Desperate for expert advice. Will an antenna help with dropped packets?

[deelowe]

I'm having some issues with my new LTE set up. We just recently moved into a new home and with covid-19 the kids will have to do distance learning this year. We did not plan for this and while we knew getting internet here would be difficult, we didn't anticipate it being such a critical item. I'm desperate to find a solution quickly and hope someone more experienced than I am at this can help us out.

I recently purchased a plan from trifecta wireless. The first few days of the service was great, but today we started seeing significant variation in pings upwards of 150ms (my router monitors 1.1.1.1) and anywhere from 0-10% packet loss sporadically. I've confirmed my internal network isn't the source of instability by ssh'ing into the mofi and running ping tests directly from the model. Speeds are pretty consistent and range from >20mbps/5mbps during non-peak hours to around 8mbps/3mbps at the peak around 9pm. Not great, but serviceable for out current needs. I posted this issue to r/rural_internet over at reddit and they suggested I ask here. Here are my stats:

Router: MOFI

ISP: Trifecta wireless / AT&T

Cell Quality Reported by MOFI
Operational Mode: FDD LTE (LTE BAND 12) bandlocked (I can't see any other bands currently)
CSQ: 18
Signal Strength: 58%
RSSI: -77 dBm
ECIO: -7 (RSRQ) dB
RSRP: -101 (RSRP) dBm

I should note I was sold an antenna from 5store.com which sounds like it was a rip off according to some of the comments I got on reddit. Here's the antenna they sold me. I explained my situation to the store and this is what they recommended. It makes the signal significantly worse, dropping the RSRP to ~-110. I'm using roughly 15' of "low loss" cable with this antenna. Again, this is what they recommended. I'll be calling tomorrow and asking for a full refund.

I'm normally more diligent about this sort of thing, but with us needing a solution asap for school, I've had no choice but to go with what's been recommended. And while, it sort of works, the recent reduction reliability has me concerned whether my kids will be able to both do online class while the wife and I are also video conferencing for work. Again, bandwidth should be fine. I've confirmed we'll only need about 2-4 mbps during the day to all VC at once. And, just to be clear. While we're not in the middle of no where, we are in a bit of a dead zone for internet. ATT services this area exclusively and unfortunately has never installed fiber. They used to offer uverse but have since retired it and their "no new copper" policy means I can't even get dsl despite my neighbors having it. In fact, my next door neighbor is on earthlink and he was just told his service will be dropped at the end of September as well. ATT again wouldn't let him keep the dsl circuit active that earthlink was reselling him due to the "no new copper" policy...

Finally, I'm no stranger to technology and am quite adept at networking. My home network is managed via a pfsense router and an hp 24 port gigabit switch. When it comes to vlans, packet filtering, gateway monitoring and other things, I'm very confident in my abilities. However, cellular is an entirely new world to me and unfortunately, I'm running out of time to figure it out.

Will getting the proper antenna help me out here or is it more likely something else? How do I know it's the antenna and not something else like the ISP having poor routes, an issue with the tower, or the mofi?

Thanks ahead of time. I'd appreciate any help we can get.

[BillA]

Even if you're a hundred feet away from a cell tower, an "air-interface" introduces multiple potential faults in data communications due to signal quality, interference, multi-path, error-correction, congestion, etc. "Wire-less" (without wires) will never be as reliable as copper or fiber-optics no matter how good of an antenna you're using (just ask any ol' timer ).
Having said that, a better antenna should improve your speeds and packet loss, but just keep an open mind about "wire-less".

[prideauxx]

Deelowe,

Your issue sounds quite common regarding a situation many of us have been experiencing in the recent past regarding AT&T MVNO's and service interruptions. Some of the issues specifically report the kit we are both using (MOFI), but from past reads/research, I do not believe it is limited to, or specific to our hardware (this is something AT&T started doing to thwart heavy usage, imho).

The best place to start on your quest is searching the forums for the situation and what others have done as a band-aid fix (as of this writing, I am unaware of an actual fix for the situation). Here's a link to get you started:

* https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?f=8& ... f2122fc8f5

[MattB29]

If you started out all good than your issue is unlikely your setup. More likely AT&T determined that you were using Data at such a rate as to be violating their policy. Your MVNO might have a solution if they have a deal with AT&T for how much Data and in what type of device you are using it in. You could contact them.

I suspect AT&T is not waiting for someone to reach a Data limit to de-prioritize anymore but rather is looking at the rate you are consuming it.

ETA: Looking at this Trifecta wireless website and terms of service. They sure do promise a lot but take it all away in their terms of service. Unlimited DATA unless the carrier limits it.