****The Official 5G Home Broadband Thread**** (Three/EE/Vodafone/etc)

[Psy-Blade]

Innovative. Have you noticed a big difference in stability and speeds for both DL/UL?

Has it also stood the test of the British weather?

Thanks!

Signal inside the house is unusable so it pretty much went straight outside. Difference wise it is night and day for me, but may vary depending on much signal you get inside. Currently getting 570/20 mbit/s at a distance of 2km from the mast. Compared to the 40mbit max we can get here it's lifechanging!

Other than forgetting to plug the holes under the handles it's been fine on the rainy days. I did try a cheap antenna (Poynting XPOL-1 V2) but didn't get anywhere near the same speeds, more like 150mbit down.

I'm currently debating designing and printing a custom housing with ventilation to hold it on top of a mast and see how long it lasts. If it dies it gives me an excuse to get the NR7101 .

 

[Wow777]

Hi All,

I really hope you can help me as I am really not sure what else to do for my 4G Huawei B315s.

I live in a city centre flat which is not connected to fibre. I was previously getting around 11mbps down on my old Plusnet deal. I decided to switch to a 4g router at the end of the contract as I thought it would improve things plus I only wanted a monthly rolling contract rather than 12months. I decided to buy the Huawei B315 and pair this with a Smarty (uses the 3 network) unlimited data plan. However, I am getting a terrible connection! The speed is absolutely awful and the max I can get is 7mbps down but it is normally down at the 1.5mbps. Upload speed is varies but can be good.

I have tried the router elsewhere in the house but it doesn't make a difference and I also bought extra antennas which I have added on and updated the settings so the router is using these but this also made no difference, if anything it actually made it worse!

Smarty uses the 3 network and my iPhone is also on 3 which gets 100mbps down

I have used cell mapper to find the closest mast and it must be only 200m away.

My most recent test was:

Download: 1.87mbps
Upload: 5.24mbps

Does anyone have any suggestions? I am at a loss!

Thanks!

 

[Journey]

Does anyone have any suggestions? I am at a loss!

Your B315s is CAt4 LTE and doesn't support CA, and I am not even sure if you can force lock it onto a better band in the software. Can you look in the user interface and find out what band it it locking to, also what bands are on your local Three mast that is only 200m away?

 

[Wow777]

Your B315s is CAt4 LTE and doesn't support CA, and I am not even sure if you can force lock it onto a better band in the software. Can you look in the user interface and find out what band it it locking to, also what bands are on your local Three mast that is only 200m away?

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly! The mast that is 200m away says it is on Bands 1,3,20 and I can change the bands using the LTE-H monitor. When I looked yesterday, it seemed to have all bands selected. But using LTE-H Monitor I can update this to select specific bands. Should I lock the bands to match the mast?

 

[Journey]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly! The mast that is 200m away says it is on Bands 1,3,20 and I can change the bands using the LTE-H monitor. When I looked yesterday, it seemed to have all bands selected. But using LTE-H Monitor I can update this to select specific bands. Should I lock the bands to match the mast?

As I said I don't think your router supports CA so you can only use 1 band at a time. Try them all individual ly and see what gives you the best speed, then try to see if you can use more than one

 

[Wow777]

As I said I don't think your router supports CA so you can only use 1 band at a time. Try them all individual ly and see what gives you the best speed, then try to see if you can use more than one

So, I tested the speed on individual bands and then on multiple bands and it does seem to make a difference:

When testing the individual bands, 1 seemed to be the quickest download speed

When testing 2 bands together, 3 & 20 seemed to the be quickest download speed

1,3,20 together was middle of the road.

 

[Journey]

When testing 2 bands together, 3 & 20 seemed to the be quickest download speed

So what were the results? Any better or worse than you were seeing originally?

I would say that with the router you are trying to use you are probably not going to get great results, as it doesn't support a lot of more modern connection protocols, and dates back to 2015/16 so you are using comparatively ancient technology vs your iPhone which will have a much better modem/antenna setup.

 

[Wow777]

So what were the results? Any better or worse than you were seeing originally?

I would say that with the router you are trying to use you are probably not going to get great results, as it doesn't support a lot of more modern connection protocols, and dates back to 2015/16 so you are using comparatively ancient technology vs your iPhone which will have a much better modem/antenna setup.

Slightly better but not masses.

That's fair enough! Thanks for your help! One last question, I've seen people talking about bridging. If I used bridging with my old plusnet router, could this improve things?

Thanks

 

[SydDanube]

Got my new ZTE MC801A 5G Hub from Three 5G yesterday. Swapping out from the old Huawei CPE as part of a new 24mth contract.
Anyway managed to get it all set up. Only issue I have is no matter what combination of upper/lower case letters, numbers and other characters it wont let me change my router or Wi Fi passwords. It says in red that it must be 15 characters which it is. I gave up after 3 hours of router resets. For example if i used My_Router_Password69
it wont change it. Am i missing a trick?

UPDATE: OK so i changed the router log in. It seems as long as it is in the same style as the original log in shown on the base of the router it is accepted how odd.

2nd /3rd question: What is the DFS switch? Currently disabled. Any benefit to having it enabled?

 

[martinrobbo]

Hi,

Was hoping to get some set-up advice. Last month I invested in the three 5g broadband and i have the router in bridge mode to my ASUS RT-AX82U. I’m getting a modest 300-600mb with a ping which varies between 25-40ms. I seem to get some pretty crazy fluctuations in speed, is this normal?

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to if it’s worth me investing in a 5g external antenna (if so which do you guys use and how easy to set up was it) and if it would help with my ping or any other things I can do to help from that front

Any guidance would be amazing, I’m a complete novice with 5g routers and want to get the best out of it.

thanks in advance

 

[lord filbuster]

Hi,

Was hoping to get some set-up advice. Last month I invested in the three 5g broadband and i have the router in bridge mode to my ASUS RT-AX82U. I’m getting a modest 300-600mb with a ping which varies between 25-40ms. I seem to get some pretty crazy fluctuations in speed, is this normal?

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to if it’s worth me investing in a 5g external antenna (if so which do you guys use and how easy to set up was it) and if it would help with my ping or any other things I can do to help from that front

Any guidance would be amazing, I’m a complete novice with 5g routers and want to get the best out of it.

thanks in advance

Depends what's causing the variance really. Could you post your signal stats from the 3 router? If you already have a strong signal an antenna won't help, it might just be congestion on the mast, and there isn't much you can do about that.

Could be the Wifi as well if you are using that.

 

[martinrobbo]

Hi,

thanks for the reply! I appreciate it.

I’m at -84dbm for signal strength. I’ve just checked on Google maps and I’m about 0.7miles from the mast as the crow flies but there is a park in between me and the mast.

Im just thinking being pretty close to the past that if I could improve it for less than a couple of hundred quid then it’s worth it as I was paying £50 for virgin 500mb so I’m saving a fair bit monthly as is. If I check on the 3 website I have the light red over my house so it says outdoors only, which obviously isn’t the case but it possibly means I’m close to the limits of the mast?

 

[c128]

Hi,

I've been watching this thread with interest, as 5G is rolling out in my area at the moment - I occasionally get it indoors now, but more often than not 4G or 4G+.
Ideally I want a 5G modem or router that can run in bridge mode, to connect into my OPNSense box as an additional backup (possibly replacement, in the future) WAN for my Virgin fibre connection.
At the moment though, the 5G hardware prices are just too high for me - very interesting to read the experiences with the models available now though.

What I have done, for now, so that I can initially monitor the 5G rollout/speeds in my area, is bought a secondhand Nokia G50 from Ebay - £90.
It's 5G and runs Android 11, so has ethernet tethering.
With a powered ethernet to USB-C adapter for £15, I've currently got the G50 setup as permanent additional WAN connection into my OPNSense box (although the same would work as an additional WAN into a Draytek, TP-Link, PFSense box, or similar).
On the OPNSense box, I don't have any failover etc. configured at the moment, but I have a firewall rule that, when manually enabled, switches all internal traffic to the 5G WAN gateway running on the G50.

Connection and speeds I'm getting are 4G/20 Mb down/up on GiffGaff/O2 - good enough for me to switch over as backup when Virgin are having issues and to keep an eye on 5G rollout.
What has surprised me though is how stable the connection has been - I'd expected the tether to "drop off" and require a reconnect etc now and again, but it has so far been absolutely solid - GiffGaff 4G speeds have been consistent, if not great.

I just mention it as a potential viable cheaper alternative to dedicated 5G standalone hardware - plenty of cons of course e.g. no antenna option, none of the configurability you get with a standalone 5G modem/router. However, my experience is that it is stable, and if you live in an area with a good 5G signal...

 

[Journey]

I just mention it as a potential viable cheaper alternative to dedicated 5G standalone hardware - plenty of cons of course e.g. no antenna option, none of the configurability you get with a standalone 5G modem/router. However, my experience is that it is stable, and if you live in an area with a good 5G signal...

Dedicated 5G hardware isn't really that expensive if you shop refurbished/used on eBay etc. There are often Huawei CPE Pro's that sell for under £200, some of which are ex-ISP/Mobile ones that can be unlocked, especially the Voda ones.

I've been watching this thread with interest, as 5G is rolling out in my area at the moment - I occasionally get it indoors now

I don't get 5G indoors at all in most of the house unless I am stood next to one of the larger rear facing windows, but the router pulls in a good signal due to the decent antenna array it has inside, and it has been tested all around the house to get the best location for optimal stability and then speed. Unless you are really hard up or very risk averse, then buying one as above, then selling it on if you can't do what you want might only cost you the postage fees.

 

[c128]

Unless you are really hard up or very risk averse, then buying one as above, then selling it on if you can't do what you want might only cost you the postage fees.

From my point of view and in my circumstances (and it is just that ) a ~£100 outlay vs. £200+ is just a better option - the G50 can be sold on for around the same price too, if needs be.
I was aware I was unlikely to be getting decent 5G, as I don't on my main phone when indoors, but I have it as an option when the rollout improves around here, and I'll likely occasionally get 5G now.
In the future, when 5G modems/routers are a more sane price, outside of service provider rollout and early independent adopters, I'll probably get one - for now though, I have a permanent 5G compatible WAN connection for little outlay...

Anyway: my main reason for posting was simply to say that, for anyone thinking of trying out similar: Android 11 ethernet tethering does appear to be viable for a permanent connection in this sort of setup, at least with a Nokia G50. Anyone with decent indoor 5G now could do the same. YMMV.

 

[Psy-Blade]

Hey all,

Just as an update the ZTE is still going strong outdoors and pulling 700/20mbit.

https://imgur.com/zF9OX0m

I realised I had a weatherproof electrical box from Christmas and moved to that instead of the plastic container. It's getting a bit warm in the sun but I've only ever seen it report about 55c... plan is to wait it out and replace it with a Zyxel 7101 on a mast when/if it dies.

 

[philip2009]

Hi,

I've been watching this thread with interest, as 5G is rolling out in my area at the moment - I occasionally get it indoors now, but more often than not 4G or 4G+.
Ideally I want a 5G modem or router that can run in bridge mode, to connect into my OPNSense box as an additional backup (possibly replacement, in the future) WAN for my Virgin fibre connection.
At the moment though, the 5G hardware prices are just too high for me - very interesting to read the experiences with the models available now though.

What I have done, for now, so that I can initially monitor the 5G rollout/speeds in my area, is bought a secondhand Nokia G50 from Ebay - £90.
It's 5G and runs Android 11, so has ethernet tethering.
With a powered ethernet to USB-C adapter for £15, I've currently got the G50 setup as permanent additional WAN connection into my OPNSense box (although the same would work as an additional WAN into a Draytek, TP-Link, PFSense box, or similar).
On the OPNSense box, I don't have any failover etc. configured at the moment, but I have a firewall rule that, when manually enabled, switches all internal traffic to the 5G WAN gateway running on the G50.

Connection and speeds I'm getting are 4G/20 Mb down/up on GiffGaff/O2 - good enough for me to switch over as backup when Virgin are having issues and to keep an eye on 5G rollout.
What has surprised me though is how stable the connection has been - I'd expected the tether to "drop off" and require a reconnect etc now and again, but it has so far been absolutely solid - GiffGaff 4G speeds have been consistent, if not great.

I just mention it as a potential viable cheaper alternative to dedicated 5G standalone hardware - plenty of cons of course e.g. no antenna option, none of the configurability you get with a standalone 5G modem/router. However, my experience is that it is stable, and if you live in an area with a good 5G signal...

Cheapest 5G router I've seen is the China Unicom VN007+ which you can(could?) import from a well known Chinese marketplace for about £140(with 5% cashback), performance is slightly worse than the HUAWEI 5G CPE Pro 2 apparently. Thread here ...

 

[sandys]

Yup I have the VN007 performs well I get approx 650/90 from it, didn't know there was an app, looks interesting, also didn't know you could get bridge mode out of it with a hack, nice link, I'll look into that.

 

[philip2009]

Yup I have the VN007 performs well I get approx 650/90 from it, didn't know there was an app, looks interesting, also didn't know you could get bridge mode out of it with a hack, nice link, I'll look into that.

Do you have SMS working?

 

[sandys]

Never looked at it, no reason to, who uses SMS.