External Antenna for Huawei E220

Hi All. I have seen at least two people quote the signal strengths they get in terms of dBm. My question to you is how did you get this measurement. I know there are the bars out of 5, and on the 3G routers a signal measurement of fair, good and excellent, but am dying to know how I can get a more technical and precise measurement in dBm or dBi. Any insight into this would be highly appreciated.
 
Wow, what a great utility. Thanks mr ic.

Here are my results. Without my poynting omni-directional antenna connected, I get -99dBm to -101dBm strength. After connecting the antenna I get a -75 dBm signal strength/measure. That is a +-25dBm improvement. I must say even though the signal is good here in Faerie Glen Pta - that is 3/5 bars without the antenna -, having the antenna has drastically improved my 3G experience. More than that, combining the antenna with the Linksys 3G router added a level of convenience - the router will auto-redial on disconnects :-)

The omni directional antenna is said to have a 4 - 6dBi gain.

I will install a directional antenna (just out of curiosity), which is said to have a 11dBi gain, and report the difference.
 
Interesting fact: using the antenna that comes bundled with your 3G card, makes absolutely NO difference at all to your signal strength - no gain whatsoever. I have tested this twice at different times (2 hours apart) with the E620 tool. But hey, at least people think they are winning, right!
 
Hi peps. Here are some technical results from an installation I performed out on a plot in the Muldersdrift area (that is next to Roodepoort, Johannesburg). Without any antenna, one can barely get a 3G connection and my signal strength measurement floated around -98dBm. This generally resulted in 1/5 bars; 2/5 bars on an unemotional hour.

(1) With the poynting omni-directional antenna the signal strength improved drastically, going up to -85dBm, a 13dBm improvement. In layman's terms, this represents 3 / 5 bars. Remember that every 3dBm increase represents a doubling of the power (ie. 2 x stronger signal). For more details on how to calculate this and how the dBm measurement works, please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DBm

(2) I then removed the omni-directional antenna and replaced it with a poynting directional antenna. It took some time to get the antenna pointing in the most optimal direction, but having being patient was certainly rewarding. The poynting directional antenna improved the signal strength from -98 dBm to -75 dBm, that is a 23 dBm improvement. In layman's terms this is 4/5 bars.

One factor that does affect these results and must be borne in mind is that the omni-directional antenna was using a 10m low resistance cable, whereas the directional cable was using a 7m low resistance cable.

Then, on a last note. I tested the poynting laptop antenna: http://www.poyntingdirect.co.za/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=DIPL-A0042-04

My previous post pointed out that the antenna that Vodacom provides made no difference to the dBm measurement obtained (no signal improvement). The poynting version I tested made a consistent 6 dBm improvement on all 5 tests that I ran. Three of the tests were conducted mid-afternoon in centurion, and the last two were conducted in faerie glen (Pta) at the time of writing this message and *note* with a different 3G card.

Remember, there are many factors affecting such tests, and one must not take these results for granted - you might have an altogether different experience with your installation, and the installer and his/her approach also plays a pivotal role in the experiment.
 
Antennas

Have a look at

http://www.poyntingdirect.co.za/

Have a variety of products and they really work.

I stay in an area where VC says there is no 3G coverage - HAH! With Poynting's antenna my 3G signal consistent. Their techies are also easy to get hold of, if you any issues with their product.

Sounds like sales pitch.... I hope the cheque is in the mail :rolleyes:
 
Mr M said:
Have a look at

http://www.poyntingdirect.co.za/

Have a variety of products and they really work.

I stay in an area where VC says there is no 3G coverage - HAH! With Poynting's antenna my 3G signal consistent. Their techies are also easy to get hold of, if you any issues with their product.

Sounds like sales pitch.... I hope the cheque is in the mail :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I can confirm all of the above....;)
 
-99 dBm is just a little low. AFAIK on a phone that will be around 1 bar of signal. I've had very stable connections with -93 dBm, but you can't expect HSDPA speeds with only a few bars of signal. The modulation scheme changes or "slows down" down to vanilla 3G (384 kbits/sec) as the signal degrades.
 
ic said:
Yes, try and get that -99 to about -83 or so, i.e. move your E220 and whatever it is tethered to, about until the signal strength improves using the 3GOnly setting, for example compare indoors to outdoors to see how important it is to find the best placement for signal strength optimisation.
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Thanks, I am one of those people that fiddels with a thing until it works, or break!! :p So I can asure you That -99 is the best signal on the yard!!
Even Edge I only manage -81 or so. So I think maybe it is time for a antenna, Any ideas on which antenna on a E220. I am asking because I am worried about the inductive coupling on a E220. Like ginggs said, a ind. coupling will amlify about 10dBm with the right antenna.

ajax said:
-99 dBm is just a little low. AFAIK on a phone that will be around 1 bar of signal. I've had very stable connections with -93 dBm, but you can't expect HSDPA speeds with only a few bars of signal. The modulation scheme changes or "slows down" down to vanilla 3G (384 kbits/sec) as the signal degrades.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I suspected something in that facinity!! :sick:
 
ChainSaw said:
I am asking because I am worried about the inductive coupling on a E220. Like ginggs said, a ind. coupling will amlify about 10dBm with the right antenna.
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Yes, but if you mount it on the roof or higher up, there should be more signal. Have you played the geek and scanned your roof with your laptop under the arm looking for signal?
 
ajax said:
Yes, but if you mount it on the roof or higher up, there should be more signal. Have you played the geek and scanned your roof with your laptop under the arm looking for signal?
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I wish!!! Only tool that I short for that exersize is the laptop!! :D But I took a 5m USB cable and did the roof thing with the E220, about 4dBm change from inside the house.

vodacom3g said:
You should get around 15dB gain with an external antenna (7+8).
Click to expand...

Do you mean with the inductive coupling on the E220? And if that is correct it should boost my 3g siganal to +- -84dBm. Would that be enough for a successfull connection?

Thanks, appreciate all your help! :)
 
The Poynting ADPT-024 does suffer from coupling loss between the coupler and the internal E220 antenna. This coupling loss was measured by us (poynting) and Vodacom for approval and is shown in the product brochure and is between 3.5dB and 5.5dB in the UMTS band. Thus it is imperative to use a high gain antenna with the shortest length of low loss cable. Mounting an antenna outdoors does yield higher signal strength as indicated by Vodacom3G and is usually improved by at least 3dB (double the power). Remember that improving your signal strength by 6dB is the same as halving your distance to the base station.
 
CellPoynt said:
The Poynting ADPT-024 does suffer from coupling loss between the coupler and the internal E220 antenna. This coupling loss was measured by us (poynting) and Vodacom for approval and is shown in the product brochure and is between 3.5dB and 5.5dB in the UMTS band. Thus it is imperative to use a high gain antenna with the shortest length of low loss cable. Mounting an antenna outdoors does yield higher signal strength as indicated by Vodacom3G and is usually improved by at least 3dB (double the power). Remember that improving your signal strength by 6dB is the same as halving your distance to the base station.
Click to expand...

Thanks, interesting, now try to explain to a novice what antenne to get, and if any what booster, on a E220. :confused:
 
ChainSaw said:
Ginggs, perhaps a miss comunication on my side, I am unable to connect via 3G, the dashboard starts dialing but does not authenticate, it takes about 30 to 40 seconds and then give me the error, (Remote Compu....... )
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Maybe I did misunderstand, but I still maintain you should at least be able to establish a connection at -99dBm. Here is some poor chap connected at -109dBm.
ChainSaw said:
Thanks, interesting, now try to explain to a novice what antenne to get, and if any what booster, on a E220. :confused:
Click to expand...
If you're going to get an antenna, get the LPDA-A0021 (go large, or go home! :D), with the ADPT-024 inductive coupler (the thing trying to get jiggy with the E220).
 
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