Cellular Antenna Options for Metal Buildings

[birdog]

I have a 60ft metal clad mobile home inside a 40' x 100' metal shed. The east end of the shed is open and the mobile home sits inside about 20' along the north wall of the shed. The rest of the shed is covered with metal siding. This setup is my hunting property in rural west central Illinois. As you can imagine I have very poor cell service inside the mobile home but it is better when standing near the open end of the shed. I tried Verizon home internet but could not get it to connect to a tower even when I placed it outside.

I want reliable internet inside the mobile home for TV primarily and hopefully cell service. After months of research I believe I need an outside antenna wired to a modem inside the mobile home.
1. Am I correct?
2. Is there a better option?
3. If not what are my options?
4. How do I "connect" the outdoor antenna to the internet? I know I will need a sim card but not sure if I just pick a carrier and buy one?
5. Please provide some good setups.

Thank you in advance.

[Didneywhorl]

I would go with Tmobile Home Internet plans if you have decent enough Tmobile.

For the modem and antenna, I prefer the modem inside the antenna route, like InvisaGig with Quadlink or the Elsys Amplimax Ultra. Then feed that back into your place to a TP-Link Archer or Omada router or something like that. Keeps the routing and wifi separate from the modem job. Modem inside antenna means no RF coax cables, so no added costs for the cables, and no signal loss from those cables.

https://store.thewirelesshaven.com for all that.

[birdog]

With the modem inside the antenna do I run an ethernet cable into the router inside the mobile home? I currently have Verizon but I have no problem using whatever is cheapest/best for my remote hunting property. How do I know which carrier will give me the best signal? Using the T mobile plan where does the T mobile gateway (I hope I'm using the correct terminology) fit in to this setup?

Please forgive my ignorance and thank you for taking the time to respond.

[JimHelms]

With the modem inside the antenna do I run an ethernet cable into the router inside the mobile home?

Yes, the modem will be powered via PoE (Power over Ethernet). This also means you need to send power through the ethernet cable from the inside (close to the router) to the modem. This requires two components, (1), a PoE injector at your router(to send the power) and (2), a PoE splitter at the antenna to receive the power for the modem.

This configuration allows the modem to be remotely located and powered, and the data between the modem and the router transmitted through a single ethernet cable (I.e., CAT6). The modem will be coupled directly to the external antenna's ports via a short {pigtail) rf cable. This is a win/win situation since it eliminates both the cost of (2 or 4) LMR cables and the loss associated therewith.

I currently have Verizon but I have no problem using whatever is cheapest/best for my remote hunting property. How do I know which carrier will give me the best signal?

There are several apps that allow one to locate the nearest cell tower to a location--i.e., CellMapper, LTEDiscovery, NetworkCell, just to name a few. I've been doing this along time and I can honestly say that while this is a major component to utilize cellar service as a source of internet, I personally have less than desirable and/or consistent results using this DIY method...especially if you value your time. I would opt for a cell tower survey and be done with it.

Using the T mobile plan where does the T mobile gateway (I hope I'm using the correct terminology) fit in to this setup?

T-Mobile offers several useful plans, TMO home internet being one. Others use the TMO unlimited tablet plans ($15 month). But, neither matters if T-mobile is not available at your location. That is the starting point. Get a survey!

Please forgive my ignorance and thank you for taking the time to respond.

No need for forgiveness. Everyone has to start somewhere. Plenty of info on the forum to get you on your way.

[birdog]

Thanks everyone for your help. I have a few questions regarding the cell tower survey. How do I determine my exact gps coordinate for a cell tower survey?

Richard has suggested a Elsys Amplimax 4g. I like the price and considering it will be used mostly for Streaming TV (football, hockey and baseball) while I am at my hunting cabin I think this one will do fine.

[JimHelms]

Thanks everyone for your help. I have a few questions regarding the cell tower survey. How do I determine my exact gps coordinate for a cell tower survey?

You can use Google Earth for coordinates. They are located on the bottom, right hand corner of the screen (unless something has changed).

[birdog]

Thank you!