Hardware for Three LTE (Band 20)

[opm]

My friend living near Kilbrittain, Co. Cork wants to get mobile broadband into his outside office, which is at the edge of his farmyard.  From his upstairs bedroom window he can get 3 bars of 4G signal on his mobile phone when on the Three network.

I've had a quick look for him.  From his location the ComReg SiteViewer identifies 3 masts within 6km transmitting for Three Ireland:
   
• (~4.1km) Site ID: 3_CK0394, Operator: Three, Services: GSM, UMTS, LTE
          Site ID: THREE_CK0394, Operator: Three, Services: GSM
  (from house, mast is 15 degrees north of due east)

• (~4.7km) Site ID: 3_CK0386, Operator: Three, Services: GSM, UMTS, LTE
          Site ID: THREE_CK0386, Operator: Three, Services: GSM
  (from house, mast is 20 degrees west of due south)

• (~5.9km) Site ID: 3_CK0248, Operator: Three, Services: GSM, UMTS, LTE
          Site ID: THREE_CK0248, Operator: Three, Services: GSM, UMTS
  (from house, mast is 12 degrees south of due east)
 
This resource documents all three of those sites as having the following 'Band Plan' values in the last column:
 ○ "800MHz - LTE"
 ○ "900MHz - LTE"

This is confusing, as I thought that only 800MHz was being used by Three for 4G/LTE, with 900MHz providing 2G/3G ?

Putting that confusion aside, I don't see any 1800MHz transmission, and wasn't expecting it in that rural area, so 4G+ is not on the menu.

A county-Cork-based provider suggested the following kit to use the 800MHz transmission from Three:

• Poynting Xpol2 3G/4G Antenna - €150 (€121.95 + VAT)
• Teltonika Rut 250 Router - €145 (€117.89 + VAT)

I'd appreciate opinions on that Antenna and Router combo, and would love to hear from anyone with mobile broadband around Kilbrittain.

Thanks - opm

[Seán]

The 900MHz LTE in ComReg's document seems to be a mistake as it should be 3G / WCDMA. For example, it shows the same for several sites around here where Three only 3G on the 900MHz band.

I have not heard much about the Teltonika routers, mainly due to them being for professional use such as providing onboard Wi-Fi on buses and trains. While the router lacks 4G+, it does have band locking capability so if any of those sites get 4G+, he can lock it onto the 1800MHz band.

If that person's phone runs Android 7 or later, try running the App "Network Signal Info" and look at the RAW tab while in 4G mode. This will show the available cells and signal strengths. If one cell dominates (e.g. >6dB stronger RSRP than the neighbours) or the cells are reasonably far apart (by angle), that Poynting antenna should work well and provide the 1800MHz band if the site gets an upgrade.

The third site you mention has 3G allso on the 2100MHz band, so in the worst case scenario that those sites are heavily congested, that 3G site would be worth aiming for. For example, in Ballybofey the 2100MHz 3G band is so quiet that speed tests often get 25 to 30Mbps throughout the day.