Ideal external cellular antenna for long range reception on a sailboat

[Statistical]

Wondering if anyone has an experience with long range cellular reception. I have a pretty nice LTE router which accepts a sim card for connecting to a cellular network and provide internet access to multiple devices. It can take an external antenna.

I have two theories on which would be best for pulling in fringe signals (say 10 nm offshore).

a) using a omni directional antenna and mount as high as possible on the mast

b) using a highly directional antenna and mount it lower and aim it towards the shoreline.

thoughts?

[sv_pelagia]

We have a WeBoost 4G cell phone amplifier on our boat. We find it helps a lot when in areas with marginal cell reception (which are common here in BC). Especially speeds up data.

No help when zero cell signal.

[smac999]

add an amp (ie wilson) and an antenna. you need a direct connect amp. (as opposed to one that uses an inside antenna)

this is the current cell antenna from shakspeare

https://shakespeare-ce.com/marine/pr...lular-antenna/

higher doesn't necasslly help because the higher the antenna the longer the cable loss.

[Statistical]

Originally Posted by smac999

add an amp (ie wilson) and an antenna. you need a direct connect amp. (as opposed to one that uses an inside antenna)

this is the current cell antenna from shakspeare

https://shakespeare-ce.com/marine/pr...lular-antenna/

higher doesn't necasslly help because the higher the antenna the longer the cable loss.

Alright so that is an omni so I will try that first. Thanks for the tip on the amp.

[ilenart]

For cellular I was advised to mount the aerial on the stern with a short cable run. The loss of signal from a long cable run negated the benefits from the aerial on top of the mast.

NB this was advice relating to Oz cellular reception, assume it is applicable to the US(?)

Ilenart

[Statistical]

Originally Posted by ilenart

For cellular I was advised to mount the aerial on the stern with a short cable run. The loss of signal from a long cable run negated the benefits from the aerial on top of the mast.

NB this was advice relating to Oz cellular reception, assume it is applicable to the US(?)

Ilenart

Signal loss due to those high frequency signals was something I was worried about and that is now two posts warning about long runs so yeah stern rail is probably what I will go with and add a high quality wilson amplifier for good measure.

[purplesunrise]

We have a Pepwave Max BR1 and a WeBoost 4G. From the Florida west coast to the Chesapeake we had fairly reliable connectivity. At Cape Lookout NC we had a one bar signal and the WeBoost didn't help. In The Bahamas with Aliv network however, it seemed to help a little. I think the money would be better spent on a directional antenna but that is probably not a good solution underway.

[IAmGroot]

Originally Posted by purplesunrise

We have a Pepwave Max BR1 and a WeBoost 4G. From the Florida west coast to the Chesapeake we had fairly reliable connectivity. At Cape Lookout NC we had a one bar signal and the WeBoost didn't help. In The Bahamas with Aliv network however, it seemed to help a little. I think the money would be better spent on a directional antenna but that is probably not a good solution underway.

Wow - that is very cool, I am about to do that run myself and would really like the connectivity. What is your antenna height and how far offshore were you typically? Was it good for fairly high speed data or just cellular voice?

<edit> Just looked at the Pepwave Max BR1 Mk2 - looks like it is focused on data, so probably not a cellular voice thing, except beyond using a cell phone in wifi mode to make calls. Still curious to know about data rates, antenna height, and new question: what carrier do you use? Thanks!

[purplesunrise]

We are simply using the antennas on the Pepwave. Prior to using it in the boat it was used in our RV with an expensive external antenna but it did not work well. The provided antennas work best. The Pepwave is on top of the saloon instrument console so it has a clear shot through the windows but I doubt that makes much difference.
We are too tall for the ICW so on the trek up the coast we are typically 3-5 miles offshore. More than that and we lose the signal. But there were many times we lost sight of land and still received a usable signal.
Speeds are generally in the 5-15 Mbps range although we have seen speeds in the 60 Mbps range in some locations.
We are using a grandfathered AT&T plan that gives us truly unlimited data with no throttles. We use between 150 and 200 GB/month. For voice we use FB Messenger and iOS Facetime but we also have Verizon voice accounts.
It works well but I think the ultimate solution for cruisers may be Starlink.

[Statistical]

Originally Posted by purplesunrise

It works well but I think the ultimate solution for cruisers may be Starlink.

Yeah that would be the dream. Someday ...

[CarlF]

Cellular amplifiers and antennas all worked better years ago when we just wanted cell phone calls or 2G. They really don't work very well for 4G/LTE.

I own an expensive cell booster and find that while it gives me an extra bar or two that doesn't actually improve data speeds much. Sometimes the data speed actually goes down. Of course the companies that sell theses really expensive things don't want to talk about that.

To your first question - a directional antenna like a Yagi - even at deck level - will work much better than an omni -- assuming you know where the cell tower is.

The real answer for your setup is to get a MIMO antenna (e.g. multiple antenna). All cell phones now have MIMO antennas inside. If your router has two antenna inputs for a MIMO antenna - this would be your best bet.

This Mobile Internet Resource Center site provides a lot of information. It turns out the RV guys are way ahead of the sailors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14tWiAsqfJk&t=305s