Cool, thanks Journey. I will be placing my order on Thursday.
****The Official 5G Home Broadband Thread**** (Three/EE/Vodafone/etc)
- Thread starter TallPaul_S
- Start date
Cool, thanks Journey. I will be placing my order on Thursday.
Soldato
Well I've placed an order. I've done as much due diligence as I can, the company seems to checkout from my research, and appears to be legit. I've been in touch with their sales department as well. So I've placed an order. They expect to receive stock in the next 1-2 weeks and will then dispatch. Hopefully smiles all round but we shall see... the dice have been rolled!
Soldato
Not too shabby then, my advice is to test it in several locations, and check the webpage look under the advanced section and get the CellID, then use Cellmapper to find which tower you are connecting to, and that will help you locate where about it would be likely best to locate it.
Associate
This thread will become more interesting...
I live in Central Manchester and have got unlimited data plans from both Vodafone and Three.
For Vodafone without optimisation the ping ranges at 25-50ms, here's the best result after low-ping optimisation by doing the following:
1. Enabling 5G NSA of course! (5G SA mode is not available in our country just yet, so we need to rely a 4G cell for uplink).
2a. Selecting the least congested 4G cell for uplink (by band selection); and
2b. Disabling 4G Carrier Aggregation (so effectively we are receiving signals from one 5G + one 4G cell only).
3. Dedicated IP range (Re-connecting until we get the IP address with lowest ping
).
I do test ping to 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8 routinely, they normally ranged at 9-15ms but will sometimes jump to 50-100ms (jitter). It's totally understandable as in the end we are in a wireless world, worth noting that even by fibre the lowest ping is 6-8ms depending how far you're away from the nearest internet exchange
.
Note that this result is not optimised for speed, in my area the fastest speed are 350-400Mbps indoors and 500-600Mbps outdoors at off-peak hours.
Happy to share my results for Three if anyone interested
I live in Central Manchester and have got unlimited data plans from both Vodafone and Three.
For Vodafone without optimisation the ping ranges at 25-50ms, here's the best result after low-ping optimisation by doing the following:
1. Enabling 5G NSA of course! (5G SA mode is not available in our country just yet, so we need to rely a 4G cell for uplink).
2a. Selecting the least congested 4G cell for uplink (by band selection); and
2b. Disabling 4G Carrier Aggregation (so effectively we are receiving signals from one 5G + one 4G cell only).
3. Dedicated IP range (Re-connecting until we get the IP address with lowest ping
).
I do test ping to 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8 routinely, they normally ranged at 9-15ms but will sometimes jump to 50-100ms (jitter). It's totally understandable as in the end we are in a wireless world, worth noting that even by fibre the lowest ping is 6-8ms depending how far you're away from the nearest internet exchange
.Note that this result is not optimised for speed, in my area the fastest speed are 350-400Mbps indoors and 500-600Mbps outdoors at off-peak hours.
Happy to share my results for Three if anyone interested
Last edited:
Associate
I'm just using the internal antenna of 5G CPE Pro. Are you intended for better latency or speed?
Soldato
Well it has arrived. But... I have to wait until later tomorrow to try it as I need a permanent EU to UK 3A plug. I thought I had one; turns out I don't. 
The TCL (Alcatel) LinkHub 5G Home Station. This is running the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 chipset. It is dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (AX3600) with 4X4 MU-MIMO. And it supports the following bands:
Some pics any way to keep us all going:
But... I have to wait until later tomorrow to try it as I need a permanent EU to UK 3A plug. I thought I had one; turns out I don't. The TCL (Alcatel) LinkHub 5G Home Station. This is running the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 chipset. It is dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (AX3600) with 4X4 MU-MIMO. And it supports the following bands:
- 5G Bands: N1 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N20 / N28 / N41 / N77 / N78 / N79
- 4G bands: B2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 48 / 25 / 26 / 29 / 30 / 41 / 66 / 71
Some pics any way to keep us all going:
Soldato
Looking forward to seeing what you can get out of that. How much did you pay for it please?
Soldato
Me too! I get good 5G coverage on my phone in the house so fingers crossed. It cost me £409 plus £12 for the non-sterling transaction on the credit card. If I can sell the Huawei Router for say £100 (?) then I'll be happy.
Soldato
If you have good 5G coverage then you should end up with excellent results, given that I have non-existent coverage and still get excellent speeds. It's worth checking various points in the property as my 5G modem works better in places where the 4G was terrible. I have also got a 40 x 40cm patch of tin foil on the wall closest to the router as that boosts the signal quite a bit, and increase the speeds by about 10-15%. Luckily I can't see the foil otherwise I don't think I'd have it there as it looks totally daft.
You should easy get £100 for the B818-263, especially if it is unlocked.
Soldato
Bah well this sucks. Swapped the cables over from the Huawei B818 into the LinkHub and the TS9 cables don't fit. Won't push in place so just hang there and then drop out. How strange! So I can't blame the connectors as they fit TS9 on the Huawei just fine. Nice and snug! I've emailed the company I purchased it from for any assistance. I was pushing hard as well. They should just "click" in. I sent them some pictures and videos, but here are the two routers. I can't see a difference!
Huawei
TCL
Huawei
TCL
Caporegime
So I've been up and running on 5G since February now and I've had a couple of low points where my speed has really flaked out (still 200Mbpbs) but no where near the 700s i was seeing back at the beginning.
Well it turns out its the H122-373 5G CPE Pro 2 5G Router in bridge mode.
I factory reset it and bang, was back up to the good old days speeds.
So im no expert but i guess there's some kind of "leak," for use of a better word, in it somewhere that can be fixed by factory resetting and starting again.
Im on
Hardware version
WL1H122M
Software version
10.0.5.13(H612SP5C1217)
im gonna try the tinfoil for a laugh... GF will kill me
Well it turns out its the H122-373 5G CPE Pro 2 5G Router in bridge mode.
I factory reset it and bang, was back up to the good old days speeds.
So im no expert but i guess there's some kind of "leak," for use of a better word, in it somewhere that can be fixed by factory resetting and starting again.
Im on
Hardware version
WL1H122M
Software version
10.0.5.13(H612SP5C1217)
im gonna try the tinfoil for a laugh... GF will kill me
Soldato
They should just "click" in. I sent them some pictures and videos, but here are the two routers. I can't see a difference!
They come in 3.5mm inner and 3.8mm outer, and also a slightly smaller size as well, one sec let me find my packet.
Edit: actually, it could be a CRC-9 looking at the size.
Soldato
Thanks - yeah I thought perhaps it is a typo and was CRC9. But TS9 is stamped on the unit and it is noted in the little pamphlet that came with the unit. I mean, I could buy a CRC9 adapter... but I'll see what the support people suggest first. I've asked if they can try a TS9 adapter into one of the units and see if they get the same issue. It's either got to be a defective unit or it isn't TS9. Quickly flicking between the thumbnails, it's probably just my eyes but the TCL connections look smaller.
Soldato
I'd look at the units side-by-side not using a photo that could easily be distorted, but I do agree the TCL looks like the connectors don't have the spacing around the inner part of the connector housing to allow the male part to sit properly.
Soldato
Will do. I'll whip out the vernier calipers as well and see if I can get a measurement of the connector on the Router itself. Apparently CRC9 is ~2mm and TS9 is ~2.5mm (outer).
EDIT: Or 3mm vs 3.5mm. Seems to be differing info on Google image search. lol. Regardless. One is bigger than the other haha.
Soldato
@Journey - CRC9 adapters arrived and fitted perfectly! So someone has made a terrible mistake at TCL / Alcatel, or, my unit was messed up on production line. Next job this weekend, saying weather is nice, aerial alignment. I'm getting about 3 out of 5 bars signal wise so far. Shame I can't find where the 5G mast is online. So let the fun and games begin!
So let the fun and games begin!
Soldato
@Journey - CRC9 adapters arrived and fitted perfectly! So someone has made a terrible mistake at TCL / Alcatel, or, my unit was messed up on production line. Next job this weekend, saying weather is nice, aerial alignment. I'm getting about 3 out of 5 bars signal wise so far. Shame I can't find where the 5G mast is online.
Wow, that is a poor error on their part. Are you using a directional antenna, or omni-directional? Does cellmapper not show which of the masts is 5G enabled in your area?
Soldato
Madness isn't it. The distributor is getting in touch with them.
I have a directional antenna - Solwise - 5G Panel LTE Antenna - 5G-XPOL-A0002 (XPOL-2-5G) | Solwise Ltd. Yeah so Cell Mapper seems fine for showing me all the 4G LTE masts, and I found the one I connect to with 4G+. IDs match up etc. Now this Router reports the Cell ID and I can't find it at all, but also I can't seem to see any towers listed. I select EE - 23430, 5G NR, All Bands and nadda. Set it back to 4G LTE and all the masts appear.
Unless I'm doing it wrong.
EDIT: So i'm just going to move it 10-15º, check signal, rinse and repeat. See if I can guess. I must be in the ball park area already. But I could just be clipping it, saying I'm not omni.