Mofi 4500, strange yagi antenna results

[blakesgst]

Hi Guys, new to the forums and hope I'm posting in the correct spot. Recently I decided to go on a long road trip and am using nomad internet with a mofi 4500. With the standard Mofi antennas I was able to get 10mbs down and 2mbs up out in the sticks which was acceptable but I figured i'd try to get more and ordered a couple of wilson 50ohm directional antennas. Since connecting them I've been getting weird results and am hoping someone can help. I've tried several combinations of wilson/mofi antennas connected to the primary and secondary antenna ports and this is roughly what I'm getting.....

2 standard Mofi antennas - 10mbs down, 2 mbs up
2 standard mofi antennas with a janky home made carboard/foil reflector - 10-14mbs down, 7mbs up
1 standard mofi antenna connected to the primary port, 1 wilson connected to the secondary port - 10mbs down 6mbs up
2 wilson antennas connected, primary and secondary - 30+mbs down and .5 or maybe 1mbs up

Am i doing something wrong using both wilson antennas? The download speed is great but the upload speed plumets so bad I'm struggling. Why is the home made foil reflector with the standard antennas the most balanced/stable? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

[MattB29]

You need to look to see what bands (even towers might be changing) you are connecting to and also if you have carrier aggregation. That said there is many funny things that happen with signals from various antenna setups. Things like cables, connectors, distance run from antenna to modem and black magic all seem to affect what you will get.

I recently changed my antenna setup that was consistently connecting to Band 12 (AT&T)no carrier aggregation to a MIMO flat panel antenna that gives me Band 2 and Band 66 with CA. It took my D/L speed to over 60MBS down at times but my upload is at max only 3-4MBS often dropping to less than 1MBS. While it was always 5-7MBS for U/L on Band 12. The D/L on Band 12 was only at peak about 12MBS and often about 3MBS.

Try things until you are happy is about all I can suggest.

[Didneywhorl]

Is your Wilson antenna and cabling 50 Ohm or 75 Ohm?

[blakesgst]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions guys. Sorry for the late response back as I have been out of town.

I spent a day last week scanning bands, locking on to each one individually and testing using the mofi interface. After several hours of testing and retesting I found that band 2 gave the most consistent results. I was also able to locate exactly what tower Im connecting to. It's still not any better than when I had it on auto. This evening I played around with antennas again and am seeing the same results.....

Standard antenna primary with aluminum foil reflector, wilson secondary 20mbs download , 4mbs upload (best results)

Wilson antenna primary and secondary, 20 mbs download, .2(point 2, not 2) mbs upload worst results

Standard antenna primary and secondary, 16 mbs download, 4 mbs upload

etc etc

My wilson antennas are 50 ohm. I just really expected to see a gain using BOTH wilson antennas. I certainly didn't expect the standard mofi antenna in the primary slot to give the best results AND I deffinitely didnt expect to see both wilson antennas give me horrid upload results.

Any other suggestions or things I should try, a different antenna perhaps? Here is a link to the antennas and cables I purchased....

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J1 ... UTF8&psc=1

Not sure what antenna that link is going to show since there are multiple options but I purchased 2 of the 4g wideband diretional antennas.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J6 ... UTF8&psc=1

Thanks again,

Blake

[Dr-BroadBand]

The LMR-400 cable is LOW loss, it's not NO loss.
May be why the MoFi is doing a better job with it's little antennas.

A better design would to have no cable or very short cable in your set.

Would be helpful if you shared your signal numbers

[Dr-BroadBand]

Here is an example of an PoE setup with very short cables

[gscheb]

The LMR-400 cable is LOW loss, it's not NO loss.
May be why the MoFi is doing a better job with it's little antennas.

A better design would to have no cable or very short cable in your set.

Would be helpful if you shared your signal numbers

Don't think he has LMR400. The link shows RG58

[Dr-BroadBand]

Good catch

"Houston we have a problem"

[gscheb]

spent a day last week scanning bands, locking on to each one individually and testing using the mofi interface. After several hours of testing and retesting I found that band 2 gave the most consistent results. I was also able to locate exactly what tower Im connecting to. It's still not any better than when I had it on auto. This evening I played around with antennas again and am seeing the same results.....

Standard antenna primary with aluminum foil reflector, wilson secondary 20mbs download , 4mbs upload (best results)

Wilson antenna primary and secondary, 20 mbs download, .2(point 2, not 2) mbs upload worst results

Standard antenna primary and secondary, 16 mbs download, 4 mbs upload

My wilson antennas are 50 ohm. I just really expected to see a gain using BOTH wilson antennas. I certainly didn't expect the standard mofi antenna in the primary slot to give the best results AND I deffinitely didnt expect to see both wilson antennas give me horrid upload results.

Any other suggestions or things I should try, a different antenna perhaps? Here is a link to the antennas and cables I purchased....

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J1 ... UTF8&psc=1

Not sure what antenna that link is going to show since there are multiple options but I purchased 2 of the 4g wideband diretional antennas.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J6 ... UTF8&psc=1

Hello,
How long are those wires? Are they 25 foot ones?
Also just for fun try swapping which antenna lead goes into the main on the modem. Allot of times one antenna can have better signal than the the other. When you are in a fringe area 1-3 Dbi can make a difference.

[blakesgst]

Morning guys,

I forgot to mention I have tried swapping all the antennas per side and per cable each time with the same results. So are my cables an issue and if so, what do I need to get?

Thanks,

Blake

[Didneywhorl]

You need cables that are rated at 50 Ohm. Typically LMR200 is ok up to 20'; I prefer no more than 10'. LMR400 cables are decent up to 50'. BUT the shorter the better. I would buy LMR400 cables for 5 feet to be honest.

thewirelesshaven.com has cables, and can get custom cables made for you as well. Made in the US cables for the custom ones.

https://thewirelesshaven.com/product-category/cab ... enna-coax/

[blakesgst]

Update, out of boredom i put the router on my roof with the standard antennas and my reflector, ran a 20 ft ethernet cable to my pc. Best results by far 35mbs down and 5 mbs up. So am i getting some major loss through my cables?

Blake

[Dr-BroadBand]

Now you are cooking. Way to GO!!

Faster is always better but with 35/5 you can netflix and zoom call.

See YouTube
https://youtu.be/EJY1tvzSuSw

[gscheb]

Update, out of boredom i put the router on my roof with the standard antennas and my reflector, ran a 20 ft ethernet cable to my pc. Best results by far 35mbs down and 5 mbs up. So am i getting some major loss through my cables?

You need to look at your signal strength and quality.
Look it on the roof if you still can.
Then look at it with the antennas.
Also make sure you are on the same bands when comparing these signals.
Post these things on here to get more help.

[blakesgst]

You need to look at your signal strength and quality.
Look it on the roof if you still can.
Then look at it with the antennas.
Also make sure you are on the same bands when comparing these signals.
Post these things on here to get more help.

Im locked into band 2 so it wont change on me, I've double checked a couple times to make sure. My signal currently...

Operational Mode: FDD LTE (LTE BAND 2)
Registered on Network: YES
CSQ: 16
Signal Strength: 51%
RSSI: -81 dBm
ECIO: -10 (RSRQ) dB
RSRP: -110 (RSRP) dBm

It's odd that the strenth is higher with the wilson antennas, 70% and 100 dbm, but my mbs goes down?

Blake

[Dr-BroadBand]

Well said gscheb!

Speed testing eats a lot of data also can change depending on time of day.
Also the speed test can connect to a different server each time you run the test.
Giving very different results!! I have seen 30Mbps on test then 15Mbps, 5 min later.

Working with antenna setups is an art form. Go slow and take good notes.

[blakesgst]

Well said gscheb!

Speed testing eats a lot of data also can change depending on time of day.
Also the speed test can connect to a different server each time you run the test.
Giving very different results!! I have seen 30Mbps on test then 15Mbps, 5 min later.

Working with antenna setups is an art form. Go slow and take good notes.

Ive been making sure to stick with the same server while speedtesting and have been trying to do my testing in a short period of time to keep some consistency. Also here is a band scan I just did in case there are any suggestions in that department....

Band: B2 (Bandwidth 15 MHz Down | 15 MHz Up) Signal: -110 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 09 (9) LAC: 2F8E (12174) (310260)
Band: B4 (Bandwidth 20 MHz Down | 20 MHz Up) Signal: -112 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 03 (3) LAC: 2F8E (12174) (310260)
Band: B5(*) (Bandwidth 10 MHz Down | 10 MHz Up) Signal: -115 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 1D (29) LAC: 3606 (13830) (311480)
Band: B12 (Bandwidth 5 MHz Down | 5 MHz Up) Signal: -101 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 06 (6) LAC: 2F8E (12174) (310260)
Band: B13(*) (Bandwidth 10 MHz Down | 10 MHz Up) Signal: -110 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 02 (2) LAC: 3606 (13830) (311480)
Band: B14(*) (Bandwidth 10 MHz Down | 10 MHz Up) Signal: -107 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: B0 (176) LAC: 830C (33548) (310410)
Band: B66 (Bandwidth 20 MHz Down | 20 MHz Up) Signal: -113 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 03 (3) LAC: 2F8E (12174) (310260)
Band: B71 (Bandwidth 10 MHz Down | 10 MHz Up) Signal: -105 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 3F (63) LAC: 2F8E (12174) (310260)

Blake

[Dr-BroadBand]

What is the distance to the tower?

Could bring the modem to the tower for a test of signal and data speed test.
This would set a baseline of what a perfect antenna setup could do.

[gscheb]

Im locked into band 2 so it wont change on me, I've double checked a couple times to make sure. My signal currently...

Operational Mode: FDD LTE (LTE BAND 2)
Registered on Network: YES
CSQ: 16
Signal Strength: 51%
RSSI: -81 dBm
ECIO: -10 (RSRQ) dB
RSRP: -110 (RSRP) dBm

It's odd that the strenth is higher with the wilson antennas, 70% and 100 dbm, but my mbs goes down?

Blake

Need this exact stats with roof and antennas in same post. Yes you said you have stronger signal but did you quality go bad?

[blakesgst]

Need this exact stats with roof and antennas in same post. Yes you said you have stronger signal but did you quality go bad?

That post above is with the router on the roof with standard antennas. Ill do a couple more tests tomorrow with different antenna setups and post results. And, yes stronger signal with the wilsons but the quality was bad.

Thanks,

Blake

[gscheb]

That post above is with the router on the roof with standard antennas. Ill do a couple more tests tomorrow with different antenna setups and post results. And, yes stronger signal with the wilsons but the quality was bad.

Ok
That very well could be the issue then. How are these antennas set up relative to one another?

[mtl26637]

Ive been making sure to stick with the same server while speedtesting and have been trying to do my testing in a short period of time to keep some consistency. Also here is a band scan I just did in case there are any suggestions in that department....

Band: B2 (Bandwidth 15 MHz Down | 15 MHz Up) Signal: -110 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 09 (9) LAC: 2F8E (12174) (310260)
Band: B4 (Bandwidth 20 MHz Down | 20 MHz Up) Signal: -112 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 03 (3) LAC: 2F8E (12174) (310260)
Band: B5(*) (Bandwidth 10 MHz Down | 10 MHz Up) Signal: -115 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 1D (29) LAC: 3606 (13830) (311480)
Band: B12 (Bandwidth 5 MHz Down | 5 MHz Up) Signal: -101 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 06 (6) LAC: 2F8E (12174) (310260)
Band: B13(*) (Bandwidth 10 MHz Down | 10 MHz Up) Signal: -110 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 02 (2) LAC: 3606 (13830) (311480)
Band: B14(*) (Bandwidth 10 MHz Down | 10 MHz Up) Signal: -107 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: B0 (176) LAC: 830C (33548) (310410)
Band: B66 (Bandwidth 20 MHz Down | 20 MHz Up) Signal: -113 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 03 (3) LAC: 2F8E (12174) (310260)
Band: B71 (Bandwidth 10 MHz Down | 10 MHz Up) Signal: -105 (RSRP) (dBm) Cell ID: 3F (63) LAC: 2F8E (12174) (310260)

Blake

Looks like you are picking up quite a few different towers based on your "LAC". Pretty strange to see 4 different locations, well for me at least. Your "RSRP" levels aren't that great at all, especially having access to 4 different sites? I have a handfull of setups here at the house, some ~30' in the air and some in the window and all of my RSRP values are under 100. It looks like there may be problems with the antennas/cables depending on your distance to the towers and potential foilage issues. If possible, i'd due away with any lengthy cable runs and try to mount the modem/router within a couple feet of antennas. This takes cable loss out of the equation.