Will an antenna help me?

[balancedvas]

Hi all. I am setting up a CBA850 with a MC400LP6 modem as a failover WAN for home.

I am trying to get AT&T working, as it is cheaper and has more data available, but I should start this by saying I tested my Verizon phone SIM and had decent success for a connection. So worse case scenario, I switch to Verizon, but I consider that a last resort.

So back to AT&T. Using the built in antennas on the CBA850, I tested signal at different spots in and around the house, and the best I could do was get a few pings to go through at well over 1200ms, over 95% packet loss. Not great. Here is an example of some of my signal details from the CBA:

ShareX_wvcZgxZ1rT.png

ShareX_ZNrQyTu0tA.png

So now my next thought is to go to an external antenna, but my concern is the ATT signal is just too weak. I do not have line of sight to my tower, although it is very close:

chrome_LMf1QPpQhK.png

I do need to confirm this is the tower I am connecting to, but it is the closest one I can find on the map by several miles.

All that said, should I try for a directional antenna or an omni, seeing as I don't have a direct LoS to the tower? Looking for any and all recommendations.

[Didneywhorl]

Can you get an antenna up high enough to gain LoS or close?

A flat panel directional antenna may be your best bet. If you had clear LoS, a Yagi or similar antenna would be a fine option. A higher gain antenna would definitely not hurt. Your overall signal numbers make me surprised you connected at all.

[balancedvas]

Well, like I said it was a horrible connection, not anywhere close to useable.

To get los I think I’d have to go over 100 ft I think, so probably not going that route.

I’m eyeing one of those antenna/enclosure units from The Wireless Haven. I could mount that on a pole and play around with some scenarios.

[Didneywhorl]

That's cool. Yeah, honestly any antenna with higher gain cant hurt. A good set of omni-directionals may be usable, but I like the high gain of directional antennas. Flat panel directional antennas are great.

[balancedvas]

So I have the "Cell ID" from the Cradlepoint. From what I can find on Google that is the ID of the tower I am connected to. How do I find which tower it is? The numbers don't seem to match with anything on https://www.cellmapper.net/

[Didneywhorl]

I'm not familiar with Cradlepoints. Try converting the number to decimal or to hexadecimal. You might find what your looking for.