Had a hunch that LTE reception would be better up the drive than where the antenna is currently, up on the chimney.
Our drive goes uphill, much higher than the house and, unlike the chimney, has no trees in the way, so is a bit of a no-brainer but somehow hadn't occurred to me.
So strung a bunch of extension cords together and took the router for a walk....
And yes, MUCH better reception even with just the cheap omni antenna that came with the router. RSRP up 20 DBm. Upstream speeds more than doubled to 85mbit. Several additional LTE cells now in range too!
So all that time up the ladder was completely unnecessary, aargh!
So, a new project for this year is to run power and ethernet up the drive!
@johnl You can get PoE extractors for about £20. I use them to power CCTV cameras off my PoE switch, that would otherwise need a 12V mains adapter at the far end.
@jamesholden thanks, good idea. Previous owner ran some armoured cable up the drive but never wired it in so I was looking for an excuse to light that up. But I think it would be wise to have it on a separate circuit from where I might run lawnmowers and stuff, and where water might get in too!
@johnmclear thanks again! I have been looking for an excuse to borrow that! But the previous owner ran some armoured cable up the drive but never wired it in so I was looking for an excuse to light that up anyway. And I think the cat5 run will only need to be underground in a couple of short runs. as @jamesholden has now suggested, I might even PoE it.
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