HomeMade Antenna RSS-72

[gw45tx]

I recently got a Pantech/UTStarcom UM175  setup. I am on the 3g fringe, about 5 miles from the

nearest tower in a rural area. I use the connection on my desktop as well as the laptop. When using the

desktop, I place the modem in a nearby window which faces the tower.

My RSS was running about 89-90, and was frequently degrading to national access.

I bought an external antenna which did nothing for the reception. After reading hundreds of posts on

different forums, I was about ready to return the modem and forget about "high speed internet".

I saw an article about people in a remote rural town using the lid of a kitchen pot held up by their phone

to improve the reception. I didn't have a pot lid the right shape, so I used a 10 inch aluminum skillet.

Positioned it behind the modem in the window,,,,and.....my RSS stepped down and down to _75.

I looked at it on the"field test" screen(CTRL D  diagvzw) and the signal strength was frequently running

down to -72.  I now stay on "BROADBAND" all the time, and I'm HAPPY.

I almost spent 3 or 4 hundred dollars  on a booster and antenna. You can take the handle off the skillet

to make it look a little better.   

Hope this helps someone else, especially those of us who have put up with 20kbs connections for

YEARS.                        gw45tx

[Greg4Wireless]

Never heard of that one, but I did read of another "reflection antenna", and it worked.

I took a Pepsi 12-can Pack, cut the sides out til I had a 90 degree angle with the base still in tact (stood up).

Covered it with alum. foil (incl the base)...

stood it up about 6 inches behind the modem, and VOILA. my HDR RSSI went from 78 to 73.  Not much of a gain, but I did gain

1 bar out of that, and a bit of a faster connection.

[LukeTech]

gw45tx: Awesome suggestion. I've always recommended using a yagi antenna hard-wired to the EVDO modem (IF the modem has an external antenna port). However, your solution reminds me of something from my Wifi haching days. There are various DIY antennas for Wifi such as the "cantenna" and using a parabolic reflector (old 18" satellite dish, Chinese spider skimmer, etc). There was also a template that you cut out, glue foil to one side, and slide a dipole Wifi through. Someone had calculated the exact radiation pattern from a dipole antenna to reflect it with very little side losses. I bet an old 18" dish would work excellent once everything is lined up (modem to dish to cell site).

This brings me to one caveat with your design, for those who want to try it. The distance from the EVDO modem to the reflector will make a difference, so it takes some experimentation to find the best for your area. Some markets use 800MHz while others are on PCS (1900Mhz); so this will vary. The "sweet spot" in an 800Mhz area should be either 6.87inches or 13.75inches; PCS should be roughly half of those two.

Greg: a 5db is very solid. 3db is double the power, 6db is 4x the power gain/loss. 5db can make the difference between a few hundred kbps.