This discussion is for sharing experiences with 5G and 4G antennas. I’m using the BPI-R4 as a 5G router (Module m.2 Quectel RM551,RM520, Fibocom FM350), which has four antenna ports.
I’ve tried several types of antennas from AliExpress but haven’t had much luck finding one with genuinely good gain. Many sellers advertise high gain (around 12 dBi), but the actual gain is often closer to 4 dBi.
I’d appreciate any recommendations or links to reputable AliExpress stores that offer quality 5G/4G antennas with reliable gain (Like 8 DPI or 12 DPI or 15 DPI).
Links : (These antennas their shops saying Gain 12 DPI but actual 4 or 5 DPI ) These antennas (600-6000mhz) tested on same Band , PCI and Location all not good
The 5GNR mobile network frequencies are very widely spread. See:
The quoted gain of these antennas will be the maximum they could get, choosing the best frequency for the antenna they are trying to sell - good for marketing but not the best for you.
What frequency band is your mobile provider using?
To get maximum gain you will need an antenna designed for your provider's operating frequency. That most likely means an expensive antenna. No doubt your provider would supply you with a router/modem with the correct antennas for their operating frequency band..... /s
If possible, skip omnidirectional antennas. Usually flat panel ones have much greater gain and are very suitable for 2-4 GHz frequencies where the most bandwidth usually is allocated. Ideally you would place it outside or at least in a window in the direction of nearest station.
Exactly. You cannot have a single high gain antenna covering such a wide range of frequencies. If the design gives broad coverage, then the gain is reduced accordingly - this is the physics of antennas.
Your mobile provider should be able to tell you which part(s) of the 800 to 4000MHz range they have been allocated and which bit of it they are using in your area.
Only then can you hope to choose a genuinely high gain antenna to use.
A manufacturer of antennas should supply a graph of gain vs frequency as well as a graph of gain vs direction.
An example of a nominal ~4dB gain broadband antenna is here:
Another:
Neither of these give any more than 4dB. So it is very unlikely that any of the piddly little plastic sticks or pcbs you have been looking at are going to be any better.
Your ISP probably has at least a low band and a high band. You could probably get what band you are using out of your modem itself?
Another item of note would be check where your towers are. As mentioned previously if you actually wanted higher gain you're probably not going to end up with an omnidirectional antenna.
It's reasonable to get high gain wide bandwidth antennas if you sacrifice the omnidirectional aspect.
It doesn't appear you've defined a budget?
I've usually had to optimise for either the low band, or a higher band. Getting 700MHz & 2.7GHz (or 4.2ghz for 5G hahaha) in the same antenna is hard.
I haven't had to do anything with "5G" yet haha. Last time I looked I ended up with two LPDA's and two panel style antennas from a local reseller.
Another thing to consider would just be whether you can get a PA/LNA if certified for your domain so you can relocate the antenna. That's more of a long distance thing though. At least where I am the easily available PA/LNA boxes are only for the lower band 4G, which is low bandwidth so your results may vary.
Welcome All …
antennas. I’m using the BPI-R4 as a 5G router (Module m.2 Quectel RM551,RM520, Fibocom FM350), which has four antenna ports.
