Friday 2 October 2015

Loving my new HiFi

It's not what you think: I'm talking about WiFi in my Hangar-- hence HiFi

I needed to get broadband into my hangar at EGNS (Ronaldsway Airport, Isle of Man) and there was no possibility of installing a landline (for ADSL etc). Here's my solution which you may find helpful if faced with a similar challenge:

1) Purchased 4G mobile broadband data-only subscription package from local provider

2) The provider in 1) issued me with a MiFi box: specifically a D-Link DWR-921 router (like this)

3) The router in 2) was easy to set up, but the signal was poor inside the hanger.

4) So I replaced the little paddle antennas provided with the router (see the "paddles" in the pictures at previous link)  with an external antenna, specifically this one.

5) I mounted the antenna on the hangar roof (see photo below). The cables attach directly to the terminals of the router, no extra adapters required.

6) I now routinely get 28 MBPS downlink and 10 MBPS uplink, with no dropouts. Without the external the antenna, performance was a few MBPS downlink at best, and frequent dropouts.

Job done.


External antenna mounted on hangar roof provides adequate boost for 4G broadband reception inside the hangar