Using 5G antennas with low loss cables – how to minimize losses?
When installing a 5G (or 4G) outdoor antenna often the antenna might have an integral 5M or 10M cable or alternatively you might need to use low loss coaxial cables in longer runs to connect the antenna to the router. Whichever option you are using, analysing the cable type and the length of the cable to ensure you are introducing too much loss into the system is important.
We often see that 5G and 4G outdoor antennas with integral 5M cables use lower quality coaxial cable that exhibit losses per metre far in excess of better quality cables. In some cases, the coaxial cable used on the antenna might almost negate what the antenna can deliver in gain. For example, an outdoor antenna with 3 dBi gain at 900 MHz that uses a typical 5M RG58 cable will have 2.1 dB to 2.6 dB loss across the cable run, leaving an effective gain of 0.4 to 0.9 dB. Using a 10M integral RG58 cable would mean that the cable losses would exceed the antenna gain in this instance.
At higher frequencies such as 1800 MHz, the losses across RG58 are much greater than at 900 MHz meaning that it is also good to know which exact bands your 5G / 4G system is running on so you can better calculate the effectiveness of your antenna installation.
Using a RF240 low loss cable over 5M, the loss across the cable is approximately 1.25 dB and over 10M 2.5 dB. RF240 is 1mm larger in diameter than RG58, but the electrical properties are far superior especially for longer cable runs or higher frequencies. Therefore, it might worth considering an antenna with a coaxial connector termination (check our FGO-Max as an example) and using a hjgher grade extension cable to maximise the effective gain in the system.
Furthermore, for even longer coaxial cable runs, you could deploy 400 type cable. This is typically 10.2mm in diameter, but the loss per metre specifications are very good. Particularly ideal for 15M, 20M and 25M cable runs, RF400 cables would exhibit approximately half the losses of RF240 at 900 MHz i.e. 0.66 dB for a 5M cable run. Therefore, at 15M you would need to factor in approximately a 2 dB loss at 900 MHz.
Another issue with integral cables on external antennas is what to do with excess cable? What do you do if you only need 3M or 7M cables, but the standard configurations for the antennas offer 5M or 10M cables? Excess cable in the installation means unnecessary loss (and also coiled excess cable looks very unsightly!). Using custom length low loss cables means using only the exact cable length you need thereby improving efficiency in the system.
Need further help with your 5G and 4G antenna installation and low loss coaxial cable selection? Talk to EAD. We will be happy to help you make the right selection.
