External aerial for Neotel

ting said:
Yes the calls and data work on the same frequency; so like you said the Yagi would be perfect for the job.
Click to expand...

Cool I'll swing by the Wynburg Branch one afternoon when its not raining and people are crazy.
 
Just ordered the YAgi now, will collect this afternoon.
I'll take some pics of unpacking and installing and do some speed tests before and after.
 
PeteGT said:
Just ordered the YAgi now, will collect this afternoon.
I'll take some pics of unpacking and installing and do some speed tests before and after.
Click to expand...

Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI). The lower your RSSI the better your signal strength.

To check this type *#2368*#07# on your Neotel phone (gives you access to the devices settings, be careful not to reset your phone through this utility) page down to RSSI and press select to see the RSSI value and then press back. It is important to determine where your signal is coming from by checking Neotels coverage in most cases it will be the base station closest to you but does not have to be the case. Zoom out till you see 3 dark orange sections closest to your current location, it looks like a 3 leave clover, this is the base station.

Try and position your antenna to face in that direction of the base station first by moving it 10 degrees as a time, move away from the antenna so to not interfere with the signal, wait a 1 minute (no less), then check your RSSI on the Neotel phone as mentioned above, repeat this process 'till you find the sweet spot with the lowest RSSI. Record the RSSI value and the direction of the antenna on a piece of paper to make it easier to place the antenna in this position if it is the lowest RSSI.

Once you tested the entire angles, place the antenna in the position that gave you the lowest RSSI. Do one final RSSI test on the phone to ensure you are still getting the lowest RSSI value as you might have moved the antenna while tightening the bolts. It will be beneficial to place the antenna where you have a full 360 degree range to determine the best possible angle and RSSI value.

After a few hours of testing your new RSSI, you can fine tune the antenna even further by turning the antenna 1 or 2 degrees at a time and by facing the antenna slightly vertically or horizontally to find an even better RSSI value. This process does take sometime but is very well worth the effort.

This antenna is excellent for Neotel phones as was seen from previous results and better if you are in the Neotel coverage zone.

Let me know how it went!
 
ting said:
Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI). The lower your RSSI the better your signal strength.

To check this type *#2368*#07# on your Neotel phone (gives you access to the devices settings, be careful not to reset your phone through this utility) page down to RSSI and press select to see the RSSI value and then press back. It is important to determine where your signal is coming from by checking Neotels coverage in most cases it will be the base station closest to you but does not have to be the case. Zoom out till you see 3 dark orange sections closest to your current location, it looks like a 3 leave clover, this is the base station.

Try and position your antenna to face in that direction of the base station first by moving it 10 degrees as a time, move away from the antenna so to not interfere with the signal, wait a 1 minute (no less), then check your RSSI on the Neotel phone as mentioned above, repeat this process 'till you find the sweet spot with the lowest RSSI. Record the RSSI value and the direction of the antenna on a piece of paper to make it easier to place the antenna in this position if it is the lowest RSSI.

Once you tested the entire angles, place the antenna in the position that gave you the lowest RSSI. Do one final RSSI test on the phone to ensure you are still getting the lowest RSSI value as you might have moved the antenna while tightening the bolts. It will be beneficial to place the antenna where you have a full 360 degree range to determine the best possible angle and RSSI value.

After a few hours of testing your new RSSI, you can fine tune the antenna even further by turning the antenna 1 or 2 degrees at a time and by facing the antenna slightly vertically or horizontally to find an even better RSSI value. This process does take sometime but is very well worth the effort.

This antenna is excellent for Neotel phones as was seen from previous results and better if you are in the Neotel coverage zone.

Let me know how it went!
Click to expand...

Thanks, that was going to be my process, but now I have it in check list form :D
 
Hi im getting my neoflex tomorrow, just two quick questions to make sure about things:

1. Does the neoflex data modem also support the yagi antennas, as it has two aerials ?
2. and in theory the neoflex should then support 2 antennas (if possible) and increase signal even better?

Im just on the edge of the coverage map though it shows im in excellent range i still wanna get the most from the router...thx
 
Ting,

Looks to me like you should be getting commission from Neotel for all the antennas that you sell, because it means that they've sold more phones!!!

Now, if you can just get a USB to Ethernet converter.... :(

Hehehe
 
Installed the YAGI Antenna Yesterday, did a write up and pics.
Just positioning it perfectly before I post all tests.
 
minority said:
Hi im getting my neoflex tomorrow, just two quick questions to make sure about things:

1. Does the neoflex data modem also support the yagi antennas, as it has two aerials ?
2. and in theory the neoflex should then support 2 antennas (if possible) and increase signal even better?

Im just on the edge of the coverage map though it shows im in excellent range i still wanna get the most from the router...thx
Click to expand...

In theory, it's possible to connect different antennas to the NeoFlex Data device, but it's really not recommended. The pair of antennas is there to provide antenna diversity, which improves the performance, particularly in urban areas where there may be reflections, and they are matched and spaced to do this properly.

If you are already in excellent coverage, you almost certainly don't need an external antenna. Adding antenna gain where the signal is good will typically just result in the your terminal reducing transmit power to bring the signal strength down to the level it should be at the basestation (this is an important characteristic of CDMA). In the other direction, you'd just be saturating the receiver.

The real edge of the coverage is typically well beyond the area we show excellent coverage. I suggest you see what you are getting (measure download/upload speed, not the number of bars) first. Note that the number of bars, whilst it is a measure of signal strength, is a poor indicator of actual performance in any CDMA system (including W-CDMA/UMTS, as well as CDMA2000), since you are looking at multiple (code-division) overlaid signals. Instead, measure the speed to check actual performance - this is really what you are after, anyway.
 
Neotel said:
In theory, it's possible to connect different antennas to the NeoFlex Data device, but it's really not recommended. The pair of antennas is there to provide antenna diversity, which improves the performance, particularly in urban areas where there may be reflections, and they are matched and spaced to do this properly.

If you are already in excellent coverage, you almost certainly don't need an external antenna. Adding antenna gain where the signal is good will typically just result in the your terminal reducing transmit power to bring the signal strength down to the level it should be at the basestation (this is an important characteristic of CDMA). In the other direction, you'd just be saturating the receiver.

The real edge of the coverage is typically well beyond the area we show excellent coverage. I suggest you see what you are getting (measure download/upload speed, not the number of bars) first. Note that the number of bars, whilst it is a measure of signal strength, is a poor indicator of actual performance in any CDMA system (including W-CDMA/UMTS, as well as CDMA2000), since you are looking at multiple (code-division) overlaid signals. Instead, measure the speed to check actual performance - this is really what you are after, anyway.
Click to expand...

the tech told me thats illegal to use a external antenna on neoconnect device and if they find anyone using 1 their contract will be terminated but you say that its allowed:confused:
 
What value should I be trying for in RSSI? Lowest I got playing around was 79.
 
minority said:
Hi im getting my neoflex tomorrow, just two quick questions to make sure about things:

1. Does the neoflex data modem also support the yagi antennas, as it has two aerials ?
2. and in theory the neoflex should then support 2 antennas (if possible) and increase signal even better?

Im just on the edge of the coverage map though it shows im in excellent range i still wanna get the most from the router...thx
Click to expand...

What Neotel is saying is correct with regards to the antenna diversity and CDMA technology. You will not gain anything by just boosting one antenna and the antennas inside the neoflex are matched and spaced for optimal performance. But still the YAGI antenna will defenitely be beneficial for the phones with only one antenna, if they are in a 'bad' coverage area.
 
PeteGT said:
What value should I be trying for in RSSI? Lowest I got playing around was 79.
Click to expand...

As far as I understand the RSSI is in true dBm, which means that the lower the better. To achieve successful data comms, signal strength should be better than receiver sensitivity (which may be different on various devices), so I would say (to be on the safe side) that better than -85dBm would be sufficient to do this.
 
Got my neoflex data package just now, will go and do some test after work before posting...
 
tthe signal bars are just an indicator - use the RSSI that you have and as someone mentioned, the lower the value the better!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X