May 10 Yota will leave users with "powerful" external antennas without the Internet
As everyone already probably knows, until May 10, Yota works on WiMAX. May 10 (in Moscow) is switching to LTE. A few percent of users connected powerful external antennas, which allowed them to use the network where they did not catch a normal modem.
The standard scheme was this - users who have poor network reception, connected external antennas to the Samsung SWC-U200 modem. It has its own connection under the protective sticker:
Connect the pigtail to the old modem
')
Such solutions were used mainly by private clients, were massively used in cottage communities and in the suburbs. Later, Yota already brought its own devices - Yota Street, as well as ZyXEL devices with the ability to connect an external antenna. It was to some extent an idyll for the corporate sector, working only with certified equipment.
Now Yota is issuing new equipment for LTE. Modems have long been seen and felt, and owners of external antennas seem to understand the harsh truth. Yes, the new modems do not have connectors for connecting an external antenna. It is worth adding that Yota has no suggestions for replacing its own Yota Street and recommended ZyXEL, which work with external antennas. In practice, this means that on May 10 all users of such devices will remain without communication.
Rumors about expanding coverage are, for the most part, stories for the media about expanding the network of base stations. The ranges of LTE and WiMAX are the same (actually, why Yota cannot operate two networks at once - they release the range for themselves). The location of the new stations is the same, the width of the beam is the same, the power remains the same. Yes, LTE is more noise resistant. Reception quality will improve, but not drastically - therefore, external antennas will still be needed and almost as much. As before, the signal did not reach the office in the basement, and will not.
Actually, you can. The point is not even that it will have to be disassembled, and then cut out a piece of plastic and solder to the "entrails". The problem is that:
In theory, yes. This is another class of devices where the modem is located directly in the antenna case. The problem is that the USB cable comes out of the antenna itself, which cannot be outdoors in principle. Plus, installation and disassembly now costs several times more than the equipment itself - it’s like air conditioning in summer. The scheme is working, but expensive and not always reliable, in particular, for operation for more than six months. And now you can only trust the reputation of the installer: check how the iron behaves after a certain period, just will not work.
Personally, this situation hurt me quite a lot, since I am one of the few engaged in the production and supply of external antennas for Yota. Fortunately, we managed to get samples of the new Yota modem long before its mass distribution - and managed to prepare for this surprise. We reverse-engineered the modem (breaking several pieces), calculated a new connection scheme, and calculated the high-frequency path. Now the most accurate and consistent implementation is carried out with the help of a conductor: roughly speaking, there is a cube where the subassembled modem is inserted on the one hand, on the other - the connector. The accuracy of matching is up to tens of microns (this is a very high figure). Further, all this is fixed with dosed sealing, special washing, drying and coating are done. The result - on the contract line in China, where high-end routers are going, now it can be assembled new modems. The line collects 5,000 upgraded modems per hour. We already have the first devices in Russia.
Now we supply modified LTE modems and pigtails to them. From the external antenna comes a thick high-frequency cable, which ends with a pigtail bolted to a special connector. He tritely unscrewed his hands, and in his place a new pigtail is screwed in, which is connected to the modem.
Modified modem and pigtails
The standard scheme was this - users who have poor network reception, connected external antennas to the Samsung SWC-U200 modem. It has its own connection under the protective sticker:
Connect the pigtail to the old modem
')
Such solutions were used mainly by private clients, were massively used in cottage communities and in the suburbs. Later, Yota already brought its own devices - Yota Street, as well as ZyXEL devices with the ability to connect an external antenna. It was to some extent an idyll for the corporate sector, working only with certified equipment.
Now what?
Now Yota is issuing new equipment for LTE. Modems have long been seen and felt, and owners of external antennas seem to understand the harsh truth. Yes, the new modems do not have connectors for connecting an external antenna. It is worth adding that Yota has no suggestions for replacing its own Yota Street and recommended ZyXEL, which work with external antennas. In practice, this means that on May 10 all users of such devices will remain without communication.
Is it true that LTE will have wider coverage?
Rumors about expanding coverage are, for the most part, stories for the media about expanding the network of base stations. The ranges of LTE and WiMAX are the same (actually, why Yota cannot operate two networks at once - they release the range for themselves). The location of the new stations is the same, the width of the beam is the same, the power remains the same. Yes, LTE is more noise resistant. Reception quality will improve, but not drastically - therefore, external antennas will still be needed and almost as much. As before, the signal did not reach the office in the basement, and will not.
Why can not connect to the new modem?
Actually, you can. The point is not even that it will have to be disassembled, and then cut out a piece of plastic and solder to the "entrails". The problem is that:
- The connector used in the modem is technological, that is, it is intended only for tests. We checked the external antenna on the existing base station with a new device: we gave the maximum load by launching the download of torrents - as a result, the modem heats, overheats, reduces power and turns off. You can test - no work. The problem is that the old good Samsung SWC-U200 had a modified high-frequency connector technologically similar to the MCX (suitable for normal operation of the microwave connection), and the new connector on the new “whistle” is not suitable for such tasks in principle.
- Yes, you can remove the connector and solder the level below. This is a manual modification of the modem, therefore - oblique and curved. It is very difficult to ensure good matching for the high-frequency signal. The problem, for example, is that the surface of the conductor should be flat, and the diameter should not “walk” - again, this is the misalignment of the wave resistance and the growing CWS. Plus the boomba tin will be a re-emitter. 10 modems modified in this way will give 10 different indicators: reception will work worse somewhere, transmission somewhere, and so on. As long as manual labor exists, it’s just not possible to get to the specified tolerances.
Can I change the whole antenna?
In theory, yes. This is another class of devices where the modem is located directly in the antenna case. The problem is that the USB cable comes out of the antenna itself, which cannot be outdoors in principle. Plus, installation and disassembly now costs several times more than the equipment itself - it’s like air conditioning in summer. The scheme is working, but expensive and not always reliable, in particular, for operation for more than six months. And now you can only trust the reputation of the installer: check how the iron behaves after a certain period, just will not work.
What to do?
Personally, this situation hurt me quite a lot, since I am one of the few engaged in the production and supply of external antennas for Yota. Fortunately, we managed to get samples of the new Yota modem long before its mass distribution - and managed to prepare for this surprise. We reverse-engineered the modem (breaking several pieces), calculated a new connection scheme, and calculated the high-frequency path. Now the most accurate and consistent implementation is carried out with the help of a conductor: roughly speaking, there is a cube where the subassembled modem is inserted on the one hand, on the other - the connector. The accuracy of matching is up to tens of microns (this is a very high figure). Further, all this is fixed with dosed sealing, special washing, drying and coating are done. The result - on the contract line in China, where high-end routers are going, now it can be assembled new modems. The line collects 5,000 upgraded modems per hour. We already have the first devices in Russia.
Now we supply modified LTE modems and pigtails to them. From the external antenna comes a thick high-frequency cable, which ends with a pigtail bolted to a special connector. He tritely unscrewed his hands, and in his place a new pigtail is screwed in, which is connected to the modem.
Modified modem and pigtails
Summary
- Yota for some reason does not support those who use external antennas when replacing equipment.
- New modems are not structurally suitable for working with external antennas.
- Feeding pigtails and other makeshift methods work, but are extremely unstable and unreliable.
- The only way to ensure coordination is industrial modification of modems with the help of high-quality equipment.
- If you see proposals for soldering or replacing the antenna through assembly and disassembly, this is most likely an artisanal way.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/142838/
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