Omni directional MIMO antenna setup

[1337Jess]

I have searched the forum but did not come up with much info on this subject.

I am in a secluded area in a valley with no line-of-site to my AT&T tower that is 2 miles away. My current setup is a WG3526 with a EM7565 with these antennas:

https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/antennas/4g-lte ... tennas-sma

I hover around 58% signal strength and my speeds are roughly 40 down and 5 up. I am setting up a point-to-point 900Mhz wifi bridge to my shop which will be mounted outside my house on the second story patio\deck. I started thinking since I will be mounting the wifi bride to a J pole outside maybe I should go head and buy a set of outside 4g antennas to get better signal? Since I am in a valley I assume my only option would be omni directional antennas. I was looking at getting two of these for a MIMO configuration.

https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/antennas/4g-lte ... g-lte-omni

Would this be a good option or am I just wasting money? Also, How would I mount two of these for MIMO? Will one have to be vertical and the other horizontal or does that not matter with omni antennas?

Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

[gscheb]

Would this be a good option or am I just wasting money? Also, How would I mount two of these for MIMO? Will one have to be vertical and the other horizontal or does that not matter with omni antennas?
Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

Hello,
Would try looking into this website here https://link.ui.com/#
On the top left will be a point to point looking picture.
Click on that and put in you coordinates of where you think your outdoor antenna will be and the height of it as well.
Then do the same for the cell tower on the other side.
Everything else you can ignore on this page.
This will literally slice the earth from point to point for you. So you can see if you can use some directional antenna and not be blocked by the earth.
From reading on here for a fixed location directional antennas are almost always superior. Open to others opinions on this to chime in as well.

[1337Jess]

I dont think direction is an option for me...

[gscheb]

Yes that helps to see what you are dealing with. How did you judge the height of the cell phone tower?

[1337Jess]

I just used my best judgment. The only way I get clear line of site is if I put my antennas on a 100ft pole and the the cell tower was 200ft high. even that would still have lots of thick forestry in the way. I drive out to the tower and it doesn't look that tall to me. Looks like like somewhere between 100ft - 150ft

[gscheb]

ok,
Was hoping there was a chance you had path to it.
So these paddle antennas that you are using now on the router are they in front of a window toward the tower?
Or behind a wall?
Have you ever ran a extension cord to this second story patio/deck and put the router out there temporary to see if you get a gain from just being outside?

[1337Jess]

The router is actually in the front of the house (south side) in a closet. The deck is on the north side of the house an the cell tower I am connected too is north of the deck. I have not tried temporarily putting the router outside on the deck however that would be a good test. I'll give that a shot and report back with results.

[gscheb]

Yes would think if you would see a gain with router and paddle antennas out there that would be a good sign that outdoor antennas would be helpful or not.

[terryjett]

I dont think direction is an option for me...

thewirelesshaven offers surveys to help you locate carrier towers https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/tower-survey/ce ... y-reports/

Could be an option if you cannot locate towers on your own.

[1337Jess]

So I took the router outside on the deck and my signal strength went for 51% to 74%

51% speedtest = 63Mbps DOWN \ 10Mbps UP

74% speedtest = 96Mbps DOWN \ 27Mbps UP

[gscheb]

So I took the router outside on the deck and my signal strength went for 51% to 74%
51% speedtest = 63Mbps DOWN \ 10Mbps UP
74% speedtest = 96Mbps DOWN \ 27Mbps UP

Wow
That is a huge improvement for just moving the router.
Do you know what speeds you where hoping for?
If you content might be able to just move the router upstairs by that deck by a window or something.

[1337Jess]

I am completely satisfied with 96Mbps DOWN \ 27Mbps UP. I think I may just look at moving the router by a windows on that side of the house.

[gscheb]

I am completely satisfied with 96Mbps DOWN \ 27Mbps UP. I think I may just look at moving the router by a windows on that side of the house.

Awesome
An easy success story.

[terryjett]

I am completely satisfied with 96Mbps DOWN \ 27Mbps UP. I think I may just look at moving the router by a windows on that side of the house.

Thank goodness for The Wireless Haven / Wireless Joint! Nice to come to a place where you can get help...

[1337Jess]

Is there a way to see if my connection to band 2 is MIMO?

[gscheb]

Is there a way to see if my connection to band 2 is MIMO?

Honestly don't believe there is a way in the router to see if you are getting Mimo connection. Mimo just means getting signal from both antennas.
If you really want to check it.
Run speed test a 3 times for an average.
Then remove one of the LTE antennas by screwing it out of the router. Then run speed test 3 times again for comparison.

[Didneywhorl]

on a sierra 7565 AT!GSTATUS? will show your signal strength on both antennas. 2x MIMO just means using 2 antennas. (basically)