4g broadband setup?

Shreaper · 12 Nov 2020 at 20:32

Hi,
I currently have a fibre to copper broadband set up. The internet speed tests are 22.50mbps download speed, 4.09mbps upload speed and 9ms ping. This is not ideal and I was hoping I could improve on it which is when I thought of getting 4g broadband set up. The 4g speed test from mobile are 20-55mbps download speed, 7 - 15mbps upload speed, 7 - 50ms ping.

The better end test results I found on the mobile would be great to have but I think the ping was off on the tests results i got with the lower ping (google internet speed checker). Think lowest ping I got from better website was 35 ping.

After the results, I was wondering what would be a best/good/budget 5/4g broadband set up for the image below? and what speeds i should be expecting?

I've been looking for a while now and still not 100% sure what I should get... So any recommendations on what I should get for this 4/5g boradband build will be very appreciated!

PS: i live in small village, no rollout plans for 5g, but might be an investment to get equipment for it?

WJA96 · 12 Nov 2020 at 21:54

Potentially 75Mbps with an LTE3 device, 150Mbps with an LTE6 device and 300Mbps with an LTE12 device. Possibly better if the atmospherics aren’t playing silly beggars.

Shreaper · 13 Nov 2020 at 14:02

I was looking into the LTE12, will I get anywhere near 300mbps internet? and would I need an external antenna? like I thought 300mbps was for 5g areas and I'm in a 4g area (village), so wouldn't it be overkill? maybe an investment?

WJA96 · 13 Nov 2020 at 14:22

Shreaper said:
I was looking into the LTE12, will I get anywhere near 300mbps internet? and would I need an external antenna? like I thought 300mbps was for 5g areas and I'm in a 4g area, so wouldn't it be overkill? maybe an investment?

They aggregate channels together so if every channel can do 150Mbps theoretical then LTE3 can do 150Mbps and LTE6 can do double that and LTE12 double that again. And it works on whatever speed you get, so if an LTE3 device was 30Mbps the LTE6 device would do 50-60Mbps. And LTE12 would do 120Mbps.

goldy6660 · 13 Nov 2020 at 14:36

Decent, my old man is in a similar situation although he only gets 2mbps download at home and about 1 up. Most of the network providers he's spoken to don't want to sell him a sim/4g package and don't they don't seem to have knowledge around dongles/routers. I'm really keen to see what kind of setup you go with, I'll probably mirror it for my dad.

alexakasloth · 13 Nov 2020 at 15:00

WJA96 said:
They aggregate channels together so if every channel can do 150Mbps theoretical then LTE3 can do 150Mbps and LTE6 can do double that and LTE12 double that again. And it works on whatever speed you get, so if an LTE3 device was 30Mbps the LTE6 device would do 50-60Mbps. And LTE12 would do 120Mbps.

Apologies for slightly derailing the thread - if I had a Huawei B535 that states it is LTE cat 7 and I recieved upto 60Mbps download speeds, would I also benefit from an LTE 12 device in the same way that upgrading from an LTE 6 device would. As in potentially recieving 150mbps download speeds?

WJA96 · 13 Nov 2020 at 17:47

CAT7 isn't one I'm aware of, but assuming you're combining 2 channels then yes, you would see a boost from going to 4 channels with LTE12. But if you currently get 60Mbps with CAT7 I'd say you wouldn't get more than 100-120Mbps. Still a fair old boost in speed.

Shreaper · 13 Nov 2020 at 18:25

I see, I was on my Sony Xperia XZ2 when I did the speed tests which is appearantly network cat18. Not sure if the tests I did on the phone are comparable to router + antenna though? If they are then it's not looking good for me...

What LTE12 hardware would you recommend me? and what speeds do you think I'll get?

Might have to do some new 4g tests on another phone as I remembered my network might be limited... <-- (later tried this on a same network phone with unlimited cat20 4g and got 10-17 mbps download speed, think it was low because it was in leather case?)

gpuerrilla · 14 Nov 2020 at 00:41

Wow. If you couldnt get some decent speeds from that I dunno what will.. I live ~ 2 miles from the mast with terrain in the way and get between 10-25Mbps I would imagine thats prime taking for 5G when it comes available!

Shreaper · 14 Nov 2020 at 06:22

Maybe it was slow because it was friday night? I got the range of speed tests I have done with my phone in 1st post. Looking at the Chateau LTE12 or Huawei maybe that will speed it up?

WJA96 · 14 Nov 2020 at 09:04

I think either you’ve identified the wrong cell tower or your phone isn’t very good. Clearly if you’re that close to the cell tower you should have strong signal but if you’re only getting 20Mbps then there is something wrong somewhere.

I’m using a Chateau LTE12 in central Manchester and it’s faster than Vodafone’s 5G signal. I can usually get over 400Mbps up and down. Vodafone 5G seems to be capped at 300Mbps.

Firegod · 14 Nov 2020 at 11:01

I can get 120-130Mbps on EE 4G+ with the Huawei B818-263 Cat19. I can't remember if EE said I was 5 miles from the mast or 5KM.

Anyway, I used to get 60Mbps on the TP-Link Cat6 Router. So if you are that close to the mast, and if it isn't too busy, then I can't see why you can't get quicker speeds than that. @WJA96 Cat7 is same as Cat6 for download, just has slightly quicker theoretical max upload. Just be ready for increased pings. I'm usually 50ms. Just make sure you pick a 4G provider with good speeds, no throttling or fair use policies. Some of the MVNO providers offer cheap deals but are poor for performance. Usually best for speed is still EE, Vodafone and Virgin Media.

Caged · 14 Nov 2020 at 11:29

Shreaper said:
Maybe it was slow because it was friday night? I got the range of speed tests I have done with my phone in 1st post. Looking at the Chateau LTE12 or Huawei maybe that will speed it up?

I might have missed it but you haven't mentioned the mobile network you're using

Firegod · 14 Nov 2020 at 11:39

WJA96 said:
Clearly if you’re that close to the cell tower you should have strong signal but if you’re only getting 20Mbps then there is something wrong somewhere.
.

Could also just be a bad speed test server, usually they can be hit or miss. I often find that ones based in London offer the same quick results whereas more local speed test servers are worse. Perhaps a capacity issue. So I try and pick the same 2-3 every time for consistency.

Shreaper · 14 Nov 2020 at 11:55

I'm was using vodafone on both mobiles for the speed tests. I have double checked on a website with mast info and the mast is a confirmed EE, Vodafone and Three cell tower. EE has 2 bands unlike the rest with one, not sure if that means anything? But it sounds better?

So I ended up walking to the mast last night and up close got around 10mbps on my phone, was low 4g signal as well. I probably need an antenna?

alexakasloth · 14 Nov 2020 at 12:09

Try the other network providers, should be recieving a lot higher than that.

I am over a mile from the mast and was recieving upto 60mbps on Three, although it would slow to around half that at peak times.

WJA96 · 14 Nov 2020 at 12:22

Shreaper said:
I'm was using vodafone on both mobiles for the speed tests. I have double checked on a website with mast info and the mast is a confirmed EE, Vodafone and Three cell tower. EE has 2 bands unlike the rest with one, not sure if that means anything? But it sounds better?

So I ended up walking to the mast last night and up close got around 10mbps on my phone, was low 4g signal as well. I probably need an antenna?

Not being funny, but that’s not your cell tower. If you have poor 4G signal near the tower, that’s not your cell tower.

Caged · 14 Nov 2020 at 14:54

If you are actually connected to that mast and seeing those speeds then you don't have a signal issue, it's a network capacity problem.

Having a low signal right next to the mast would probably make sense as you're underneath the antennas so picking up signal from a tower a lot further away.

WJA96 · 14 Nov 2020 at 15:09

Caged said:
If you are actually connected to that mast and seeing those speeds then you don't have a signal issue, it's a network capacity problem.

In one of the posts the OP says they’ve been near the mast and had poor 4G signal strength. I’m struggling to see how that can be the case if that is indeed the mast they are connected to.

gpuerrilla · 15 Nov 2020 at 16:44

Caged said:
If you are actually connected to that mast and seeing those speeds then you don't have a signal issue, it's a network capacity problem.

Having a low signal right next to the mast would probably make sense as you're underneath the antennas so picking up signal from a tower a lot further away.

Yep I used to install cellphone modems to connect our metering gear on business sites. Ironically right under or that close to a tower you could be getting poor signals as @Caged mentioned. You also have interference to investigate but I think here the guys are right your tower is probably another, so finding a provider that uses that tower might be your best test to see what speeds it gets.