Connect a weBoost Connect 4G Cell Phone Booster directly to the antenna port of a Balance 30 LTE?

Product Discussion Peplink Balance
1

I have a setup in the Sierras of California, with a weak Verizon LTE signal.
My current architecture is:

It works reasonably well. However, it is a clunky setup.
Can I connect the coax from the weBoost Connect directly to the antenna input to the Balance 30 LTE (instead of to the rebroadcast antenna of the weBoost)?

Does it matter what impedance the weBoost coax is rated for (75 or 50)?

2

You should confirm this with weBoost because I’m not sure it would work. The antenna connectors on the B30 LTE are SMA at 50 ohms.

1 Like
3

weBoost responded helpfully:

You have the Connect 4G, if you were to connect that directly to the router it could potentially burn out or desensitize your router or booster. You could use the Signal 4G as a direct connect option, but honestly you are probably getting more gain how you have it setup. Here is a link to the Signal 4G: weBoost Signal 4G | weBoost

Unfortunately the Signal 4G is out of stock. Any thoughts on the possible danger of burn-out or desensitizing the router radio with a direct connection of the Connect 4G?

S

4

I would follow the manufacturers recommendation here.

2 Likes
5

You shouldn’t hook a repeating amplifier directly to a cellular modem. The gain coming off of these amplifiers is well over what an embedded modem can tolerate and you are likely to burn the modem out in a worst case, but definitely provide so much noise the modem wouldn’t connect. You’ll want to keep that wireless or use a direct connect amplifier. The manufacturer may be out of stock but we do have the Signal 4G in stock at 3Gstore.com

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6

Thanks for chiming in Kevin, I thought this might be the case…

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7

I’ll get a M2M weBoost Signal 4G and test the set-up: RF->Antenna->Signal 4G -> B30LTE.
Will report back w.r.t. how it compares with RF->Antenna->Connect 4G->Antenna->RF->B30LTE.

8

How did your tests turn out?

9

I decided not to pursue it - most all I spoke with thought the current set-up was as good, and it had the added benefit of enabling our mobiles as well :slight_smile:

We are exploring mounting HD2 IP67 units outside at this point. A bit of an overkill, but I am a sucker for good connectivity.

10

Hi…when running an external antenna only with no cellular amplifier, it is best to run 2 external antennas, or a single external antenna that supports MiMo (this would be a single antenna that has 2 leads to connect to the modem). This setup allows the embedded modem to retain its MiMo capabilities while still having an external antenna to maximize signal strength to the modem. Lets use the Pepwave MAX BR1 Mini as an example. This has a cellular main and cellular aux antenna port. If it was installed in an ATM machine it may have weak cellular signal due to the metal enclosure it is surrounded by. An external antenna is needed in this scenario.

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