Will an antenna work?

C

Chris_H

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My house is located exactly on the perimeter of the Vodacom coverage map for my area. Actually, it is at the edge of a "dead spot". The problem I have is that at certain times I have fine connection and at other times I get dropped almost every few minutes. Before I go ADSL I would like to know if using an antenna will actually help with the signal and connectivity issues? Any idea?

Thanks
 
get adsl anyway, if telkom can provide you with adsl then you wont be sorry about getting adsl. despite all the amasing things hsdpa has brought along, nothing beats a nicely installed 4mbps adsl line :)
 
You can try out a poynting antenna for 7 days and return it if it doesn't work:
http://www.poyntingdirect.co.za/category.aspx?categoryID=43

We have a 7 day return policy. Send it back within 7 days and we will refund the cost of the antenna (excluding the postage there and back). It does not have to be back here in 7 days (if you will just phone/e-mail us within 7 days of receiving it and say that you are returning it – we will refund you as soon as we receive it back.
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They have physical shops as well so you don't have to pay for postage.
 
albert123 said:
get adsl anyway, if telkom can provide you with adsl then you wont be sorry about getting adsl. despite all the amasing things hsdpa has brought along, nothing beats a nicely installed 4mbps adsl line :)
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ADSL = line costs, line speed costs, bandwidth cost, they even want to through in an additional R700 deposit as I owed them R100 that I didn't know of. My 3g is all paid for and on prepay... Before I sukkel with the rude people at Telkom I first want to see if I can get my 3G working!
 
If you get an ok-ish connection indoors without any heroic efforts or antennas, then installing an antenna outside will for sure improve things lots. But nothing beats a test at your own premises, of course.
 
I am getting a -91dBm on my MDMA , do you think that I will improve on that with a poynting antenna ??
 
robass said:
I am getting a -91dBm on my MDMA , do you think that I will improve on that with a poynting antenna ??
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If that is what you're getting inside, then with an outside antenna you're looking at -70dBm. Just order the poynting antenna already! :)
 
Chris_H said:
My house is located exactly on the perimeter of the Vodacom coverage map for my area. Actually, it is at the edge of a "dead spot". The problem I have is that at certain times I have fine connection and at other times I get dropped almost every few minutes. Before I go ADSL I would like to know if using an antenna will actually help with the signal and connectivity issues? Any idea?

Thanks
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Being on the edge of the coverage area means you will be the first to get dropped when cell breathing kicks in and the effective coverage area shrinks. If you are getting good speeds when you have coverage an external high gain antenna should make a big difference. If you can't put up an antenna outside have a look at the window mount directional antenna, it works really well.
 
A family friend complained to Vodacom and they gave him a free antennae. Give them a call first.
 
morkhans said:
Being on the edge of the coverage area means you will be the first to get dropped when cell breathing kicks in and the effective coverage area shrinks. If you are getting good speeds when you have coverage an external high gain antenna should make a big difference. If you can't put up an antenna outside have a look at the window mount directional antenna, it works really well.
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This is exactly what is happening. I put my router next to a window and stuck the standard little U620 antenna onto the window with prestic lol. Seem to work better than nothing though. Last night was fun an games with the drops :(

Gaz{M} said:
A family friend complained to Vodacom and they gave him a free antennae. Give them a call first.
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I already tried phoning them. Got no joy so I didn't renew my 3G contract and went prepaid just in case I decided to get something else. Wonder if it is possible to build your own antenna?! :p
 
Chris_H said:
This is exactly what is happening. I put my router next to a window and stuck the standard little U620 antenna onto the window with prestic lol. Seem to work better than nothing though. Last night was fun an games with the drops :(
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Yeah I did that too for a while but those small antenna's don't really help much. I tried a small blade omni and then upgraded to the window mount antenna.
 
robass said:
@morkhans , did the window mount help you a lot (signal wise)?
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It made a big difference for me. I gained about 20db from going with no antenna to the window mount, but it had a lot to do with the dynamics of our building (lots of concrete and steel). The corner of the study where I sit only has EDGE and the window mount with its standard 5m cable gives me HSDPA.

What is also nice with the Window mount is it has brackets so you can mount it outside as well, which makes it quite versatile. What some people even do is mount their antenna on a mic stand or some other pole which they can move around and stick it outside on the veranda as needed.

More details here: http://www.poyntingdirect.co.za/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=K-PANL-A0038-5M
 
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