Coax antenna run vs Cat 6

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Jjc6lehigh

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Jan 14, 2017
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I have a cellular router for internet device for a home out in the woods, I'd like to mount a panel antenna near the roof of the 2nd story house for the best line of site to the nearby tower. Should I run coax through the attic from the antenna to the router on the first floor or should I keep the coax short install the router in the attic and run Cat 6 to a another router to broadcast wifi. Essentially what has the least performance drop Cat 6 or coax for a 50' - 100' run or does it not matter.
 
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kanewolf

kanewolf

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May 29, 2013
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Ethernet cable doesn't have as many issues as coax does with signal attenuation. The issue(s) with the router in the attic could be temp and humidity. It is probably not designed for wide operating range for either.

If the manufacturer of the router has an external antenna kit, I would recommend purchasing that. You know that there are no compatibility issues and the parts have been tested together.
 
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bill001g

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Aug 9, 2012
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Cat6 buys you nothing over cat5e unless you can get it cheaper. The port controls the speed not the cable. Unlike the coax cable ethernet always runs at 1g with no loss to 100 meters.

You can not use just any coax cable. In most cases you need low loss microwave rated cable. The lost per foot is directly dependent on the frequency. One of the more common type is LMR600 but they make all kinds of different ones with different loss. The cost of this cable tends to be outrageous.... well compared to say tv coax or ethernet cable.

The cell tower manufacture have done what most outdoor WiFi equipment has done. The have reduced the size of the electronics so much it can actually fit inside the antenna enclosure and they can use ethernet where you have no loss issue to connect.

You want to locate your cell router as close as possible to the antenna without getting it wet or exposed to the elements.

I have not yet see antennas on the user side for mobile broadband that have electronics in them. This I suspect because making any modification to any antenna on the frequencies used in mobile broadband requires a license. It seems it is very much in the grey area if you can even legally do what you are doing. Technically the fcc says the carrier must do all this.

In any case you do not want to use just any panel antenna. You must get the frequency that is used by your provider on the tower you want to use. If you want to use single frequency antenna you are best off with yaggi antenna. Still the best general purpose mobile broadband antenna are called "log periodic" . They cover a large range of cell company frequencies in one antenna.

Now you may actually need 2 antenna because LTE uses Mimo (like WiFI does) to increase speed. You will need to mount 2 antenna so the polarity is 90 degrees off
 
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Jjc6lehigh

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I have the 4G LTE Verizon Probrand Repeater Antenna for my Netgear MBR1515 Router, just wanted to know if lengthening the coax is preferable vs doing a long run of Cat 5 or 6, attic is walk up but isn't temp controlled, so guessing spending the money to run longer coax cable is better so that the router is not exposed to temp and humidity.
 
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bill001g

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Just make sure you actually calculate the loss including any loss from the extra connectors. This antenna only has 3.5 or 6db to start with. You are going to need 2 leads of microwave cable. I would get your distance and have the cable custom made. Putting ends on microwave cable with minimum loss is not beginner thing to do especially without equipment to test to be sure it really is properly terminated.

See what the router says the maximum operating temp actually is. If you are lucky it may be ok to put it in the attic
 
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Jjc6lehigh

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Jan 14, 2017
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Router's environmental specs are 32 to 104 with 90% humidity, so it sounds like it would be preferable to put the netgear in the attic and run Cat 5 to the airport downstairs.
 
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