Wireless Joint

After learning I cant do what I wanted to do with the junk I had, I ended up getting internet service with OTR Mobile and got one of the AT&T MF985 Velocity 2.

https://fccid.io/SRQ-MF985/User-Manual/ ... al-3710988

I was desperate to get service and with soooo many options and people saying why you should go with brand X, I made an "executive decision".

I noticed my signal before Impactwireless turned to crap was great. I live VERY close to a tower if that matters. But now the signal is 1-3 bars. Even with OTR.

Do I have any options to boost anything with the MF985? Do I just live with what I have? Can I hack an antennae to the roof or anything?

Im actually working with an ISP to bring fiber to my area of the woods. Or a radio signal. But that's a different battle.

Anyway, I appreciate your tolerance with my novice questions.

Doing some looking at what you have it appears to be a small battery powered hotspot made by ZTE. It does have a external antenna connection so it would be possible to add an external antenna. I could not make out if it was MIMO with two antenna option however. My experience with external antennas and battery powered mobile hotspots have been rather hit and mostly miss. There have been some external antennas I have tried that actually made the signal strength worse.

You state you get 1-3 bars reception. I assume you have tested it in several locations to see if it improved your signal. Although bars of power are not as good of an indication as knowing the actual various signal strengths and noise ratio. You might find those in the settings area of your hotspot.

The one thing I don't know is if OTR would allow you to place its Sim into a better device than the supplied ZTE. If so you could get a Netgear LB1120 wireless modem or make your own modem router setup.

Matt, thanks so much for your insights.

They do offer a "bring your own device" option and of coarse, the devices I have wouldnt work.
From their website; After purchasing this product, you will receive an OTR Mobile Blast SIM card to be used with most unlocked GSM hotspots.

There are two antenna outputs on it, if thats what you were meaning.

What would I need to make my own setup? Ill do whatever it takes coach. Ill climb on my roof. Ill dance around a bucket naked. Ill do the work!

There are several Tutorials on this Forum for a DIY approach. I would read them and see if you feel comfortable with giving it the attempt. I am not one of the Forum experts on it as I just recently built a setup myself and have been reading all that I can on the subject. I have used battery powered mobile hotpots for several years from different carriers so I am familiar with them.

Presently I use a Netgear LB1120 (using a Cricket Simply Data plan) for my internet needs. I may be switching to my recent DIY unit if I work out all the bugs. It is a WG3526 router with a SW EM7565 modem installed.

Happy to help within my abilities.

One thing I have noticed ,is that in certain areas of the house, if I HOLD the device, I will get full bars. When I set it down in the same location, it goes back to 1 or 2 bars.

I think my biggest hesitation is building the wrong type of setup. It seems like they are not all created equal or compatible.

Thanks again Matt!

fux0r360 wrote: Fri Jul 17, 2020 11:31 am One thing I have noticed ,is that in certain areas of the house, if I HOLD the device, I will get full bars. When I set it down in the same location, it goes back to 1 or 2 bars.

You make a good antenna.

Might be able to replicate that with a external antenna. Reception is a funny thing. Many years ago in the dim past. I lived in an area with horrible TV reception. I moved the outdoor antenna all over the place putting it high and low. The only placed it consistently worked was setting it atop an old wooden cable drum about 4ft off the ground at a slight downward angle. It made hardly any sense but for some reason that is what worked for it.

Complicating reception with 2 way devices like cell modems is they must also be able to upload as well as download a signal. So you can get the funny thing of receiving the tower but the tower not receiving you.

ETA: BTW what are your speed numbers (testmy.net) and does your hotspot give your signal numbers (RSRP RSRQ, SINR) in the Network status area?