Question Mobile router singla boost or replacement?

[piechockidocent9]

Hello there, I have two mobile 4G LTE routers from Huawei older E5377T and slightly newer E5577Cs. Both operate by T-Mobile provider and are limited to 60mbps bandwidth but have unlimited transfer.

I'm more or less happy with E5577Cs I use as a backup and on the go source of internet. My old man on the other hand started nagging at E5377T, mainly because he now uses much more frequently and more types of streaming services.
My first thought was that we should talk with the operator about increasing the bandwidth, however when I ran some tests in various places the most I got on both was around 40 mbps and lowest 10 mbps. So now instead of increasing the bandwidth I gyrate around idea of signal boosting.

Do yall think adding some mobile antenna to each through available ts9 ports is worth even trying?
I dug a little on the topic and had almost only negative reviews of small portable ones (cb radio style or smaller or cheap looking plastic boxes). Most people advise decent directional antenna but I want to keep using these routers as mobile routers so that's kind of out of the question. Is what I assume middle ground like NETGEAR 6000451 omnipositional antenna worth a shot?

If not then maybe purchasing a newer devices would be more beneficial? Will buying for example newer Huawei E5785 possibly improve anything or I should aim higher to actually see some results?

 

[COLGeek]

Honestly, any gains (depending on location/signal strength) are likely to be marginal.

Since the costs are fairly low, you could try an external antenna to see if it helps or not.

 

[bill001g]

I would first try it in a window on the side of the house the cell tower is on. Take the unit outside and see what the best case is.

Most cell antenna are suppose to be mounted outside which then makes it kinda non portable. If you go to the trouble of running a cable a pair of log periodic is always going to be your best option.

They also make very cheap stick type of ts9 antenna that have close to the same gain. You might want to try that first to see if you get any improvement without spending too much.

I suspect all your issues are with the signal levels. Buying a different router will likely have no impact so I would try antenna first.

Sometime nothing you do will fix this. The old house I used to live in the signal was very weak from the one cell provider that offered a unlimited home data package. I tried antenna even on the roof and got very minimal improvement.

 

[piechockidocent9]

Thanks for your helpful replies. That's why I love this forum, by far closest chance of ppl offering usefull info and answers.

Since it's this time of the year (merry xmas on a side note) I'll probably hold till next year. Anything I order now is most likely gonna arrive then anyway.

Gonna try with simple antenna and see how it goes, I can always return it so I guess there's that.
As to trying first I actually did, best scenario was mentioned above 40mbps in upper floor room, worse was 10 mbps in the workshop ground level behind house.

Funny enough I guess the gear must be bad because I live pretty close to a signal tower, I can actually see it's light from my backyard and house upper floor and I think it's something around 1-2km in straight line.