Unexpected results of remote internet access

[SmackIt]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

We are a t-mo and verizon customer... we get most of our connections on the 2,4,12 bands. i know that there are more bands available on the cat-6 modem but not for t-mobile - so we are sticking with this unit until one that supports 66 and 71 (5g) are reasonably priced and available.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. I'm going to hold off until spring and see if there's an upgraded version available for next season.

[Stavman]

Originally Posted by Iamdrdream

Also trying to understand this....I have an external WeBoost setup for my vetizon account. Between my phone and sim cards, I have 100 GB monthly. How are people getting the incredible speeds from the parabolic dish setup? Just by raising it above obstructions? Does the ethernet make that much difference? Does it make my current setup useless? Sorry if I am shouting my ignorance....

In a sense, your creating your own Cell Antenna for your personal wifi/internet
Pulling from a cell tower mile's away if needed

I've pointed mine thru trees and got great speeds

If you think about the antenna on a cell phone, right, there isn't one...lol
So a 16" dish, theoretically, is hundreds times larger than a phone, thus, it should pick up signals better than your phone

Right

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by Iamdrdream

Also trying to understand this....I have an external WeBoost setup for my vetizon account. Between my phone and sim cards, I have 100 GB monthly. How are people getting the incredible speeds from the parabolic dish setup? Just by raising it above obstructions? Does the ethernet make that much difference? Does it make my current setup useless? Sorry if I am shouting my ignorance....

Start here:
https://i.mt.lv/cdn/product_files/LH...kit_190358.pdf

Next... Focus on the gain of the antenna, or how efficient the antenna is at directing radio waves at a specific target (and receiving them). If you take the typical weBoost directional antenna of 10 -15dbi the LHG has the antenna and radio mounted in the same space. This eliminates the loss of power between the radio and the antenna while the parabolic dish has a 21dBi gain to compare.

The key to success is having the power to get back to the cell tower with a good 'Signal to noise ratio'(SNR) and typically a stronger signal will get you a better SNR that helps with overall data transfer speeds.

We have been using this combination for almost two years with real world results - we both work on-line every day for a living.

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by Iamdrdream

Also trying to understand this....I have an external WeBoost setup for my vetizon account. Between my phone and sim cards, I have 100 GB monthly. How are people getting the incredible speeds from the parabolic dish setup? Just by raising it above obstructions? Does the ethernet make that much difference? Does it make my current setup useless? Sorry if I am shouting my ignorance....

It's a great question!!! Stavman and SloPoke have done a superb job but I'd toss out a couple of extra items.


There are probably a dozen variables that will affect your download/upload speeds. But, as they pointed out, the first ones to solve for are getting a signal to and from the remote cell tower. Cell towers are smart and they don't waste too much time on poor signal strength connections. They're not egalitarian.


The parabolic dish does a good job of making sure the signal strength between you and cell tower is as strong as reasonably possible.


It's a directional antenna - all of the signal is focused at the tower. Our Weboost systems come with an Omni antenna. Their signals are sent out in a 360* pattern, they won't radiate (and won't receive) from as far. Yeah you can get a directional antenna for the WeBoost and that would close the gap.


Download/upload speeds will also depend on how busy the cell tower is and what kind of connection the tower has to the Internet. Odds are if you're in the boonies, that the cell tower isn't that busy, isn't that loaded.


It used to be those boonie cell towers had lousy connection backhauls to the network - but that's not much the case anymore. Almost all towers these days have some pretty decent bandwidth to The Network.


I'd also toss out that "No, I don't think your internal Ethernet or WiFi speeds" will matter in this equation. The cell tower link will always be the weakest link in the chain, always be the limiting factor. That's my *guess*.


Stavman and SloPoke have got me excited about adding this MikroTek to my connectivity solutions too!!!

[Riverman]

Mine works well and was well worth the price.

[ChiToones]

SloPoke, I've been looking at ways to get a better cell signal and was getting ready to buy a weboost until I came across this thread. It looks like your solution is better than boosters at a much lower cost. I especially like the diagram you posted last November. It gives a very clear picture of your setup.


In your diagram, you show 12v POE injectors for the LHG and Router. I would also like to power my setup with 12v instead of 120v but can't find the correct hardware. Please post which router and injectors you are using. Thanks

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by ChiToones

SloPoke, I've been looking at ways to get a better cell signal and was getting ready to buy a weboost until I came across this thread. It looks like your solution is better than boosters at a much lower cost. I especially like the diagram you posted last November. It gives a very clear picture of your setup.


In your diagram, you show 12v POE injectors for the LHG and Router. I would also like to power my setup with 12v instead of 120v but can't find the correct hardware. Please post which router and injectors you are using. Thanks

Follow the link to Mikrotik's website and view the POE injector that is included with the LHG-LTE unit. It also includes a 120vac power supply that is rated at 24v that plugs into the POE injector supplying the power.

The beauty of the Mikrotik equipment is that they will run on any passive POE injector that supplies between 8Vdc to 30Vdc - so I just snipped the cord on the power supply that feeds the POE injector and wired that power cord directly into my Motorhome 12v supplied by the house batteries.

The Router takes POE in on the WAN port to power it too, I just used another of the Mikrotik POE injectors for that unit. It is a RB915G-2HnD. https://mikrotik.com/product/RB951G-2HnD

You also can purchase the POE injectors separately: https://mikrotik.com/product/RBPOE

[ChiToones]

Great info, thanks for the quick reply.

[wisted]

Great information here, I am ready to purchase a LHG LTE kit-US but I just need a answer regarding the setup. Part of the setup requires the entry of a APN. I have a iPhone with os 14.3 and I cannot find the APN name. It used to be located in settings-cellular-cell data-options-carrier data network.
Does anyone know if the APN for Verizon is VZWINTERNET
Thanks in advance for any response,
Ted

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by wisted

Great information here, I am ready to purchase a LHG LTE kit-US but I just need a answer regarding the setup. Part of the setup requires the entry of a APN. I have a iPhone with os 14.3 and I cannot find the APN name. It used to be located in settings-cellular-cell data-options-carrier data network.
Does anyone know if the APN for Verizon is VZWINTERNET
Thanks in advance for any response,
Ted

That is the same APN as my Verizon phone

[wisted]

Thanks for the quick reply, can't wait to try this out.

[wisted]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

Yes, that is the intended design. Plug the Mikrotik LHG into the WAN port on the router.


Both the router and LTE radio/modem is in the head of the dish, you plug a cat-5 cable into the unit, run the cable down the mast(inside the mast) and plug it into your network device you wish to use (or if you wish to use many devices - use a router or switch to distribute the data)

Just add what you wish - to distribute the data that comes from the LHG on the pole.

We run two wired laptops, one Wifi Laptop, DishNetwork Joey and two cell phones.

SloPoke
I noticed you run a Dish Network Joey, I didn't realize the Joey can operate outside a home video wireless network. Does it use Dish Anywhere?

[Stavman]

Just gotta say this Dish has been one of the best upgrades to my RV since I got it
I've love love it

Thanks OP for starting this thread

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by Stavman

Just gotta say this Dish has been one of the best upgrades to my RV since I got it
I've love love it

Thanks OP for starting this thread

We are still using ours EVERY day... We both have been working Full-Time out of our Seneca for the past 6-weeks without any issues. It has been worth every penny spent!

Here is todays stats:

[Stavman]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

We are still using ours EVERY day... We both have been working Full-Time out of our Seneca for the past 6-weeks without any issues. It has been worth every penny spent!

Here is todays stats:

Nice stats

How high is your antenna at?
How far from the Tower are you?

I've literally pointed it out the cabover window and got 10g of speed...lol

Only issues I've had is that the towers will regulate speed based on usage in the toolies, makes me think it's me, but then it comes back

[Bugzilla46310]

Camping with our new 2021 33RBTS for the second time. Would be nice if the smart TV would work with the crappy KOA WI-FI. Been reading through various posts and this one seemed to be the best option. Like many others, I am not tech savvy but am an old ME. This stuff was for the EE’s. Looked at the links and it looks like there is an updated version oh the HTE dish. Just to repeat what has been stated, I get this dish, hook it up and use my cell service through my cell phone to run the smart TV without it freezing up every third sentence. What am I missing. Plus, I will never ever bad mouth a Geek any more!

[Stavman]

It's a bit more than that
Get Dish
Phone sim card in dish
Config/hack router in dish to convert from Hotspot signal to phone signal
Connect a wireless router to the dish
Find tower
Point at tower
Get wifi signal

Sounds easy doesn't it

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by Stavman

It's a bit more than that
Get Dish
Phone sim card in dish
Config/hack router in dish to convert from Hotspot signal to phone signal
Connect a wireless router to the dish
Find tower
Point at tower
Get wifi signal

Sounds easy doesn't it

Stavman can speak from experience... and it is pretty easy - but if you are shopping on the Mikrotik Website, understand that you need to get the model of LHG that is marked for USA. They are a global network equipment provider and the USA is sadly way behind the other parts of the world in regards to LTE and the bands(channels) available. The US market is pretty small for them, but they do support our carriers with the US designated models.

You don't really need to hack the thing to get it to work, but you do need to log into the LHG and configure the Access Point Name(APN) to match what your particular cellular provider uses. T-mobile, Verizon, ATT all use a different APN and you need to put that into the unit so it can connect to their LTE network .

It works in Mexico too... I helped a colleague who just came back from Baja offroad racing, they put a SIM card for the carrier that works down there with a 30-day pre-paid account and kept connected the entire time.

[Riverman]

I was looking at my dish on the shelf today.... I haven't used it lately since I got Starlink.

[Bugzilla46310]

Would this be the same as this King set up but at half the cost?

https://amzn.to/2PuCgW7