Help with 4G LTE Yagi for first time DIYer

[MH264]

This is my first post on here but looks like a cool community. I have experience in electronics but hardly in expert in RF although I am familiar enough.

I'm currently getting prepared and doing research on building a Yagi to help my family that lives on the family farm in the boonies get better 4g signal.

Currently it's spotty at best and they had a tin roof installed not too long ago which definitely didn't help things when inside the house.

I have made the plans up to build a 700mhz 12db Yagi and I'm pretty sure I got most of that right although any advice is welcome.

My question might seem silly but do I need any special equipment to allow phones to utilize the Yagi? Does the pig tail have to be connected to a certain device and if so is there any way to also build that device DIY?

 

[jaspence]

There are devices for that, but building one yourself is doubtful. I saw one at one of the few surviving Radio Shack stores a few months ago. Verizon is the only company I found in the 700 MHz band, so be sure you are on the right frequency, as all of the others are well above that.

What Frequency Range Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc. use?

Whether your cell phone carrier is ATT, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, or any other, there're 4 easy ways to find out instantly which frequency range it uses.

www.signalbooster.com

 

[MH264]

Yes it is for Verizon

 

[MH264]

I have been doing research on various yagi antennas and plan on building my own to hopefully increase the 4G LTE signal we get inside the house.

However, I keep seeing builds where some use metal conduit as a boom and the elements are soldered on and others use PVC or some other non-conductive material and glue the elements on. They are supposedly built for the same purpose but no one explains why they are using whatever boom they are using.

What are the differences in using a non conductive vs conductive boom and which is better?

 

[W3DMV]

Using either will work well, but it’s very important to follow the
directions regarding the element length. Metal booms vs non conductive
booms require different length elements. Use the same material the author
specifies in the plans..

 

[MH264]

Using either will work well, but it’s very important to follow the
directions regarding the element length. Metal booms vs non conductive
booms require different length elements. Use the same material the author
specifies in the plans..

Ok i see. So the boom material only effects the length of the elements and your choice just depends on what you have available, how it will be mounted or elements it may be exposed to, and overall aesthetics?

 

[n5dki]

a bit of info on verizon... they operate on band 13 (700 mhz ), band 5 ( 850 mhz ), band 2 ( 1900 mhz ), and band 4 (1700-2100 mhz ).
These are the LTE band designations. you could be moved to any of these bands depending on what is serving the area you are in.
If the service is for data ( a modem, not a cellphone ) you will need 2 antennas as verizon requires 2 antennas for 2x2 mimo. on a data modem with only one antenna you will not keep your connection very long before being dropped. verizon posted a bulletin on this some time ago.
and just wait for 5G... the cell sites will be 4x4 mimo !!

 

[mikewazowski]

just wait for 5G... the cell sites will be 4x4 mimo !!

LTE is already 4x4 MIMO and more.

5G sites will run massive MIMO antennas.