Huawei Mifi. Best place

[den123]

Hi all where is the best place to put it in the caravan to get best signal.  It works great outside van.  When in side looses signal. Any help guys please 

 

[David 38]

Mine just sits on the ledge at bottom of front widow and I use the Three data sim from Ebay as recommended in these forums, as always connected.

[Wonderlander]

29 minutes ago, den123 said:

Hi all where is the best place to put it in the caravan to get best signal.  It works great outside van.  When in side looses signal. Any help guys please 

 

Does your mifi have an external antenna connection? That’s what we do, then we run the antenna to wherever has the best signal. 

 

Alternatively you could site it in an awning 

 

We’re using the 1 month rolling Smarty sim (three) which for £18.75 per month is unlimited data! Pulled 120Gb in the last month!

Edited August 26, 2019 by Wonderlander
Additional info

[ReggiePerrin]

I never enjoyed much success with my old 3G Huwawei Mifi on Three.  I always set it near a window though, sometimes dangling from a locker handle immediately above a window to try and gain a little height. It had no external antenna connection.

 

Since changed to a Vodaphone 4G device (still no external antenna) which has proven much much better (no doubt the same would apply to any 4G device) and tethering to my O2 iPhone is generally a failsafe fall back but a little expensive for the data bolt-ons.

[sureflow]

I dont have any problems with mine. It sits close to the front window or on a shelf at the front, no extra aerial, I do check coverage before booking a site. I have only once  had  a poor signal but that was where the pitch was . Works well for me and hopefully will carry-on.

[Easy T]

I have used the present 4g one now for 2 years and usually just put it on a unit away from the windows and have no problem 

[David 38]

My mi-fi or phone, home or away have never picked up 4G only 3G.  

I just wonder if all others are somehow on 4g and leaving 3g available to me :-)

[DaveE1]

You have to allow for mifi units being the weakest receivers/ transmitters that connect to 3G/4g.

[stevew1]

It’s just a mobile phone receiver , it’ll work anywhere if there is a good enough signal from the transmitter .

[shipbroker]

2 hours ago, stevew1 said:

It’s just a mobile phone receiver , it’ll work anywhere if there is a good enough signal from the transmitter .

I can't get a mobile signal at home,nor can I   get a mifi signal...move to main road and get both.

geoff

[Woodentop]

3 hours ago, David 38 said:

My mi-fi or phone, home or away have never picked up 4G only 3G.  

I just wonder if all others are somehow on 4g and leaving 3g available to me :-)

 

One thing to be aware of is how the service providers decide where to cover. We go to a CL in NE Somerset a couple of times a year. There is a cell site on a pylon about 600m away that does O2 and VF and both do 4G at very respectable speeds - my mi-fi does 49Mb/s on O2. In the opposite direction on a hilltop about 1100m away is a 3 site which it shares with EE. Whilst EE does 4G without problem, 3 have chosen not to equip theirs with 4G so you get stuck with 3 on 3G - albeit the CL site owner gets about 10Mb/s on his 3 phone as a hotspot against about 1.5Mb on his BT landline!

Clearly the SPs will only provide 4G if they can see a business benefit from it.

For your purposes, it may sound a daft question but do you have a mi-fi and a phone that are designed to work with 4G - they have to be specific to be able to use 4G? Also if your phone is Android you may have to go to Settings/More (after mobile data)/Mobile Network and make sure it is set to use 4G as preferred and is not defaulted to 3G only.

[Glen and Les]

Usually get a good signal with it on the window shelf, but have been known to prop it up in the Heki rooflight, or even on the roof (calm weather) in poor reception areas. I bought a small storage container to pop it in!

[Legal Eagle]

10 hours ago, den123 said:

Hi all where is the best place to put it in the caravan to get best signal.  It works great outside van.  When in side looses signal. Any help guys please 

 

Check  your service provider's website for the area you are in. In some areas they report a good signal outdoors but poor indoors, in which case where you put it will make no difference.

[stevew1]

1 hour ago, shipbroker said:

I can't get a mobile signal at home,nor can I   get a mifi signal...move to main road and get both.

geoff

 

Fact of life with the mobile phone companies I’m afraid Geoff , the transmitters cost in the hundred thousands & it’s not worth the companies while to serve rural communities or off the main road areas , the best signals you will get are on motorways , dual carriageways or city centres ,  at one time each company had their own masts & wouldn’t share with the others , I think that has now changed but obviously there are still some anomalies. 

[Griff]

Our new caravan came with a Huawei unit built in, not tried it yet, no idea where any aerial might be, usually use our phone hotspots but will give it a go to see if it is any good.

 

Came with a Three SIM.

 

[David 38]

8 hours ago, Griff said:

Our new caravan came with a Huawei unit built in, not tried it yet, no idea where any aerial might be, usually use our phone hotspots but will give it a go to see if it is any good.

 

Came with a Three SIM.

 

Would annoy me the three units not being square to each other in the installation.

[Nilrem]

8 hours ago, Griff said:

Our new caravan came with a Huawei unit built in

I would be very interested to know what the unit underneath the Huawei MiFi is. Looks like an external aerial booster for the MiFi.

[Griff]

2 minutes ago, David 38 said:

Would annoy me the three units not being square to each other in the installation.

 

Agreed, gets on my pip as well  but its in a cupboard behind dinner plates.

 

Thought if it was 1 or 2 degrees out, down to PP fitting but 15 to 20 degrees..... must be a real good reason! 

 

On my first service question list, will report back. 

[den123]

Thanks guys so what model do I need to connect external antenna.  Thanks      

[Nilrem]

You asked the same question in your post earlier this month and it was answered with a number of options.

 

 

One combination would be a Huawei E5577 with a NETGEAR 6000450 MIMO 2 TS-9 Antenna. There are many others.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-Low-Cost-Super-Fast-Portable-Warranty/dp/B011YM0OXU/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Huawei+E5577C&qid=1566890434&s=gateway&sr=8-1

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-6000450-Antenna-Aircard-Hotspots/dp/B00DN3J03O/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=netgear+4g+antenna&qid=1566890507&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Edited August 27, 2019 by Nilrem

[Woodentop]

9 hours ago, Griff said:

Our new caravan came with a Huawei unit built in, not tried it yet, no idea where any aerial might be, usually use our phone hotspots but will give it a go to see if it is any good.

 

Came with a Three SIM.

 

 

The unit at the back is a 12V-5V regulator with antenna interface - i.e. it lets the very lossy cables with the TS9 connectors for the mi-fi be kept short and transition to something like RG58 which is less lossy and uses a more substantial connector (looks like SMA) to route to the outside world. It just puzzles me what type of external aerial is being used on the roof. Any chance of a picture of the outside unit Griff?

 

[Griff]

3 minutes ago, Woodentop said:

Any chance of a picture of the outside unit Griff?

 

Nothing on the side but will be getting up on my ladder for a butcher's on the roof to see what's up there, will let you know if I spot anything.

[Griff]

On 27/08/2019 at 08:35, Woodentop said:

Any chance of a picture of the outside unit Griff?

 

 

Looks like this.