In this letter, a four-element wideband multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) configuration consisting of inverted L-monopole antenna (ILA) elements is proposed. An additional low-frequency operating mode arises in the MIMO system due to symmetric arrangement of elements with interconnected ground, apart from the resonance of the isolated ILA. Utilizing this mode, the proposed MIMO antenna operates in wide frequency range of $\text{2.70-4.94}$ GHz (impedance bandwidth $=58.6\%$). The proposed four-element MIMO system occupies compact total area of $0.13\lambda _{0}^{2}$ ( $\lambda _{0}$ = highest operating wavelength) and has no complex decoupling scheme. Satisfactory interelement isolation ( $\geq $11 dB) and directional pattern with average gain $\approx 4$ dBi are achieved throughout the operating band of the proposed MIMO antenna. Furthermore, envelope correlation coefficient $< 0.1$ and mean effective gain ratio close to 1 are obtained in the working frequencies, confirming satisfactory MIMO/diversity performance.