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Antenna Placement and Coaxial Cable Loss
Good antenna placement can be undone by excessive cable loss, poor connectors or a convenient but obstructed mounting point.
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The highest point may be exposed to strong interference, lightning risk, difficult maintenance or a radio path that is not the best for the selected tower. High-gain antennas can also have narrow vertical patterns, so an excessively high or close installation may place the tower outside the main lobe. Test several practical positions and orientations while watching RSRP, RSRQ, SINR and actual throughput. A slightly lower point with a cleaner path and shor…
2026-06-16 When is it better to place the router near the antenna and run Ethernet rather than use a long antenna cable?When the antenna would otherwise need a long coaxial run, placing the router near it can preserve signal quality. Ethernet can normally run up to 100 metres and may deliver PoE, while coaxial loss rises with length and frequency. This arrangement is common where the best cellular position is on a roof, mast or external wall. The router then needs a suitable protected or outdoor location, power, surge protection and service access. Temperature and condensa…
2026-06-15 How should an installer balance antenna height against signal loss through a long coaxial cable?Raising an antenna can improve line of sight and reduce building or terrain obstruction, but every metre of coaxial cable adds loss. At cellular frequencies, a long low-quality cable can remove all the gain achieved by the higher position. Estimate cable loss at the actual bands, include connector losses and compare alternatives. Often the better design is to place the router or modem close to the antenna and run Ethernet back to the network, because Ethe…
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