Rural cellular internet NEW antenna tests!  

I have finished my internet upgrade thanks to Andrew's series, and my results are awesome! I was a happy T-Mobile Home Internet customer before the upgrade, but this new set-up is worth making some changes. I'm now using a NetBuddy Cudy 4G LTE Router (LT18) with a T-Mobile SIM ($39.95/mo unlimited data, no throttling ever). The Waveform 4x4 MIMO External Panel Antenna greatly increased my speeds from 40-70 Mbps to 150-200 Mbps download (yes, I actually hit 204.37 this morning) and 1-5 Mbps upload to 20-50 Mbps upload. Thanks to Google Earth, I know that my cell tower is exactly 3335 meters (2.07 miles) from my antenna. Google Earth is also a handy tool for getting your antenna aimed directly at the tower. Thanks for posting this series. I don't think I would have done this without watching it.

11:10 - (paraphrase) "Wires hanging off the side of my house, I don't care ya'll, I need some internet" - no doubt!! That's gold 💕

Andrew, of all the RU-vid videos I've watched on this Waveform antenna, yours was the most fast-paced and useful. You have an incredible ability to explain stuff, make it interesting, and show how to put it to work quickly. This really helps me out. Many thanks!

T-Mobile says I’m not even covered in my area but got the 4/5g cudy router and 4x4 mimo anyways. Router came in first and I had 1.4 mbs down. After installing the antenna I got 56.7 down and I don’t even think I have it pointed just right yet. BEST VID I EVER WATCHED.❤❤❤

Thanks for the update. Watched many of your videos about the Internet earlier this year. We ended up going with T-Mobile in July with their Arcadyan gateway. It was good by itself over what we had with satellite, increased speeds from 5Mbps to 15Mbps down and 1Mbps to 5Mbps up. Closest tower is about 10 miles away. A few weeks after getting it, decided to give the Waveform MIMO 4x4 a try. We had a lot of rainy weather so wasn't able to put it up outside, so I mounted it in the attic. Blew my socks off when we started getting 50Mbps down and 15Mbps up and continual signal, not dropping when a cloud passes by. After a month, moved it outside to an old satellite dish pole that was about 6ft high next to the house. The roof here isn't conducive to mounting an antenna bracket. So, I got 2 3-ft extenders and mounted the MIMO 4x4 about twelve feet off the ground. Ran the cable through the same path they used a decade ago for the old Hughes Net. Now I'm flabbergasted at the speeds. I'm pushing close to 150Mbps down and 50Mbps up. We've lived here for 8 years in the country and never had anything like this. We get unlimited data on a plan that is 1/10th of what we paid before just for the Exede satellite Internet. We also canceled the Dish and switched over to a Roku setup and have more things to watch/stream than we did before and that was another $125+ we don't spend each month. So 4 months into this, the antenna has been paid for in the savings of things we have canceled. Thank you for starting these videos!

WOW Andrew - you are doing good work sir for us rural folks! Thank you so much!

Get yourself a small outdoor network junction box to house all the connections. Mount it to the pole right under the antenna. It will clean it up and look a lot better. It will also keep the connections from corroding as bad.

I learned about cellular Internet through Andrew's video series. We've struggled with slow DSL service in the mountains of Western North Carolina for years. Frankly, I was skeptical about cellular Internet because I thought I'd have heard about it before. Fortunately, I decided to try it. I bought a 4G-only cellular modem and the flat panel antenna mentioned in this video. Our dl speed increased from an average with DSL service of 3-4 Mbps to about 60 Mbps. Upload increased from 0.5 (½ Mbps) to about 6 Mbps. These speeds have been relatively consistent, too.

Hi from the middle of the ocean. Love the video. Great information for rural subscribers.

I'm glad I found your channel. We'll be moving to the country in a few months, so this is crucial info for me! Thank you!!!

Hi, Andrew! Finally, I am caught up. The shorts are entertaining. My beagle Franklin is napping beside my chair. Great content. You are very thorough. You are helping lots of people with your videos. See you Sunday at 5:00.

Excellent review and great speeds. Two things are gonna take your speeds and WiFi to the next level. Maybe see if you can get those antennas mounted 15/20ft up. I know you get some high winds so that might not be possible. Secondly, see if your router does IP passthrough. If so, basically offload those speeds to a mesh system like Orbi or TP Link Deco and you'll get those top speeds everywhere in your house.

just unpacked my new 5G router in T mobile from this video and getting 346.99down and 50.73 up. This is great thanks for the info.

I bought the same panel antenna, and replaced a similar yagi set up as you had. My results were them same as yours. Slightly less speed with the panel antenna.

Pro tip. Move your router/access point downstairs closer to your end points if you can. The closer they are, the faster they'll be especially the way the insulation is in your house. 😉 It appears you can unscrew the small antennas and put an external antenna for access as well. Speed Wil increase. Great series BTW.

Very helpful , In a similar predicament with rural living .

Interesting results with the different antennas. It’s true as the seasons change that the leaf growth affects the cell coverage. Back in the old analog days, cell providers would have to go adjust the output level of the transmitters in the spring to make up for the signal absorption by the leaves and vegetation that were in the path of the coverage area, and then go back in the fall when the leaves all fell off of the trees and back the power output down. The new digital systems and frequencies used are not as negatively affected by the leaves and vegetation, but having a clear line of site path from the tower to the antenna will provide the best reliable service. We need to get you about 4 sections of Rohn 55G tower sections and build you a self supporting tower that you can attach all of the different antennas on at the same time to do more in-depth experiments with.

We have reached out Michael and have a spot in line, and we went to our local Verizon store as they are our carrier and they told us since we are on the pre-paid plan we are not eligible for the data plan and it's still not available here in parts of East Texas. Thanks for all the great information, when we get a chance we try to catch up on your posts, keep up all the awesome work!

Thank you for the information Andrew

I have T-Mobile home internet in my house. Uses b66 LTE and n71 5G and delivers 350-400 download and 80-100 upload. No external antenna, just the stock device. Amazing!

With over 20 years experience as a paid professional who does work in a parallel cellular market, I'll tell you the same thing I tell all my field techs; speed tests are NOT the "final word" in a successful install! Consistency is significantly more important than some "highest speed" that you happened to randomly hit. The number of active users on a cell tower is completely random. The less the tower is used, the more speed is available to YOU. The more connections it has to juggle the slower the overall speed you will see. Test at 2am if you want to see what a system is actually capable of. When it comes to antenna arrays, there are more reasons than just antenna gain to consider. My 2 cents, you want the highest gain(I've installed antennas that were over 4ft long) reasonable. High gain not only provides your wireless gear with the best signal level, it should also give you natural "selectivity". Think of the gain on antennas like the zoom on a camera, when you go from 3dbi(wide angle lens) to 17dbi (8x Zoom). Don't overlook the "Front to Back Ratio". Yagi antennas (panels typically less so) have a large "back lobe". In other words, it has eyes in the back of its head. The higher the front to back ratio, the less the lobe on the "back" of the antenna will introduce unwanted signal (noise). Also, If you happen to be in the unlucky situation where 6 cell towers are all hitting you at once, you need to mount you antenna in a manner to "naturally" block the 5 unwanted towers. How? That's completely building dependent. I've seen antennas mounted in the bottom of metal garbage cans to shield it from everything except where it was pointed.

Thank you for doing this with you on what you’re using for your Internet Andrew

Just received my panel from MIMO. This video timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Thanks for the hard work. I can't wait to see if a Poynting XPOL-6 will help with the pretty bad signals I'm getting. Having scouted around the house with the Network Cell Info app I just happened to find an almost completely hidden BAND 1 LTE signal that gives -5 to -8 DB RSRQ and 23DB SNR! it is hidden just above the roof edge and disappears when going higher. Going higher shows another B41 signal that doesn't even come close. I've located the exact place where the signal is being sent from ( very nicely disguised on top of a shop ). Now I'm just waiting for the antenna to arrive to do the experiment. Should be very interesting results.

Awesome educational video. Keep up making great content.

You can get starlink with in two weeks if you order the rv set up, same as residential just portable.

Hi Andrew. Interesting, I wished I understood that stuff as well as you do. 🌞🇨🇦

Hmmmmm maybe mount and test an antenna on top of the future flagpole??? Hope all is well there folks.

What you are taking down is not called a Yagi. The antenna itself is called a Log-Periodic Dipole Array (LPDA) - Having the two antennas on the same mast rotated in opposing directions is called Cross-polarized.

HYPE!

like the video. is looking for good service what counts and saving money. be bless

This is what I was searching for last days. The only thing I missed and still am looking for is where is the length limit of the cables to justify setup? With Ethernet cable with PoE and outdoor router all equipment can easily stay anywhere at home. While with external antenna all should be as close as possible to the roof. Any comments on this please. Cheers 🥂

Link & over view of antenna needs from a understanding DIY viewer. THANKS

Thanks!

Hi love your videos have you tried using a mesh system if you use a your router then plug in a mesh system say google wifi mesh system your signal will go miles round your house as they come with two or three pods in the box and will cover a huge area of your house .

Andrew another great review I switched my Cel service over to T-Mobile from Verizon better price and coverage.

Been waiting on this video lol! I like this style antenna better and it seems to do pretty good. I'm really needing to get some security cameras up and running and of course some internet to watch the ball game lol. So I hope this will do the trick for me. Thanks!

YEY! There is a playlist for No Starlink internet 4G HYPE! hopefully you can reorder it to oldest to newest too

What if you beefed up your coax? Those look like RG59. Look it up it isn’t recommended. We always used RG6 at minimum. Which is good for higher frequency and has better attenuation. For cell boosting equipment (40,000 Sq ft buildings) we always installed RG-11. I’d look into that… you may see a difference

Hello Andrew, I’ve enjoyed this video because I too have the same problems as you living in west central Florida. Would you be able to send me a check list of all the items I would need to have to be able to install a similar setup on my house? Bill

Absolutely love your content!

Great information.

Your 4x4 MIMOs are on the should have been swapped from all of the info I have seen online. Could have moved the setup on the right over to the left and been good to go. I may try out a flat panel on my next setup, definitely an easier install.

I was waiting for star link just like you. I was told to ask for the mobile star link and got it in hand in 4 days. Hope this helps

The shadow of the smaller antennas look like log periodic antennas.

I ordered my NetBuddy router today. 🙂 I'm getting good download speeds (55 to 70) with my T-Mobile 4G router currently, but my upload speeds aren't good (1.73 just now🤢). I think the new Cudy LT 18 4G LTE Router with it's 4 antennas will be a big improvement by itself, but I suspect an external mimo will be going up in the near future. I'm looking forward to seeing what the difference will be.

Didn’t see the links for what you used for tower location. Unfortunately I can’t put antennas out side do to living in apartment but would be nice to know which wall is faces the tower so I can maybe do a indoor booster.

hi Andrew and Tiffany my download mbps 54.77 and up land mbps 18.70 in Australia

Loving my starlink over here

Panel looks to me to be much more capable of coping with high winds. After a storm is when you really need signal.

I recommended you to Jason from Saw the Land channel, he's having problems with rural internet:)))

Great video series! I've become a regular.

. So Andrew did you leave the fractal panel up or did you put the LPDA array back? Have you decided which you prefer going forward? Re the wind load question- ... is a combination of how much surface area the antenna has, it's drag coefficient (how easily the wind moves over it), and how much wind is pushing against the antenna. The generic formula for calculating wind load is F = A x P x Cd, where F is the wind load, A is the surface area of the antenna (usually given in square feet), P is the wind pressure (calculated from another formula) and Cd is the drag coefficient. So the question is do you think the triangular shape is more streamlined and aerodynamic then a pizza box for a small pie? ☆☆ Or ☆☆ In the video it looks like you had both of them fully perpendicular to the house in which case you could probably mount the panel directly flat against the side of the house without using the mast at all for a wind drag coefficient of ZERO! Have you considered trying that? In fact, if you do that, you could actually have both of them up at the same time if you run the second quad coax and then switch back and forth to A/B test it. Looks like we're going to need another video - don't put that ladder away yet! Cheers!

tried to get the unlimited service through net buddies, the are "sold out" really disappointed and hopefully i can get a hold on it soon (already oredered my lte router and antenna)

I have a over 100 foot tower attached to the side of my house, my antenna is above all the trees, I can actually see my cell tower 10 miles away!

So as long i have cellular in my area it should work

Hey Andrew! Thank you for what you do and we enjoy the content. What about the combination of all the antennas?

Good video !

Andrew tmobile website address finder says it not available for me. But there coverage maps shows it does.

In the UK we have a network called smarty it's £20 a month for unlimited and most places average Internet speed is 280mbps down and 140mbps up

I am working on my upgrade Did you stay with the panel antenna or go back to the YAGI. I am in the tree situation and the directional towers are not pointed toward me but I am hoping I can get the signal. Really do enjoy your videos and I have learned a lot. Wish you hadn't put up that chicken house video the wife saw it and it is on her my todo list.

Hi Andrew are you leaning toward a final setup yet that's works best for your area?

Test the speed just between the router and the antenna (with both antennas sep.).Would like to see the result . I am sure you are loosing signal between the router and laptop too due to the walls too , hard wire your router to the laptop , that will be your true speed .

Great videos man. I have been watching your videos and many others because I am in a rural area and my internet is becoming a nightmare for me and my family. I am in Florida as well . I like the results you are getting and I would like to see if you heard of the Yeacomm 5G Modem WiFi-6 AX3600 Router.

What if you raised the yagi antennas higher to get over the trees that way signal is less likely to be interrupted.?.?

Hey Andrew, came across your channel and enjoy your content. I live in a heavily wooded area in the country in Indiana. I currently have a Chester Cheetah 5G 4x4 mimo cellular router connected to an Eero mesh system. I get a weak 5G signal with the supplied paddle antennas and a strong 4G LTE signal. My downloads vary greatly so I'm interested in getting the Waveform 4x4 Panel. I currently have their 2x2 Mimo Panel antenna in the attic. Do you think connecting this to the Cheetah router will help improve signal strength until I upgrade to the 4x4 Mimo antenna? Also, when mounting outside hou did you seal the opening through which the cables entered the house? Thanks Bud

Did your signal strength improve when switching from the yagis to the panel? I'm also in a rural area of Florida, noticed we test against the same Dedipath server. Always on the lookout for ways to improve signal strength and reliability!

Thank you for another great video!! I have installed the original system that you posted. Thanks to you my wife and I are enjoying 20-50 mbps. On the cat12 router, it has a dual sim slot. Do you know what that is for? Can you run 2 sims for double the speed?

Great video. Have you had any experience with the 2x2 version of this product?

If you still have this panel antenna and the height poll from a previous video you should see if you get better signal from reflection from the height, I live in the country side in the UK and I tried a 3M poll from the roof of my house and got worse signal, about 50% more speed in my case from lower down around the wall and edge of the roof in my case, I didn't make it over the tree line i'd need a 10-15M poll from roof height to probably even reach the edge. Personally I think, in your case, where you have it currently, based on previous videos, the panel still has the best shot for signal where it is, but still curious to see though ;)

So sort of off topic. My driveway is quite long. I have a gate at end of my driveway I would like to add a camera to. How can I extend wifi signal a good distance away. Probably 300-400ft?

Do I have to buy all this 1000 dollar equipment setup..?

Are you still going to do a video on how to find cell towers

I have an extra cell phone wonder if I can use the sims card from it in the router or do I need a different one

If I already have decent speed with my net buddy just sitting in a table, would adding a MIMO add anything? Or would I be wasting my money? And what about 2x2 vs 4x4? Any thoughts? TIA

Hey man, I know how particular you are about things... my wife noticed the white dot next to the light switch on the wall. She noticed it and will not stop mentioning it. I really don't care about it but she won't shut up about it. Just thought I would share.

What if you got some wire adapters and hooked up the 4x4 directional with the panel antennas? Think you could get it over 100 Mbps? lol

If I were to buy this internet and antenna set up. Are there any more components I need to conect the router and the internet together? Booster or other equipment? Or do I just plug the antenna cables directly into the bunny ear ports on the router itself?

Is this for better phone signal & internet signal

Did you have to purchase extra cables for when you purchased the waveform 4x4 panel. I feel I I will need extra length to reach where i want to mount the panel antenna? If you read and reply to this I appreciate it in advance. I purchased the router through NetBuddy and its working great so far.

Hey man was wondering if u could help me try to set one up

As I watch your speed test, I begin to wonder if I will survive the move to the country... I currently have >800-900 mb DL. Everything is pretty instantaneous. Surely there is a way to get faster speeds from those antennas... smh. ugh. On the bright side, I've never seen 55mb UPLOAD speeds. That's pretty amazing that your Cell signal gives faster upload then my 1gb Cable from Xfinity. LOL

Thank for the awesome videos. Got a remote cabin in the Rockies (right by the famous ‘Dream Stream’) with no internet. Just ordered Netbuddy’s best router with T-Mobile plan. I show up on the edge of ATT and Tmobiles coverage map so we will see but I figure if T-Mobile doesn’t work, I can cancel and move to ATT. $500 is pricey but I’m going to try it without external antennas first to see what I get. Work zoom video calls is what I need most to be able to do. Might try this antenna if I need more speed. I’m at 9000ft of elevation so the aerodynamic nature of this antenna would work better in wind. Thanks so much for all the guidance!

Hey Kelley, I live in rural Michigan and I'm lucky to get 0.7 mps down and 0.4 mps up with a 1 second plus ping. You think I can get that into a decent range with the proper router/4x4 antennas? Or would it still be slow?

Do these specific antennas only work with the listed three providers. Im from canada so just wondering.

can you combine the antennae? Like use the directional and also use the panel to like "collect" the scattered signal that the directional misses?

You'll know if you get 5G. With T-Mobile 5G I consistently get 600+ Mbps down 50 Mbps up on my mobile phone. Also, the speed test server has a big impact on the speeds you are seeing. Speeds can vary widely between servers. On my gigabit service, I'll see anywhere from 150 Mbps to 900+ Mbps depending on the server selected.

So the antenna cables hook up to the 4g/5g terminals or the 2ghz5ghz

Hello am from Algérie 😊 . it can connect with uniden u60 u65 u75 amplificateur ????

Dumb question.....do I also need a moden if I get a router?

I see you have spray foam insulation. Did you do any video's on the spray foam ? I am from Wisconsin and have bought a house down in your neck of the woods (Marianna, FL) I have received several quotes on SF my home but some contractors recommend Open cell while other's recommend closed cell for my cathedral ceiling. Would be nice to hear your opinion being your in the same area. Thanks

I just got the t-mobile internet. Way better than Hughes net. I get 29 down and 28 up and 40 latency. Do you think i can get better speeds with net buddy system. I talk to t-mobile support about data caps and being throttled . They say there’s no data caps ,everything unlimited.if i keep t-mobile I’m planing on adding the mimo 4x4 panel.

My speeds are Ping 17, Download 568.11 MBPS, upload 32.60 MBPS

I have the Cudy LT 18 and right now running a $35 directional one line down in the MAIN CELLULAR post on the router/modem. Would this setup require me to take off all 4 of the little black antennas on the back to get the better gain/service?

Can these thing be sold to people outside the USA?? Is there software attached to these things and do I have to subscribe to any plan to get them to work

Don’t know how your getting such a high upload speed. I can go near my nearest tower and on 5 G I’ll get a DL speed near 600 and upload will be around 32

What is the max up and down speeds in the best of conditions. I never realized cell systems had such high speeds... 🙂

Thanks for a great video. I do have a question regarding the routers. Can I use a cellular router that I already own with the T-Mobile service through Netbuddy or do they require purchase of the router through them? Thanks

hey ,thanks for a great video - I just came across your channel today :( I've got some serious connection issues - there is nothing available where I live (out rural) I do have access to the net via my phone as there is tower about 6km away. What I do at the moment is hotspot via USB from my phone - give me an "amazing" 5.45mbps download and 0.75 upload (can you feel the pain?!) What router can you suggest where I can simply swap the sim out of my phone into the router and use this new antenna?

​I want to boost the reception to my cell phone on verizon. I want to use a 4X4 MIMO antenna on my roof, however I am stuck on the booster box / router to use. Do routers require a sim card inside it to function? Or can I simply plug in my antennas to it to amplify the signal so my phone can pick up the signal better?