Boost your network connectivity with an Otto Wireless outdoor antenna – Hands-on review

Reliable connectivity is essential in today’s world – whether you’re working from home, running a small business, or living in a rural area where mobile signals are weak.

Outdoor antennas solve your signal challenges by offering superior connectivity to your nearest cell tower.

Otto Wireless sent us two of their high-gain MIMO LTE/4G/5G antennas, branded “Ottennas”, to test – the 5G-MO-5 Omnidirectional Ottenna and the 5G-MD-11 Directional Ottenna.

These antennas offer a great solution to homes and businesses that rely on LTE, 4G, or 5G connectivity for their operations.

Easy to use

Both the directional and omnidirectional Ottennas are easy to set up, regardless of your technical skill level.

They come pre-fitted with long cables – five metres on the omnidirectional Ottenna and 10 metres on the directional Ottenna – and SMA male connectors, which plug directly into most home 4G/5G routers.

Otto Wireless sent us a W-LINK industrial 4G router to set the antennas up, and the process was straightforward.

After determining the best spot to mount the 5G-MD-11 Directional Ottenna, we used the included mounting kit to secure it to our antenna pole outside.

We ran the 10 metre cables inside to the W-LINK router, screwed the SMA male connectors on to the router’s mobile antenna connectors, inserted a SIM card into the router, and powered it up.

Within moments, the W-LINK router connected to the cell tower that our directional Ottenna was facing, giving us exceptional signal strength.

Next, we fine-tuned the positioning of the Ottenna to optimally target the tower, ensuring improved efficiency, speed, and network stability.

We did this by logging in to the router and viewing the signal strength as we tweaked the position of the Ottenna. We achieved an impressive CSQ (carrier signal quality) of 28 out of 31.

Thankfully, this step wasn’t particularly important, as the 5G-MD-11 Directional Ottenna offers a 60-68-degree beamwidth, meaning that it only has to face the tower’s general direction to provide great signal.

The setup process was exactly the same for the 5G-MO-5 Omnidirectional Ottenna, except that it did not need to face a cell tower at all thanks to its 360-degree beamwidth.

What to get

We found that the directional Ottenna provided slightly better reception when faced towards a cell tower, when compared to the omnidirectional Ottenna. However, this is because they have different use cases and advantages.

If you don’t know where the nearest tower is, you won’t know where to point your Ottenna, making the omnidirectional powerhouse your best bet.

Additionally, if you want to mount the Ottenna to your camper van, then the omnidirectional Ottenna is a great option, as being on the move means that cell towers are always in a different relative position.

However, South Africans living in rural areas who know the direction of the nearest cell tower will benefit more from the improved performance of a directional antenna like the 5G-MD-11.

• Click here to get your Ottenna today.

The specs of both Ottennas are listed in the table below.