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Question of the Day: Which is the most hair-raising South African mountain pass you've driven?
Antenna installation and alignment
- Thread starter Azimuth
- Start date
)Teejaybee
Well-Known Member
Post edited......pic's added - with a lot of help from some kind forum member's. I do have pic's of my speedtest results but havn't loaded those. Before anyone asks "why are you quoting RSSI" - it's because the Poynting guys recon it plays a role.
HUAWEI B593S – 601 ROUTER AND POYNTING ANTENNA TEST RESULTS
Test 1 – Router with the 2 “ice-cream” antenna’s that come with it:
LTE signal with 1 bar
RSSI -83.0
RSRP -112.0
Download Speed: 10986 kbps (1373.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 241 kbps (30.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 77 ms
19/7/2014 12:39:48
Test 2 – Router with 1 “ice-cream” antenna and 1 externally mounted Poynting LPDA-0092 antenna pointing to Telkom tower with clear line of sight (LOS):
LTE signal with 4 bars
RSSI -58.0
RSRP -84.0
Last Result:
Download Speed: 14722 kbps (1840.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 6991 kbps (873.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 42 ms
19/7/2014 12:54:24
Test 3 – Router with 2 externally mounted Poynting LPDA-0092 antenna’s (1 horizontal & 1 vertical) (with standard 7m cable) pointing to Telkom tower with clear line of sight (LOS):
LTE signal with 5 bars
RSSI -45.0
RSRP -72.0
Download Speed: 11014 kbps (1376.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 6718 kbps (839.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 43 ms
21/7/2014 16:12:43
Test 4 – Router with 2 externally mounted Poynting LPDA-0092 antenna’s (1 horizontal & 1 vertical) (with standard 7m cable + 5m extension cable on each line) pointing to Telkom tower with clear line of sight (LOS):
Distance to "30 meg pipe" tower = 0.86 km’s (this is the tower I connect to)
Distance to "100 meg pipe" tower = 0.54 km's
LTE signal with 5 bars
RSSI -48.0
RSRP -74.0
Last Result:
Download Speed: 13919 kbps (1739.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 6624 kbps (828 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 42 ms
22/7/2014 13:31:15
General:
1. My router is set to external antenna's and forced to 4G.
2. Poynting suggested I turn my antenna's slightly away from the tower (because I'm so close to the tower - they thought it may help to not point directly at the tower) - this made no difference.
3. I tried swopping the cables where they connect to the router - made no difference to RSRI or speed.
4. My antenna's are perfectly aligned - installation is sound.
5. When I was on the roof I could see the other Telkom tower (the one with the 100 meg pipe) but there is a huge tree directly in my path. I turned my antenna towards that tower but then I only had 1 bar LTE. Mmmm...now to convince the Trustees to cut that tree down - it's huge. Further discussions on this forum indicate that my router may still have been connected to the original tower and was perhaps not recognising that I had turned my antenna 180 degrees.
6. The Telkom tower I connect to now is apparently a "30 meg pipe" tower.
7. I pestered Telkom for an answer as to when this tower will be upgraded - they responded today to say - it is not on the radar for an upgrade.
8. I went to Poynting and asked whether I would get better results with other antenna's - they were of the opinion that I wouldn't. They also said that people in Durbanville (about 15 km's from me) are getting 75 Mbs download speeds - according to them it all depends on the tower you connect to.
So that's it - sorry I can't load pic's (I don't have the "upload file" function). Pic's posted on photobucket - see my other post a bit further down. Post edited - pic's added now.
Hope this is of use to some folk out there.
At the end of the day I think one can do whatever you like but your download/upload speeds are largely determined by the capacity of the ISP's tower.
Pic of installation standing on the roof. I had to use the existing TV antenna that was there but I replaced the aluminium pole with a longer steel galvanised 38mm pole to withstand strong winds (I was informed that the combined weight of 2 LPDA-0092's may bend an aluminium pole in strong winds).
This is the tower I connect to. It's on top of a 7 story block of flats which is 0.86km from me. There are Vodacom, MTN, Telkom etc towers there. This is the "30 meg pipe" (low capacity) tower that Telkom informed me about. This tower is to the West of me.
Another view of the same tower - I think the one "tower" on the far right is the Telkom one.
This is a view from the roof of the other tower (the "100 meg pipe" tower as advised by Telkom). Note - to see this tower I walked along the roof for about 20 m to the right. This tower is to the East of me (180 degrees from where my antenna points to the West). Ignore the very tall tower on the left - that plays no role - look at the building with the towers on it.
Another view of the same tower - the tree on the left - my antenna is directly behind that tree and when viewed from the antenna one cannot see the building at all.
A view of the installation from the ground.
Another view of the installation from the ground showing the alignment of the two antenna's.
5 bars LTE.....whoopee - ha ha.
HUAWEI B593S – 601 ROUTER AND POYNTING ANTENNA TEST RESULTS
Test 1 – Router with the 2 “ice-cream” antenna’s that come with it:
LTE signal with 1 bar
RSSI -83.0
RSRP -112.0
Download Speed: 10986 kbps (1373.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 241 kbps (30.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 77 ms
19/7/2014 12:39:48
Test 2 – Router with 1 “ice-cream” antenna and 1 externally mounted Poynting LPDA-0092 antenna pointing to Telkom tower with clear line of sight (LOS):
LTE signal with 4 bars
RSSI -58.0
RSRP -84.0
Last Result:
Download Speed: 14722 kbps (1840.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 6991 kbps (873.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 42 ms
19/7/2014 12:54:24
Test 3 – Router with 2 externally mounted Poynting LPDA-0092 antenna’s (1 horizontal & 1 vertical) (with standard 7m cable) pointing to Telkom tower with clear line of sight (LOS):
LTE signal with 5 bars
RSSI -45.0
RSRP -72.0
Download Speed: 11014 kbps (1376.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 6718 kbps (839.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 43 ms
21/7/2014 16:12:43
Test 4 – Router with 2 externally mounted Poynting LPDA-0092 antenna’s (1 horizontal & 1 vertical) (with standard 7m cable + 5m extension cable on each line) pointing to Telkom tower with clear line of sight (LOS):
Distance to "30 meg pipe" tower = 0.86 km’s (this is the tower I connect to)
Distance to "100 meg pipe" tower = 0.54 km's
LTE signal with 5 bars
RSSI -48.0
RSRP -74.0
Last Result:
Download Speed: 13919 kbps (1739.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 6624 kbps (828 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 42 ms
22/7/2014 13:31:15
General:
1. My router is set to external antenna's and forced to 4G.
2. Poynting suggested I turn my antenna's slightly away from the tower (because I'm so close to the tower - they thought it may help to not point directly at the tower) - this made no difference.
3. I tried swopping the cables where they connect to the router - made no difference to RSRI or speed.
4. My antenna's are perfectly aligned - installation is sound.
5. When I was on the roof I could see the other Telkom tower (the one with the 100 meg pipe) but there is a huge tree directly in my path. I turned my antenna towards that tower but then I only had 1 bar LTE. Mmmm...now to convince the Trustees to cut that tree down - it's huge. Further discussions on this forum indicate that my router may still have been connected to the original tower and was perhaps not recognising that I had turned my antenna 180 degrees.
6. The Telkom tower I connect to now is apparently a "30 meg pipe" tower.
7. I pestered Telkom for an answer as to when this tower will be upgraded - they responded today to say - it is not on the radar for an upgrade.
8. I went to Poynting and asked whether I would get better results with other antenna's - they were of the opinion that I wouldn't. They also said that people in Durbanville (about 15 km's from me) are getting 75 Mbs download speeds - according to them it all depends on the tower you connect to.
So that's it - sorry I can't load pic's (I don't have the "upload file" function). Pic's posted on photobucket - see my other post a bit further down. Post edited - pic's added now.
Hope this is of use to some folk out there.
At the end of the day I think one can do whatever you like but your download/upload speeds are largely determined by the capacity of the ISP's tower.
Pic of installation standing on the roof. I had to use the existing TV antenna that was there but I replaced the aluminium pole with a longer steel galvanised 38mm pole to withstand strong winds (I was informed that the combined weight of 2 LPDA-0092's may bend an aluminium pole in strong winds).
This is the tower I connect to. It's on top of a 7 story block of flats which is 0.86km from me. There are Vodacom, MTN, Telkom etc towers there. This is the "30 meg pipe" (low capacity) tower that Telkom informed me about. This tower is to the West of me.
Another view of the same tower - I think the one "tower" on the far right is the Telkom one.
This is a view from the roof of the other tower (the "100 meg pipe" tower as advised by Telkom). Note - to see this tower I walked along the roof for about 20 m to the right. This tower is to the East of me (180 degrees from where my antenna points to the West). Ignore the very tall tower on the left - that plays no role - look at the building with the towers on it.
Another view of the same tower - the tree on the left - my antenna is directly behind that tree and when viewed from the antenna one cannot see the building at all.
A view of the installation from the ground.
Another view of the installation from the ground showing the alignment of the two antenna's.
5 bars LTE.....whoopee - ha ha.
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jcheek
Expert Member
Not a big loss ? It's a minor disaster ... !? :wtf:
When browsing as a visitor (ie not logged in), I can see the inline pics fine .. ? :wtf:
Maybe Tapatalk handles that aspect differently, too ?
Sounds like a good case for a Mod to override the default account limitations. Dunno if that's feasible ?
Maybe Ginggs can help ?
Or - worst case - PM followed by email to a fellow MyBB poster ?
Teejaybee
Well-Known Member
http://s885.photobucket.com/user/Pu...i B593s-601 router installation?sort=3&page=1
Let me know if you can see the pic's ?
Click on each pic to see "description".
Let me know if you can see the pic's ?
Click on each pic to see "description".
jcheek
Expert Member
Still great feedback, with or without pics!
So, bottom line : with RSRP=-74dB (approx) - which is a HUMUNGUS signal - you get between 10 and 15Mbps downlink speed. Disappointing, at least in comparative LTE terms. (Man, are we getting spoiled quickly - last month I had a marginal 3Mbps ADSL connection)
If a tree is really the ONLY thing in the way, then I'd be sorely tempted to spend some more time doing tests to that one too. Trees are virtually RF-transparent and might only present a problem when really wet.
The one other variable with the B593 is that you can never be sure which cell it's logged in to, ie which tower you're connecting to. When you make large adjustments to your antenna (ie swing from one tower location to another), the B593 should switch to the stronger signal, but it's hard to be sure and it could take a few minutes. Older B593 devices used to have a UI function to report which cell they were logged into (Cell_ID) but on the B593s-601 they dropped this feature.
One way to try and work around this is to manually force the B593 to disconnect and re-connect after you've made a large antenna adjustment. That should force it to reconnect to the tower with the strongest signal, which is hopefully the one you are now pointing at. Unfortunately there's no easy way to be certain.
Last suggestion : take a drive to both of those towers (if you haven't already) and make sure they are what you think they are ?
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GreGorGy
BULLSFAN
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Teejaybee
Well-Known Member
I know right....amazing how quickly we get spoilt - ha ha.
I gave it a good 15 mins after I tried to the connect to the "strong" tower - but I didn't disconnect and reconnect. I have driven to both towers - but I can't see anything outside - they are in secure blocks of flats (on their roofs). These two towers were confirmed to me by Telkom though - I have a Google map which they sent me - and it is definitely these two towers.
Thanks for your comments!
Teejaybee
Well-Known Member
Thanks for posting pics - one misses the titles to the pics like this though - but you get the idea
GreGorGy
BULLSFAN
Thanks for posting pics - one misses the titles to the pics like this though - but you get the idea
Now with titles. Crazy mofo climbing on the roof - or maybe I am too old for such acrobatics.
Haha - I'm used to using external hosting sites but can understand the schlep for newbies.
I'm also fed up with seeing broken images all over the place as the forum attachment uploads seem unreliable. Also, if you attempt to reuse them it's 50/50.
Case in point
Really? It doesn't show "attachment 97865" and when you click on it, it requests you to login?
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jcheek
Expert Member
We see 'em ! And thanks GreGorGy for relaying.
While I see your "30Mbps pipe" base station clearly, I'm not 100% sure I'm seeing your "100Mbps pipe" base station correctly. I assume it's the one in the centre red rectangle here, not the thin spire in the left rectangle (or anything else) ? And is the tree in the bottom left corner of the pic the one that's in your way ?
Could be that those "building-top" base stations are indeed a bit lightweight for serious comms.
Just for comparison, these are the kinds of base stations we're talking about up here in the Big Smoke :
Disappointing results aside, well done, by the way - I don't think those two LPDAs could've been aligned any better even with a laser !
For sure, this is exactly the issue. One can see that the rooftop tower is a much smaller installation.
Also notice that while he's 800m from the tower, his RSSI and RSRP don't reflect that...indicating a much lower power output than the big ground installations.
Agreed that this tree that's in the way of the 100Mbps cell tower can't be the only issue. It's not like it's a lead wall, or is it? How much signal would move around the tree?
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I had a chat to Poynting about how they go about with their commercial installations. Wilson Electronics in the US have their own brand device that they attach directly to the antenna, thereby getting RSSI/RSRP readings before running antenna cable and connecting the router. Seems we don't have that tech here, sadly. Edit: Poynting make use of the 3G Signal Analyser as part of their survey for 3G fallback, or for a primary 3G install.
Additionally the 3G signal analysers won't be updated with the LTE versions since the price rockets from R5,000 to R30,000.
As Poynting told TJB, RSSI goes hand in hand with RSRP. RSRP isn't going to exist without RSSI. There's also obvious correlation between the two so perhaps the 3G signal analyser still serves a purpose? I'm keen to get one.
Datasheet
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Yip I saw it on professional outdoor installation. Just make it quick.
Fragile cable: not sure what you mean. It is not fragile, but if you bend it below minimum radius, it will lose
uniform characteristics and degradate signal. Minimum radius is specified for each cable: thicker cable - bigger radius.
Teejaybee
Well-Known Member
You have it spot on - the 100meg pipe is the one in the red rectangle as drawn by you. No the tower in the long rectangle has nothing to do with it. Geez you guys are fortunate with those towers. In contrast - the tower I'm using now only has what looks like one of those Telkom "stations" on it. I would love to connect too this 100 meg pipe building. The position of the tree is misleading in the pic - I walked about 20 metres along the roof to the right to get that view. My antenna is directly behind that tree.
The alignment of the antennas - yes I took great care - thanks - the pic still shows a slight offset - but that's because of the bracket to mount the horizontal antenna - then it slightly "offsets" the vertical one simply by how they then mount slightly differently on the pole.
Teejaybee
Well-Known Member
When I'm on the roof and align myself with the antenna (turned towards the 100 meg pipe building) then I can't see that building AT ALL - the tree completely blocks it. I can only be that tree. Without that tree I have clear LOS. I'm working on getting teh body corporate to "trim" the tree (in fact - I'll do it myself)
'Hopefully', as modem remember the last successful connection and will try to register to the same tower on restart. Then after few seconds of background search it will send request for handover.
Teejaybee
Well-Known Member
I left it for a about 20 minutes - (it immediately went to 1 bar LTE but maybe that's because it was still thinking it is connected to it's original tower and getting poor signal from it) - but I didn't switch it off or disconnect the antenna's from it - I just rotated the antenna's on the pole 180 degrees (West to East - where the two opposing towers are). How do I "force" it - switch it off, disconnect antenna inputs and reconnect once antenna turned?
I'm going to stay tuned to the lower capacity tower until such time as I can trim that tree.
I don't know (not talking about tree). :-(
Switch to internal antenna's, switch back. Or change to 3G-only for 10 minutes, then switch to LTE back. Other devices have manual network search, do it, then return to automatic, it should re-evaluate signal condition.
Switch to internal antenna's, switch back. Or change to 3G-only for 10 minutes, then switch to LTE back. Other devices have manual network search, do it, then return to automatic, it should re-evaluate signal condition.
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