The benefits of using an external 4G/5G antenna

A strong, reliable internet connection has become a daily necessity. We keep adding devices that need to be online, and with them the need for a good connection at home or in the office. There are several ways to improve the signal you receive and get the most out of it: buying a newer, more capable router, switching Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP), or moving closer to a mobile base station. But are any of those necessary — or affordable? You do not have to move house, and you do not have to change provider. All you may need is an external antenna.

An external antenna

Connecting an external antenna to the router can raise its performance considerably compared with the router's built-in antennas. Indoor signal is often unreliable and very weak, because the signal from the mobile base station reflects around the building before it reaches the router's internal antennas or our phones, which cuts its strength dramatically. The more impenetrable the materials a building is made of, the harder it is for the 4G signal to get through — and the poorer the resulting connection.

For maximum performance, the most effective type to use is an outdoor antenna. Mounting the antenna on a roof (omnidirectional) or on a wall (directional) and connecting it to the router with low-loss coaxial cable does more than deliver a stronger signal: because the antenna has gain of its own, the connection becomes more reliable and more efficient as the signal is amplified. If your office or home is in the middle of a town, an omnidirectional antenna can be a good choice, since it reaches more base stations. Out of town, in rural areas, a directional antenna is always the better answer.

There is also a product of our own that does the job better still — the SeaCell outdoor 4G router range, a complete solution combining a 4G router and antennas in a single enclosure.

SeaCell outdoor routers were designed to live outdoors and to do away with external 4G/Wi-Fi/GPS/Bluetooth antennas and the coaxial downleads that go with them.
It is a complete, self-contained 4G LTE and Wi-Fi router (a 5G version is coming) that cuts installation time to a minimum and removes the cost of the separate parts a conventional installation needs — coaxial cable, connectors, pigtails. Most importantly, it eliminates the signal lost in those coaxial runs, which means excellent 4G reception, greater range and higher speeds.

All you need is a UTP cable running to an ethernet switch inside your premises.

Benefits:

• A much shorter cable run, which means more signal strength, better signal quality and higher speed.
• Router powered over PoE (Power over Ethernet)
• IP67 weatherproof.
• Everything in one unit (an all-in-one solution)