Well - I've ordered the kit so will have a go!

Does the antenna need to be specifically pointed at a mast? Or can I just mount it where I find a stable 4g signal?

It depends on the antenna you ended up buying.

The Yagi is directional, and needs pointing in the right direction. Preferably with clear line of sight. The one you linked in the first post is omnidirectional, and doesn't need to point at the mast.

However, location is important too.

I had a setup with that omni antenna. From one room I got 5 bar coverage, but not very good speeds. After flashing my (non 4g) router with some open source firmware, it could use the 4g modem over USB. It gave me RSSI signal strength values, which told me that the 5 bar coverage was still only around 60%.

After resiting the antenna, I got the signal strength to 93% and much better speeds.

Lesson... Don't rely on the signal strength bars alone. Try to get a better reading!

The Yagi is very, very directional. But you should be able to swivel it around until you get the highest signal. Just keep in mind that there will be a delay before the router shows the real signal strength, so you may need to be patient and only move it once you are sure the signal shown is the signal you are getting from that direction.

If you know the location of your nearest mast, most of the hard work will be fine-tuning.

If you are very unlucky, you may also have to change the elevation of the antenna.

Ah... looks like I may have brought the wrong antenna then... I have to have the 4g router in a specific room (where a switch etc is located) I assumed that if my iPhone finds a signal literally the other side of that room's wall, the antenna will too.

As for masts one (the further away one, SN84NT) is 3.4 km away:

Name of Operator Vodafone
Operator Site Ref. 3893
Station Type Macrocell
Height of Antenna 15 Metres
Frequency Range 900 MHz
Transmitter Power 21.3 dBW
Maximum licensed power 32 dBW
Type of Transmission GSM

I think from the wall in question that's pretty much a clear line of site.

However one that's much closer:

Name of Operator Vodafone
Operator Site Ref. 37370
Station Type Macrocell
Height of Antenna 15 Metres
Frequency Range 900 MHz
Transmitter Power 30.5 dBW
Maximum licensed power 32 dBW
Type of Transmission GSM


Faces the other side of the house and to put the antenna there will leave me more than 10m (just) from the router...

I guess I will play around with it and see what I can do!

Well I've had a quick go with the kit and a Voda Sim this evening and even without taking the antenna outside and lying it down in the room I need the router in with the 10m of cable, I'm getting 4 bars and certainly decent speeds (20Down/11up) compared to this tripe of satellite I've lived with for so long.

The fun is going to be finding the optimum place to position and point it whilst up a ladder and no idea what the router is doing....

Thanks all for your help, it was pretty simple in the end!

If you're getting that data from the Ofcom Sitefinder site, don't forget that database is very old and not been updated!!

Vodafone sites that offer GSM are useless to you as that is 2G (GPRS) and very slow dialup speed data.

For 4G you really should try EE as they currently have the highest amount of dense coverage (ie, higher speeds) and if they don't work then try O2 and then Vodafone in that order. Three have very limited 4G today.

Hi,

I already checked and EE don't have 4G coverage in that location as yet (very near though) but it's coming soon...

EE recently released the next 3 year plan for the network and another 1.5 Billion investment, key information below and a link to the full 11 page document on the EE press site. EE Press Site The key one for me is highlighted in bold...

Smaller sites, more coverage
� EE is developing a ground-breaking micro network technology that will connect rural communities using discreet smaller site that can simply be attached to the side of buildings.
� The sites are quick to set-up, less costly, and don�t require the digging-up of roads because they are independent from fixed broadband.
� The first of its kind in the world. Early reports from our trials in Sebergham in Cumbria have been hugely promising.
� By changing the technology and approach, we have changed the economics of mobile networks, and can now cover small areas that have remained unconnected.

More spectrum, more coverage
� EE is using its unique spectrum portfolio � the widest in the UK � to reach previously unreachable areas using existing mast sites.
� 800MHz spectrum will be used to quickly improve our current rural footprint. 800MHz covers large distances and is perfect for carrying 4G voice and data.
� We�re already making progress, updating masts at rural sites around the UK and will cover an extra 1,612 square miles � or twice the area of Greater London � via these updates alone in the next three years.
� We will bring the UK�s best 4G network to 99% of the population, and bring high speed data, voice and text coverage to 90% of the UK�s geography.
� We will also roll-out double-speed 4G to more than 90% of the population. And LTE-Advanced to 20 cities by 2018.


Voice for all
� The next few months will see the introduction of two technologies we have been talking about for a while: WiFi Calling and 4G Voice
� WiFi Calling will allow customers to use the latest smartphones to make phone calls and send text messages in places where there isn�t a mobile signal but there is WiFi connectivity
� It will mean we can provide coverage to anywhere with 2Mbps broadband connectivity. Even a nuclear bunker
� 4G Voice will see us using the 4G network, previously only supporting data, to carry high definition voice traffic
� 4G Voice will be supported over our 800MHz spectrum, as well as 1800MHz and 2.6GHz
� Through these technologies our voice services will reach 100% of people in the UK

ah-ha on the coverage

Its a great document, and very impressive. Looking forward to things like WiFi calling and 800mhz coverage.

Wifi Calling is handset dependant only iPhone 6 and 6+ confirmed but expect more at launch.

In reply to a post by bookey:

Wifi Calling is handset dependant only iPhone 6 and 6+ confirmed but expect more at launch.

Hopefully launch will be soon!