Hotspot LTE with external antenna for campervan

[banz]

I'm working from a campervan most days. However the cell 4G LTE signal can be spotty in certain locations. Although I'm getting 4-5 bars on my phone, the download/upload is useable when I turn on the hotspot. Probably between 1-5Mbps and high latency.

I did some research and there seems to be two solutions.

1. Get a signal booster like weboost or surecall.
2. Get a netgear nighthawk LTE router with yagi or directional antenna.

I'm leaning towards option #2 because it's a lot cheaper and I do have more use for a router than a $500 signal booster that may or may not work.

Any suggestions or is #2 not going to work?

 

[KenZ71]

This topic is debated often IRV2.com

I used a T-Mobile 5G hot spot for 3 weeks while in a RV at a friend's horse farm - it worked OK, not great. Also the device tried to auto-update then got stuck in a reboot loop. Supposedly that is fixed with new firmware. But T-Mobile did overnight a new device to me at a different address than my official service address.

In theory a booster takes a weak signal & makes it more usable. The external antenna must be located far enough away from internal to not cause feedback - somewhat like a microphone being too close to a speaker.

 

[banz]

I eventually found that Tmobile used to sell Duo cell fi booster. Bought a used one and it has a coverage box + LTE box. It does say get it as far apart as possible.

Unfortunately or luckily that the camp place that I always go seems to have installed a new booster or cell tower closeby. Therefore I don't exactly know if booster is working. I know that my phone needs to be on top of the booster box or else it will just connect to the nearest cell tower.

 

[Adooni]

not sure what you looking for (price range, region (LTE band is not everywhere the same etc) but I used this and it is working very good
https://mikrotik.com/product/lhgg_lte6_kit