How to improve your WiMAX connection

Freshtel's recently launched 4G WiMAX network is already attracting interest from those who want to get high-speed mobile and unlimited internet. The network operates in the 3.5 GHz frequency range, which makes it possible to receive only in line of sight or in the presence of a sufficiently powerful reflected signal. As a result, the user has a good connection outdoors, but indoors they are forced to place their devices as close to the window as possible. Sometimes, even if you are lucky and your windows face the direction of the base station, this is not enough to get a reliable connection, that is, to get a high data transfer rate. In this case, the situation can be significantly improved by the use of directional antennas. We have carried out testing, the results of which we present to your attention.

• WiMAX/Wi-Fi router ZTE IX380
• Indoor WiMAX antenna KATHREIN (Germany)
• Outdoor directional WiMAX antenna MARS (Israel)

We deliberately do not compare the achieved data transfer rates, since they strongly depend not only on the received quality of the radio channel, but also on the load of the WiMAX network. But we can say with confidence that the better the radio conditions, the higher the data transfer rate.

Quantitative comparison was carried out according to three parameters:

RSSI - received signal level
TX power - the required transmitter power of the subscriber terminal
CINR - ratio of signal level to noise level + interference

The use of directional antennas can significantly improve the quality of radio communications. In some cases, communication without directional antennas is not achievable at all. A radical improvement option is to use an external high gain directional antenna, but this requires external mounting and solving the problem of cable passage through the wall (roof, window frame, etc.). A simple solution is an indoor directional antenna placed by the window (for example, glued to the glass).

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