Antenna for a Sierra Wireless aircard

[beau5278]

Does any body know or have a recommendation for an antenna for a Sierra Wireless 875 aircard.I have this aircard and have been using it on the edge network,ATT is finally getting close to me with 3G,according to their coverage map,I'm in their 3G area but the only way that I can get on the system from here is to set the CM for 3G only and then I only can get a very low signal.Does anybody know how I can figure out how much of an antenna I would need to pull that signal in so it's usable?I called ATT and they tell me they don't have the know how to do it,the antenna dealers want to sell me a booster that costs about a grand and I'm pretty sure that the answer is somewhere in the middle but I don't know how to figure it out.

 

[mikeal]

It looks like they have what you need here.

 

[beau5278]

I called that company today,the problem is,nobody can tell me how much of an antenna that I would need.I was hoping that someone here had used one to know how they work.I talked to the people at Sierra Wireless and even what they recommend doesn't sound to me like it would do much.

 

[truthseeker]

I've used these before and they work pretty dang good. Should be less than 100 clams for the whole thing. :thumbup:

Adapter: http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/Adapters.php?ID=22

Antenna: http://www.wilsonelectronics.com////ViewProductB.php?ID=5

At my house, I can go from almost no signal at all to a dead solid connection with that antenna.

 

[mikeal]

There is really no way to know how much antenna you will need without testing. Having said that, there is no such thing as too much antenna (in this case.)

The easiest solution is a small omnidirectional indoor antenna. The most effective is a yagi (directional) antenna mounted outside and pointing directly at the cell tower. You said that you already have a signal, so you may be able to get away with an indoor antenna. It looks like AT&T has 850 and 1900 MHz in your area, so you will probably want a dual band antenna.

You can try something like this indoors and if you don't get a satisfactory signal, move it outdoors and up higher. If you decide to mount it outside, it is important to use high quality cable of the correct type.

You may not need an amp, but an inline amp can easily be added later if you need it. The DA4000 from digital antenna is $170 or so.

There is some good info here
http://www.evdoforums.com/thread3136.html