Excellent review Richard, you deserve way more subscribers (I'm now one!).

@Phone_Geek

3 жыл бұрын

Cheers mate, appreciate that! 👍 probably because need to do more vids, do the things the algorithms need and all that! Things in the pipeline. Got one on lpda vs xpol2, ones on old phones starting with nokias and stuff

@rory6089

3 жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek Richard you could do a video on complete set up - what cables to buy, routers it will work with etc, I'm sure there are plenty who buy these and know absolutely nothing about set up etc (maybe I'll start a channel...hmmm 😉)

@rory6089

3 жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek I've the XPOL-2-5G-V3-02 - no cables in the box, just a mounting bracket!

@Phone_Geek

3 жыл бұрын

@@rory6089 thanks for that! I'm gonna do a series on supercharging your Mobile bb speeds, but products one too was later one. A cables one was on my mind too so thanks for opinions!

@Phone_Geek

3 жыл бұрын

@@rory6089 i'm guessing they do that version for customers who want to use their own cables, which is a great idea. on their web site the v1 and v3 have cables included. I would recommend getting something like LMR-400. costly at maybe £70 per 10m, but you will benefit. or at least say LMR240. why? well poynting standard cable is rg58, which at 2.6GHz has 8.9dB loss per 10m, but would be only 2.3dB for the LMR400. that will make a bigger difference at 5G frequencies

Another EPIC video, thanks for these Richard. You've convinced me to spend the money on a poynting antenna. Thanks a lot.

@Phone_Geek

Жыл бұрын

thanks for the kind comments - appreciated

That was a good review. We are going to try one here. We are very rural. Just using the router on its own at the moment

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for that! Check out cellmapper.com to give you better idea of where to point antenna.

@jasonbrown9783

2 жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek yes I have got that. Its not that far away, but there is a hill that is in between us and the mast

Will be getting 5g version soon already have good 5g signal though. Shame so expensive must be making massive profit.

Really useful review. Thanks. My only comment is, when stating gain the unit is just dB (not dBi). The unit of dBi is dB relative to an isotropic source.

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

thanks! yeah I know, but I was referencing the stub antenna from the analyser, which has a gain of about 2dBi. Therefore if I do a comparison of one antenna to another then the gain is dB, but if I go a step further and include that reference antenna's gain, then I have the tested antenna's gain relative to the isotropic radiator and can quote in dBi. that was the thinking. Of course, lets not go down the rabbit hole of not having a guaranteed reference antenna... not done that yet :-)

@m1geo

2 жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek it's just when you said that one antenna was 7dBi better than the other, that's wrong. It's 7dB. Not dBi. That aside, the video was super useful.

I totaly agree with you. I have installed nearly 60,they are by far the best product out there. What was the name of the unit you were using to locate the signal?

@Phone_Geek

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Declan I was using the "RF Explorer" spectrum analyser, you'll need the 6G combo version for 5G checks now; and the test handset was a Samsung S3, with 'Pocket TEMS' engineering version, which was an ericsson firmware but now owned by infovista.

Hi Richard, thanks for making this video. I'm trying to decide between grid parabolics, lpda's, or something like this mimo panel for my rural house. I'm not a super-technical person. Could you walk me through how you used your phone, what software and cables you used to test the antenna. Because I'm far from a tower (8miles) I need to precisely align the antennas and would like to avoid buying a $300-400 RF signal meter. Thanks

@Phone_Geek

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Matt thanks for the comment! My phone is a specialised engineering handset not standard one with an app. It actually an old Samsung s3 running 'TEMS pocket' firmware and software, now owned by infovista. Usual retail price is around £1500 which would be $2000. I got mine for $600 from alibaba. But as an engineer in industry I need it. If you are that far from a tower, what antenna you need depends on a few things you should find out first... what tech is on that tower 3g,4g,5g? What freq band of that tech? Lte 800, 2100, 2600. Not all operators have same. Also are you rural? If its built up small town, then different antenna benefits multipath effects. So choosing the right antenna comes after knowing what the target is and environment.

Way too complex for the average KZreadr. Loved the bit when you said the bracket wasn't very strong as I understood that bit! All the best 👍

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks - you're probs right tbh so might try to bin the too techy bits in vids, just report on results

Poynting Uni-Directional - Dual-Band Wi-Fi Antenna - (4×4 Mimo) - WLAN61 i want to buy this model to boost my network what type of cable must i buy cause i hurt buy wrong cables?

Hey, great video. I'm looking at one of these for my house. Would you recommend the directional one over the omni-directional one for someone like me, who does not have a meter, so I'd be just using trial and error to pickup the best signal. Thanks!

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Simon thanks for that. Well I guess depends on 1. whether you are using it for main Internet or as a backup, 2. How much you want to be involved to get best result and 3. Where will you be able to put the antenna. Best way overall is to use the app netmonitor lite to test what mast ID is best, then check on cellmapper.com to see where that mast is relative to your house. That then tells you which wall on house would be best to orientate a directional antenna. If you have option to pole an antenna high up say on chimney, then omni fill be fine. If however, you can only place the antenna lower down on 1 wall like my vids show, then an omni won't get as faster speeds. So many variables! I've not tested a Poynting omni (although I have one professionally) but would recommend their ombi293.

Which model of the RF Explorer is best suited for 4G LTE+ (not interested in 5G). BTW, how do you do the measurements in each band? Do you set a freq margin and then scan? Are the measurements instantenous or averaged for a period of time? Thanks a lot!

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

Hi there! I use the "3G combo" model, which is fine for LTE700 - LTE2600. I have presets setup for all the main UK cellular bands eg band 1, 3, 20 - that it the freq range of that band and usually -60 to -100dBm. You just load the config. All measurement are averaged over a period of time you specify. But there is a scanning time, and the wider the bandwidth the less time it has to sample each frequency part. It easy enough to use when you get used to it. Check it out on their Web site it's pretty good

Thanks for the review. You got to verify the terminology tho, before sharing it. e.g. RSRP = Reference Signal Received Power, not Received Signal Reference Power 😉

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

Damn, you're right, why did I put that? Be funny if i also put received signal received quality 😀 that would be dumb

Hi, richard. I'm also researching about 4G LTE antenna. What's your opinion when it compares with Poynting LPDA antenna? Does LPDA antenna provide better edge?

@Phone_Geek

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Jason, thanks for watching vid. I've not tested LPDA antenna or yagi as I'd call them. Sure they will give better gain, however I wouldn't advise using unless where (I assume the router or enhancer etc) gets so little signal you need to do all you can to get something). The reason is service availability: cell sites will always have faults and go out of service for short time. When that happens those with an omni have no probs they'll pick up another site, but then they will have ok coverage otherwise they wouldn't have an omni!! Those needing a Sectored/directional antenna like mine will likely see a large reduction in service, because their main lte serving site is off air (if the antenna is picking up any other neighbour sites you still have some service). This situ is more extreme with log periodic. It's azimuth has to align with a cell site, but if that goes out of service then so do you. Comes down to what your needs are. Trying to get some signal when you have nothing? Log periodic is for you. If you have ok signal but wanting better throughput like me, then I'd go for a better researched install with directional antenna but not a yagi. Hope that helps!

@Malbanica

3 жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek Hi, richard. Thank you for your quick reply. My application is in a shed on a farm. The nearest cell tower is 3.5 km away. So, omni directional is not much option for me. I definitely need a directional antenna. In terms of antenna pointing direction, I already felt the pain. I purchased 2 cheap LPDA from eBay and try to test the signal, the performance is just so random, any deviation from the optimal direction will results significant reduction in data throughput. That's why I'm looking at the Poynting Antenna products. I believe their quality can save me from the current disaster. So you believe not going to LPDA can give better tolerance for any faulty behaviour from the cell tower? By the way, did you watch kzread.info/dash/bejne/h3ubupd9pbyxnNo.html ? David from RFShop demonstrated the signal boosting trick using satellite dish. Do you think this modification will give you more speed?

@Phone_Geek

3 жыл бұрын

@@Malbanica hmm 3.5km away should be OK with normal directional antenna. Also, log periods tend to have narrow bandwidths, and for your application, if rural will need to consider lower band LTE such at 800 Meg band as that's what uk operators will rollout in rural areas. Not knowing where you're based, have you looked at the cellmapper website? This helps to 1) which mno is likely best, 2) direction of tower, 3) tech type 3g 4g etc. Also importantly the 4G band. Because some mnos don't own or operate the lower lte spectrums which benefits rural areas. Also yeah seen that vid. Interesting idea. His results suggest a 20db gain. That's about right for a 80cm dish. But of course your not adding the gain of 2 antennas, it's just using the poynting at the focal point of the dish.

Awesome video have you tested any others like the puck type ?

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers! only other so far are the Bluespot and normal log periodics. as for pucks, they'd probably only be used at lower heights i'd think - we've used them on cellular cabins, maybe worth as a comparison.

@ZerHour

2 жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek yes a lot of campers etc have them would be good video indeed i have puck 2 on my roof of Motor home

Was wondering about the "Cat-Drive?" antenna you showed, does it pretty much do the same job as this Poynting? If so, any advice about where to find and dodging fake rip-offs? Thanks!

@Phone_Geek

Жыл бұрын

the Kathrein antenna here was for 2G GSM 'back in the day' at 900MHz / 1800MHz. Doubt you can have fake ones of those. As I said, these are pro ones for cellular industry, and cost a lot. Check out their webpage as that gives very specific details. Our favourite foreign knock off site isnt showing any at mo 🙂. Basically, Poytning is best company i've come across, and used professionally too

@prof.heinous191

Жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek Thanks for that, it was probably the fifteen quid that piqued my interest!

Hi my question for today what type of cables must i buy to connect outdoor antinna cause at home i has hauwe B525 wifi runs fro 2G 3G 4G plus LTE

@Phone_Geek

Жыл бұрын

Hi there! The huawei looks to have a standard 2 sma antenna ports, which is good. The type of cable ultimately depends on the length and expense. Longer the cable needs to be, the thicker and better it needs to be to avoid too much signal (and speed) loss. You dont want the gain of the antenna offset by a huge cable loss. However the costs increase dramatically with better quality. Overall, in my opinion, up to 5m long the rg58 type is fine. From 5 to 15m then type lmr400. If you need like 30m then lmr600. But, tbh, if needing that length you'd get better and cheaper performance by having the router external near antenna in a housing, with PoE running to it. Hope that helps

How directive is this antenna? I need an antenna with high gain and relatively omnidirectional, for a boat. When at anchor am happy to rotate to improve the direction. Thanks

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

hi again! For your boat i'd certainly suggest an omni to begin with. I've not tested the Poynting omni-293 yet but that sort of thing i'd suggest (co-linear antenna). normal basic omni will not be that good. Another reason an omni might be good is that water is a great propagator of radio waves, including cellular bands. And often harbours have good coverage. If in open water far from shore though...hmm whats the swell like? i know nothing about boats btw :-)

@ralph9987

2 жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek swell and waves vary but it should be pretty stable as far as the vertical axis goes

Hello sir ... Videos have been very helpful... Can you please share the alibaba link to the special engineering handset you use...

@Phone_Geek

3 ай бұрын

Hi there, thanks for watching! It gets hard to find them tbh. Search for "TEMS mobile". Bear in mind, mine is the last handset I know of with ports for external antennas. Its now 10yrs old now. There are newer ones but not with option for external antenna. Also, there is the option to patch the OS, but it might brick the phone and at least invalidate warranty. I can find link to details if u want

@cudknacks

3 ай бұрын

@@Phone_Geek wow so the galaxy s3 is the last phone with an external antennae port.. I was wondering how Tems got these to connect to 4g since the models of Samsung s3 back then were not 4g capable devices .. People are still selling galaxy s3's on eBay but to go through the challenge of modifying the firmware to TEMS firmware just to use the external antenna port is another hell I may not wanna go through... I'll appreciate it heavily if you do post the link though..thank you

Do you have any experience with the Waveform products?

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

Hi, no not at moment. Some seem generic ones and some are made by rsrf (not come across them before). Do seem a bit expensive some of them

You have link aliexpress

What is the width of the horizontal, on the antenna from its start point to its full lenth. Also the same with the vertical . Can anybody answer please ?

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

Do you mean it's dimensions? Well just checked that, and 26cm square. Except that on one side there is the cable, which with min bend you'd have to add 4cm to that.

@Alancalan

2 жыл бұрын

No sorry I ment the dBi , 11dB I goes 25 miles so how big is the vertical and horizontal so I know the horizontall goes 25 miles but how big does it get starting right beside the router to about 100 feet ?

Good afternoon uncle I like to know this product can operate in 5G/4G/LTE router cause I want buy once XPOL1 v2 41? I saw at Takealot so I want to buy fit all bands outdoors

@Phone_Geek

Жыл бұрын

Hi there thanks for watching! The antenna you mention is an omni-directional covers all bands and tech from 2G to 5G. The 41 version means its 4x4 mimo, so your router needs to have 4-ports to get main benefit

What about if you unscrewed the antenna and replaced it wil another cheep antenna and rerun the test ?

@Phone_Geek

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Miika could indeed do that... and since been more interest of late in the vid I am very tempted. What you think - cheap omni, cheap directional or cheap log periodic?

@miikapekk5155

3 жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek Hi Richard, Maybe a hand made biquad omnidirectional antenna. I believe there schematics online. I found your channel because I'm casually looking at testing out 4g , but opinions are so varied on which antenna are better. Some say don't waste money on expensive ones others saying the opposite.

i think it would be really cool if you could try out the range of cheap £3-30 antennas you see on ebay etc with the same system. could be a cheap way to make some interesting vids and pulling in some views :) sub'd just in case!

@Phone_Geek

3 жыл бұрын

thought i'd replied, seems not, so sorry for that! Great idea, obviously - since that is what the latest vid is about! Cheers

Is this better than the xpol 001? And if so what's the difference between them

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

Hi! The xpol1 is an old product now, see tons on ebay. That's an omni directional antenna whereas this xpol2 is a directional antenna. As a result the gain is lower in the xpol1.

Just about to install one of these antennas is higher better ? Previously been using an EE branded antenna that came as part of a 4g package.

@Phone_Geek

3 жыл бұрын

Hi there - higher is generally better, however not necessarily. Higher picks up more signal but also more noise, and 3G tech+ relies on strict control of noise, such that Signal to Noise (SNR) ratio is high. Should do a vid on this sort get loads questions.... best advice if you've just got one.. 1) use cellmapper.net to locate sites close to your intended use (home??) 2) Select your operator of intent, or ideally, identify the one you want, then get your SIM. 3) identify the tech AND band they use. That is LTE 800, LTE 1800, 2100, 2600 etc. lower band = better coverage lower throughput, higher band = lower coverage higher throughput. 4) work out which is best masts 5) mount antenna as high up with azimuth in that general direction and then pan. Hope that helps! any q's no probs fire them over. Or if in North west i'll do it for fee ha ha

@twozerouk

3 жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek Richard thanks for the comprehensive reply. I’m in the wilds of Cumbria where the copper BT line is a dripping tap! I’ve used satellite in the past but alas my provider changed satellite and for various reasons including terrain service was discontinued. Got a 4g package from EE which has provided 20mb but I thought I’d try the Poynting antenna to see if I could squeeze a bit more out of the connection. I’ll try the cellmapper and see what my options are. Cheers.

@Phone_Geek

3 жыл бұрын

@@twozerouk good luck! Starlink bit expensive at mo. They want 400 for kit and 90 a month btw. If in Cumbria and lakes then yeah I know area quite well. Difficult to plan new masts. In that case definitely higher the better. Should have said my previous comments more appropriate in urban suburban environments.

@twozerouk

3 жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek Strange that the signal strength meter on the EE router shows no signal at all and yet a pretty good connection.

@Phone_Geek

3 жыл бұрын

@@twozerouk arhh well thats where we'd start getting technical. Depends on what RF 'quality' measure the signal strength meter is using to display signal. There is rssi (received signal strength indicator) rsrq (received signal received quality), rscp (received signal code power), ecio (energy per chip interference offset), sinr (signal to interference noise ratio) all depending on if it uses 3G or 4G it goes on... also those bars will have thresholds. Such and such a value of one of above = 1 bar etc etc. However, local RF conditions can mean connections at values outside those ranges. Good example is rural areas. Low cell site density and low traffic use tends to mean low signals but also very low noise, so connections work at much 'poorer' conditions than they would in built up areas. However you get situs due to hilly terrain where the connections are intermittent. Soz for long explanation- it's my work and forte.

Are the poynting and the bolton antennas the same?

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

Never heard of them but just looked.. wow they must be same. Perhaps they bought a load off poynting and allowed to re-brand them perhaps. Or as a US distributor. I can ask my contacts but on face of it I'd say they are same

What is the roter you coneceted the two sma cables????

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

Hi there, it's a tplink archer mr600. Thanks for watching!

@tristandimitrijev3195

2 жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek thank yoou

Hi Richard,very good video and informative. and very timely for me as I am just venturing into this area and was wondering if you have any idea how I can establish where I am getting my signal from , let me explain lol. I am on mobile broadband with 3 I have been on cellmapper, mastdata, open signal. and I can only establish 1 cell tower near my location in fact it is a 10 minute walk away and is an EE however when I do a field test using my phone the cell id it gives me does not equate to any of the cells in the tower! and I cant find ANY masts with 3 anywhere near me but I do get between 5-10mb download so I must be getting a signal from somewhere lol. I just want to know if it is worth me spending the money on an antenna without knowing where to point it as all the maps I have looked at dont show any more towers in my area. The one good thing I found on cellmapper was when I clicked on the tower nearest me the signal graph was great for me . Even 3 community could not confirm if they were using the tower !

@Phone_Geek

Жыл бұрын

Hi Paul thanks for watching! Often its best I know a bit more on your current setup, eg are you rural or suburban, do you have standard router located in your lounge etc and are thinking of using an external antenna? You are definitely further down the line in looking for the serving mast and checking against cell mapper. however what you should do is do a survey using an app like netmonitor lite (android only). This will give you the eNodeB of your current mast and you can search for that in cellmapper. I get so many questions like this i've doing a vid on it. You could also do with checking what freq band the tests show, along with these: rsrp and rsrq. signal level and quality essentially.

@paulcartlidge4194

Жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek Hi Richard. Thanks for getting back to me, I live in a rural area and I suppose I have a standard 4G router its a tplink 4g Deco system and has 2 outlets for external ariels. I live in a bungalow so its in the loft to get abetter signal. unfortunately I dont have an android device so cant use netmonitor but I will do another field test and see what the rsrp and rsrq values are along with signal level . I still have the original huawei router but I went with tp link so I could get wifi around the house. I will let you know the results if thats ok with you

@Phone_Geek

Жыл бұрын

@Paul Cartlidge cool. Not sure what apple give you.. getting the eNodeb ID is most important.

@paulcartlidge4194

Жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek Hi Richard, well the field test didnt provide much info apart from a UARFCN 10612 and a cell id 8077979 which when i enter in cellmapper nothing happens . I now have some enode id numbers :33177,3864,50314,10911BUT i dont know what I am doing wr Anyway ong but none of them show up on cellmapper. I put the number in the search tower and click on it but then nothing happens lol. the thing is the 33177 tower has 12 cells in it but none of the number I have! anyway I have mithered you enough thank you for your input I am ust frustrated I cant get to the bottom of it .

@Phone_Geek

Жыл бұрын

@Paul Cartlidge no problem, I could probs work it out. You can email me direct if give the village etc of where u are. Richedwards.phonegeek@gmail.com

Hey buddy where did you get the phone with sma connectors cheers

@Phone_Geek

2 жыл бұрын

Hi mate, the phone is a samsung s3 running engineering firmware called tems pocket. I got my, hmm, discounted one from alibaba. It has internal fma antenna connectors and I have a 2x fma to sma converter cable. Those phones are not cheap and I'm looking to renew mine. Latest alibaba one is 1500, but another option is network signal guru if you're good with rooting phones. Something I'm looking into. Not sure which 5G phones have internal antenna connectors done for us, or whether it'd be bastarise your own...

@kylegeddes8005

2 жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek I'm looking for 4g ones il leave my email probably get spammed geddes@mail.com it's just for more information on how to do it and get the software rooting phones isn't a issue

@kylegeddes8005

2 жыл бұрын

Email me a price for yer s3 if yer keen on selling

Would you choose this or bluespot?

@Phone_Geek

Жыл бұрын

Well, hard to say they are very similar performance similar price. Whichever is cheapest for general performance. Greater gain if youre happy to play with it - poynting wins. Personally I'd be looking at poyntings xpol5g or the yet to be released xpole24 which is a 5G 4x4 mimo.

What cable you used and how long it was?

@toniilola6405

Жыл бұрын

And great review btw! Planning to get that v3

@Phone_Geek

Жыл бұрын

@Toni Ilola thanks very much! The cable is the one included, which is 5m of hdf195. That was for testing.. but at home I have an extra 10m of rg95 I think it is, so lots more loss

How could an everyday joe find the best spot for this. I just bought one

@Phone_Geek

3 жыл бұрын

Hi there well I'm going to do some vids on that after finishing editing the cheapo antenna vid ongoing... but few things to consider.. highest isn't always best. Knowing where local masts are (ish) will help. Are you rural or suburban? To start off, get high, do speed tests at varying azimuths (directions from north) - go clockwise say every 60degrees make note of upload and download speeds. Maybe 2 sides of your places. Lots tests yes. Worth it in end

@intergrale4x4

3 жыл бұрын

@@Phone_Geek Opensignal App is a good place to start but it does take a bit of playing about ! I started off with 20Mb down then found a better spot getting 80Mb down. The Antenna in the video is not the best in the range as the full 11dB unit has white cables!! I now have this running a healthy 170Mb Down and 40Mb up on EE with 100% connection