WaveForm 4x4 MIMO User manual

by
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
con gured 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.
52 Maxwell,
Irvine, CA 92618
[phone]
www.waveform.com
[email protected]
About Waveform
4x4 MIMO
External Antennas
We know, reading manuals isn’t always fun. But we promise it’s worth it.
We’ve helped thousands of customers improve 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.
PLEASE READ THIS FIRST:

Antennas
Depending on what you purchased, your package will contain either a single 4x4 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 4x4 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.
What’s in the Box
J-Mount Antenna
Mount
Optional: 4x Lightning
Protector Kits
Clear bag
Clear bag
Quad RS240 N-Male
to SMA-Male Cables
4x N-Male to SMA-Male
Adapters
N-Male to SMA-Male
J-Mount Bracket
and Hardware
Red bag
or
1x 4x4 MIMO
Panel Antenna
4x Log
Periodic Antennas
Log
Pigtail Adapters
(4x U.FL & 2x TS9)
2

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 to  nd 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  nish 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  rst names @waveform.com
Ian (Support) Sina (CEO) Harry (Support) Marcus (Product)
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’s any way we could make the install process or this manual better?
Call us at [phone] or email [email protected]. We’re available from 9am-5pm PT,
Monday to Friday.
Install Manuals, Who Needs ‘Em?
3

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 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 4x4 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:
Before You Start
00
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
4

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.
This is the process that we suggest using for installing your MIMO External Antenna:
1Read this manual. Ideally from start to nish so that you understand the whole process
before you begin.
2Assemble your antennas to a mount. Start by assembling your mount and attaching
your cross-polarized Log Periodic Antennas.
3Find 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.
4Verify 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 nalize cable runs and hard-wire everything.
5Tell 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.
Install Process Overview
01
5

The pictures below show how your antennas should be secured to your mount.
If you have the kit with four Log Periodic Antennas: Note how the two Log Periodic Antennas
on each mount are angled at 45 degrees in opposite directions. This is called “cross-
polarization” and is crucial to MIMO.
To acheive 4x4 MIMO, mount the two pairs of cross-polarized antennas as shown below. Keep
the antennas between 3 to 6 feet apart, and treat all four as a single antenna: always keep them
aimed in the same direction.
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  nd that online at waveform.com/polemount-instructions
6
Assembling the Antennas
02

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  nd 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:
Positioning and Aiming the Antennas
03
POWER EXTENSION
CABLE
MIMO Panel or Cross-Polarized
Log Periodic Antennas
N-type to SMA
Adapters
Optional TS9 or
U.FL pigtails
Speedtests on
hotspot/router WiFi
Connect Adapters/Pigtails
to the cellular antenna
ports on your router
7

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 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  nal installation.
8

Use the table below to make notes of your data rate measurements while you’re positioning
and aiming the antennas.
Position and Direction Download Speed Upload Speed
Your Data Rate Measurements
04
9

Once you’ve identied 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.
1Secure 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.
2Mount the antenna(s) outdoors in the location and direction where you found the fastest
data rates using the method described in section 3.
3Connect 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.
4Connect 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-specic guides may help here.
05 Assembling Your System
10

Your LTE/5G router
Connect the cables or pigtails to
the cellular antenna ports.
Check your manual or search
online if you’re not sure which are
the cellular ports.
Optional TS9 or U.Fl Pigtail
Adapter x4
Included with the optional kit only.
If your router uses SMA connectors for
the cellular antenna ports, you can skip
these and connect the Quad Cable
directly to the router.
If your router uses TS9 or U.FL
connectors, you’ll install the relevant
adapter here.
4x Optional Lightning
Surge Protector Kits
Included with some kit
confi gurations only. Includes
5 ft jumper cable and 5 ft red
grounding cable.
Should ideally be installed
outdoors, just before cable enters
the building.
Connect Lightning Surge Protectors
to the building’s ground with 10
AWG or higher grounding cable.
4x4 MIMO Panel Antenna or cross-polarized Log Periodic Antennas
Depending on which kit you purchased. Shown with the included J-Mount(s) .
Quad RS240 N-Male
to SMA-Male Cable
Included with the optional kit only.
11

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 gure it out. Call us at [phone] or email [email protected].
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 cable. 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.
Weatherproong 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).
Test & Install Permanently
06
12

Advanced Optimization
07
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 nd the eNodeBIDs that your
LTE/5G router or hotspot is connecting to using the device’s admin interface.
2Aim 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 nd the fastest bands.
3 Try enabling multiple bands and using carrier aggregation to nd 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 identiers, 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 nd 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 difculty, aren’t happy with the performance of your system, or you’d just
like a hand, we’d love to help! Call us at [phone] or email [email protected]. We’re
generally available from 9am-5pm PT, Monday to Friday.
13

- 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.
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 [phone] or email [email protected].
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!
Tell Us How It Works
09
Some Final Tips
08
14

Hopefully by the time you've nished 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.
Excited about your MIMO antenna?
Get 5% for each friend, family, or neighbor you
refer.
15

52 Maxwell,
Irvine, CA 92618 [phone] www.waveform.com [email protected]
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 bene ts 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  ne-tuning your
installation for best results.
Simply give us a call at [phone], or pop us an
email at [email protected]. We’re generally available
from 9 am to 5 pm PT, Monday to Friday.
We love helping solve tricky install problems.
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