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Israel, Jerusalem
1 Level
757 Review
46 Karma

Review on Enhance Connectivity with Proxicast 3G/4G/LTE Universal Wide Band Paddle Antenna (2 Pack) by Darby Perkins

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Significant improvement

Used in AWI ATT Wireless Internet Router. We live in a rural area about 10-12 miles from a cell phone tower on a ridge but in a wooded area. Bought the Proxicast antennas based on reviews even though they only claim a 5dBi gain improvement. (I'm not too keen on going to the roof to install LTE antennas with better signal gain if I could help.) Initial signal strength before adding antennas was -109 -> -115 dBm at download speeds of 10.9 to 19.7 Mbit/s (when using ATT Internet speed test). Download speeds are a meager 0.5-3.0 Mbit/s at best. With the lobe antennas in place, signal strength steadily improved with much less variation despite weather changes (overcast, rainy days tended to provide a better signal; bright sunny days had much poorer signal strength). an increase in strength from -84 to 86 dBm, far beyond my expectations (imagine my excitement); the next day and then only reached -105 to -106 dBm. I can't explain why, but I'm doing some research. This was my initial expectation given the advertised 5dBi gain. Upload speed increased by around 20-28Mbps, but upload speed definitely improved and became more stable at 3-5Mbps (important when using Blink cameras outdoors to monitor your property) . Sometimes even better for both. A few tips: 1) - use the OpenSignal app (free to download) to determine the direction to the cell tower 2) - the ATT AWI device is placed on a small children's table by the window facing the camera. Tower, and determined through trial and error that the rear of the device facing the tower provides the best signal strength with the internal antennas before the Proxicast antennas were installed in a vertical position, so the AWI router installed the antennas stayed in the exact same spot/orientation. 4) - Internet speed testing partly depends on network congestion and time of day. (On Sunday the speed was slower and on Monday morning the results were better). Use the signal strength meter on the side of the AWI router to see how well you're doing. Also note that the signal strength can fluctuate periodically, so it will take some time to understand how you are doing. Overall, given my expectations, the product initially works as advertised and saved me from having to drill holes in the walls to install an outside antenna (which I expected). will work even better - but our needs will be met) Definitely recommend buying and trying if you have realistic expectations. And if you see a huge improvement on day one, hold back your excitement until you see things settle down. ;)

Pros
  • New to my collection
Cons
  • Has disadvantages