Looks like mikrotik devices might be worth it at countryside, but when you're close they're just plain worse than simple smartphone. Unfortunate, as I love this brand.
The Tik is 2x2 MIMO, that's going to be half as fast as the phone, all other things being equal. The phones are also usually better at filtering interference, and most use amplifiers on the board, so while their gain is low, they are pretty advanced.
IoT modems are not nearly as advanced. The ATL is designed for where you need the gain. If you don't need the gain, use something else. It is possible it's too hot for the radio and being that close (gain is too strong). You see that with WiFi. I work in rural areas, so I don't usually get sub 70dB RSRPs. The phones are usually worse than 120dB and we're trying to get to 100dB with large antennas. In that scenario, the phone gets smoked every time.
Sometimes putting it inside helps with boosting the SINR, especially on ridgelines. It helps attenuate the interference from the other towers. I've done this quite often. I have several places where outside is unusable due to interference, but inside gets a solid SINR and they've been stable for years.
