Multi-Carrier Antenna Setup
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2021 2:14 pm
I have 3 working routers (Mikrotik RBM33g + 2 RBM11G's, all running R00ter) with 3 providers.
At my current location, towers are in various directions, with Verizon to the East, AT&T to the East-SE and T-Mobile to the West. My ultimate goal is to bond all the available LTE connections together (with OpenMtcpRouter, of course,) and I want to make the the whole system as portable as possible, which is why I'm currently using a one-pole arrangement with a 'cluster' of antennas on it. (ideally a single PoE connection up the pole, but might need 3.)
I understand for any given provider/connection, the Mimo antennas need to be either cross-polarized or at least ~1m apart, so I have the 4 LPDA's pointing at AT&T all at different angles (vertical, horizontal, +45', -45') and this works well (seeing ~200mpbs down ~50mpbs up on Quectel EM160)
The Verizon and Tmobile SIM/modem/routers are currently each fed by a single cross polarized MIMO panel antenna, pointing in opposite directions (East & West), but they are installed pretty much in the middle of the cluster of LPDAs.
My question is whether the close proximity of other antennas is a problem for any one of the connections. IE, does having 'competing' antennas/connection so close to each other cause interference between the antennas? There is definitely 'overlap' in the frequency/bands used by the carriers (they all seem to use LTE band 2, for example.)
If each carrier needs to have the antennas further apart from the others to really maximize things, I'll have to reconsider the one-pole approach for multi-carrier aggregation/bonding...
TIA for any experienced feedback or input on this. Paul.
PS: I've also considered an approach using antenna signal splitters, with one set connected to the directional LPDA array, and another connected to a set of Omni's. Then I'd swap connections around as needed in whatever location. but concerned about signal loss due to splitter/etc, so thinking best to keep each carrier/modem with it's own antennas...
At my current location, towers are in various directions, with Verizon to the East, AT&T to the East-SE and T-Mobile to the West. My ultimate goal is to bond all the available LTE connections together (with OpenMtcpRouter, of course,) and I want to make the the whole system as portable as possible, which is why I'm currently using a one-pole arrangement with a 'cluster' of antennas on it. (ideally a single PoE connection up the pole, but might need 3.)
I understand for any given provider/connection, the Mimo antennas need to be either cross-polarized or at least ~1m apart, so I have the 4 LPDA's pointing at AT&T all at different angles (vertical, horizontal, +45', -45') and this works well (seeing ~200mpbs down ~50mpbs up on Quectel EM160)
The Verizon and Tmobile SIM/modem/routers are currently each fed by a single cross polarized MIMO panel antenna, pointing in opposite directions (East & West), but they are installed pretty much in the middle of the cluster of LPDAs.
My question is whether the close proximity of other antennas is a problem for any one of the connections. IE, does having 'competing' antennas/connection so close to each other cause interference between the antennas? There is definitely 'overlap' in the frequency/bands used by the carriers (they all seem to use LTE band 2, for example.)
If each carrier needs to have the antennas further apart from the others to really maximize things, I'll have to reconsider the one-pole approach for multi-carrier aggregation/bonding...
TIA for any experienced feedback or input on this. Paul.
PS: I've also considered an approach using antenna signal splitters, with one set connected to the directional LPDA array, and another connected to a set of Omni's. Then I'd swap connections around as needed in whatever location. but concerned about signal loss due to splitter/etc, so thinking best to keep each carrier/modem with it's own antennas...