Aerial for Huawei USB modem?

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Slak

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Hi

We've just located to a rural area near Mossel Bay. We have a strong GPRS signal in most parts of the house but a very weak signal in the office (aarrgghhh).

We're using an Option card and also a USB modem - the latter doesn't appear to have a jack for an aerial - how can we improve the signal to both cards?

Many thanks
Slak
 
Slak said:
Hi

We've just located to a rural area near Mossel Bay. We have a strong GPRS signal in most parts of the house but a very weak signal in the office (aarrgghhh).

We're using an Option card and also a USB modem - the latter doesn't appear to have a jack for an aerial - how can we improve the signal to both cards?

Many thanks
Slak
Click to expand...

Somewhere in the early days of Sentech somebody did the calc's to use a Caste tray and tin foil as a reflector.

It might help - if the frequencies are similar (I don't know anything about which frequencies where used).

Otherwise - any geek volunteers to provide the details for a home made GPRS/3G reflector aerial assistant? :D
 
Slak said:
Hi

We've just located to a rural area near Mossel Bay. We have a strong GPRS signal in most parts of the house but a very weak signal in the office (aarrgghhh).

We're using an Option card and also a USB modem - the latter doesn't appear to have a jack for an aerial - how can we improve the signal to both cards?

Many thanks
Slak
Click to expand...

For the Option card, install a high-gain external antenna. Makes a HUGE difference.

PM sevenworth on the forum, he's got some of them and I can get the local radio people to help you with installing, if needed.

The E220 does not come with an external antenna socket, according to Huawei the antenna is integrated into the USB cable.

Try a longer USB cable and see if it helps. Does sound fishy, I know, but I was in a similar situation with my E220 the other day and I took a meter+ USB cable and hung the modem from a picture on the wall, and went from no bars to 4!

Probably your best bet is to get a 3G router and plug your Option card into it. Install the external antenna and connect to the router with either Ethernet or WiFi (remember the security!!).

This way everyone in the office can use the HSDPA/3G/EDGE/GPRS. Use the E220 when you go out.
 
Slak said:
Hi

We've just located to a rural area near Mossel Bay. We have a strong GPRS signal in most parts of the house but a very weak signal in the office (aarrgghhh).

We're using an Option card and also a USB modem - the latter doesn't appear to have a jack for an aerial - how can we improve the signal to both cards?

Many thanks
Slak
Click to expand...
If it's the Huawei E220 HSDPA USB modem, then try using the slightly longer of the 2 USB cables - apparently Huawei have incorporated an external antenna effect into the USB cable itself...

<edit>Oops v3g has already posted the same thing and more :).</edit>

@v3g, does any USB 2 cable work as an antenna, or only the boxed USB cables that the E220 is supplied with?
 
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ic said:
@v3g, does any USB 2 cable work as an antenna, or only the boxed USB cables that the E220 is supplied with?
Click to expand...

I used a normal black USB cable and it seemed to have helped, so I don't think they're special (the Hauwei supplied ones), but they look cool!

The double USB connectors is for more power from V1 sockets, I suspect.
 
I'm in the cable industry, there is no difference in usb cables apart from the outer sheath. It's simply a 4 core overall mylar + drain + tinned-copper braided screen cable. I suspect that the drain and screen is being employed as the antenna; The conductors are simply too small to do the job.
 
sevenworth said:
I'm in the cable industry, there is no difference in usb cables apart from the outer sheath. It's simply a 4 core overall mylar + drain + tinned-copper braided screen cable. I suspect that the drain and screen is being employed as the antenna; The conductors are simply too small to do the job.
Click to expand...

It would have to be the screen, if it's one of the cores, it would get screened by definition! Don't think the size of the conductors would make a difference, rather the lenght.

I wonder if the USB cables that come with a choke would work?
 
vodacom3g said:
It would have to be the screen, if it's one of the cores, it would get screened by definition! Don't think the size of the conductors would make a difference, rather the lenght.

I wonder if the USB cables that come with a choke would work?
Click to expand...
v3g, by choke, do you mean one of those enclosed magnet thingies that strangles the cable at one end?
 
What would the optimal length be for such a USB cable to act as aerial?

I remember things like tuning aerials from my kiddy days with crystal radio :D

Same must apply to cellular radio waves.
 
Success!

Hi all

Thanks for the tips. We joined together whatever USB cables we could lay our hands on and the modem is now dangling from a stoep beam and is giving a 4 bar signal (up from a wishy-washy 1 1/2). And Sevenworth is supplying us with an external aerial so we're feeling much happier now!

Cheers
Slak
 
Slak said:
Hi all

Thanks for the tips. We joined together whatever USB cables we could lay our hands on and the modem is now dangling from a stoep beam and is giving a 4 bar signal (up from a wishy-washy 1 1/2). And Sevenworth is supplying us with an external aerial so we're feeling much happier now!

Cheers
Slak
Click to expand...

Cool, I'm still amazed the USB cable as antenna thing works......

Kaspaas, I tend to agree with you on the tuned-length thing, but maybe at these frequencies other rules applies....
 
Slak said:
Sevenworth is supplying us with an external aerial so we're feeling much happier now!
Click to expand...

Sevenworth have been extremely helpful and seems to be able to find anything you require!

I phoned him Saturday evening at 10pm to ask for help (got a call from a subscriber who had a crises) and by Sunday morning he actually had the units in question manufactured and by 10am Sunday morning the sub was sorted!

I was completely bowled over!

If you need anything electronic, be sure to check with Sevenworth.
 
Muchas Gracias .... Tekno-Gurus

Hi
I live in Spain and am trying to configure a Huawei E220 Usb modem.. running Ubuntu Dapper. My Spanish is limited (I am Irish)..and Spain can be a very complicated place... sort of third-world technology at times.. and I am a newbie to Linux. All of this makes my life (in technology) a bit trying. I am a Buddhist monk living in a the wilderness "off the grid" with solar panels, no fixed telephone line, no broadband, and no consistent supply of electricity.

So from the Spanish wilderness of Forums I eventually came across "myadsl" and now I feel much more optimistic. I have borderline 3G coverage in Windows (comes and goes) and the recent thread suggesting hope for improving the conection is very welcome. I am working very hard for liberation from Samsara and also from windows.

I don't know if the Vodafone configuration paramaters in SA are much different... I suspect not.

Anyways, I am still trying to establish the 3G conection within Linux and would appreciate any help.

I will keep following the threads and ask for some specific help.

Muchas Gracias

Daka
 
Daka,

The most help you're going to get re 3g in linux is from the Linux sticky.

Tazz_tux is extremely helpful when it comes to linux. as far as your 3g coverage is concerned, you will have to find help locally.
 
Yup, Sevenworth rocks!!

Here are some more details of our recent experiences with aerials, etc for other technically challenged forumites:

Regarding the Huawei modem - it seems that my patching together several USB cables was a fluke and that generally speaking the maximum length for a cable is 5m - from a USB FAQ:

"Q2: Why can't I use a cable longer than 3 or 5m?
A2: USB's electrical design doesn't allow it. When USB was designed, a decision was made to handle the propagation of electromagnetic fields on USB data lines in a way that limited the maximum length of a USB cable to something in the range of 4m. This method has a number of advantages and, since USB is intended for a desktop environment, the range limitations were deemed acceptable."

I had 3 cables of various lengths connected and it worked fine. I then decided to neaten things up, buy some new cables and fix them to the walls - and, natch, the PC could no longer speak to the modem ... After much fiddling I found a permutation that works (5m+3m+3m). However, it is apparently possible to boost the signal by using hubs:

"Q3: How far away from a PC can I put a USB device?
A3: With the maximum of 5 hubs connected with 5m cables and a 5m cable going to your full speed device, this will give you 30m of cable (see section 7.1.19 for details). With a low speed device, you will be able to get a range up to 27m, depending on how long the device's cable is.
With a straightforward cable route, you will probably be able to reach out 25m or so from the PC."

As regards the Option datacard, I am now using an 11dBi Poynting aerial - at the moment it's just lying on the stoep roof beams and I haven't spent much time trying to optimisise the direction or anything. Signal strength is up from a occasional 2 to a steady 3 bars, but most importantly I never lose the signal now and can again download music, stream radio programmes etc. Well worth the R800.

Cheers
Slak
PS Now Sevenworth, how do I improve my terrible radio reception?! :-)
 
Slak said:
PS Now Sevenworth, how do I improve my terrible radio reception?! :-)
Click to expand...

With such a lekker 3G signal, you should be streaming your radio!

Remember the RF is superimposed on top of the normal USB signals, so the USB rules will not apply to the RF and vice-versa. But you do need to stay in the USB spec for the connection side of the modem to work. Also, something like a USB hub will probably break the RF side.

I wonder if your cable experience is not a function of different types of cables, i.e. the ones that don't work might have RF filters in them.
 
It is possible to have an effective USB length > 5m; one just needs to have USB hubs at 5m intervals, the key is that the hubs need to have their own external power source.
 
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vodacom3g said:
With such a lekker 3G signal, you should be streaming your radio!
Click to expand...

HO - I can only dream about 3G!! Nee jong, this is definitely a GPRS-only zone, but at least I'm connected to the world (after 3 months Telkom still haven't found the farm, let alone put in a line, aaarrgghhhh).

Slak
 
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