External 4G/LTE Antenna: NIM-LTEA-EA module installed on ISR 4331

[Jonnyballgame34]

Greetings.

I have question regarding selection of an antenna to pair with an ISR4331 with one of the new NIM-LTEA-NA modules, (these are not vendor specific, but I'm using Verizon).  

I'm installing one of these as part of a pilot program.  Currently it is set up with the stock dipole antennas that ship with the modules, (they are properly installed on the cables, not just the back of the card), but the facility is in a rural area and I'm getting poor reception, (see at bottom). 

To improve the reception, I want to try an external antenna.   However I face a big limitation in that I'm remote, and have never even been to the site.  And I don't have dedicated site help, nor a vendor that specializes in this work, just a cabling contractor who can do the actual install.  

Based on this, I need to make a best effort/guess on the antenna selection.  Trying to learn about them but also hoping for some recommendations, what I think:

-Since it's best effort I want an omni directional?  I don't know that there is a tower nearby that a panel type could be pointed at directly and I don't have access to someone who can survey the whole area to find the

-I see two potential Cisco antennas: ANT-4G-OMNI-OUT-N*  and ANT-4G-SR-OUT-TNC.  Are these the only two Cisco options?  Is there a reason to choose one over the other?   Are there third party antennas that are superior?

They would prefer to have it on the side of the building, not the roof, so my (uneducated), thought was it might be better to have a stick type that was mounted high on the side so that it has line of site over the top of the buidling.   But it looks like the litte mushroom dome shaped model is newer. 

Any input anyone has would be appreciated. Thanks 

Radio power mode = online
LTE Rx Channel Number = 5230
LTE Tx Channel Number = 23230
LTE Band = 13
LTE Bandwidth = 10 MHz
Current RSSI = -72 dBm
Current RSRP = -105 dBm
Current RSRQ = -16 dB
Current SNR = -1.7 dB
Physical Cell Id = 194
Number of nearby cells = 2
Idx PCI (Physical Cell Id)

[Jonnyballgame34]

Realized I had one more really basic question.   Safe to assume most antennas have similar cabling requirements?  When having something like this cabled is there a way for me to have them do it so it's easy to try a different antenna later if this one doesn't work out?  Thanks

[Georg Pauwen]

Hello,

the two antenna options you mentioned, ANT-4G-OMNI-OUT-N* and ANT-4G-SR-OUT-TNC, are the only ones available. That said, have you considered an outdoor WiFi range extender ?

[Jonnyballgame34]

Thanks very much for looking at my question.

Do you know if one is preferable over the other?  It's tough to research this stuff because Cisco's information isn't up to date. The "N" model which is listed as 4g and for this applications has only 2g and 3rd listed under their standards. 

Have not considered a wifi extender.  This is more of an urgent reactionary solution than a forward thinking project with lots of options being weight. Thanks again

[Georg Pauwen]

Hello,

actually I don't have more information than what I can derive from the document below (which you probably have read yourself), so I don't know if one antenna is preferable over the other...

I am also thinking that there might be a way to fine tune (and hopefully improve) your current configuration, can you post what you have so far ?

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/routers/4000-series-integrated-services-routers-isr/datasheet_C78-738511.html

[Jonnyballgame34]

Sure---it's attached.. These things are strange-- can't ssh to the public IP but if I set up a loopback and put it on the DMVPN tunnel  can ssh across it..  Plus the cell interface bounces when you change the other ports