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

Caporegime
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17 Jul 2010
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Hello everyone!
I am moving to Edinburgh in a couple of weeks for a new job and it turns out our new flat doesn't have access to FTTC/FTTP only ADSL. 3 aren't offering mobile broadband there and Vodafone 5G network doesn't cover the area (4G GigaCube isn't unlimited annoyingly so that won't work for us). EE is the only option we have it looks like. Has anyone here used them for mobile broadband before? They are advertising a new 5GEE router that replaces the Huawei 5G CPE Pro (I have absolutely no faith in it being better in any way, probably just cheaper for EE) but there is limited information about it. I don't know a lot about networking so I need some help in understanding if I will be able to use a mesh system with it? It doesn't support modem only mode so I know double Nat will be an issue but I was hoping to connect my PS5 to the ethernet port on the 5GEE router, disabling WiFi on it and relying on the mesh for wireless connections. Does that sound like it would work and does anyone have any advice? TIA :D
Edinburgh is quite widely covered by Virgin media and I know CityFibre have been laying FTTP in a lot of areas too. I'd look into other options first. 5G is available in some areas but not many at the moment.
 
Associate
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Edinburgh is quite widely covered by Virgin media and I know CityFibre have been laying FTTP in a lot of areas too. I'd look into other options first. 5G is available in some areas but not many at the moment.

Sadly VM and CF don't cover the flat either :( It's absolutely absurd there is no fibre connection as I will be living in central Edinburgh, only a few streets away from parliament! But alas there is something holding the entire street back from fibre goodness from Openreach and private companies. EE is the only network that offers 5G for my postcode so while it is better than nothing, it's not great having no options especially with the limited information provided by the network and so few customers who have shared their experience online.
 
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Soldato
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Well it has been almost 8 full months, and I have had my first downtime of the 5G this week, of just over 1 hour. It looks like there was a planned outage on the cell(s) which pushed the modem on to some sort of limp mode for 4G meaning I was getting 2Mbps, but better than nothing at all. Really pleased still, and I have had less issue with 5G than I have had with Virgin or BT lines in the past, pretty crazy really when you consider how relatively new it is, and the fact I wasn't even supposed to get a signal. )
 
Soldato
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Yeah I have had that a lot. I was on 3 which they admitted had a mast on repair for over six months. So I ditched them as I was ending contract and went with o2. These have had a few outage/repairs and a handful of limp mode days, I was trying to download that day large files.

Was looking into another unit to run two connections and load balance them, but then BIL phoned to say they have fiber ordered. Had to ring them up as they have my house off the system even though I live on the same lane. Hoping the quoted 30Mb down 100Mb up will do while I work out what next move is (dont mind risking fiber for one year to let 4G settle round here).

Last option is Starlink but wife baulked when I mentioned the costs and the fees lol.
 
Associate
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Leeds
Aye same for me. If I force to 5G preferred I get nothing. But I believe it is using 5G NSA (i.e over 4G) because of the colour of the led on the unit. I don't have the paperwork to hand but I'm sure it's blue if "5G" and green if not. Or something like that. :)

You could try manually picking the bands the unit is allowed to use as well. It could be (not sure on your SIM provider) that it's using a lower frequency band for stability. So mine usually prefers band 3 with EE because of the distance from the tower but with the antenna on the roof I can use band 7 (turn off band 3) and get a signal from the tower about 4KM away. Obviously, band 7 is higher frequency = more throughput. I do get more lag and jitter though. But band 3 isn't slow, I easily get 250Mbps.

So perhaps that may be a reason for the speed difference? Or perhaps placement?

Future FW updates may help, you can check here - https://www.zyxel.com/support/download_landing.shtml and pop NR5101 in the search box (https://www.zyxel.com/support/DownloadLandingSR.shtml?c=gb&l=en&kbid=M-03419&md=NR5101). Nothing available yet.


EDIT: Just checked the Cellular info from the Router:
  • Access Technology
  • 5G NR-NSA EN-DC
That's with the preference left on "Auto".

EDIT2: Yep and if you force 5G - you get nothing. And if you force 4G you just get, 4G (see below). So it defo is best on "Auto" as that does make it use 5G. :)
  • Access Technology
  • LTE



Just picked up the NR5101 today. Speeds are a poor compared to my Draytek 2862LN (4g)

Poynting 5g aerial on the roof and BT (EE) 5g enabled sim.

Can get the router to light up blue but poor connect (1bar)

No idea what's going on but appears an absolute waste of money over the Draytek at the moment.
 
Associate
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Just picked up the NR5101 today. Speeds are a poor compared to my Draytek 2862LN (4g)

Poynting 5g aerial on the roof and BT (EE) 5g enabled sim.

Can get the router to light up blue but poor connect (1bar)

No idea what's going on but appears an absolute waste of money over the Draytek at the moment.[/QUO
I sent back my NR5101 back and got a modified CPE Pro 2 with 8 x SMA connectors fitted. I could be wrong but the 2 connectors on the xyzel

I sent back my NR5101 and have a modified CPE Pro 2 with 8 x SMA connectors now. 4 for 4G and 4 for 5G. I have 2 antenna attached, a poynting one with 4 cables for 4G and a bluespot 5G antenna with 2 cables attached.

I could be wrong but the 2 antenna connectors on the zyxel will probably be for 5G only. Our 5G standard over here is NSA (not stand alone) and requires 4G as well as 5G. If you have poor 4G signal where your router is placed then that will effect your signal strength as the 4G antennas are in the router.

The draytek you had will have used the external connectors for 4G so you will have had a better signal with the antenna attached. You could try moving you router near the window and see if the signal improves.
 
Soldato
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16 Jun 2004
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3,215
My Three 5G (unlimited data & phone £40pm) through a personal Hot Spot on my Samsung A90 5G..



If only upload speeds weren't so sucky...not bothered about Ping Times, too old & slow for online gaming thesedays :p

And at my address city fibre installed a full 1GB FTTH connection last year, but don't really need anything faster than this ATM.
 
Associate
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coventry
My Three 5G (unlimited data & phone £40pm) through a personal Hot Spot on my Samsung A90 5G..



If only upload speeds weren't so sucky...not bothered about Ping Times, too old & slow for online gaming thesedays :p

And at my address city fibre installed a full 1GB FTTH connection last year, but don't really need anything faster than this ATM.


What do city fibre charge for a 1 gb FTTH connection.
 
Soldato
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3,215
What do city fibre charge for a 1 gb FTTH connection.

City Fibre don't actually do home fibre, they just lease the cables they put in the ground to 3rd parties like TalkTalk, Vodaphone and a few others I've not really heard of before. Their deals are a similar price between £45-£60 depending on what tier you go for, such as 500Mbit down and up to the full 1Gbit.
 
Soldato
OP
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Kent
My Three 5G (unlimited data & phone £40pm) through a personal Hot Spot on my Samsung A90 5G..



If only upload speeds weren't so sucky...not bothered about Ping Times, too old & slow for online gaming thesedays :p

And at my address city fibre installed a full 1GB FTTH connection last year, but don't really need anything faster than this ATM.
Upload speeds are dependent on your 4G signal as it still uses this 4G for this, not 5G.

Going by your ping I'm guessing your a distance away from your 5G mast, and your 4G mast. I get 15mbps upload with 160 download.

Still waiting on 5G to be turned on on my new mast but I get full 4G signal that side of the house so should see 25mbps+ upload, and hopefully well north of 350mbps download.
 
Soldato
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3,215
Upload speeds are dependent on your 4G signal as it still uses this 4G for this, not 5G.

Going by your ping I'm guessing your a distance away from your 5G mast, and your 4G mast. I get 15mbps upload with 160 download.

Still waiting on 5G to be turned on on my new mast but I get full 4G signal that side of the house so should see 25mbps+ upload, and hopefully well north of 350mbps download.

Well, I was actually receiving a 4G+ signal and was getting ~150Mbit down and similar 10Mbit upload speeds from it for a couple of years prior to the 5G signal going live this April.
 
Soldato
OP
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Kent
Still hit a fixed 70Mbps upload on the CPE Pro, wonder when they will swap to a solution that uses 5G for upload, then I can send stuff at 800Mbps too :D
Isn't that all to do with the UK 5G solution being NSA (Non stand alone), in that is needs the 4G backbone to work.

Don't expect that to change any time soon.
 
Associate
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Leeds
I sent back my NR5101 and have a modified CPE Pro 2 with 8 x SMA connectors now. 4 for 4G and 4 for 5G. I have 2 antenna attached, a poynting one with 4 cables for 4G and a bluespot 5G antenna with 2 cables attached.

I could be wrong but the 2 antenna connectors on the zyxel will probably be for 5G only. Our 5G standard over here is NSA (not stand alone) and requires 4G as well as 5G. If you have poor 4G signal where your router is placed then that will effect your signal strength as the 4G antennas are in the router.

The draytek you had will have used the external connectors for 4G so you will have had a better signal with the antenna attached. You could try moving you router near the window and see if the signal improves.

Thanks for the swift reply this is really useful.

The issue I have is the antenna cable is ran through the loft into a cupboard which is the reason why 4g is so poor I imagine.

Think I'll be selling this on as the Draytek is more stable with 4g as it's through the aerial.
 
Soldato
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Norfolk, South Scotland
I'm currently on a contract in West Bromwich and it appears it does have some advantages...

IMG_2593.PNG


This is with one of my Three 'demo test' SIM cards that I picked up ages ago from a supermarket.

I'm using the latest firmware on the Mikrotik Chateau and they've totally nailed the SIM card insertion process. It just works now. No editing of the modem strings or anything like that. It just detected it was a Three SIM and entered the settings all by itself. For Mikrotik, thats unbelievably slick!

IMG_2594.jpg
 
Soldato
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12 Sep 2003
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Newcastle, UK
Just picked up the NR5101 today. Speeds are a poor compared to my Draytek 2862LN (4g)

Poynting 5g aerial on the roof and BT (EE) 5g enabled sim.

Can get the router to light up blue but poor connect (1bar)

No idea what's going on but appears an absolute waste of money over the Draytek at the moment.

Could it just be that 5G in your area is poor in general? Hence why 4G signal on the Draytek is stronger? Does the aerial on the roof need turning? Have you tried cell mapper etc to work out which mast you are connecting to for 5G? Is the aerial on the roof directional or omni? How is 4G on the NR5101 / is it comparable to the Draytek?
 
Soldato
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Newcastle, UK
Here is my speed tonight with the NR5101. I recently changed to forcing Band 1 and turned the anternna on the roof slightly. This is on EE. Not that I have any issue with people choosing a router for themselves but there are plenty of other circumstances to consider before just saying "router is a waste of money" etc. :)

EDIT: And this is over Mesh WiFi 6 - not direct connection to Router.

Speedtest.jpg
 
Associate
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Apologies if previously answered, but has anyone on EE ever been hit by the "fair use policy" limits on the unlimited plan for 4G / 5G broadband?

Really not convinced by the legality of their terms and conditions.
 
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