WAVEFORM 4×4 MIMO External Antennas User Guide

4×4 MIMO
External Antennas

4×4 MIMO External Antennas

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST:
We know, reading manuals isn’t always fun. But we promise it’s worth it.
We’ve helped thousands of customers improve the signal to their cellular routers.
We’ve compiled everything we’ve learned in this manual.
Give it a read before you start: it’ll save you time and help you get the best performance out of your MIMO External Antenna.

About Waveform
Your MIMO External Antenna is designed, sold, and supported by Waveform and our team of Signal Specialists.
We’ve helped over 20,000 customers improve their signal since our company was founded in 2007. We’ve installed and configured thousands of devices in buildings across the country, and we’re here to help. If you have any issues at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

What’s in the Box

Antennas
Depending on what you purchased, your package will contain either a single 4×4 MIMO Panel Antenna or four Log Periodic Antennas. We recommend using the Log Periodic
Antennas if you have line-of-sight to your nearest cell towers. Our 4×4 MIMO Panel Antenna may perform slightly better if you’re surrounded by trees, buildings, or hills.

Cables and Adapters (optional, only included with complete kit)
If you purchased a complete antenna kit, the parts listed below will also come included.

Install Manuals, Who Needs ‘Em?

Heads up: using MIMO antennas to improve your signal can take a bit of patience.
We’d be surprised if you saw better data rates immediately upon connecting the antennas.
Be prepared to spend an hour or two finding the right location and direction for your antennas. This manual is based on feedback from hundreds of customers like you. We’ve revised it dozens of times based to make it as helpful as possible and make the process of getting better data rates as easy as we can.
We promise you’ll be glad if you read it from start to finish before you get started. It’ll help you save time, avoid the most common pitfalls, and ensure your system works as well as possible.

Who We Are
Hi! We’re Waveform. We’ve been around since 2007, and while we’ve grown a bunch since then we’re still a small team. There’s just a handful of us answering texts, and picking up calls. The four of us pictured below lead support and product development. Feel free to reach out to us at any time; our emails are all just our first names@waveform.com

Stuck? Have Questions? Please: Contact Us!
We’re a small team, but we really care about helping you get the best results.
If you’re having issues, please contact us. Sometimes a small tweak we suggest can make all the difference. Even if everything goes smoothly, please let us know how your system is performing. We love getting feedback: is there any way we could make the installation process or this manual better? Call us at 800-761-3041 or email help@waveform.com. We’re available from 9 am-5 pm PT, Monday to Friday.

Before You Start

It’s important that there’s at least some 4G LTE or 5G signal outside or on the roof of the building where you’re installing the MIMO antennas, and ideally it should be “usable.” If you don’t have a usable signal outside, proceed with caution, and consider giving us a call.
What Do We Mean by “Usable”?
When you take your cellular router or hotspot outdoors, you should have a reliable data connection even without connecting your new external MIMO antennas. When running a speed test, you should have at least 0.1 Mbps download and upload speed. MIMO antennas will help condition the outdoor signal and get you better data rates. But if the
signal outside your building isn’t usable, to begin with, MIMO antennas might not help. You can certainly still give the MIMO antenna a shot, but you may still be unable to connect.

Compatibility
First, a quick reminder: our 4×4 MIMO Panel and Log Periodic Antennas support almost every 3G, 4G LTE, and low/mid-band 5G service in use in the US and across the world. Here are the bands that each antenna covers:

B2/n2, B4, B5/n5, B12, B17, B29, B30, B46, B66/n66, n77
B2/n2, B4, B5/n5, B13, B46, B48/n48, B66/n66, n77
B2, B4, B5, B12, B25, B26, B41/n41, B46, B66, B71/n71 CBRS, B48/n48

All supported LTE Bands: Band 1-10, Band 12-20, Band 23-30, Band 33-41, Band 46-48, Band 65-77, B85
All supported 5G Bands: n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n14, n18, n20, n25, n26, n28, n29, n30 n34, n38, n39, n40, n41, n65, n66, n70, n71, n80, n81, n82, n83, n84, n86, n89, n90, n95

How Much Improvement Should You Expect?
In short: it’s hard to say. Many people see an increase in data rates of between 50% and 200%. But some people only see 10%. Our CEO often says that despite all the science, wireless signals often work in “strange and magical” ways.
One thing is for sure: the more patient you are and the more locations and directions you try, the more likely you are to see a big increase in data rates.
If you’ve gone through this manual and aimed the antennas as we suggest, but you’re still not seeing much improvement, reach out to us for help. We’re generally available from  9 am to 5 pm PT, Monday to Friday, and we love helping solve tricky install problems.

Install Process Overview

This is the process that we suggest using for installing your MIMO External Antenna:

1. Read this manual. Ideally from start to finish you understand the whole process before you begin.

2. Assemble your antennas to amount. Start by assembling your mount and attaching your cross-polarized Log Periodic Antennas.

3. Find the best antenna location and direction, using just two of your antennas. This step is the most time-consuming, but it’s worth the effort. Getting it right has a huge impact
   on your system’s performance. Make notes of your readings on the table in section 4.

4. Verify performance and hard-wire everything. Without making any holes in your roof or walls, temporarily run the cable indoors to your hotspot or router and run speed tests. If everything looks good, it’s time to finalize cable runs and hard-wire everything.

5. Tell us how your system is doing. We really love hearing how our customers’ systems are performing. Send an email or give us a call and let us know how things look.

Assembling the Antennas

Assembling the J-Mount and Outdoor Antenna
The pictures below show how your antennas should be secured to your mount. For the next step in section 3 it’ll be helpful to have your antennas attached to your mount, so take some time to get these set up before moving on.

If you’d like more detailed instructions on how to assemble our J-Mount and mount the L-bracket(s), you can find that online at waveform.com/polemount- instructions
Cross-Polarizing the Log Periodic Antennas (if purchased) Note how the two Log Periodic Antennas on each mount are angled at 45 degrees in opposite directions; this is called “cross-polarization”.
When mounting the two pairs of antennas as shown above, spread the antennas about 3-4 ft apart or as far apart as your cables allow. For the best results, mount the antennas both horizontally and vertically, as shown in the image above.
Having each pair of antennas cross-polarized and all four antennas aimed in the same direction is crucial to achieving a successful 4×4 MIMO connection.

Positioning and Aiming the Antennas

Finding the right antenna position for your MIMO antennas is critical. We’ll explain the best and simplest method for positioning and aiming. Section 7 covers some more advanced tips.

The Goal
Your aim is to find the best location and direction for the antennas. The location should maximize data rates to your LTE/5G router or hotspot. It can take a little patience, but
spending some time here can have a huge impact – it’s worth a bit of extra effort.

Set up Your MIMO Antenna in “Test Mode”
Is your hotspot or router battery-powered?
Or do you have a power extension cord?
If so, set up your MIMO antennas in “test mode” by connecting them directly to your router.

Now, take your hotspot and antenna outside with you, and you’ll have everything you need to start testing different locations and directions.

Moving and aiming all four antennas at the same time is a bit awkward. If you know which antenna port is the primary port on your router, you can use just one antenna for this step. If you don’t, use all four antennas and have a second person help you.
Here’s how to set up your hotspot and two of your antennas in test mode if you’re using all four antennas:

Don’t have a way of taking your router outdoors with you? No problem. Just keep your router or hotspot indoors near a power socket, and use a longer coax cable in place of the barrel adapters so you can take just the antennas outside.
If you aren’t able to bring your router or hotspot outside with you, then your connection speed may be limited by the router’s WiFi range rather than its cellular connection. We recommend asking a second person to stay near the hotspot or router with a phone: ask them to run speed tests as you try different positions with the antennas.

Running Speed Tests
Since the goal is improved data rates, it makes sense to use a speed test app to measure your data rates through your cellular router or hotspot’s WiFi.
If you’re testing with your phone, download “Speedtest by Ookla” by visiting this URL: waveform.com/speedtest. If you’re using a laptop, visit speedtest.net in a browser. Go ahead and run a few speed tests indoors from a device connected to your router or hotspot’s WiFi.
Now go outside. With each location and direction, you try, run 1-2 speed tests, and make a note of the results in the table on the opposite page.

How to Position & Aim
Finding the right antenna location and direction takes some patience, but it’s absolutely worth it. Spending time to get it right will have a big impact on your system’s performance. Here are all the locations and directions where we recommend testing your MIMO antennas:

Don’t just go to the highest point of the roof! While the signal is generally stronger the higher you go, there’s also often more interference. We’ve found it’s often better to mount the antennas on the side of the building where the structure can shield the antennas from interference.
Once you’ve found the best antenna location and direction, move on to section 5 below to get ready for your final installation.

Your Data Rate Measurements

Use the table below to make notes of your data rate measurements while you’re positioning and aiming the antennas.

Assembling Your System

Once you’ve identified the best location for your antennas, it’s time to set up a provisional install. Keep your antennas outside in the location you’ve selected, but run the cables and test your router/hotspot indoors.
Don’t drill any holes in your walls yet! Start with a temporary install to make sure everything is working well, as described in the next section of the manual.
Getting the Complete Kit Set Up

Refer to the diagram to the right as needed, for assembling the complete kit.

1. Secure your MIMO Panel Antenna or Log Periodic Antennas to your mount if you haven’t already. If your kit includes four Log Periodic Antennas, be sure to cross-polarize them. See section 2 above for more information.

2. Mount the antenna(s) outdoors in the location and direction where you found the fastest data rates using the method described in section 3.

3. Connect your Quad RS240 coax cables to the MIMO Panel/Log Periodic Antennas. Or, if you purchased lightning surge protectors, connect the MIMO Antenna(s) to the
   included 5’ jumper cables, Lightning Surge Protectors, and Quad RS240 coax cable. Instructions on grounding are in the next section of the manual.

4. Connect the SMA ends of the Quad RS240 cable to the antenna ports on your router and hand-tighten them. If your device uses TS9 or U.FL connectors, then use the included pigtail adapters to connect to the coax cables.

Install tip: Some devices have both WiFi and cellular 4G/5G external antenna ports. Make sure you connect the MIMO antenna to your device’s cellular antenna ports and not the WiFi port. Your device’s user manual or our device-specific guides may help here.

Test & Install Permanently

Before drilling holes in your walls, we recommend running cables temporarily through a window or door and testing to make sure that everything still works well.
If you’re happy with your data rates, you can start drilling holes and moving to a permanent install with all four antennas.
If you’re having issues with your temporary setup, or aren’t happy with the performance, don’t panic! We can help you figure it out. Call us at 800-761-3041 or email help@waveform.com.
We’re available from 9am-5pm PT, Monday to Friday.

A Quick Note on Surge Protection & Grounding
We recommend using four Lightning Surge Protector Kits to ground your outdoor antenna. These protect your router or hotspot in case of lightning and prevent high-voltage power from entering your home. The surge protectors should be installed just before the coaxial cable enters the building.

You can pick up four Lightning Surge Protector Kits at waveform.com/surge- protector.
Both the surge protectors and your mount itself should be grounded. We recommend using at least 10 AWG cables. Keep in mind the numbers increase as the cable gets thinner. So 6 AWG and 8 AWG are both okay, but 12 AWG and 14 AWG are too thin.
If you have a satellite or HDTV antenna on your roof already, it’s likely grounded. You can simply ground the mast and lightning surge protectors to the satellite dish. Alternatively, you can ground your mast and antenna(s) directly to a grounding rod. Most homes should have a grounding rod, but if yours doesn’t you can purchase one at a local hardware store. Even if you don’t purchase a lightning surge protector, make sure to ground your J-Mount.

Weatherproofing Outdoor Connections
N-type connectors are outdoor-rated, but water can still sometimes get in and cause issues. We strongly recommend wrapping all outdoor N-type connections with stretch-and-seal self-fusing silicone rubber tape (available from most hardware stores).

Advanced Optimization

By this point, you should have a really solid understanding of how to aim your MIMO antennas and get great performance. In fact, we’re convinced that for 95% of people, the instructions provided in this manual so far are more than enough.
If, however, you’d like to go a little deeper and get technical to optimize your system even further, here are some general guidelines.

1. Look up your nearby towers on CellMapper.net. Try to find the eNodeBIDs that your LTE/5G router or hotspot is connecting to using the device’s admin interface.
2. Aim your antennas at each nearby tower and band lock your hotspot or router to every band that the tower transmits. Run speed tests on each band to find the fastest bands.
3. Try enabling multiple bands and using carrier aggregation to find the fastest band combination. Carrier aggregation allows your devices to connect to two or more bands
   simultaneously but doesn’t always result in an improvement. Stick to a single band if that gets you the best results.

Unfortunately, some devices don’t offer band locking, and many don’t list eNodeBIDs or any kind of cell tower identifiers, making these steps impossible. Every cellular router and hotspot is so different that we could never cover all of them with just one set of instructions.
However, we’ve written up guides for some of the most common devices, you can find them online at waveform.com/hotspot-guides.
We suggest reading our guide for your router or referring to your user manual.

We’re Here to Help!
We know, there’s a lot of information out there and this can get very technical. Don’t be afraid!
If you’re having difficulty, aren’t happy with the performance of your system, or you’d just like a hand, we’d love to help! Call us at 800-761-3041 or email help@waveform.com. We’re generally available from 9 am-5 pm PT, Monday to Friday.

Some Final Tips

– If you have extra cable, don’t coil it tightly.
If you have extra cable, make sure to keep any cable loops as large as possible to minimize negative side effects (4 ft or wider loops are best).
– If data rates decrease over time, consider re-optimizing your system.
Occasionally carriers will change their towers to broadcast different bands, light up new towers, or simply turn off existing towers altogether. If your data rates suddenly get worse, try re-aiming your antennas to get the best results.
– Try alternative antenna mounting configurations.
For an additional performance boost, other antenna configurations can be tried depending on your local terrain. For obstructed terrain (i.e. locations surrounded by large buildings/hills/mountains etc.) you could also try mounting the antennas horizontally side-by-side. For open terrain (i.e. locations in large fields/plains/etc.) you could also try mounting the antennas vertically top-to-bottom.

Tell Us How It Works

Did your installation go great? Are you having trouble aiming your antennas? Do you think our manual could be improved? Are your data rates not quite what you were hoping?
We’d love to hear from you: give us a call at 800-761-3041 or email help@waveform.com.
We’re not a huge, faceless corporation with lots of bureaucracy. There is a small team of us who wrote this manual and provide support for our products, and we love hearing how our products perform and helping folks get the absolute best data rates in any given situation. So please, reach out!

Excited about your MIMO antenna?
Hopefully, by the time you’ve finished installing and tuning your MIMO antenna, you’re as excited about this product as we are. One of our biggest challenges is spreading the word. Most people don’t know that products like our MIMO antenna exist. Help us get the word out: everyone you refer gets 5% off their kit, and we’ll also give you 5% of whatever they spend in cash (via Paypal). Simply visit waveform.com/referrals to get started. Get 5% for each friend, family, or neighbor you refer.

Need help? We’re ready and waiting.
MIMO Antennas aren’t always easy to install. In fact, getting everything up and running can sometimes be a pain. But the end result is worth it.

One of the benefits of buying from Waveform is our lifetime technical support on every system we sell. We’ve installed hundreds of these devices ourselves, and can walk you through troubleshooting and fine-tuning your installation for the best results.
Simply give us a call at 800-761-3041, or pop us an email at help@waveform.com. We’re generally available from 9 am to 5 pm PT, Monday to Friday.
We love helping solve tricky install problems.

52 Maxwell, Irvine, CA 92618
+1 800-761-3041
www.waveform.com
help@waveform.com

References

• Cellular Tower and Signal Map
• Speedtest by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test
• How to Ground a Rooftop Signal Booster or DAS Antenna
•  
• waveform.com/polemount-instructions
• ReferralCandy Portal
• 50 Ohm Lightning Surge Protector Kit with N-Female Connectors, DC - 60 - Waveform
• Waveform - The Cell Signal Specialists

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