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Setting up and aiming your 4G/5G antenna

This guide applies to any 4G or 5G router that reports signal numbers, but it's written with the Bluespot antenna range in mind. If you haven't bought an antenna yet, the two options are:

  • Bluespot 4G/5G antenna — covers 695MHz to 3800MHz, so it works on every UK 4G band as well as 5G. The right choice for most installations, especially in rural areas where the strongest signal is often on a low 4G band. Ships with TS9 and SMA (SubMiniature version A) adapters.
  • Bluespot Mini 5G antenna — smaller, lower-profile, 5G only (3400–3800MHz). Pick this if you've already confirmed strong 5G coverage at your address and want the most discreet outdoor installation.

Both antennas use MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) with two cross-polarised elements, include a pole mounting kit, and come with 5 metres of low-loss coaxial cable.

Setting up your antenna

Aiming a 4G or 5G antenna by trial and error — running a speed test, nudging the antenna, running another speed test — is slow and unreliable. There's a much better way: use the signal numbers your router already reports. RSSI, RSRP and RSRQ tell you how strong and how clean the radio signal is, and they update in seconds rather than minutes.

This guide explains what each number means, how to find them on your router, and how to use them to point your Bluespot antenna for the best possible connection.

The quick version

  • Log into your router and find the signal page. Note the RSRP (or RSSI) number — it'll be negative.
  • Move or rotate your antenna in small steps. Pause for 10–15 seconds between each adjustment.
  • Aim for the least negative number you can get. -75 is better than -95.
  • Once it stops improving, you're done. Tighten everything up and check the connection.

RSSI, RSRP and RSRQ — what they actually mean

When you set up a 4G or 5G broadband connection, three measurements describe the quality of the radio link between your router and the mobile network. They directly affect your internet speed. All three are expressed as negative numbers, where a number closer to zero is better.

  • RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power) — the strength of the main signal from one specific cell tower. This is the most useful single number for aiming an antenna.
  • RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) — the total power of everything the antenna is picking up on that frequency, including interference and signals from other towers.
  • RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality) — how clean the signal is. A measure of RSRP relative to the total RSSI. High interference drags this number down even if RSRP looks fine.

For aiming an antenna, RSRP is usually the most useful number. If your router only shows RSSI, that works too. RSRQ is helpful for diagnosing problems — if RSRP is strong but RSRQ is poor, you've probably got interference from another nearby tower.

Finding the numbers on your router

Most 4G and 5G routers expose this information through their web interface:

  1. Find the router's IP address — it's usually printed on a label on the router, or in the supplied documentation. Common defaults are 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.8.1.
  2. Type the IP address into a web browser on a device connected to the router (Wi-Fi or Ethernet). Log in with the password from the label.
  3. Look for a page called Status, Mobile, Signal, Modem or similar. The signal numbers will be listed there. Different manufacturers use different names — some show all three values, others show only one.

If you can't find them on the router's main status page, check for an "advanced" or "diagnostics" view. On some routers you'll need to enable a debug or engineering mode.

Aiming your Bluespot antenna

Before you start: the numbers are negative. -80 is better than -85. It catches people out — less negative means a stronger signal.

  1. Install the antenna outdoors, as high as you reasonably can. Clear of trees, walls and obstructions. The supplied mounting kit takes care of poles or external walls.
  2. Connect the antenna to the router using the supplied coax and adapters. The Bluespot 4G/5G ships with TS9 adapters for most modern routers; SMA is on the antenna end.
  3. Open the signal page on your router's web interface and write down the starting RSRP (or RSSI) number. This is your baseline.
  4. Rotate the antenna slowly, in small steps. Pause for 10–15 seconds after each adjustment so the router has time to update. Note the number each time.
  5. Try different angles and heights. If rotating doesn't help, try tilting the antenna up or down a few degrees, or moving it higher up the pole or wall.
  6. Keep going until the number stops improving. Once you've found the best position, tighten the mounting bolts and you're done.

If you're not seeing any movement at all, the antenna may already be in line of sight of the strongest local cell, or there may be a serious obstruction nearby. Try a completely different position on the building — the difference between the north and south wall of a house can be 20dB or more.

Reference: what the numbers mean

RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power) is the most useful number for aiming. Measured in dBm (decibels relative to one milliwatt):

RSRP Signal strength What to expect
-60 to -80 dBm Excellent Strong signal. Your speed will be limited by network congestion or your provider's throttling — not the radio link. Improving signal further won't help.
-80 to -90 dBm Good Strong, reliable signal. Improving it further will give only small speed gains.
-90 to -100 dBm Fair to poor The connection works but is slow, with occasional drop-outs. Improving the signal here will produce a real speed increase.
-100 to -120 dBm No usable signal Disconnection or very poor performance.

RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality) shows whether interference is dragging down an otherwise strong signal. Measured in dB:

RSRQ Signal quality What to expect
0 to -10 dB Excellent Clean signal, low interference. Speed limits will come from the network, not the radio link.
-10 to -15 dB Good Mostly clean. Reducing interference further will give only small gains.
-15 to -20 dB Fair to poor Reliable but slow, with occasional drop-outs. Repositioning the antenna to reduce interference will help.
-20 to -30 dB No usable signal Disconnection — interference is too strong.

RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) is the total radio energy hitting the antenna on this frequency, including the signal you want and any interference. Measured in dBm:

RSSI Signal strength What to expect
-50 to -65 dBm Excellent Strong signal. Speed will be limited by the network, not the radio link.
-65 to -75 dBm Good Strong, reliable. Marginal gains from further improvement.
-75 to -85 dBm Fair Reliable but slow. Repositioning will produce a real speed increase.
-85 to -95 dBm Poor Performance drops sharply.
-95 to -110 dBm No usable signal Disconnection.

4G vs 5G

RSRP, RSSI and RSRQ are used in both 4G and 5G networks, in the same way and on the same scales. 5G adds a couple of extra measurements (notably SS-RSRP and SS-RSRQ for the synchronisation signal block), but if your router exposes RSRP for either technology, the table above applies.

Things that aren't the signal numbers

RSRP, RSSI and RSRQ describe the radio link from the tower to your antenna. They don't measure everything that affects your internet speed:

  • Network congestion — a saturated cell will be slow even if your signal is perfect.
  • Carrier throttling — some providers cap fixed-wireless connections.
  • Backhaul — rural towers sometimes have limited capacity back to the core network.
  • Router performance — older or budget routers may not be able to use a strong signal at full speed.

If your signal numbers are good but speeds are still slow, the limitation is somewhere else — not the antenna.