How to connect a 4G external antenna to a Huawei B818 modem 

Alex, thank you kindly for the feedback :) Regards, David

Thanks a lot for the feedback !

No problem...glad it helped :)

Thanks heaps !

Thanks Eduardo!!

@@RFShop hey man! I'm currently considering buying a new router but can't decide which one should I get! The b818 or the b2368? Could I just buy an antenna for the b818 and it would me the same as the b2368? I don't feel like going through the trouble of installing it on my house, or is it such an improvement that it's worth it?

@@herobayman3662 I can only comment from an approved Australian device perspective. I do like the idea of the B2368 in principle, but it would still be an omni-antenna and not that much antenna gain or direction. If it's a simple case of good outdoor signal but not so good indoor signal (and the device is approved for use on your local network) that B2368 should be great and relatively simple. If the signal is not so good outside and you need some better antenna performance, something like the B818 with a purpose build outdoor antenna will be a better technical solution, in my humble opinion. We now have access to the B818, and can offer them as part of a kit or a standalone modem. Hope to get it on our website this week (time permitting :) ) Cheers, David

@@RFShop oh okay tysm for your answer. Btw could you tell me what the difference is between the b818-260 and the b818-263?

@@herobayman3662 unfortunately I have no idea. I can only assume it’s either a slightly later release or perhaps a dedicated model for certain network operators (ie might come with firmware approved for use on some particular network).

accesser you are welcome to get in touch via our website. We’ve seen many end-users with great results using 4G. Thanks for your feedback on the video as well!

@@RFShop :-) shot you an email thanks for the reply

Really appreciate the feedback :)

Yes, although this video is quite old by now, I still have a lot of love for 4G

Hi Felipe, I would recommend the Poynting XPOL-2 for most use-cases where you require 700MHz, 1700MHz and 2600MHz. However, would be best to assess the whole setup and requirement before making a final decision. Things such as range, mobility or whether MIMO is even needed are important. In that case the ALFA Omni, or Poynting LPDA could be worth considering as well. Cheers, David

Hi. That really depends on the network connection you use. If the router uses (or can use) anything in 1700-2100MHz it will work well. However, if the network is 700-960MHz or something lower the antenna will actually hurt you as the modem will detect the outdoor antenna and "use" it, but if it does not bring any signal into the modem it will not do much.

Hi Matt, I would consider the MIMO Omni on our website (see rfshop.com.au/product/4g-mimo-omni-antenna-700-2700mhz-4dbi-smam/ ) Cheers, David

Keep it to Auto in my humble opinion

Yes, a single antenna will work...just need to make sure it connects to the correct port and also thatd the antenna support the correct frquency bands

Chris, they do look very similar, don’t they?!? I have no reason to believe it’ll be any different in terms of end-result of adding an external antenna. One of my upcoming videos is going to be on what I learned about the antenna configuaration on these modems. I can’t show detail on Social Media, but what I learned about the b818 is that has 4x4 MIMO on the inside and actually routes only two of the antenna sets to the port. I don’t know if the b618 is any different, but looking at the form and basic descriptions I can only assume they did the same again.

Hi Paul! Can you send me some screenshots and photos of the setup? You can use my email address via our website. Cheers, David

Hi! We actually can offer those tripods…they are AU$89 each. As for the location of the antenna…it does not matter. You can use the antenna inside or outside. The only problem is that antennas tend to work better outside, but if the limit is the surrounding area you just make do with what you can from the environment.

@@RFShop thanks for the quick reply that’s fantastic that you sell the tripod to go with it antenna, one final question do you ship overseas or have an online shop for the UK unfortunately I’m not in Australia but wondered if you do international shipping and to what extra cost?

@@paulc2007 the tripod is quite a big item to ship overseas. I can confirm that there are two options, perhaps you can find the UK distributor? I presented the Gravity Aluminium tripod, but Adam Hall also has a nice aluminium modem. Seems to be 50% cheaper. From what I could see, here in Australia, the RRP for the Adam Hall model is AU$49

Junior J-R, the TS-9 we have on the cable / pigtail is a plug, also called male.

Kristian, we can do many different types of cables (also via RFShop). In this instance, we use an RG174 for the short TS9 cable. It's short and flexible. The 150mm length is minimal losses and the cable is flexible to prevent too much strain on the TS9. We can also use RG316...slightly better quality but still a small cable. I have seen TS9 connectors for RG58 / LMR195, but I am concerned about the force it would have on the TS9 connector. On the longer cable, we use LMR195 equivalent cable for 5m runs, LMR240 equivalent for the 10m runs and typically recommend LMR400 for anything longer than 20m. The kit, mentioned here, has 10m CLF240 cable (which is the LMR240 equivalent I referred to earlier)

Hi Nick I just responded to your question on our website as well! I’ll type a full response in a few minutes

Hi Nick, tricky one. Are there any obvious possible sources of noise? Going to -2dB is very low, so you really want to be well above 0dB, otherwise your performance will suffer. Good to know the RSRP is stronger, so the antenna gain is helping. Just thinking out of the box...have you tried lower heights at all?

@@RFShop No i thought about lowering it, but its all cable tied and protected now with conduit. And i live in a gully at the egde of the mobile cell tower coverage. End of the day i've gone from 1.5Mbps to 211Mpbs download max, that's insane improvement with this antenna, so thank you. Max SINR i get is 4 to 5dB then drop to 0 or -2 then back up again every few seconds. But it all good, Antenna is amazing, Thank you so much.

@@MrHitmanNick that’s awesome to hear. Thanks for letting me know. As you know December has been a little bit mental so teally appreciate learning about some successes 😊👍🏻

I don’t know if there’s a software switch that makes it 2x2 when connecting an external antenna, but I know from hardware perspective it turns into a 4x4 with two internal and two external antennas. My gutt-feel is that it should still be 4x4

@@RFShop thanks for your answer!!

Hi Hamad, This antenna is rated IP65, has chemical resistance and fire protection. Feel free to have a good read and look on the manufacturer's website poynting.tech/antennas-and-accessories/antennas/farming-agricultural-antennas/xpol-2-5g/

Hi Jayden...yes, I would think so

Hi Sean. It certainly is possible that antennas can perform better in different locations and positions. Every setup and installation is different, but one really needs to understand "everything" about their experience and surroundings before one can do a sensible response. Even in many of my demonstrations, it's not the first take or experience that immediately works as expected, but I always make sure I get my head around what I saw before posting the video

Hi Alexander. I can't really comment since I'm not heavily focused on consumer products or have any affiliation with Huawei. Being a plastic consumer product I would not recommend going far above 50dgr C though.

@@RFShop Thanks for the comment

Hi. There a quite a few external antenna options thst will help solve this problem. I can recommend our DR11 on our website or the ALFA Marine Omni antenna

If I can get my hand on a Kathrein antenna I'd love to test it. Not sure if it's readily available in Australia but I know the brand well.

Hi, I eould go for 9-11dBi and not much more. It gets very senditive to alignment. A directional MIMO setup for a fixed installation is always my recommendation. You can find the best tower by using the RSRP meadurements

Hi Junior J-R. To be completely honest, I don't really know. One could probably do a quick side-by-side comparison to see where they claim differences.

Can you perhaps have a close look at the inner pins of your TS9 connectors? Seems that it is not making contact perhaps…

MC ISA, that is the ideal aim although not always possible. The external 4G Antenna can be positioned in a better location and has better performing antennas than built-in antennas. We rely on those two "features" to get a significantly better signal into the modems than what otherwise would have been possible. It's often seen that this is sufficient to get a reliable signal into the modem without having to add a repeater, which could actually introduce some complications

@@RFShop many thanks for your feedback.

Kenneth, can you also share the other numbers (RSRQ and SINR)? RSRP of -85dBm is strong, but if the other numbers are weak there would still be a problem

@@RFShop RSRQ -10dB and SINR 10dB

@@kennlopez over bandwidth, try to lock other cell id tower.

Hi, it seems like you have a MIMO antenna. In that case, tge two cables are indeed independant and it’s fine to connect the two of them into the main and aux port of the B818

@@RFShop Thank David for the info and helping me out..glad to hear it..🤗👍

Hi Thabo! Yes, the signal will be improved regardless whether the connection is throttled or not. However, this won’t change anything about the throttle itself

SINR is an indication of how much stronger your signal is than the noise floor. Around 7dB is quite do-able, but higher is always better. Lower will become a problem (i.e. closer to 0) and you will find that the modem starts to struggle to see the signal in the noise. It's a bit like having a conversation in a pub...trying to hear your friend gets harder as the noise gets louder.

Thx

Hi Sean. Yes, that could work well. Only thing you may need to check once the setup is up and running is to make sure the antenna faces the best direction. Perhaps you are lucky and Telstra and Optus co-locate the tower. Otherwise you may need to turn the antenna. On the pigtail side of things we’re happy to assist. Cheers, David

@@RFShop you’re a legend mate thanks. I’ll have to see what connection the antenna gets as haven’t thought of that! I’m not certain but there are a group of towers one the hill which the antenna faces. I’ll try out jaycar for the wires but if no luck I’ll hit you up.

Sean, you are welcome to send me a photo of the connectors you have. I can tell you what you need. Email is on our website

@@RFShop thanks mate seems to be working but only getting 3G. Appears I’ll have to turn the antenna or upgrade it to a better antenna...

@@Seanology101 that might indeed be a problem (the antenna). Can you send us a photo of it?

Hi Alan, do you have the readings fir RSRP, RSRQ AND SINR?

Hi. It's actually a speaker stand. In that case it was an old camera tripod, but we now have speaker stands for AU$49 on our website. They are very light-weight.

Hi Pierre. On the Huawei B818 I would take the software / admin portal update from internal to external as the best recommendation. There is a slight problem in that the internal antennas are 4 in total, so you will still pick something up unless you open the B818 and disconnect the antenna ports completely. Maybe worth doing if you want to make absolutely sure it only uses the external antenna ports.

Hi George! Yes, when you connect the external antenna it overrides those two antennas. However, the B818 actually has 4x4 internal antennas, so it becomes a 2-way internal ans a 2-way external antenna system (assuming you use a MIO external antenna) Cheers, David

Hi Tokelo. For RF performance you don’t need to ground the antenna, but introducing a set of lightning protectors for areas where thunderstorms are common is always good practise. It may mean some adjustments to the cable and connector assemblies to make it work for your specific scenario. Here in Adelaide it’s not so common to get ligtning strikes, but coming from Pretoria, ZA I know how intense those summer evening storms can be.

@@RFShop alright noted. Thanks for your response

Thanks! Yes, indeed. Born in Sasolburg and grew-up in Pretoria!

Rushil, that's a good question. An external antenna would allow you to move the receiving part of the RF circuit away from the modem. If there's a noise source near the modem that could help. Alternatively, a directional antenna can look "away" from noise sources, thereby reducing the amount of noise coming into the receiver...hence improving SNR

RFShop I have an external Poynting XPOL 6 antenna installed, and every once in a while I get a positive 1 to 3 dB, when a car drives past🤯. I can see the tower from my home, and rotating it did help, but would vertical elevation make a difference?

I would say vertical elevation might help...try to avoid the passing cars completely.

If you leave it to Auto, the unit will switch over the external antenna connections and it will be the same result

@@RFShop tq very much for the info sir.

I had a quick look. The 5G CPE Pro clearly says it has two external antenna ports, so this antenna would be able to connect to that device. I would certainly recommend this antenna for that device

@@RFShop I see. But the specs website of Huawei states that the antennas are for 5G which is a bit confusing 🤔

@@jeromedashieltolentino8545 Understand. Although I would expect the external antennas to be suitable for all technologies supported by this modem (i.e. 4G and 5G) the Poynting XPOL-2 supports the 3.8GHz 5G bands anyway, so it will work as long as the 5G frequency band is within the frequency range of the antenna (698MHz - 3800MHz)

@@RFShop Noted. Hope you could do a test or a video for this particular Huawei router. Cheers!

@@jeromedashieltolentino8545 ...thanks for that. Now this unit is on my shipping list as well !!

Some network operators can lock the device to their network, but in Australia these units are not locked The XPOL-2 I have on this video should help make a huge difference

@@RFShop Thanks for your help. I'll need to do a bit more research and also most importantly see how I can hook up an external antenna in a rental place (would love to hear suggestions on this if you have any). Lastly, I'm using some data from cellmapper.net. Would the information from this site be reasonably accurate to use? If the data is good, looks like the nearest cell tower has a 708/763MHz antenna beamed about 18 degrees north of where I am. That's probably my best bet. Other than that, the next best antenna is 1762/1857MHz, but is aiming 32 degrees north of where I am. Is there any way of locking onto the higher frequency antenna?

@@gjaeigjiajeg in that case the XPOL-1 with suction cups might be an option. Basically you’ll connect the antenna to the modem, but can mount the antenna outside against a window

@@RFShop thanks. I take it that the XPOL-2 can't come with a suction cup option? Also the question was also wondering about routing a cable from inside the house to outside

@@gjaeigjiajeg indeed, XPOL-2 does not have a suction cup. I did notice that the new XPOL-2 with options for integrated routers do come with suction cups though. Perhaps there is a way to combine the mechanics of the two variants.

You do need to have the antenna physically connected to the router for it to work.

I am not sure how to lock these modems, so I would assume a directional antenna is the best way to do it...that's certainly me preferred way.

@@RFShop nice im in the suburbs of perth wa, in between two different towers, 300m away (30m difference between the two), both are obstructed. one is obstructed by an apartment block and the other is obstructed by a hill. you reckon a directional or omni would be the way to go? and do u know what kind of db gain antenna would be best?

@@moisty254 I would indeed say a directional antenna is good. The preference I would say is to use the mentioned XPOL-2, but you can also consider the DR11 (directional antennas) we have on our website. About 11dBi gain (as in the XPOL-2) will help to eliminate the other towers signal.

Hi, can you share the RSRP / RSRQ and SNR numbers before and after the external antenna. Would be interesting to see if that does make a difference ? What antenna did you buy ?

@@RFShop Hi there, sorry for the late answer. So, without and with ext - RSRQ -15/-13, RSRP -112/-97, RSSI -77/-65 SINR -4/-1. Sometimes it's better, it depends on the weather, i think. The antenna is, KASER 4G LTE Exterieur Mimo Omnidirectional. Could be a good idea a signal booster?Thanks a lot

??

I can certainly look into that !

@@RFShop That would be great …. Also the GUI has changed a bit, now without the antenna ‘mix’ option. This area is a little confusing for the novice. Thanks so much 🙏🏼

In this kit we include the antenna plus it's bracket (for pole mount or wall mount). It also includes 10m of coaxial cable terminated in an SMA(M) connector (2x) and we include the SMA to TS9 adapter cable. The adapter cable may not be required, but we still include it so it's easier to sell. Don't have to "please explain" for every sale

RFShop thanks very much indeed.

Most welcome. This was a fun video, I must admit.

XPOL-2 from Poynting Antennas

Boleh bro . Cuma dish signal akan kurang

We use 150mm RG174 coax with a TS9 on one end and SMA on the other end

@@RFShop ok thank you very much for the info

Hi. I know there are a few websites that present this information, but I prefer to use the ACMA database. It may offer more than just the cellular towers, but I find it useful to see what's around and what frequencies / bands they operate on. Please have a look at web.acma.gov.au/rrl/site_proximity.main_page

Hi Yes, seems to be compatible. It won't however, help on 5G since the B818 is 'only' a 4G modem. I would prefer better coaxial cables between the router and the antenna though, but since we don't review antennas we don't sell I can't comment on the performance or quality of that antenna. Our channel is focused around solutions we love to offer as we have seen them work really well.

@@RFShop thank you, I have one last question please, I do have this router at home, can I use this as receiving internet? E.G from a company internet provided then I use this Huawei b818 WAN connection as a router? ( no sim card ) apology I have no knowledge to much of modern technology.

@@juniorj-r4090 probably can, but wouldn't you rather use the original router and a switch with more Ethernet ports?

@@RFShop hi there, I could do but I live in very rural area in the Philippines, I can’t get a signal like full bar in my balcony. What I have thinking is, I’m planing to buy a new LHGG LTE6 Kit is a outdoor antenna with SIM card slot and POE Ethernet port. My thinking my Huawei b818 have WAN and also I use a router or a switch and then Huawei b818 is not use by its own sim which I use to run a receiving Ethernet from LHGG LTE6 kits.Does work like that or is it complex? Many thanks for your time and answer again of my question.

@@juniorj-r4090 Might work. My strength is in the antenna and the first device. I'm not familiar with the exact setup on the networking side of things.

Yes, that could indeed happen

No problem...thanks for the feedback. Yes...South Africans can't hide their accent :)

@@RFShop Nor should you, it is an interesting accent.

@@Studentofgosset I speak lekker English, and always will :D

Hi MIchael. The connector on the back of the router are TS9 connectors. They are normally placed on RG174 coaxial cable. I rarely see cable thicker than the ~3mm diameter used for this connection. We do sell small adapter cables that can convert any connector to TS9

@@RFShop thank you do you know if any tp link range extenders are compatible with the HUAWEI b818?

@@michaelsalmon1782 you mean WiFi range extenders? Not specifically no, although it should all be compatible as they should all adhere to the same WiFi 802.11 standard (in my humble opinion)

@@RFShop I got an antenna and as soon as I plug it in my internet stops working? Do I need to set it up

@@michaelsalmon1782 did you check the alignment of your antenna? It is important that the antenna faces towards the tower

Hi David, did you check the band you are on? Is it always the same (with and without, day and night) ?

@@RFShop yeah have it locked on Band 20 the one that the mast uses

@@dmdavidjmoloney how does it go when you don’t lock it?

@@RFShop same thing happening that's why I locked it in the first place. I find it strange it obviously has the potential to pick up way higher speeds than internal antenna but for some reason it cometely drops of in evening maybe it not pointed exactly at mast hut then why would it pick up the high speeds at night

@@dmdavidjmoloney it seems odd and something that the network does / controls. Seems like congestion is a major contributor

Awesome. Was that RSSI though? The improvement makes sense, but the actual value seems to be RSSI (i.e. the 3G number). Does not matter though, as it still means the same thing as far as relative improvement is concerned

@@RFShop You are absolutely right. RSSI dropped from -57 ti >=51, but RSRP dropps from -91 to -78.

@@TeemuTakio that’s just insane. Very nice!!

Hi. Yes, 4G can most certainly go much faster than 60Mbps. Modem selection does make a big difference, but so does network settings and also signal quality

Feel free to have a look on our website. This particular kit is presented at rfshop.com.au/product/5g-ready-4g-directional-antenna-kit/

Poynting Antennas XPOL-2 v3 5G Ready MIMO Antenna

Optus provides 500Gb and 40Gb top ups... it’s then shaped after that... though im sure with the rollout of 5G it will go to unlimited very soon. Optus is by far the best deal atm for 4G data only home broadband.

Hi, do you mean it was two separated cables? If so, that's OK...as long as it's two unique cables feeding into the modem. The combined cable is just to make things easier and neater but every coaxial line does its own thing in complete isolation.

That does sound like a problem with the switch for the external antennas. Have you tried forcing it (by software) to go for the external antenna? Also, you may want to try one antenna port at a time…that coukd potentially identify which port is faulty

@@RFShop yeah it works in the left port and shuts down when you plug it in the right. I'm assuming it means the antenna works though... I'm currently, like you did in this vid, trying to source a newer Huawei on Gumtree.

@@harrisonclub Yes, that’s a good idea. Sounds like the internal swith on that particular port is broken and shorts the power when enabled. Another unit should resolve the issue

@@RFShop thanks heaps for replying to a year old video. I really appreciate it and I'll certainly use you guys if I need anything else to get the internet working here!

@@harrisonclub it may be a year old video but it’s also my all-time best so very close to my heart !!

A. Afandar you do realise that’s Australian $ ? Also, it includes cables, adapter cables and the cost of designing a reliable and mechanically robust and waterproof product.

Must be something very specific to your setup. Modems normally just work much better on the outside

Can I help ?

It actually does not matter if you have a MIMO antenna. However, where it does matter is when you have a single antenna, as you then need to use the MAIN and not the diversity port