have the fun and games of moving your Antenna around to pick the best 4G and or 5G Signals vs Speed, bearing in mind that the Router only seems to be reporting 4G Signal Info and the 5G you have to work out yourself using the Routers 5G Status and potential 5G Speed.

As said before Ive never played around with these new EE Routers so the Antenna Port info is still a bit vague, your just have to experiment with it all, there is an App Called Zyxel Air on the Store might be worth trying that and see if you can acquire more info from the Router if it will connect.

[unseen]

Unfortunately the zyxel air app just refuses to see the new 5g router.  EE seem to have done a very good job of locking it down, which is annoying when you want to just get the right stats!

Update on my router: DPD picked it up (so god knows if it will get there!) Just waiting to hear how much the repair will be.  Still fuming about it but it's happened and I'll be using flexible tails on it when it comes back not the short adapter which I had.

[wcavanagh]

Hi All,

Interesting topic, I am also using the same router with a 2x2 antenna, and have just ordered the 4x4 discussed to see if I can get a bit more speed.  At the moment I am seeing 100Mb with the 5G-XPOL-A0002-10m Poynting Directional antenna.  I was thinking maybe adding a 2nd one, or would I be best getting the 4x4 discussed here?  I am fairly rural so directional is a must, as tech I dont have 5G in the area.

Also how do I find what mast I am connected to?

Network name:EE
Network type:5G
RSRP:-113 dBm
RSSI:-102 dBm
Band:B3+B1
Cell ID:845491

Cheers,

Will

[EssexBoyEE]

If you dont have 5G in your Area, Im not totally convinced that a Full Band 4x4 Mimo Antenna is going to help you on 4G Only, as looking at some of the Results posted up in this thread my gut feeling in that 2 of these ports could be for Band n78 Only over the other 2 Ports, but I could be wrong.

Looking at your Signal Quality (RSRP:-113 dBm) its workable but not brilliant, but you already known this as you are saying your not in a good coverage Area, you are picking up 4g+ (CA on B3 and B1) so thats a bonus, confusingly the Signal Stats are reporting a 5G Signal Layer (doesnt mean your connected to 5G though), so how far away is 5G on the EE Coverage Map ?

Sadly the EE Firmware on these Zyxel Routers seem to lock down a lot of useful information, one of them is the Cell Mast info which is in Ref to eNBID, so without an eNBID Ref Number your going to struggle with finding Sites, The CELL ID is a Mast Sector info which isnt really go to help you given the lack of Status Page info. I did try a Convert the CELL ID but there seems to an issue with it, its either wrong or a typo or its got a digit missing.

Without given away your address on a Public Forum, can you provide a rough location of where you are, or you can PM me in Private your Post Code if you wish, this info would help with your surrounding EE Sites.

This what I would do in your shoes, you need to see if you can improve your Signal in conjunction with your Directional Antenna, so in order to achieve a better Signal than RSRP:-113 dBm (its a negative value, so ie, -107dbm is better than -113 dBm, same goes for the RSSI but the RSRP is the one to watch), 

With the Antenna in Ports 1 and 2, do a slow staged 360 degree of the Antenna, stopping say every 15 Degree Steps (you can fine tune it later), at every stop leave it for at least a couple of minuets, in order for the RSRP value to re calculate, make a not of the Signal info to include, -

Network type:
RSRP:
RSSI:
Band:
Cell ID:

Whist there switch the Antenna to Internal and Note the same before switching back to Esternal to the Next Direction, do the occasional speed Test if or when the Results vary.

Do all of the the Above but with The Antenna in Ports 3 and 4.

Post up All relevant Info.

[wcavanagh]

Thank you for the awesome reply, I will send you a PM with my location, no issues.

I should add the EE map says no 5G but my devices are finding it.

That is weird, I have been getting 4G+ for a while now, noticed the other day 5G on my iPhone, and done a quick speed test, 230Mb Down, so that is why I am now exploring.  I have done what you said the other day, and did manage to get down to -99dB at some point.  The 5G-XPOL-A0002-10m Poynting is very tricky lol.

I was hoping that with a nice 4x4 I might have a chance of the 200Mb 

With my testing the other day, I found I got best speeds out of port 1 and 2 and when using 3 and 4 although everything showed connected I was unable to get internet access.  I will do more detailed tests on Wednesday when I got the time as need to climb the roof, etc 🙂

Off to send you a PM now, as the data I put up is a copy and paste so nothing missing that I can see.

[unseen]

You might want to try a cable in port 4 and port 2, they were the ones the TSG installer used and gave me the best signal.  The way they are labelled is port 1 is the one closest to the int/ext switch with port 4 being at the top.  Please if you haven't already get some flylead ts9 to sma and maybe find a way to stop the damn antenna cable dropping and putting all the weight on the painfully fragile ports!  The pictures I posted above are the result of the antenna cable dropping!

I am still dealing with EE on this one, I can see a storm brewing as the shop (where I purchased) are being less than helpful where as tech support over the phone are trying to help.  More to follow on that debacle.