Which mobile mast am I reaching?

[epsilonGreedy]

My plot is located in a topographical cauldron which is typically 2 degrees colder than the BBC forecast on a still winters night and the position also suffers marginal cellular reception. In order to operate a serious home office I need to have a back-up for internet connectivity when the BT OpenReach connection suffers an outage. My plan is to mount a GSM external antenna high up on one of the 3 chimneys sprouting out of my newbuild.

 

Looking at an online map of cellular masts I think there are two candidate masts. Is there any way to find the mast ID that my mobile phone is connected when it gets 1 or 2 bars as I walk around the 3rd lift scaffolding?

[Hobbiniho]

Is it really worth installing an external antenna if you can only get a GSM signal (GPRS, EDGE) you would really need 3G or 4G to get a decent speed.

[dpmiller]

I have two apps- Network Cell Info and Cell Tower Locator. The former tends to show the coverage centre of a tower whereas the second has the actual tower location

[Gav_P]

Just call your mobile provider and they’ll tell you which one you connect too more frequently. 

[epsilonGreedy]

2 hours ago, Hobbiniho said:

Is it really worth installing an external antenna if you can only get a GSM signal (GPRS, EDGE) you would really need 3G or 4G to get a decent speed.

 

 

At ground level I see "No Service" 70% of the time though the occasional voice call comes through if it is not raining or overcast. Up on the 3rd lift scaffolding 1m above gutter height the Ookla speed test utility on my iPhone reports 5Mb to 10Mb with WIFI turned off. I reckon this is a concept worth pursuing.

 

After confirming the tower location I will need to look at yachting and canal boat forums because these communities invest in external antennas for internet access in marginal locations. My plan is to get the antenna fixed to the chimney before the underfelt and slate goes on to achieve an optimal leak free routing of the cable.

[joe90]

I too have no signal a lot of the time so would be interested in any info gained here. (As long as it’s not technical as I am a Luddite ?).

[PeterW]

http://Cellmapper.net will show you your closest. 
 

if you’re on an iPhone then you can get your closest cell signals from the field test page info

[Hobbiniho]

12 hours ago, epsilonGreedy said:

 

At ground level I see "No Service" 70% of the time though the occasional voice call comes through if it is not raining or overcast. Up on the 3rd lift scaffolding 1m above gutter height the Ookla speed test utility on my iPhone reports 5Mb to 10Mb with WIFI turned off. I reckon this is a concept worth pursuing.

 

After confirming the tower location I will need to look at yachting and canal boat forums because these communities invest in external antennas for internet access in marginal locations. My plan is to get the antenna fixed to the chimney before the underfelt and slate goes on to achieve an optimal leak free routing of the cable.

 

ok so you have at decent signal then yes it would be worth looking into, i have a huawei b525 and a poynting xpol 1 omni directional antenna, if you know the location of your towers then a directional antenna will be better, and dont forget that a proper antenna will get better signal than an iphone 

[Simplysimon]

12 hours ago, Hobbiniho said:

 

ok so you have at decent signal then yes it would be worth looking into, i have a huawei b525 and a poynting xpol 1 omni directional antenna, if you know the location of your towers then a directional antenna will be better, and dont forget that a proper antenna will get better signal than an iphone 

does that give you calls or just data?

[gc100]

This is my plan though I have better reception. I’m still plan to put an extension directional aerial 

[Hobbiniho]

11 hours ago, Simplysimon said:

does that give you calls or just data?

i have calls aswell i have a DECT phone plugged into the back of the router, i just have a cheap unlimited smarty phone sim for £18.75 a month, it means that i have a mobile number for my "house phone" which confuses a lot of people, i dont get amazing signal 12-15mb but its better then the maximin 8mb that BT were offering for £36 a month

[vfrdave]

Mikrotik LTE antenna is what seems to be the choice around here in NI for 4G installs.

Considering getting one myself instead of my current wimax solution.

[gc100]

So I plugged in my SIM router without and aerial or anything and got 105Mbps down and 13 up. Brilliant results ! Faster than my fibre