If you want MIMO, either buy a MIMO panel antenna or use two directional antennas (best results). ![]() Using both means that you get MIMO, which equates to about a 30% increase in data rates. You can use one or two external ports on your hotspot. If your outdoor signal strength is -100 dBm or better, this is the way to go. ![]() Without them, the options below won't help much. Try and get a device that has external antenna ports. For example, Sprint users need B41, T-Mobile users need B71, etc. Make sure your hotspot that supports all the frequency bands that your carrier offers in your area. If you're using an old modem, just upgrading may help! You want something that supports modern LTE Releases (listed as Category 6/7/8 etc). But they also mean paying for a dedicated line of service for the hotspot, which can be expensive.įirst off, make sure you have a good hotspot! The newer the model (usually) the better. Hotspots are a great option for getting fast data rates because many of them have external antenna ports (unlike your phone). it matters most for cars, RVs, and hotspots. Uplink Output Power: Uplink power is critical if you're directly connecting the booster to your hotspot or planning on putting your device directly on the indoor antenna. If you have enough gain to reach the max downlink output power, then this matters. Gain is important if you want a large coverage area inside a house/office/RV and if outdoor signal is weak.ĭownlink Output Power: This determines the maximum coverage area of the system. How much you need depends on your application (see below). Gain: This is a measure of how much the unit boosts signal. But if you're using a hotspot (see below) you may in some cases be better without a booster. This isn't a huge deal, and if you get a directional outdoor antenna you should still see an increase in data rates. Warning: Unless you set up two boosters in a MIMO configuration, using a booster means your signal becomes SISO. If you use a booster with a directional antenna, you can also improve your SINR.īoosters can also help your device connect to bands that were previously too weak for you to connect to. ![]() What they do: Signal boosters amplify cell signal. Be very wary on Amazon and eBay with random Chinese sellers. For some reason, people love to inflate their gain numbers. Antenna gain is important because the higher the gain, the more you can focus signal reception and transmission on a single tower, which improves your SINR.īEWARE: almost every antenna gain figure you read online is fake. how much it focuses signal reception and transmission in a particular direction. If you live by a freeway, your data rates will be slower during rush hour.Īntenna Gain: Antenna gain is a measure of its directivity - i.e. If you live in a residential area, your speeds will be slower in the evenings and on weekends, for example. It's not unusual to see data rates fluctuate drastically within a day and over the course of the week. When towers are "busier" you will see lower rates. Tower congestion: The more users on a tower, the fewer Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) are assigned to each user. If your signal is over about -95 dBm, more signal strength won't mean any faster data rates. Reference Signal Receive Power (RSRP): This is a measure of signal strength. ![]() When you're connected to one tower, the other towers are interference. Every tower for each carrier transmits on the same band. Intra-cell interference: This is the main reason why signal quality/SINR can be low. LTE SINR ranges from -15 (very bad) to 30 (excellent). It's more important than signal strength in most cases! Improving your SINR is the best way to improve data rates. Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR): This is a measure of the quality of your signal. That means more bandwidth and can have a huge impact on your data rates. The LTE bands in use in the US today are:Ĭarrier Aggregation (CA): If multiple frequency bands are available, and your device supports it, you will connect on multiple bands simultaneously. Ignore those bars.īands: different carriers use different bands, which are licensed to them by the FCC. You can have 1 bar and awesome data rates and 5 bars and terrible data rates. Don't judge things based on bars, just run a speed test instead. They're a combination of signal strength (RSRP) and signal quality (SINR). Bars: Bars are a really crude measure of your signal.
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