Upgrade 4G antenna @ AMS

[Firefishy]

The 4G modem at AMS keeps falling back to 2G due to poor signal.

We should try upgrade the antenna to see if it helps.

[Firefishy]

The current modem is: https://teltonika-networks.com/products/modems/TRM240/ The current antenna is: https://teltonika-networks.com/products/accessories/antenna-options/mobile-sma-antenna

[mboeringa]

You mean potentially something like this? From the teltonika site it appears the current antenna is already the highest gain version they offer there: https://www.amazon.com/ZDTECH-10-12dBi-External-Directional-Cellular/dp/B09B15BSJH

[Firefishy]

You mean potentially something like this? From the teltonika site it appears the current antenna is already the highest gain version they offer there: https://www.amazon.com/ZDTECH-10-12dBi-External-Directional-Cellular/dp/B09B15BSJH

Yes, something like that. Many antenna's seem to have poor reviews and fake dBi number. The ZDTech antenna linked above doesn't have a good reviews.

Poynting antennas have generally good reviews.

[Firefishy]

For what its worth I did tweet Teltonika to ask if they can recommend any antenna: https://x.com/OSM_Tech/status/1811739244236308838

[Firefishy]

Switched the antenna. Ping times 50% to 80% better. 2G -> 4G connection. I am not really sure it is a better antenna. The signal strength in the hall seems good, so the antenna type may be affecting the noise floor.

[Firefishy]

The new antenna did help, but the signal strength is still very weak, with higher than expected latency.

I am going to replace the antenna with a Quectel YE0001BA 5 dBi antenna. (Note to reader the 12 dBi quoted for the Amazon antenna is fake.)

Current signal strength is Poor:

LTE:
    RSSI: '-87 dBm'
    RSRQ: '-19 dB'
    RSRP: '-124 dBm'
    SNR: '-6.4 dB'

[Firefishy]

Forcing the mobile network to NL KPN has improved the signal strength and drastically improved the latency from ~180ms to ~60ms.

LTE:
    RSSI: '-85 dBm'
    RSRQ: '-11 dB'
    RSRP: '-114 dBm'
    SNR: '0.8 dB'