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Not easy to answer this one.
Before you rush out to get an external antenna, it is worth trying the router in different locations around the house and if possible in the attic. What router are you using?
Don't just rely on speed tests to find the optimum position as the speed you get also depends on how busy the base station is with traffic from other users. If your router has a user interface that shows signal strength, SINR etc. then try to find the location where you get the highest SINR as this will determine the maximum speed you could ever get.
Also have a look at which eNB/cell the router connects to. Then look on cellmapper.net whether that is best base station for your location. Depending on where in the house I place my router it will connect either to a base station just over 1 mile away or another one 5.5 miles away.
If your router does not tell you SINR, eNB/cell id etc., you could use your smartphone to go around the house (and outside) to find the best location for the router using an app like Network Cell Info or Netmonster. If your smartphone is not on Vodafone, then just plug in the SIM card from the router to get some measurements for Vodafone.
Regarding your question about antenna cable lengths, this depends on the frequency band(s) used by the eNB your router will ultimately connect to (the higher the frequency band, the shorter the cable should be) and on the quality of the cable, in general, the thicker the cable, the lower the loss. i don't know whether the 5m cable supplied with the Poynting antenna is long enough for your situation, but extending it with quality cable will not come cheap.
The antenna which you are considering, is an omnidirectional antenna which will not give you any antenna gain, so it may not improve the performance as much as you would hope. A directional antenna might be a better option but that all depends on your location in relation to eNBs around you, so it is worth doing a bit more research before spending money on an external antenna.
I placed my ZTE MF286D in the attic and moved it around until I had the best SINR, sometimes a few inches will make a massive difference. I put the router in bridge mode and connected it through Cat 6 cable with the main WiFi router in the study. The MF286D is powered through PoE adaptors at each end of the ethernet cable. The benefit is that Ethernet cable is a lot cheaper than a decent antenna cable and I don't have to worry about cable loss. I get up to 60Mb/s download and 40Mb/s upload speed with the eNB just over 1 mile away (with no obstructions other than a few trees).
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