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Installing an Antenna / Aerial
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A poor antenna installation can greatly reduce the reliability of 4G / 5G data comms.

Here are some general pointers to help you to install an antenna successfully.  This guidance actually applies to any type of antenna, including (for example) WiFi antennae:


- Mount the antenna **vertically**. (Any other orientation is worse than useless).
- Avoid the antenna touching any surface.
- Keep **cable extensions to a minimum length**.  As a rule of thumb, every additional meter of cable reduces the signal quality by 1 dBm.
- Reduce / avoid a situation where the antenna is surrounded by metal, including metal enclosures,building fabric and cable tray.
- **Avoid kinking or squashing** the relatively fragile coax cable.  Coax can become damaged over an extended period of time by kinking or squashing, even it it works when it is first installed.
- Where possible, if the antenna is “outdoor rated”, mount the antenna **outdoors**.
- Mount the aerial as **high as possible**.



If you are still having problems achieved a good connection, please reach out to our [support](wiki:/contact) to enquire about a High Gain or Directional antenna.