antenna 3g

gerky

Does anyone by any chance know if an antenna can be used with the vodafone usb modem.

Bummer

There is a device you can get that you can put up beside your tv antanna and it is like a small mast in your house that is designed to improved mobile phone signal...you can buy it online somewhere but not sure of the website....thats all i know at the moment.....

Patrickof

I have the PCMCIA cards and don't know if there's a connection for an external antenna on the USB version, but if there is then this site probably has the right antenna:

http://www.antennas-online.co.uk/catalog/catalog_desplay.php?CallCatalog=3G

Incidentally, has anyone tried these? I'm seriously considering the STG£51 outdoor version for the HSDPA card (E620).

cold_filter

There is no anntenna or anything similar that will work with e620

godskitchen

cold_filter wrote:

There is no anntenna or anything similar that will work with e620

So i am just imagining the 8meter cable i have coming from my card going to an outdoor antenna outside my window?

cold_filter

godskitchen wrote:

So i am just imagining the 8meter cable i have coming from my card going to an outdoor antenna outside my window?

Apoligies, i was thinking of the e220, the usb modem :eek:

smadger

godskitchen wrote:

So i am just imagining the 8meter cable i have coming from my card going to an outdoor antenna outside my window?

What one did you get Godskitchen? Would it work with 3's E630, do you think?

godskitchen

smadger wrote:

What one did you get Godskitchen? Would it work with 3's E630, do you think?

yep it works with it no problem, i have both cards.

Check out thiecom.de

you will need

Antenna : SLP17 (11db high gain, i got 3G on vodafone with no bars without this antenna, now i get 2/3 bars and the mast is 7Km away with hills in the way!)

Cable : SMA8FME (8meter cable, you may need longer, they do up to 20 meters IIRC)

Pigtail : PIG6FME (adapter to go from antenna to the E620/E630)

conj

Hi, has anyone discovered an aerial for the new vodafone usb modem yet, have checked that german site but a bit hard to figure out with no german.

watty

I don't thing the USB one has a socket. No Socket = No external aerial.

Otherwise the same aerial would work.

oghran

In the past few days Vodafone have just turned on a 3G cell about 12kms (roughly) from me, and my connection now connects at 384kbps. Unfortunately though my actual speed is still around 40kbps

Anyone know if I was to invest in an high gain antenna would this bring me into range of real 3G speeds ? Apparently they are still adding more cells so I'm hoping the mountain shall come to Mohammed..

Its frustrating, because I get a 3G signal on my phone right up until I park my car outside the house at which point it drops.

Thanks for any advice.

smellslikeshoes

oghran wrote:

In the past few days Vodafone have just turned on a 3G cell about 12kms (roughly) from me, and my connection now connects at 384kbps. Unfortunately though my actual speed is still around 40kbps

Anyone know if I was to invest in an high gain antenna would this bring me into range of real 3G speeds ? Apparently they are still adding more cells so I'm hoping the mountain shall come to Mohammed..

Its frustrating, because I get a 3G signal on my phone right up until I park my car outside the house at which point it drops.

Thanks for any advice.

At 12km I would normally say no but if you are getting 3g signal close to your house a medium/high gain antenna might do the job.

godskitchen

oghran wrote:

In the past few days Vodafone have just turned on a 3G cell about 12kms (roughly) from me, and my connection now connects at 384kbps. Unfortunately though my actual speed is still around 40kbps

Anyone know if I was to invest in an high gain antenna would this bring me into range of real 3G speeds ? Apparently they are still adding more cells so I'm hoping the mountain shall come to Mohammed..

Its frustrating, because I get a 3G signal on my phone right up until I park my car outside the house at which point it drops.

Thanks for any advice.

12Kms is a LONG LONG way for a 3G signal to come, but if as you say you have got it on your phone outside the house, you WILL get it with a 3G antenna!

I had the same thing, i could pick up 3G outside the house (no/1bar of signal) and i would get about 14KB/sec down most of the time, some times it would go to "true" 3G speeds, funnily enough when it was windy!

I now get 3 bars signal and good speeds most of the time, i say most of the time but it depends on a lot of factors, as i am sure you know.

I listed the best kit to get above in this topic, if you need anymore help let me know!

conj

Thanks for the reply. your right there is no entry for an aerial on the usb device, however i was hoping that perhaps there was an aerial that was "wireless" that you can display near by to strenghten the signal.

smellslikeshoes

conj wrote:

Thanks for the reply. your right there is no entry for an aerial on the usb device, however i was hoping that perhaps there was an aerial that was "wireless" that you can display near by to strenghten the signal.

No

watty

conj wrote:

Thanks for the reply. your right there is no entry for an aerial on the usb device, however i was hoping that perhaps there was an aerial that was "wireless" that you can display near by to strenghten the signal.

If you were in a metal lined room in the basement (i.e. no signal possible from ANYTHING on any device), a high gain chimney aerial connected via coax to a simple aerial placed just beside the USB modem would give some small signal, if the outdoor signal was strong.

But in 99.999% of occasions the ONLY way to add an external aerial is via an external aerial socket.

niallb

godskitchen wrote:

I had the same thing, i could pick up 3G outside the house (no/1bar of signal) and i would get about 14KB/sec down most of the time, some times it would go to "true" 3G speeds, funnily enough when it was windy!

Weird, I commented on exactly the same thing back in January.
I suspect that this is a sign that a tiny sector tweak from Vodafone would give you a better signal. Ring their data support and give it a shot.

What do you have the SIM in?
Stick the modem/phone/radio whatever to the window.
Wander from window to window until you get the best signal.
I found a spot where I get reliable service (it's very carefully marked)
and even 6 INCHES away in any direction puts me back on GPRS.
If you've the PCMCIA card of course, you'll need an antenna anyway to do that!

The spot is awkward, so I put the SIM into a Nokia 6680 and use a bluetooth dongle to connect to it.
It also means I can bring my broadband with me when I go out,
and I have opera, gmail, and a jabber client installed on the Nokia itself.

Keep with it,
it's probably better than the alternatives.

NiallB

gerky

Does anyone know do the usb modems work with a usb extension lead.

godskitchen

angel2 wrote:

Does anyone know do the usb modems work with a usb extension lead.

Dont see why not, the antenna on the USB modem is the lead, might cause a problem, but cant see why.

niallb

I've used it on the end of a 5m cable and a 1.8m extension no problem.
Even works with a hub and another short lead after that.