Is it worth getting a 4G or 5G antenna?

If you're using 4G or 5G would an antenna make any difference to your speeds? What is the advantage to using 4g or 5G?

To note: 4G and 5G speeds vary so it's difficult to tell without a site survey.

4G and 5G broadband is a great option and with increasing masts/range then it can often offer competitive speeds to the usual broadband suppliers. If your property is rural, it can often make the difference between being able to work/function or not. So you've taken on a contract, you get decent speeds on your phone so why isn't it translating to decent speeds in your home?

Can you improve the speeds in other ways?

Tip #1 - Update your devices

Have you got older kit - tablets/phones etc? If you're on older software then update it as much as you can and it will run better overall.

What about your router - how old is it? Is it about time to upgrade it?

Tip #2 - Where is your router?

If your router is right in the centre of the house, the signal could be hampered by the walls which could reduce speeds. If you can, move it around and see if speeds improve when it's somewhere else. You may find that you have to boost the signal in other parts of the house though if it's moved.

Definitely try moving it to see if it improves the overall speed coming in then we can deal with distributing the WiFi after if it's needed.

"20% of rural premises cannot get fixed broadband speeds of 30 Mbps or above" – This makes 4G a viable working option.

Tip #3 - Check your provider

Are you on the best provider for your area? Masts are being built every day so what worked last year might not be the best option this year. Sometimes your provider will shut down or work on masts or for some reason, speeds will slow on that mast so it's worth checking providers in the area regularly. Bear in mind that speeds will also vary throughout the day and tend to be slower at busy times such as night time when lots of people are using it. There isn't much that can be done with this, it's purely down to the provider.

Tip #4 - What about 5G?

5G is a great option but coverage is still patchy. That being said, it is improving - we installed a 5G system to a commercial property in the centre of Edinburgh - they were getting around 20Mbps on 4G, we tried the 5G antenna and it jumped to almost 100Mbps.

Although the business was in the heart of Edinburgh, the broadband coverage was fairly terrible and there was no plans to improve using fibre so 5G was an excellent option for them.

If putting in a 4G antenna and it looks like a 5G upgrade may be on the cards in the near future, we can fit an antenna that will automatically allow 5G signal to be received once it's in. Ask the installer and he can go through the options.

Tip #5 - Think about an outdoor antenna

An outdoor antenna will almost certainly improve your speeds. Whether it's enough to give a good enough signal to work well with depends on a site survey.

We have a variety of antennas that we use, mainly Poynting antennas as they are reliable and work well. Depending on the area, we may use a directional or an omni-directional antenna. What one we will use will depend on the site survey.

Our team will check the best position on the property as to where the nearest mast is, we'll also look at the surrounding topography to see if that will cause an issue.

The highest point is not always the best. Cable runs can cause problems if they're too long so we'll also check this - no point in installing an antenna and the cable run is so long that you've lost all signal by the time it gets to the router.

So will an antenna make a difference?

More than likely, yes.

Get in touch to arrange a site survey and we'll check where you are, what the signal is like in that area and whether it's worth your while getting an antenna. We don't try to sell you an antenna installation unless we think that it will work so we'll be up front with you on whether it will make a big difference to your speeds.

A site survey is the best place to start - we do charge for this (depending on location) as normally it's a rural property and it can take a wee bit longer than a standard aerial installation survey.

Is there anything else to think about?

Basically an antenna installation is relatively simple - we'll do a site survey and assess if it will make a difference and where the antenna will go on the property.

Depending on where you are, you may want to consider investing in an antenna that will upgrade to 5G when possible. We have a great range of Poynting antennas where it will work with the best signal coming in. If you're very rural, this is probably not going to be any time soon but if you're nearer a town, then it's possible that it will upgrade sooner rather than later.

If you have a router we will use it, if not we can provide one for you. We'll assess where the best position of the router will be to keep the cable run short. We use various routers - Teltonika, Draytek and Robustel are the most common ones.

WiFi - you may find that you want to improve the WiFi inside the property once the speeds coming in are improved. We can do this by installing hard wired WiFi access points which will give you good WiFi throughout.

So if you'd like to discuss a 4G or 5G installation, just get in touch! Site surveys start at £95 (depending on where you are). Either email or give us a buzz to discuss any questions you may have.