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How to Boost your Mobile Broadband 3G Signal

Andy Simpson — Tue, 18 May 2010 11:15:48 +0000

This is part of a series of posts on How to improve your mobile broadband signal. Here’s what we’ve covered:

One of the great things about Mobile Broadband is that you can go online anywhere you like – but you can almost guarantee that the place you need it the most is the place where signal is at its weakest.

While 3G coverage is getting stronger with all networks, there will still be blackspots where it drops out, or you can only pick up a 2G signal. Thankfully, a couple of solutions are now available to try and get round these signal issues. If you don’t have a dongle yet and are looking for the network with the strongest 3G signal, then the OFCOM website has just published updated coverage maps (as of 31/12/08) that allow you to view the 3G coverage by network.

UPDATED: There are now three different types of antenna available:

Clip Antenna: This Antenna is designed to be a portable solution that clips onto the screen on your laptop or sits on your desk. It is omni-directional, which means that it will pick up signals from all directions.
High Gain 3G Directional Antenna: This is a much more powerful signal booster than the clip antenna and is ideal for people who have problems with 3G reception or use their dongle in a fixed location. They are directional, which means that you will need to point this towards your network’s transmitter in order for it to improve the signal. The High Gain antenna when positioned correctly will make a significant difference to the signal you receive and can be wall mounted as a permanent fixture.
Mobile Broadband Outdoor Panel Antenna:This is also a more powerful signal booster than the clip antenna and is ideal for people who have real problems with 3G reception. They are also directional, which means that you will need to point this towards your network’s transmitter in order for it to improve the signal. The Outdoor Panel antenna when positioned correctly will make a significant difference to the signal you receive and is designed to be wall/pole mounted outside.

Each of the antenna’s can make a big difference to the signal you receive. Some will have an ariel connection that will plug straight into the dongle, and others will use a Universal “strap on” connection. Antennas are available for Dongles and Data Cards made by:

To help you find the right antenna for your dongle, you can now check the 3G Antenna Compatibility chart or, to view all available antennas, head over to the Mobile Broadband section of the site, and then choose your device – either a USB Dongle or a Data Card. You’ll need to know the model number of your dongle, but this should be printed on a label on the underneath of your Dongle or Data Card.

Your model number is printed on the base of your dongle and is not the CE number

Setting up your Antenna

Clip 3G Antenna to screen

Set up is quick and simple. The Clip Antenna easily clips onto the screen of your laptop or can be mounted in the desk stand (if included).
The High Gain Directional Antenna needs to be mounted on the deskstand, or fixed to the wall (bracket included)

3G Antenna Installation

Next you’ll need to connect the antenna to the adapter cable. If your dongle has an antenna connection, carefully connect the end of the cable to your dongle.

The Clip Antenna includes a 50cm cable, the High Gain Directional Antenna comes with a 1.2m cable. Longer 3m cables and 5m cables are available for the High Gain and Outdoor Panel Antenna.

Universal 3G Antenna Installation

If your dongle doesn’t have an antenna connection, wrap the universal adapter round your dongle and make sure that it doesn’t stop it from going in to your pc/laptop.

The High Gain 3G Directional Antenna and Outdoor Panel Antenna will need to be positioned so that they are facing your nearest mobile phone transmitter.

Our post on Finding your Nearest Transmitter should help you to work out which way your antenna should be facing.

That’s it! All done. Use your Dongle or Data card as normal and you should see an increase in signal strength straight away.

Mobile Broadband: Finding your nearest transmitter

Andy Simpson — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:07:08 +0000

This is part of a series of posts on How to improve your mobile broadband signal. Here’s what we’ve covered:

The one thing that I’ve not covered yet though is how to find your nearest 3G transmitter so you can work out how to position the High Gain Antenna or Mobile Broadband Panel Antenna correctly.

High Gain Antenna for USB Modems

Both the High Gain and the Mobile Broadband Panel antenna need to be pointed towards the network transmitter in order for them to work effectively, but chances are you won’t know where your nearest transmitter is. Fortunately there is a great tool on the Ofcom website. Sitefinder shows you not only where the transmitters are, but also which network they belong to, what frequencies they transmit on and how high they are.

Before we get to using Sitefinder, it’s worth putting your postcode into the coverage checker on your network’s website (see links below to network coverage maps) to make sure that you do actually live in a 3G coverage area before you start. If the coverage map shows that you live on the edge of 3G coverage, both antenna’s should help, although the Mobile Broadband Panel Antenna will be the better option. If your network says that you don’t have coverage, then neither High Gain and the Mobile Broadband Panel antenna will be of any use to you.

Edge of Coverage Vs No Coverage - Click for more information.

Once you’ve established that you’ve got 3G reception, you’ll need to know where it’s coming from, so for this head over to Sitefinder by Ofcom. It works in a similar way to the network coverage checkers, but instead of showing coverage, shows you the locations of nearby transmitters as small blue triangles on the map. To see details of the transmitter, you’ll need to zoom in as close as you can, until the ‘Zoom in’ option changes to ‘View Base Details‘ as shown below. Once it’s changed click on the blue triangle on the map to see details of that transmitter.

Transmitter Locations on Sitefinder

A pop up window will then open to show you the information on that transmitter. The first thing you’ll need to check is that it belongs to your network. If it does then you should check the Type of Transmission – 3G Transmitters will be UMTS where as standard GPRS transmitters will be listed as GSM. If it doesn’t belong to your network or is a GSM one then the transmitter is of no use to you and you’ll need to go back to the map to find the next nearest. To do this you’ll probably have to zoom out again until you see more blue triangles, then zoom in on them.

Transmitter Details

If you’re struggling to work out exactly where the transmitter is, I find it helps to have a satellite view of Google maps open in a different browser window so that you can cross reference the main roads from the Sitefinder map with the Google map and work out where it is.

Once you’ve determined which transmitter is your nearest 3G one you’ll be able to point your High Gain or Mobile Broadband Panel antenna in the right direction. Keep an eye on the transmitter height too, as you might need to angle it up or down if it’s mounted on the roof of a tall building or you live on a hill.

Coverage Maps

To get started you’ll need to visit your network to check the coverage where you are. These links should take you straight to the relevant page on each networks website.

FAQ’s

We get a lot of questions about the mobile broadband antennas, most of them asking the same thing, so to try and answer your questions here are some of the most common questions and answers:

Where can I find 3g coverage map?

Use the links above to go to the networks coverage checkers

What signal booster would we need?

There’s no set answer to this, but as a rule of thumb:

Clip antenna is best suited for mobile users that use their laptops while they’re out and about in areas with generally good coverage
High Gain antenna is best suited for those who get 2-3 bars of 3G signal and want a stronger, faster connection
Outdoor Antenna is best suited for those who get 3G signal outside, but not inside or those that live on the edge of an area of coverage

Which connection type do you use for my dongle?

Please see our post titled “Which Antenna Do I Need?” or find your dongle on the Mobile Broadband section of the Mobile Fun website

I thought the antenna would help boost that but when I connect it, if anything, it reduces the signal.

This can happen if you’re using an antenna with a long cable in an area that already has good signal. You lose some signal strength the further the signal has to travel, so by using extension cables with the outdoor and high gain antenna the dongle can lose signal. If this happens either disconnect the antenna as the signal is strong enough for you not to need it, or reduce the length of the cable. You shouldn’t see a drop in signal strength if you’re in a poor signal area

Does the 3G USB Modem Antenna work?

Yes, although the difference it makes to your dongle will vary depending on the dongle you have, the current strain on the network, distance to the transmitter etc. Other customers have told us that the antenna with a physical connection to the dongle seems to give more of an improvement over the universal one, but an improvement is still seen on both. If you are considering taking out a Mobile Broadband agreement, I’d recommend that you opt for a dongle that has an external antenna connection if you are given the choice.

If you’ve got a question that’s not been covered here, please post it in the Mobile Fun Forums.

How to share your 3G Mobile Broadband Connection

Andy Simpson — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:24:45 +0000

Mobile Broadband is becoming incredibly popular, but it’s not just people that are out and about all day that are finding a use for it – people who can’t get broadband through their phone line, students in halls, those in short term rental.. the list goes on.

Although the prices for mobile broadband have come down considerably over the last couple of years, if you have several people & devices that want to use the internet at the same time, getting a mobile broadband connection for everyone can prove to be quite expensive.

Thankfully though, technology has moved on and we’re no longer restricted to having to use a separate dongle for each computer we want to use and Netgear and Option have both introduced new wireless routers that will make sharing your mobile broadband connection quick and easy.

Netgear 3G Wireless Router MBR624GU

Netgear are well known for making simple, affordable wireless routers that are easy to set up, and this one is no exception. It looks similar to most of their other routers, but the big difference is that instead of having a connection to your cable modem or BT phone line, it has a USB port that you can plug just about any 3G USB Modem in to.

Netgear 3G Wireless Router MBR624GU

The router will then establish a connection to your Mobile Network, and once it’s connected it will share the internet connection over both a wireless and wired network.

By creating a wireless network it means that devices like the iPod touch, Playstation3 and eBook readers can all access the internet easily. Infact, it’s not just wireless devices that can use it. The router has 4 ethernet ports on the back that can be used to add non-wireless computers, games consoles, printers and network storage (NAS) devices to the network.

The router has all the standard security options you’d expect to find on any Netgear router and creating your secure wireless network is quick and painless. As your download amount is limited I’d strongly recommend setting up a password for your wireless network. If you don’t and your neighbours start using it, you could end up with excessive bills.

Option GlobeSurfer X1

The GlobeSurfer X1 is similar in many ways to the Netgear, but is much smaller. It supports all 3G broadband dongles on all networks and can be up and running in a matter of minutes. Like the Netgear router, the X1 can be used to create a wired or wireless network, regardless of whether a 3G dongle is present or not.

Option GlobeSurfer X1

There are a couple of technical differences between the two routers too. Firstly, the GlobeSurfer X1 supports 802.11 b, g and n, where as the Netgear only supports 802.11g. To be honest, this shouldn’t make too much of a difference when accessing the internet, but if all your connected devices support 802.11n, it’ll make sharing files between them a fair bit quicker. Your Mobile Broadband dongle will have a limit so I’d strongly recommend setting up a password for your wireless network. If you don’t and your neighbours start using it, you could end up with excessive bills.

The other difference is to do with the ports on the back. The X1 only has 2 ethernet ports instead of 4 and has a USB port that you can use to attach USB printers or Network Storage devices as the X1 doubles up as a File and Printer server.

Points to note

It’s worth mentioning that you don’t have to have the Mobile Broadband dongle connected to either of the routers in order for your wireless (or wired) network to work. By that I mean that even if you remove the dongle from the router, all of the devices that are connected to the network will still be connected and therefore able to access shared files, print to a networked printer or stream content from one device to another.

If you are going to be sharing your Mobile Broadband connection, you need to make sure that everyone using it is aware of the download limit that you have with your dongle. Unlike most fixed line broadband services, you don’t get unlimited downloads, with most networks capping your data at 1, 3, 5 or 15GB a month with extremely high charges if you go over your limit. If you are going to be watching video online, downloading movies or game demo’s on your games console, you’ll need to keep a close eye on how much data you’ve used. You can normally do this through the ‘My Account’ section of your service providers website.

Improving your Mobile Broadband signal in the car

Andy Simpson — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:08:48 +0000

This is part of a series of posts on How to improve your mobile broadband signal. Here’s what we’ve covered:

If you use mobile broadband while you’re travelling or you spend most of the day working out of your car, you might struggle to maintain a decent connection to your network – this will be due to the fact you’re sat in a metal box with no end of interference from all the wiring and electrical gadgets in the car.

If you’re in a cafe or at home you can boost your signal by using a Clip Antenna or a High Gain Antenna, but inside a car they won’t be anywhere near as effective. For this reason we’ve just released our 3G Mobile Broadband Vehicle Antenna for use in cars, lorries, caravans, motorhomes, boats etc.

Car Antenna for Huawei USB Modems

Unlike the Clip Antenna and High Gain antennas that sit next to you, the Mobile Broadband Vehicle Antenna is designed to be mounted on the outside of your vehicle. This way it can pick up the signal from your network and carry it directly to the antenna to provide you with a better reception and faster download speeds.

The antenna is small and portable and can be stored in the glove box or a door pocket when not in use. It measures just 15cm long and has a small magnetic base that is just over 3cm in diameter. It can be mounted in seconds and won’t cause any damage to the paintwork on your vehicle.

The Mobile Broadband Vehicle Antenna is currently only available for Huawei dongles that use the CRC9 connection. These dongles include the E156G, E160, E160G, E169, E620 & E110.

Mobile Broadband Antenna range extended

Andy Simpson — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:08:47 +0000

This is part of a series of posts on How to improve your mobile broadband signal. Here’s what we’ve covered:

A few months ago we launched a range of Mobile Broadband Antennas that connect to your Mobile Broadband Dongle to help increase signal strength and download speeds. Up until now there have only been two options available – a Clip Antenna and a High Gain Antenna. Well, we now have a third option – a Mobile Broadband Panel Antenna – a very high gain antenna that is perfect for areas of low reception.

To give you a better understanding of each of the antennas and to help you determine which type will suit you best here’s a quick summary of all their features.

USB Modem Clip Antenna

This an ultra portable aerial that clips onto the top of your laptop screen and connects to your dongle. It has an Omni Directional aerial and will pick up signals from all directions. The Clip Antenna will improve your 3G and GPRS signal by up to 2dBi.

Clip Antenna for USB Modems

There is a Clip Antenna for just about every USB modem or Datacard, with most current USB Modem using one of the following connections:

USB Modem High Gain Antenna

This is a much more powerful signal booster than the Clip Antenna and is ideal for people who have real problems with 3G reception. They are directional so you will need to point this towards your network’s transmitter in order for it to improve the signal. The High Gain antenna when positioned correctly will make a difference of up to 9dBi on a 3G network, but will not improve a GPRS Signal.

High Gain Antenna for USB Modems

These antennas include a desk stand, but can also be mounted on an internal wall for a more permanent solution. You get 1.2 metres of cable included, but this can be extended using either a 3m extension cable or a 5m extension cable.

High Gain Antennas are the best option if you have low signal levels or live on the fringe of network coverage and don’t want to be able to mount the Antenna outside.

There is a High Gain Antenna available for most of the current USB Modems with the following connections:

Mobile Broadband Panel Antenna

Visually, the Panel Antenna looks the same as the High Gain Antenna, but there are a number of significant differences – the main one being that the Panel Antenna is weatherproof and is suitable for use outside. Concrete, Steel and thick brick walls can reduce your signal strength, so by fixing the antenna to an outside wall or mast, the antenna picks up a stronger signal than it would inside and carries it along a lossless cable through to your mobile broadband dongle.

Mobile Broadband Panel Antenna

The Mobile Broadband Panel Antenna is the best option for areas where there is good reception outside but little or variable signal inside buildings or if you are on the fringe of the network coverage. This antenna can improve signal strength by up to 11dBi on a 3G network and up to 9dBi on a GPRS network.

Mobile Broadband Panel Antennas are directional so they will need to point in the direction of your nearest network transmitter in order for them to function properly. They come with 5m of cable and a wall/mast mounting bracket.

Panel Antennas are available for most of the current USB Modems with the following connections:

To find out which type of connector your Mobile Broadband Dongle needs take a look at our Mobile Broadband Antenna Compatibility List.

How to Measure & Improve Mobile Broadband Reception

Anthony — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:24:12 +0000

This is part of a series of posts on How to improve your mobile broadband signal. Here’s what we’ve covered:

The Problem with Mobile Broadband

Mobile Broadband has really taken off in the past 12 months – and USB Mobile Broadband dongles are now aggressively promoted by all UK mobile networks (3, Vodafone, t-mobile, Orange & O2) as a viable alternative to traditional fixed-line broadband.

However, we’ve heard from our customers that some of them are far from happy with the quality, reception and signal strength of their Mobile Broadband dongles. But the mobile networks continue to promote Mobile Broadband as if coverage is not an issue. Last year, the ASA even went as far as reprimanding a mobile network for some misleading advertising claims.

At Mobile Fun, we’re not entirely convinced that the quality issues surrounding mobile broadband have been fully addressed. Okay, so UK mobile networks are investing heavily in network infrastructure, but we don’t believe that customers are getting adequate coverage, signal strength, or reliability with their Mobile Broadband dongles.

About this article

We’ve written this article to help people understand the issues surrounding Mobile Broadband reception – and to show how network reception can be measured to help improve the quality of Mobile Broadband connections.

In our testing, we used a Huawei E169 USB Dongle on the 3 mobile network, but the principles could easily be applied to any other Mobile Broadband dongle. Technical readers of this article could research the AT commands for their specific modem (although “AT+CSQ” command used below should work with most broadband dongles).

Using HyperTerminal to measure Signal Strength

We started by using the normal 5 reception bars in the “3Connect” connection manager software to measure reception, but it quickly became clear that this was not a very accurate way to measure reception.

So after some research and playing around, we figured out how to accurately measure reception by using AT commands with a Huawei E169 mobile broadband dongle.

We found out that all PC modems respond to “AT commands” – which “talk” to a modem directly. We used HyperTerminal to send AT commands directly to the modem – and obtain a more accurate reading of signal strength. The AT command we used was “AT+CSQ”, which should work with all USB broadband modems.

Here is the process we followed:

Step 1: Plug in your USB broadband modem

Give your computer 1 or 2 minutes to recognise the modem is attached.

Step 2: Launch HyperTerminal

Windows XP users can find HyperTerminal in Start > Programs > Accessories > Communication > HyperTerminal
Windows Vista users can download a free trial version of HyperTerminal here

Step 3: Configure HyperTerminal

Enter any name for the connection, e.g. “3G Modem” and select any icon.
On the “Connect To” screen, select your 3G modem in the “Connect using:” drop-down box.
Enter some dummy numbers into the “Area code” and “Phone number” boxes, and Press OK

On the next screen, select “Modify”, then on the “Settings” tab, select “ASCII Setup…”.
Tick the box next to “Echo typed characters locally” – this will help you see the commands as you type them.
Press OK twice and on the “Connect Screen” – do not click “Dial” – instead press “Cancel”

Step 4: Enter AT command to query Signal Strength

Type “AT+CSQ” and press return. You should see a response like this:

In the above example, the number 14 represents the measurement of signal strength.
You may re-enter this “AT+CSQ” command as many times as you like to check the measurement of signal strength. This number is explained below.
It is possible to measure only 3G/UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA or only 2G/GSM/GPRS/EDGE. This can be done by sending specific AT commands to the USB modem – see the guide to AT commands below.

What do the numbers mean?

The number returned by the AT+CSQ command gives you a more accurate measurement of signal strength. The following table lists the dBm equivalent measurements (note that the dBm measurements are negative, so a higher negative number represents a lower signal strength):

0 < -113 dBm (Marginal)
1 -111 dBm (Marginal)
2 -109 dBm (Marginal)
3 -107 dBm (Marginal)
4 -105 dBm (Marginal)
5 -103 dBm (Marginal)
6 -101 dBm (Marginal)
7 -99 dBm (Marginal)
8 -97 dBm (Marginal)
9 -95 dBm (Marginal)
10 -93 dBm (Workable under most conditions)
11 -91 dBm (Workable under most conditions)
12 -89 dBm (Workable under most conditions)
13 -87 dBm (Workable under most conditions)
14 -85 dBm (Workable under most conditions)
15 -83 dBm (Good)
16 -81 dBm (Good)
17 -79 dBm (Good)
18 -77 dBm (Good)
19 -75 dBm (Good)
20 -73 dBm (Excellent)
21 -71 dBm (Excellent)
22 -69 dBm (Excellent)
23 -67 dBm (Excellent)
24 -65 dBm (Excellent)
25 -63 dBm (Excellent)
26 -61 dBm (Excellent)
27 -59 dBm (Excellent)
28 -57 dBm (Excellent)
29 -55 dBm (Excellent)
30 -53 dBm (Excellent)
31 > -51 dBm (Excellent)

So what do these numbers mean?

Marginal – Levels of -95dBm or lower. At these sort of levels, it is very likely that you may suffer low throughput and disconnects due to cell loading/breathing even with an outdoor antenna.
Workable under most conditions – Levels of -85dBm to -95dBm – Probably worth considering an outdoor gain type antenna. Could suffer poor throughput and disconnects due to cell loading/breathing.
Good – Levels between -75dBm and -85dBm – normally no problem holding a connection with this sort of level (even with cell breathing) without the use of an external antenna.
Excellent – levels above -75dBm. Should not be affected by cell breathing/loading and should not require an external antenna.

AT Command Reference for the Huawei E169 USB Bluetooth Dongle

We found the following model AT commands useful when testing signal strength with the Huawei E169 modem:

To get Signal Strength: AT+CSQ
Information: AT^SYSINFO
Set dongle to GPRS only mode: AT^SYSCFG=13,1,3FFFFFFF,2,4
Set dongle to 3G only mode: AT^SYSCFG=14,2,3FFFFFFF,2,4
Set dongle to GPRS preferred mode: AT^SYSCFG=2,1,3FFFFFFF,2,4
Set dongle to 3G preferred mode: AT^SYSCFG=2,2,3FFFFFFF,2,4

Signal Strength Test Variations

During our testing, we found that a number of factors can affect signal strength, for example:

Using an aerial / antenna – we obtained significant improvements by using either the Clip Antenna for Huawei USB Modems – CRC9 Connection or the Clip Antenna fro 3G USB Modems – Universal.
Interference from other electronic devices – e.g. WiFi on your laptop! We found that this interference can be reduced by using a USB extension lead to move your dongle away from from your PC/laptop.
Distance from network transmitter – We recommend using the OFCOM Sitefinder website to locate your nearest network transmitter. We obtained improvements by locating our antenna next to a window near to a transmitter.
Cell breathing – we noticed signal strength can increase and decrease “naturally” every few minutes – we understand that this could be attributable to “cell breathing” where the usage of network transmitters can have a positive or negative impact on signal strength.

Given the potential for significant variation in these factors, conducting testing to a high level of detail is quite difficult. However, despite the variation in factors, we definitely saw noticeable improvements in signal strength.

Results of our tests

After several days of testing at our offices, we’ve been able to get improvements taking our signal strength from around -93Bm (10 on the scale) up to -77dBm (18 on the scale) – quite a significant improvement.

We found improvements can come from locating your laptop, dongle or dongle aerial near to a window. But this might not be practical for people in some situations.

But by far the most practical “instant” way to improve your mobile broadband reception is to plug in an antenna / aerial. In our tests, we’ve found that positioning an antenna carefully can increase reception by up to 20 dBm (network engineers call this a dBi measurement). We were particularly surprised by these results, given that the antenna we used was not expected to achieve such a large increase in signal strength. Therefore we suspect that the large increase can be explained by the combination of using an antenna, and the process of carefully positioning the antenna to optimise signal strength.

Recommendations for improving Mobile Broadband Reception

Read our guide: How to boost your Mobile Broadband Reception.
Give serious consideration to investing in a Mobile Broadband Dongle Antenna / Aerial – significant improvements in reception quality can be achieved.
If you feel confident enough to follow our guide above, try using HyperTerminal to measure your reception – it’s much more accurate than looking at the 5 reception bars on your broadband connection software.
Use a USB extension lead to move your Mobile Broadband dongle away from any interference coming from your Laptop / PC.
Find out where your nearest network transmitter is located (use the OFCOM Sitefinder website) – and then test how your reception changes as you position your dongle/antenna closer to the transmitter.

If time is precious and you’d rather not conduct signal strength tests – then it is definitely worth checking to see if you can get an improvement by using an antenna. But if you do have the time, you may be surprised how much improvement you can get by measuring signal strength and optimising the location of your broadband dongle (especially if you attach an antenna AND optimise the location of the antenna in relation to your nearest network transmitter).

How to fit your Mobile Broadband Aerial

Andy Simpson — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:36:59 +0000

This is part of a series of posts on How to improve your mobile broadband signal. Here’s what we’ve covered:

You’ve probably already seen on our previous post, that the best way to improve the signal to your 3G Mobile Broadband Dongle is to attach an external aerial.

Although this may sound like a complicated procedure, it really isn’t!

There are two main types of aerial, one with a dongle specific connector, and a universal one. The steps below will show you how to connect the Clip Aerial and High Gain Aerials to your dongle.

Universal Aerials

Clip Aerial:

The Clip Aerial clips on to the top of your laptop screen and is attached to the antenna pad by joining the two cables together. It’s a simple screw connection so shouldn’t cause you any hassle.

To connect the aerial to your dongle, you just need to sit the antenna pad on top of your dongle, and then securing by wrapping the velcro strap around it.

That’s it – just plug the dongle into your laptop and you should see a difference in signal straight away.

High Gain Aerial:

The High Gain is Aerial designed to be a more permanent solution, and as a result. installation for this aerial is slightly different as the aerial needs to point in the direction of your nearest transmitter.

The 1.2 metre cable that is included will need to be connected to both the aerial and the antenna pad. As with the clip aerial, its a simple screw connection to attach them, and it’s not possible to connect them the wrong way round. If you need a longer cable, 3 metre and 5 metre extension cables are available (High Gain Aerial only).

To connect the aerial to your dongle, you just need to sit the antenna pad on top of your dongle, and then securing by wrapping the velcro strap around it.

You can now plug your dongle in and launch the broadband control panel. You just need to position the aerial so that it now points towards your nearest network transmitter. If you don’t know where it is, then just rotate the aerial until the signal strength increases.

Dongle Specific Aerials

Clip Aerial:

The Clip Aerial clips on to the top of your laptop screen and is attached to the antenna pad by joining the two cables together. It’s a simple screw connection so shouldn’t cause you any hassle.

To connect the aerial to your dongle, you need to locate the antenna connection – this is normally hidden under a dust flap. Once you’ve found it, gently push the aerial connector in as far as you can.

That’s it – just plug the dongle into your laptop and you should see a difference in signal straight away.

High Gain Aerial:

The High Gain Aerial is designed to be a more permanent solution, and as a result. installation for this aerial is slightly different as the aerial needs to point in the direction of your nearest transmitter.

The 1.2 metre cable that is included will need to be connected to both the aerial and the antenna pad. As with the clip aerial, its a simple screw connection to attach them, and it’s not possible to connect them the wrong way round. If you need a longer cable,3 metre and 5 metre extension cables are available (High Gain Aerial only).

If you want help finding your nearest network transmitter, the OFCOM sitefinder website has maps showing the locations of all transmitters.

Which 3G Antenna do I need?

Andy Simpson — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:52:40 +0000

This is part of a series of posts on How to improve your mobile broadband signal. Here’s what we’ve covered:

UPDATE 23/03/2010: We’ve just updated the compatibility chart to include all of the latest dongles that are currently available from all UK networks. For the latest dongles, please visit the 3G dongle antenna compatibility page.

The table below shows the current 3G Broadband Dongles and the Antennas that are available. If you aren’t sure which dongle you have, our post on how to boost your 3G signal will show you where to find this information.

There are now three two different types of antenna available. The standard Clip Antenna is designed to be a portable solution that clips onto the screen on your laptop or sits on your desk. It is omni-directional, which means that it will pick up signals from all directions. The High Gain 3G Directional Antenna is a more powerful signal booster. It is directional, which means that you will need to point this towards your networks transmitter in order for it to improve the signal. The High Gain antenna when positioned correctly will make a significant difference to the signal you receive, and can be wall mounted as a permanent fixture. The latest dongle is the Panel Antenna. This is similar in many ways to the High Gain Antenna, but is slightly stronger and is weatherproof – making it perfect for outdoor installations.

Clip Antenna - High Gain Antenna - Panel Antenna

More information on the different antennas can be found on our blog post “Mobile Broadband Antenna Range extended“

To find your dongle quickly, press “ctrl” and “f” on your keyboard, and then type in the model number of your dongle (eg: E160G) to search this page. If your dongle is not listed here, don’t worry, this is only a snapshot of the most popular dongles.

We’ve now made it easier for you to find the right antenna for your dongle. You can now use the smart filter in the mobile broadband section of the main site. Go to the USB Dongle Antennas and select your dongle from the drop down box at the top of the page to see the antennas that are compatible with your 3G Broadband Modem.

If you still can’t find your dongle, please add a comment with the network, dongle make and model number and I’ll find out which antenna you need and add it to the list. If you have any questions about using the dongle or aren’t sure which one you need, please ask us on the Mobile Fun Forums

Manufacturer	Dongle	Clip Antenna	High Gain Antenna	Panel Antenna
3	MF622	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
3	MF627	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
3	E156G	Clip Antenna – CRC9	High Gain – CRC9	Panel Antenna – CRC9
3	E160G	Clip Antenna – CRC9	High Gain – CRC9	Panel Antenna – CRC9
3	E169	Clip Antenna – CRC9	High Gain – CRC9	Panel Antenna – CRC9
3	E169G	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
3	E220	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
BT	E170	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
BT	E180	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	E156G	Clip Antenna – CRC9	High Gain – CRC9	Panel Antenna – CRC9
Huawei	E160	Clip Antenna – CRC9	High Gain – CRC9	Panel Antenna – CRC9
Huawei	E160G	Clip Antenna – CRC9	High Gain – CRC9	Panel Antenna – CRC9
Huawei	E166	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	E169	Clip Antenna – CRC9	High Gain – CRC9	Panel Antenna – CRC9
Huawei	E169G	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	E170	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	E172	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	E176	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	E180	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	E216	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	E219	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	E220	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	E230	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	E270	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	E510	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	E620	Clip Antenna – CRC9	High Gain – CRC9	Panel Antenna – CRC9
Huawei	E800	Clip Antenna SSMB	High Gain SSMB
Huawei	K3250	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Huawei	K3565	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Novatel	U630	Clip Antenna R151N
Novatel	X950D	Clip Antenna R151N
O2	USB Stick	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
O2	Compass 597	Clip Antenna – TS9
O2	E169	Clip Antenna – CRC9	High Gain – CRC9	Panel Antenna – CRC9
O2	880	Clip Antenna SSMB	High Gain SSMB
O2	880E	Clip Antenna SSMB	High Gain SSMB
Option	225	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Option	510	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Option	Data Card	Clip Antenna – RMCP
Option	Express Card	Clip Antenna – RMCP
Option	GT Max	Clip Antenna – RMCP
Option	Icon	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Orange	E160	Clip Antenna – CRC9	High Gain – CRC9	Panel Antenna – CRC9
Orange	GT Max	Clip Antenna – RMCP
Orange	Icon	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Orange	MF330	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Orange	225	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Sierra Wireless	880	Clip Antenna SSMB	High Gain SSMB
Sierra Wireless	875U	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Sierra Wireless	880E	Clip Antenna SSMB	High Gain SSMB
Sierra Wireless	888	Clip Antenna TS-9
T-Mobile	510	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
T-Mobile	530	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
T-Mobile	E110	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
T-Mobile	E160	Clip Antenna – CRC9	High Gain – CRC9	Panel Antenna – CRC9
T-Mobile	E170	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
T-Mobile	E220	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Virgin	E160	Clip Antenna – CRC9	High Gain – CRC9	Panel Antenna – CRC9
Vodafone	E172	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Vodafone	K3520	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Vodafone	K3760	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Vodafone	USB Stick	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Vodafone	USB Stick Lite	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Vodafone	Data Card	Clip Antenna – RMCP
Vodafone	E270	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
Vodafone	E620	Clip Antenna – CRC9	High Gain – CRC9	Panel Antenna – CRC9
Vodafone	E800	Clip Antenna SSMB	High Gain SSMB
Vodafone	Express Card	Clip Antenna – RMCP
Vodafone	X950D	Clip Antenna R151N
Vodafone	U630	Clip Antenna R151N
ZTE	MF330	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
ZTE	MF622	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal
ZTE	MF627	Clip Antenna – Universal	High Gain – Universal	Panel Antenna – Universal

UPDATE: Due to the high number of questions this post raises, I’m closing it to comments and I’ve set up a new thread on the Mobile Fun forums. Please continue to ask any questions or check compatibility by post there instead.

Jump to the “Which 3G Antenna do I need?” thread on the Mobile Fun Forums.