Inseego 5G Wavemaker FG2000 Optimization Guide

Looking to get the best possible data rates from your Inseego FG2000?

You’ll want to purchase and connect external MIMO antennas to the device’s two TS9 ports.

In this guide, we'll:

Recommend the best external antennas to use
Show where the TS9 ports are located.
Explain how to aim the antennas for best results.

NOTE: The Inseego 5G Wavemaker FG2000 ONLY supports bands B42, B48, and n78 for use with external antennas. Please consult your carrier to verify these bands are supported and available at your location prior to purchasing any external cellular antenna equipment.

In this guide

What You Can Do

Option #1: Use a MIMO External Antenna kit (if bands B42, B48, and/or n78 are available)

Unfortunately, the Inseego FG2000 only allows for bands B42, B48, and/or n78 to be used through it's external antenna ports.

As a result, a MIMO External Antenna kit can only provide you with a boost in performance if bands B42, B48, and/or n78 are available at your location.

Using a MIMO antenna outside your building, pointed at the nearest tower, can help you get the fastest LTE data rates possible for these bands.

The Inseego FG2000 has two TS9 ports on the side, which allow for a 2x2 MIMO antenna to be connected to the device.

We recommend two different MIMO External Antenna kit options for use with the Inseego FG2000, depending on your ability to see your local cell towers:

BEST FOR MOST USERS

2x2 MIMO Panel External Antenna Kit

326 Reviews

$239.99

This MIMO panel antenna kit will provide meaningful signal improvement, even if you're surrounded by trees, hills, or tall buildings.

For most users the best external antenna choice for the Inseego FG2000 is our 2x2 MIMO panel antenna kit. This antenna doesn’t require line-of-sight to the tower.

BEST WITH LINE OF SIGHT

2x2 MIMO Log Periodic External Antenna Kit

120 Reviews

$239.99

These cross polarized log periodic antennas are have higher gain and are more directional, but work best if you have direct line-of-sight to the tower.

However, if you have line of sight to the nearest tower, we recommend using a 2x2 MIMO log periodic antenna kit instead. The higher gain on these antennas can get you better performance, but only when you have a straight shot to the tower.

Option #2: Optimize the Inseego FG2000 location (if bands B42, B448, and/or n78 are NOT available)

If bands B42, B448, and/or n78 are NOT available at your location, a MIMO External Antenna kit unfortunately can't provide you with a boost in performance.

However, there is still hope for improving the performance of your Inseego FG2000! Here are the best steps for optimizing the position of your Inseego FG2000 within your home:

Look up your nearby towers. This can be time consuming and difficult to get right - we've listed our suggestions in an article on the Best Ways to Locate Nearby Cell Towers
Run speed tests with your Verizon Internet Gateway at the windows closest to each nearby tower (If you have multiple floors, perform this process on each floor).
Place your Inseego FG2000 at the location with the fastest data speeds.

This process is simple but effective if you haven't already optimized the position of your Inseego FG2000, however this method will likely provide only a small improvement to data speeds compared to Option #1.

Why External Antennas Are Critical for Improving Data Rates

There's one big misconception about external antennas.

Most people think that external antennas primarily help you increase your data rates by increasing the signal strength but that's not the case.

An increase in signal strength is often a less important way that external antennas help.

Here are the two main ways that external antennas help you increase your data rates:

1.They Improve Signal Quality

In 4G LTE and 5G networks, signal quality is measured as SINR (Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio) or sometimes as RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality).

Improving signal quality has a huge impact on your data rates.

Higher data rates allow your hotspot to communicate using "higher order modulation schemes." That means they can use the same wireless spectrum to send more data per second.

However, there's one big caveat: In order to improve your signal quality, you need to both aim and shield your outdoor antenna properly. We talk more about this in the next section.

2.They Increase Your Signal Strength

In 4G LTE and 5G networks, signal strength is measured as RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power).

As you might expect, using outdoor directional antennas can help increase the signal strength. This helps increase data rates, but only up to a point.

If your signal strength is stronger than about -100 dBm (i.e. closer to zero), stronger signal won't speed up your connection any further.

Positioning and Aiming MIMO Antennas

Positioning and aiming MIMO antennas well is crucial to getting the best performance from your Inseego FG2000, or indeed any other hotspot.

We've actually compiled a detailed instruction manual to accompany our own MIMO Antenna Kits, where we go into depth on the best ways to aim the antennas.

The goal is to find the best location and direction for the antenna(s), to maximize data rates to the Inseego FG2000. It can take a little patience, but can have a huge impact – it’s worth a bit of extra effort!

Before getting started, it's always a good idea to run a couple of speed tests indoors from a device connected to your Inseego FG2000's WiFi. The results will fluctuate a little, but this is the baseline you're trying to improve.

TS9 adapters connected to the Inseego FG2000

Now connect the MIMO antennas to your Inseego FG2000 via the two TS9 ports, like in the image above, and go outside with your "test-rig".

With each location and direction you try, run a couple speed tests, and make a note of the results. Here are all the locations and directions where we recommend testing your MIMO antenna:

Where to test your signal

Pro tip: Don’t just go to the highest point of the roof! While signal is generally stronger the higher you go, there’s also often more interference. We’ve found it’s often better to mount the antenna(s) on the side of the building where the structure can shield the antennas from interference.

Once you've found the position which gets you the highest data rates to the Inseego FG2000, that's where you'll want to install the MIMO antenna. Go ahead and mount the antenna, run cables inside, connect everything up, and enjoy superior data rates!

Inseego Wavemaker FG2000 Technical Specifications

Supported Cellular bands (for external antenna use)

4G LTE: B42, B48
5G: n78

Supported 4G LTE bands (for internal antenna use only)

AT&T: B2, B4, B5, B12, B17, B14, B29, B30, B46, B66
Verizon: B2, B4, B5, B13, B48, B66
T-Mobile: B2, B4, B5, B12, B25, B26, B41, B66, B71
Other: B1, B3, B7, B8, B20, B38, B39, B40, B42, B48

Supported 5G bands (for internal antenna use only)

AT&T: n5
Verizon: n2, n5, n40, n66
T-Mobile: n41, n71
Other: n1, n3, n7, n8, n12, n25, n28, n40, n78

Cellular Modem

Model: Qualcomm Snapdragon x55
MIMO Support: 4X4 w/ internal antennas, 2X2 w/ external antennas
LTE Performance Category: Cat 22
Max Theoretical Speeds: 3.3 Gbps Download, 316 Mbps Upload

Wi-Fi

Technologies: WiFi 6 - 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
Bands: Simultaneous 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz

Ports

Cellular Antenna Ports: 2x TS9
SIM (4FF Nano) Ports: 1x SIM for FG2000, 2x SIM for FG2000e
Other Ports: 1x 5 Gbps LAN; 2x 1 Gbps LAN; 1x 1 GBps WAN; 1x RJ11 for VoLTE

NOTE: Wavemaker (FG2000) vs Wavemaker Pro (FG2000e)

The key difference between these two Wavemaker models is that the Wavemaker Pro has "Dual SIM" support for (2) Nano 4FF SIM cards. This allows the Wavemaker Pro to have multi-carrier support with auto-switching.