Wifi, Boosters, & Hot Spot Questions from Newbie

I defer to Avanti's very knowledgeable setup. But using simply my Verizon Jetpack, a Samsung of a couple of generations back, I don't always see a correlation between the "number of bars" and the ability to get on line and function. This past week I managed very well with it showing 3G only, and 2 bars, including running YooChoob videos.
 
I defer to Avanti's very knowledgeable setup. But using simply my Verizon Jetpack, a Samsung of a couple of generations back, I don't always see a correlation between the "number of bars" and the ability to get on line and function. This past week I managed very well with it showing 3G only, and 2 bars, including running YooChoob videos.

I agree. I had 4 bars on my jetpack the other day and it was worthless.
 
With most devices, you can do much better than the "bars" display to see signal quality data. Smartphones have secret codes that you can enter to get a real signal strength meter. Google will tell you how to do it for your particular phone.

The Jetpacks (or at least the ACL791L) will show you detailed signal data in a menu item:
Got to "About Jetpack"; select it; select "next". This will show you two values:
1) RSRP (which is the absolute signal strength measure for LTE networks). This is a negative value--the closer to zero the better.
2) SNR, which is the Signal to Noise Ratio. Higher is better. This is probably the most significant value. The problem with RF "signal boosters" is that they amplify both the signal and the noise, tending to leave this value unchanged.

A good MiMo antenna will improve both of these values. When I installed mine, I did a before/after test. With only the Jetpack's internal antenna, I was seeing an RSRP of -110 dBm and a SNR of 3. Plugging in the antenna, it jumped to -90 with a SNR ranging from 9 to 14.

RSRP is a logarithmic scale, so -90 is a LOT better than -110. (each step of 3dBm represents a doubling of signal strength).
 
I think I need to get in on that MiMo action. I just bought this WeBoost extender and tested it out. Results were far from promising. Verizon showed no bar increase. AT&T boosted 3 bars to a full 5 bars. But those bars are deceptive I think as Avanti has been pointing out.


So I tested AT&T using the SpeedTest app. I ran 4 tests back to back with boost off, then repeated with boost on, then repeated both 3 more times for 12 tests with boost and 12 tests without boost. The averages I got in mbps:

Total Avg Boost Off (3 dots) = 5.8525 mbps download, .857 upload

Total Avg Boost On (full dots) = 4.63 mbps download, 1.08 upload

I definitely need to look at that MiMo tech.
 
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I definitely need to look at that MiMo tech.

lucky I'm not an "I told you so" kind of guy. ;);)

Seriously, though, there have been a few reports of worthwhile improvements with WeBoost-type devices, so there must be some condition/vehicle/device combinations that benefit from this approach. But, they seem to be few and far between. Almost everybody that has tried a good MiMo antenna sans amplification has reported good results.
 
Avanti's original post launched me into a fun (and useful) investigation of MiMo antennas vs. cellular amplifiers. I now have both. There is a huge amount of empirical info on the topic in rvmobileinternet.com. Some of it requires a subscription, but, for me, has been worth the price of admission.
 
so do i have to sign for an additional contrac with verizon for a Verizon Jetpack AC791L if i am already a verizon customer with my phone ?
 
so do i have to sign for an additional contrac with verizon for a Verizon Jetpack AC791L if i am already a verizon customer with my phone ?

Typically, you just add it to your existing account as an additional device sharing your existing data plan. I think it costs something like $10/month per additional device. It is just like adding a second phone to your plan.
 
I want to thank Avanti one more time for suggesting the mimo antenna. I got a Verizon hotspot with a mimo antenna just to have wifi internet service and i didn't care about cell phone service but........ I didn't realize until tonight at a state park with no cell phone service (T-Mobile) my wife is talking away on her cell phone... This is wifi calling and it's automatic. She didn't have to do anything. That's COOL [emoji106]
 
I want to thank Avanti one more time for suggesting the mimo antenna. I got a Verizon hotspot with a mimo antenna just to have wifi internet service and i didn't care about cell phone service but........ I didn't realize until tonight at a state park with no cell phone service (T-Mobile) my wife is talking away on her cell phone... This is wifi calling and it's automatic. She didn't have to do anything. That's COOL [emoji106]

With T-Mobile, wifi calling works only with phones bought through TMobile. Outside open phones will not work on wifi. I have a T-Mobile phone, the wifey has an open phone, both on their senior plan.
 
With T-Mobile, wifi calling works only with phones bought through TMobile. Outside open phones will not work on wifi. I have a T-Mobile phone, the wifey has an open phone, both on their senior plan.

Are you sure about that? Seems strange. Note that on many phones (e.g., iPhones), the "WiFi calling" feature can be turned off and on and may not be on by default.
It isn't even obvious how they would block the feature on outside devices.

You should check to make sure that your wife's phone has the feature enabled (if you haven't already).
 
With T-Mobile, wifi calling works only with phones bought through TMobile. Outside open phones will not work on wifi. I have a T-Mobile phone, the wifey has an open phone, both on their senior plan.
Yes Wife has a new T-Mobile iPhone. I have international phone from China and wifi calling isn't available for me. Our phone plans are so cheap with my veterans discount i don't care that i have to buy my next phone at the T-Mobile store.
For Our Verizon hotspot it seems to work whereever we go so i don't mind the extra cost currently. Might be different after we retire.
 
Are you sure about that? Seems strange. Note that on many phones (e.g., iPhones), the "WiFi calling" feature can be turned off and on and may not be on by default.
It isn't even obvious how they would block the feature on outside devices.

You should check to make sure that your wife's phone has the feature enabled (if you haven't already).

Already checked, but thanks.
 
Excellent thread, expounding on some of the stuff that had been broached on other threads.

Specific question: Someone may be able to answer this without me having to look up specs laboriously.

We talked previously about the little Netgear-branded MIMO that, in Avanti’s opinion, is not a very effective choice. I don’t know how it compares to other products because it’s the only MIMO I currently own.

At my off-grid location, we had previously experimented with a wide-band directional, with zilch results. Come to find out from one of my off-grid neighbors that we were aiming at the wrong tower. Counterintuitively, the better tower is farther away in a different direction. Aimed at that one and voila - some connectivity.

Still not good enough, though. Both of my off-grid neighbors are electrical engineers. One of them maintains that, if I could replace that directional with a vertical collinear array, I’d get better results.

Is there such a device that could be used in this application - portable, small, that I could put up a mast? Do any of the devices mentioned here fit that description?

Story-boarded pic of the same question. I’m trying to integrate an iPad Pro into my professional toolkit, practicing its range of capabilities on stuff like this (it’s not as easy as it looks to produce semi-elegant visuals... this one looks like a 3rd grader drew it):

 
I can't answer your question.
But, your neighbor's advice puzzles me. As I understand it, vertical collinear arrays are inherently omnidirectional. If you know where your preferred tower is, wouldn't you want a directional antenna? Also, would you use TWO such antennas in order to get MiMo service? There is no doubt in my mind that whatever you do, you really want MiMo.

BUT: as I mentioned above, it is conceivable that the tower in your area is not MiMO-capable (especially if you are only seeing 3G) in which case the advantages of MiMo would be dramatically reduced.
 
.... If you know where your preferred tower is, wouldn't you want a directional antenna? Also, would you use TWO such antennas in order to get MiMo service? There is no doubt in my mind that whatever you do, you really want MiMo.

BUT: as I mentioned above, it is conceivable that the tower in your area is not MiMO-capable (especially if you are only seeing 3G) in which case the advantages of MiMo would be dramatically reduced.

Answers to most questions, direct and implied, are: I don't know (!).

:blush:

The tower in question positively bristles with transceivers (we've eyeballed it), and public records indicated that they are operating via two separate cell companies at 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 1900 MHz, and 2100 MHz, with 700 MHz predominating both in number of transceivers and in strength of signal. But it's beyond my current technical ability to know what that might mean for strategic approaches.

Other than - based on this disclosed transceiver array, one of my electrical engineer neighbors chose an antenna optimized for 700 MHz, and he installed it permanently on his property on a high mast (permanently because he is not a vanner; his antenna looks a lot like this one). But he does not wish to achieve internet connectivity - he just wants voice capability out there for emergency purposes.

I dunno. We will research it further.
 
Off topic - but I hope Interblog had either left Nova Scotia before yesterday or, if still there, made it through the storm OK.

Yeah, I'm back in Texas. My father was one of the 20% of Nova Scotians who did NOT lose electrical power.

Imagine what would happen if 80% of the population experienced power loss in any given American state. It's mind-boggling.

I am anxious to learn of how many trees are now blocking my private road, although it's more of an academic question than anything else (I won't be back to deal with them for months). On social media, I saw video footage of storm conditions in a nearby village, and it was quite animated.
 
(H)is antenna looks a lot like this one).

That is a yagi antenna and it's directional. It's a good choice for the frequencies being considered. However, the product shown is still of the "cell repeater" family and, as many on this forum have noted, a solution with limited capabilities. We have just switched to a "cellular router" with external roof-mounted antennas and preliminary results are good. See our post at: http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f...preliminary-review-9572.html?highlight=router. Our antenna is a low gain 'compromise' that attempts to combine WiFi, Cell and GPS into one small roof-mounted package. You could easily mount the pictured yagi on a pole or tree with, we suspect, vastly superior performance.
 

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