Internet in poor signal area

[toon49]

Sorry I'm not very technical and looking for some advice to get internet in our motorhome. We have just been using our phones hotspot. We have been to quite a few rural places that have poor connection, for example recently we had a signal getting 1-2mbps on our phone so not enough to do anything with.
Wondering if there is anything we can use to boost the connection, I have an old Huawei mifi e5573 which hasn't really helped much.
Would a newer router or external aerial help at all or is it unlikely to make much difference? What would people recommend?
Not looking to spend a fortune as not hugely important just useful to look at things to do in the local area or occasionally stream TV!

 

[Googlebot]

External aerials are the only way to do it. Even then, if the signal isn’t there, it won’t help much.

We have had good results with a fixed external aerial into a MiFi. I would get a cheap directional external one and just try it first to see if it works.

 

[Langtoftlad]

You can spend a relative fortune chasing a non existant mobile signal.

Just accept sometimes you cannot connect.
Have alternative strategies.

 

[hja]

We have an external aerial and HUAWEI router with smarty sim. Has certainly worked when no signal on the phone.

 

[MisterB]

You can get most things at a cost. you need to decide how important it is to you to have internet access, before starting to spend lots of money on hardware/plans that will get you as much access as you want and often more besides.

You might even fall into the group of people that find having a sat dish to provide TV is cost effective.

As langtoflad points out, you might need to reduce your expectations or needs for access.

We use a Netgear M2 router, but they are still expensive even though they have been replaced by newer alternatives. We have rarely not managed to get a signal.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Langtoftlad]

Starlink is probably the best option if Internet connection is essential.

 

[starquake]

You can spend a relative fortune chasing a non existant mobile signal.

Just accept sometimes you cannot connect.
Have alternative strategies.

I think it depends. On a static caravan at inlaws, you get no signal at all from a handset (literally it's a deadspot), but with a suitable "extremely" directional antenna (ie, not a motorhome one) 30Mbit on Three, and 100Mbit on EE is achieved for them. The entire sites facebook is filled with nonsense such as "mobile is unachivable, get a fixed line (static site allows this)". The kit to fix the above was £170 (Mikrotik LHG if you are interested in the device), however fitting a larger than a satellite sized dish thats directional to the top of a motorhome is not really desirable, so I've personally am getting a Motorhomewifi (aka Teltonica RUT) antenna to roof of my van thats arriving soon. I have a spare "Mikrotik" device I'll throw into the van if I'm going somewhere where that won't work -> basically the ease of use of a motorhomewifi type setup on a perm install trumps "not having one".... but it's equally not as good as kit I already own in the signal boosting skillset.

Just bear in mind the kit to do "very directional" 3/4/5g signal boosting is ~£170-300 ish, and isn't something you can leave permantly fixed to a motorhome due to such elements as wind shear, however, on a static carvan/non-moving vehicle, you CAN fit a reasonably priced EXTREMELY directional antenna and aim at the nearest tower and achieve home braodband like speeds. So it depends how often you move the van. We have fixed out spare LHG above succesfully to a normal "pole" mount or sun-umbrella on the floor with cable ties for a temporary boost when we've had to go to similarly bad sites for a week and need to work.

 

[Langtoftlad]

I think it depends. On a static caravan at inlaws, you get no signal at all from a handset (literally it's a deadspot), but with a suitable "extremely" directional antenna (ie, not a motorhome one) 30Mbit on Three, and 100Mbit on EE is achieved for them. The entire sites facebook is filled with nonsense such as "mobile is unachivable, get a fixed line (static site allows this)". The kit to fix the above was £170 (Mikrotik LHG if you are interested in the device), however fitting a larger than a satellite sized dish thats directional to the top of a motorhome is not really desirable, so I've personally am getting a Motorhomewifi (aka Teltonica RUT) antenna to roof of my van thats arriving soon. I have a spare "Mikrotik" device I'll throw into the van if I'm going somewhere where that won't work -> basically the ease of use of a motorhomewifi type setup on a perm install trumps "not having one".... but it's equally not as good as kit I already own in the signal boosting skillset.

Just bear in mind the kit to do "very directional" 3/4/5g signal boosting is ~£170-300 ish, and isn't something you can leave permantly fixed to a motorhome due to such elements as wind shear, however, on a static carvan/non-moving vehicle, you CAN fit a reasonably priced EXTREMELY directional antenna and aim at the nearest tower and achieve home braodband like speeds. So it depends how often you move the van. We have fixed out spare LHG above succesfully to a normal "pole" mount or sun-umbrella on the floor with cable ties for a temporary boost when we've had to go to similarly bad sites for a week and need to work.

Starlink then becomes a very affordable option especially if not static.

Personally, much as I live on the Internet, the rare times I'm in a dead zone... I live with it & take a break.

 

[starquake]

Would a newer router or external aerial help at all or is it unlikely to make much difference? What would people recommend?
Not looking to spend a fortune as not hugely important just useful to look at things to do in the local area or occasionally stream TV!

My simple advice would be an external antenna helps (roughly doubles signal, as a motorhome is a part metal box that blocks signal), the simplest option is a motorhome wifi type antenna through roof. (It's actually a Teltonica RUT antenna), one of these fitted to roof and wired to your Huawei may help, but I would reccomend swapping that mifi for a newer device as it's a older technology model. A newer router WOULD help as the one you have is 4g LTE cat4 (max of 150Mbit), and most modern cell towers can do cat12-18 now (ie, roughly speaking 3-4x faster). The thing to look when comparing is above cat6 really -> a cat4 device is effectively able to use "one" stream from the cell tower, where a cat6 or higher device can combine signal from 2 cell towers or 2 frequencies from one tower to provide double the speed -> you can tell as a cat 4 device has "one" antenna connector, where a cat6 has two, so a cat6 device has a max of 300Mbit!. Ie, you would probably rougly double speeds I would wager with a change of device if you are not in a area only covered by ONE cell tower.

You didn't mention which network you using either, in experience, EE offers the best coverage at high speed. Smarty (3) is the cheapest. If you using either O2 or Voda, my experience is you would be better changing to one of the above two.

 

[PaulyP]

I think it depends. On a static caravan at inlaws, you get no signal at all from a handset (literally it's a deadspot), but with a suitable "extremely" directional antenna (ie, not a motorhome one) 30Mbit on Three, and 100Mbit on EE is achieved for them. The entire sites facebook is filled with nonsense such as "mobile is unachivable, get a fixed line (static site allows this)". The kit to fix the above was £170 (Mikrotik LHG if you are interested in the device), however fitting a larger than a satellite sized dish thats directional to the top of a motorhome is not really desirable, so I've personally am getting a Motorhomewifi (aka Teltonica RUT) antenna to roof of my van thats arriving soon. I have a spare "Mikrotik" device I'll throw into the van if I'm going somewhere where that won't work -> basically the ease of use of a motorhomewifi type setup on a perm install trumps "not having one".... but it's equally not as good as kit I already own in the signal boosting skillset.

Just bear in mind the kit to do "very directional" 3/4/5g signal boosting is ~£170-300 ish, and isn't something you can leave permantly fixed to a motorhome due to such elements as wind shear, however, on a static carvan/non-moving vehicle, you CAN fit a reasonably priced EXTREMELY directional antenna and aim at the nearest tower and achieve home braodband like speeds. So it depends how often you move the van. We have fixed out spare LHG above succesfully to a normal "pole" mount or sun-umbrella on the floor with cable ties for a temporary boost when we've had to go to similarly bad sites for a week and need to work.

At my static I have a Kuma connect with a directional Ariel with an EE data sim, I’m in a dispute with them at the moment because at 6am I can get anywhere between 8 to 15mbps however come 8am I’m then lucky to get between 1 or 2mbps which is the same for the rest of the day, their excuse is always that they are working on the masts nearby, however at the same time I can always get 10 to 12 mbps when I tether onto my phone using Vodafone, my argument is that surely the phone takes it’s signal from the same masts !
Tomorrow the work to upgrade the local masts is supposed to be completed so we then get to see if there is any improvement, they have at least not charged me for the last two months. The actual Kuma kit works well.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[TerryReis]

I have a directional Ariel from McGill Microwave Systems. Paired with a Netgear Mobile Router it works very well in bad signal areas. I normally check a coverage map for who has the best in that area, although so far it has always been EE. Buy a pay as you go data sim, or top it up if you have have one. Stick the arial up as high as I can on a pole and twisle it round until the app shows the strongest signal. A stable internet connection is essential for me and so far after two years this has not let me down.

 

[starquake]

At my static I have a Kuma connect with a directional Ariel with an EE data sim, I’m in a dispute with them at the moment because at 6am I can get anywhere between 8 to 15mbps however come 8am I’m then lucky to get between 1 or 2mbps which is the same for the rest of the day, their excuse is always that they are working on the masts nearby, however at the same time I can always get 10 to 12 mbps when I tether onto my phone using Vodafone, my argument is that surely the phone takes it’s signal from the same masts !
Tomorrow the work to upgrade the local masts is supposed to be completed so we then get to see if there is any improvement, they have at least not charged me for the last two months. The actual Kuma kit works well.

They may use Voda, but even in same location on same tower they'll have different backhaul. Having worked for networks, some cell providers (mentioning no names) were uplinking with 2Mbit links on HSDPA 3g towers, ie, towers saying they were "fast" to handsets, actually shared tiny links between all customers on same tower. From previous experience EE are best at backhaul, Three second best.

The Kuma kit if I'm reading the spec on their website right is LTE cat4, on near any network you may get a substancial improvment from a cat6 or higher device (your phone is likely a cat12 device which is WHY faster), any iphone since the X is > cat6 as an example.. EE in particular benefit massively from cat6 or higher if your antenna can pickup more than 1 tower. Theres also a setting I use on the Mikrotik devices I use called "cell lock" where I can monitor exactly which tower and frequency on EE gives best performance and "prevent" them roaming to another.

Effectively comparing a 2-3 year old modern phone with a cat4 device is pointless as a cat4 device should be compared with a 4-6 year old cat4 phone! (your phone is better than your Kuma kit!). When comparing equipment if it's not the same LTE Category number, the higher number will be 2, 3, or 6 times faster depending on the LTE category.

 

[Realist]

Starlink.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

I think you have to decide how important it is to you to get a better signal. We needed a good signal because Liz needs to use her MacBook occasionally when we are away for Teams meetings, plus we like to go online with our pads.
A decent external aerial is the only way, together with a decent router.
I would recommend either a Poynting or Panorama MiMo, not a puck type, though you need to be spending £100 plus.
We chose the Panorama MiMo x2 mobile x2 WiFi to go with our, a bit old hat now, Teltonika RUT950 router.
Very happy with the performance.

 

[Raul]

The Motorhome mifi kit, comes with a teltonika router RUT xxx, and a poynting omni antenna. Some teltonika routers are capable of carrier aggregation MIMO, but so does need the antenna. A poynting mimo 3-v2-15 it’s quite capable a true MIMO antenna. It has two LTE two WiFi and one gps. It’s a wide band (very important), capable to pick the low frequencies in remote areas, can connect to more than one tower, and capable of receiving 5G frequencies to.
A directional antenna can’t connect to more than one tower.
I installed in the van the poynting 3-v2-15 with a teltonika RUTX11, dual sim. I never had a situation of a no signal scenario. Even in dead spots where phone has no signal, the van always has 2 on more.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Jo662]

I have an huawei 5577,which has two antenna connections, which I plug a Poyntin antenna into. And i rarely struggle to get a signal In the UK,France and Spain.

 

[BrochMike]

I have an huawei 5577,which has two antenna connections, which I plug a Poyntin antenna into. And i rarely struggle to get a signal In the UK,France and Spain.

This seems to be a pretty affordable solution but do you know the specific variant of 5577? Not all have external connection for aerial (ie mine )

 

[Stevil74]

Starlink is probably the best option if Internet connection is essential.

That's what I use, fibre broadband speeds anywhere.

 

[daventess]

We have an external aerial and HUAWEI router with smarty sim. Has certainly worked when no signal on the phone.

Same here. Never been a problem in the UK (even when giffgaff/O2 had no signal).

In France, though, I had to set it manually to Orange each time, then that worked literally everywhere, too.

 

[Trevor Wbm]

There's no substitute for height when seeking out a signal. I have an aluminium aerial pole that clips on to the side of the van, extending about 5 feet above the roof, which is just over 2m high. On that I have fastened a plastic box from the chippy, which an old phone I use for tethering goes in. It doesn't always work, but often does. This probably wouldn't work at all if your van is metal bodied.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Captain Birdseye]

External aerials are the only way to do it. Even then, if the signal isn’t there, it won’t help much.

We have had good results with a fixed external aerial into a MiFi. I would get a cheap directional external one and just try it first to see if it works.

Agree, but after talking to the technical director at Motorhome Wifi, we bought a netgear router (quite expensive) which has arial sockets for the fixed roof arial, but much like an expensive modern mobile phone, works witchraft (combines a few streams in the singnal to give a faster connection). That is my wording not his. I cannot remember the technical expression for what it does, but it gives a better speed and our 3 cctv (usb powered) cameras can be accessed with an app to ensure our dog is safe, and also gets alerts from the temperature monitoring system that the aircon is doing its job to keep a comfortable temperature for him on the few times that we leave him for a while. We are a bit paranoid, but our previos mororhome caught fire when parked on a car park and the b2b charger (which was doing nothing at the time) exploded into flames, and yes, it was all professionally fitted.

 

[Vanman]

Another way of looking at it is to try and choose places based on the likely reception. I use the OFCOM Mobile & Broadband checker to see in advance how bad the reception is and look for alternatives if necessary. It shows by supplier and phone/data.

 

[Southend]

We have a Poynting mimo Ariel on our PVC. All mobile networks broadcast at two or three different wavelengths, 800mhz and usually two higher frequencies. It's the lowest 800 frequency that travels furthest from the mast. So for the best reception in rural areas away from the mast you really need a mimo Ariel that provides a gain at 800mhz. A small puck Ariel won't do this.

 

[Libellula]

Now that Starlink operates a “pause” system on your accounts I think this is a more viable solution. The hardware is still pricey. We are very pleased with Starlink at home in our French rural property, the uninterrupted and fast connection is the best we’ve had in 25 years! But in France we may just use our hotspots for a while before final decision.

 

[Captain Birdseye]

We have a Poynting mimo Ariel on our PVC. All mobile networks broadcast at two or three different wavelengths, 800mhz and usually two higher frequencies. It's the lowest 800 frequency that travels furthest from the mast. So for the best reception in rural areas away from the mast you really need a mimo Ariel that provides a gain at 800mhz. A small puck Ariel won't do this.

It's the 1800 and 1900 frequencies that go the farthest in a straight line and the 800 that penetrates buildings more effectively

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Southend]

It's the 1800 and 1900 frequencies that go the farthest in a straight line and the 800 that penetrates buildings more effectively

4G and 5G frequency bands in the UK

Each network uses a different bands and they also differ based on the type of network (2G, 3G and 4G). Check the frequencies all UK networks use in one place.

www.4g.co.uk

 

[Swiss]

Poynting aerial with Teltonika RUTX11 and EE sim for me, no problems in New Forest or while touring Scotland (NC500 and more) where there was no signal on either of our phones (Vodafone). Not a cheap solution, but internet connection is important to me for work and you know what they say about buying cheap, you buy twice!