MTN fixed LTE allowed routers

[Voldemort]

In comparison, Omnis really suck, I definitely don't recommend using one of these for rural, questionable for metro areas too, just my opinion, but it's based on fact..:

 

[giepie.delport]

In comparison, Omnis really suck, I definitely don't recommend using one of these for rural, questionable for metro areas too, just my opinion, but it's based on fact..:

View attachment 1897799

I generally agree wrt Ommis, but in our area masts often goes down (lightning and power issues)

In such cases an omni makes sense as it would link to the better signal available.

But if you're very far from any mast, directional is the only option. Wishing MTN would support Mikrotik LTE LHG

 

[Voldemort]

So yeah, the crossbow is great, but I'm biased towards these antennas as I deal with them a lot.

If you're gonna be using the GT5S router, even I didn't pick up much of a difference in readings, but the speed and SINR went up regardless, probably just a software bug. I reported that, hopefully, they'll work out a patch. My MC801 (BEST 5G router I've used so far) would allow me to set external antenna preference, this router model does not, so you need to take it as gospel that the antenna is what is being the preferred medium.

Proof is in the pudding at the end of the day, if you erect the antenna correctly and you note no improvement, then there are other factors at play in hampering you from achieving better performance.

 

[Voldemort]

I generally agree wrt Ommis, but in our area masts often goes down (lightning and power issues)

In such cases an omni makes sense as it would link to the better signal available.

But if you're very far from any mast, directional is the only option. Wishing MTN would support Mikrotik LTE LHG

A 3.5dbi gain is hardly anything to write home about; some of that even gets lost through your coaxial connection. The thing about rural areas is that there aren't exactly an abundance of sites, so what I would do if there was a lasting problem at the time is to check for another site and manually pan towards that for the time being.

 

[giepie.delport]

A 3.5dbi gain is hardly anything to write home about; some of that even gets lost through your coaxial connection. The thing about rural areas is that there aren't exactly an abundance of sites, so what I would do if there was a lasting problem at the time is to check for another site and manually pan towards that for the time being.

One specific client is located more or less in the middle of two towers, about 10km from the one, and 8km from the other.

Issue is the closer tower goes down at least once a month.

It's not worth installing a second dedicated router though.

Both masts only provide 50mbps, and the client is getting up to 30mbps, which is better than their max 5mbps Herotel



Until I find a better supported router, the only successful setup is placing the ZTE outside

 

[Voldemort]

One specific client is located more or less in the middle of two towers, about 10km from the one, and 8km from the other.

Issue is the closer tower goes down at least once a month.

It's not worth installing a second dedicated router though.

Both masts only provide 50mbps, and the client is getting up to 30mbps, which is better than their max 5mbps Herotel



Until I find a better supported router, the only successful setup is placing the ZTE outside

I used an MC889 extensively while I was busy with trials, it's an outdoor unit, and you can bolster the gain with an attachable shield, gives an extra 12dbi.

I found the unit fairly reliable, very pricey at the moment though..

 

[Plaasjapie]

A 3.5dbi gain is hardly anything to write home about; some of that even gets lost through your coaxial connection. The thing about rural areas is that there aren't exactly an abundance of sites, so what I would do if there was a lasting problem at the time is to check for another site and manually pan towards that for the time being.

I used to own a rural WiFi internet company many moons ago. A good external definitely makes a very big difference. A 3 dB improvement will in most cases approximately double your range, especially if you start with a weak signal. Not such a big improvement in speeds if you already have a good signal. At the moment my ZTE GT5S router has a -100 dBm signal sitting on my kitchen table and improves about 2-3 dBm when moving around in house to better positions. LTE speed about 4mbps which is not good enough , especially compared to my outside LTE6 mikrotik router has -67dBm signal and get speeds up to 70 mbps !
Ordered the below external antenna, so hopefully will improve signal and speeds to above 30mbps. If not , will have to get one of
the big boy 35 dBm gain 5G external dish antennas !

 

[Voldemort]

A parabolic grid antenna, nice! Just make sure you have some pinpoint accuracy with your aim on that tower, I've seen things go pear-shaped when even 2 degrees out..

How many thousands did that set you back? They're not cheap..

 

[giepie.delport]

I used to own a rural WiFi internet company many moons ago. A good external definitely makes a very big difference. A 3 dB improvement will in most cases approximately double your range, especially if you start with a weak signal. Not such a big improvement in speeds if you already have a good signal. At the moment my ZTE GT5S router has a -100 dBm signal sitting on my kitchen table and improves about 2-3 dBm when moving around in house to better positions. LTE speed about 4mbps which is not good enough , especially compared to my outside LTE6 mikrotik router has -67dBm signal and get speeds up to 70 mbps !
Ordered the below external antenna, so hopefully will improve signal and speeds to above 30mbps. If not , will have to get one of
the big boy 35 dBm gain 5G external dish antennas ! View attachment 1897817

View attachment 1897815

Nice parabolic! Good like with alignment

It looks similar to those old 24dBi 2.4 grids, perhaps they reused the same grid and added a new feed

I'm totally with you on the LHG option!

 

[Plaasjapie]

Hey there

I was not successful in using the external antenna option...let me explain

Whilst waiting for the extended antenna to arrive, I installed the ZTE router on the pole, inside an IP65 enclosure. It worked OK, but wasn't ideal.

When the antennas arrived, I moved the router to the client's metal server enclosure (one of those outdoor ones sold by Scoop). From the router I ran 2x 5m cables to the outdoor antenna.....

I then configured the ZTE to use the external antenna, but couldn't get ANY signal! (Not on any of the 4x signal levels)

Moved the router outside, got signal on both built-in and external signals.

Turns out, the ZTE router is not using the external connectors AT ALL, and is simply lying about the signal levels.



So I ended up placing the router inside the ABS IP65 enclosure again, which has been working well since I did it.

Up to now I haven't found a better solution. 5x of my clients now have routers mounted inside ABS boxes outside.

Hi Giepie.

I think I figured out why this is. I had the same problem as you the past 2 days. Using external antennas via the TS9 external ports of the ZTE GT5S router did not improve the signals or speeds at all, inside a metal enclosure, or outside it. It seems that these ports are for 5G only, and still need 4G service at the same time for it to work. So if no 5G service available, then it's useless to even try external antennas on those ports as the router will only use the internal 4G/LTE antennas.

See here, https://router-mods.co.uk/modification-info/
and here,

.

Apparently one must modify all the inside 4G/LTE frequency antennas via ufl to sma pigtails and then connect external antennas to all those new external sma connectors to get increased range, signal and speeds. My ZTE GT5S 5G router is 5km away from the tower and sits on mast in old poyting enclosure for now, and I get good 4G speeds using just the internal antennas atm. In time, when our tower gets 5G service, I'll upgrade the board pigtails as in the video above and use then only external antennas.

 

[Voldemort]

Hi Giepie.

I think I figured out why this is. I had the same problem as you the past 2 days. Using external antennas via the TS9 external ports of the ZTE GT5S router did not improve the signals or speeds at all, inside a metal enclosure, or outside it. It seems that these ports are for 5G only, and still need 4G service at the same time for it to work. So if no 5G service available, then it's useless to even try external antennas on those ports as the router will only use the internal 4G/LTE antennas.

See here, https://router-mods.co.uk/modification-info/
and here,

.

Apparently one must modify all the inside 4G/LTE frequency antennas via ufl to sma pigtails and then connect external antennas to all those new external sma connectors to get increased range, signal and speeds. My ZTE GT5S 5G router is 5km away from the tower and sits on mast in old poyting enclosure for now, and I get good 4G speeds using just the internal antennas atm. In time, when our tower gets 5G service, I'll upgrade the board pigtails as in the video above and use then only external antennas.


View attachment 1898539

Good luck with this, I often marvel at the lengths people will go to get these devices to work.