Question

Hello

I have a RUTX11 running great at home and want to move it to my Motorhome for a while, so am looking for an External Travel Antenna.
A 2x2 LTE, 2x2 Wifi, +GPS antenna would fit the bill, but I will probably want to upgrade the Router in the future to the RUTX50 5g which wants a 4x4 LTE, 2x2 WiFi, + GPS antenna.

Could you tell me please if I can future-proof my antenna purchase and us a 4x4 LTE antenna on my current 2x2 LTE Router by using  one pair of the Antenna's LTE cables and leave the other pair 'dangling'?
With thanks.

Comments

IanF, I don't know if it's too late for your decision already, but as I'm also in preparations to outfit my camping trailer with a router, I came up with a question which is quite related to yours:

I am also wondering if it is better to have all antennas for a specific signal (mobile or wifi) combined in one "MIMO" antenna, or if one would get even better reception results when using two separate antennas which are placed at different places on the vehicle roof. I'm specifically thinking about terraced camp grounds (or ones in mountainous terrain): if you got an uphill plot while the transmitter is placed downhill, and your roof-mounted antenna is located on the hillside of the roof, direct view between transmitter and antenna might get obstructed by the other edge of your own vehicle roof. However if using two separate antennas on each side of the vehicle, this cannot happen that easily. So in your case this would translate into the question if later adding a 2x2 antenna instead of immediately buying a 4x4 would be actually a good deal either.

However I guess this is mostly an issue for Wifi reception, as for mobile signals the travel distances are usually much longer and thus the  effect on the reception angle will be quite neglectible most of the time.

But espacially for Wifi, I'm still thinking which way to go. What I actually don't know is multiple things:

1. Is a 2x "MIMO" antenna internally just two identical antennas with two separate cables put into one housing, meaning the router will do all the MIMO signal logic? If that's the case, then placing two single antennas farer apart should always be helpful for a better signal.
2. If so, then is there any upper limit of how far apart two single antennas should be placed to still get the full MIMO effect?
3. Will the required cable lengths to place two antennas on opposite corners of the roof eat up all the theoretical reception advantages?

So questions over questions as soon as you start to think about how to do it PROPERLY...

Answer 1

Hello,

Though I cannot provide all of the technical details on the impact not using all four antennas will have on the overall performance, using two of the four antennas should still provide you with plenty of signal.

Especially considering that in more elaborate antenna configurations with four or more antennas, each channel serves a different purpose, being it for reception, MIMO or diversity, in which case signals from certain channels are neglected, if their signal quality is acceptable on primary channels.

Thus, if you must choose, pick the futureproof antenna, however, if you have an opportunity to test it beforehand, do it as well.

Best regards,

Comments

Thank you for your kind reply