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Huawei B818-263

One week with the B818. Easily the best 4G router I’ve tried.

My only minor issue is that I still have to fix band 3 using LTE H-Monitor. Left to its own devices, the router will sometimes switch to band 20 with a massive loss in performance, and nothing but a reboot will make it return to band 3.

But fixing to band 3 works great, and stability has been top notch.
Yes same for me :) .., not sure why band 3 gives the best speed though
 
not sure why band 3 gives the best speed though
Bandwidth, on Three band 20 has 5mhz, band 3 is 15mhz so potential for 3 times the download speed. Distance is the opposite, band 20 goes further than band 3 hence why the further away from the mast the more often the router reverts to band 20 and so the need for band fixing on band 3.
 
Sorry to resurrect an older thread. Is the 4x or 8x mimo version better, am I right in thinking this is the only difference and would only make a difference if you’re using this for your router also? I have the B618 and it’s been an amazing LTE router for the 2 years I’ve had it. But with kids demanding faster speeds and digital PS5 consoles I’m keen to wrestle more speed. Currently I average 80-10mbps in a rural
area which is really great - so a marginal increase would be worth the cost of the 818.
 
As far as I'm aware, no UK provider has deployed 8TRx or MA-MIMO on 4G, so the 8x8 model won't provide any benefit over the 4x4 model.

You say you're in a rural area - are you using an external antenna in your current setup?
If so, then I believe you're limited to 2x2 anyway - there are only 2 external connectors on (most) routers and I don't think the routers mix-and-match the antennas signals (if anyone knows otherwise, feel free to correct me here!)

Who is your network provider? Do you know what frequencies they have deployed at the mast you are connected to?
 
Sorry to resurrect an older thread. Is the 4x or 8x mimo version better, am I right in thinking this is the only difference and would only make a difference if you’re using this for your router also? I have the B618 and it’s been an amazing LTE router for the 2 years I’ve had it. But with kids demanding faster speeds and digital PS5 consoles I’m keen to wrestle more speed. Currently I average 80-10mbps in a rural
area which is really great - so a marginal increase would be worth the cost of the 818.
I'm upgrading from a B535-232 to the B818-263 soon, they have them instock at https://www.router-switch.com/huawei-4g-router-3-prime-b818-263.html for £138 so I will grab one and report back.

I'm currently getting about 20Mbps D/L so will be interesting to see the difference.
 
As far as I'm aware, no UK provider has deployed 8TRx or MA-MIMO on 4G, so the 8x8 model won't provide any benefit over the 4x4 model.

You say you're in a rural area - are you using an external antenna in your current setup?
If so, then I believe you're limited to 2x2 anyway - there are only 2 external connectors on (most) routers and I don't think the routers mix-and-match the antennas signals (if anyone knows otherwise, feel free to correct me here!)

Who is your network provider? Do you know what frequencies they have deployed at the mast you are connected to?
Hi Gavin. We’re with EE and our speeds are with the device under the stairs with no external aerials. About a year ago we went from 3G/4G at 20mbps to full 4G LTE - Insuspect following upgrade works to our local transmitter.

So potentially the newer unit might yield faster speeds, though I had looked at the more expensive 5G variant CPE Pro 2 for some future proofing also.
 
Under the stairs is probably not the best place for signal!
I'd advise finding out which direction your mast is and testing the router in a window facing that direction.
What signal metrics do you currently have (RSRP/SINR/RSRQ)?
Can you share the CellID you are connected to?
 
Definitely the location is not great under the stairs.
One way to check whether you need a better router, take the SIM, put it into your phone (if it's a new-ish one), go outside and check what speeds you are getting in various places, maybe even out the upper windows etc. Obviously if you are on EE on your phone as well, then use the existing SIM.
 
I'm upgrading from a B535-232 to the B818-263 soon, they have them instock at https://www.router-switch.com/huawei-4g-router-3-prime-b818-263.html for £138 so I will grab one and report back.

I'm currently getting about 20Mbps D/L so will be interesting to see the difference.
That's an amazing price - even when you add shipping costs it's still about the same as I paid for mine in this country (and of course nobody seems to have them in stock any more!).
 
Sorry to resurrect an older thread. Is the 4x or 8x mimo version better, am I right in thinking this is the only difference and would only make a difference if you’re using this for your router also? I have the B618 and it’s been an amazing LTE router for the 2 years I’ve had it. But with kids demanding faster speeds and digital PS5 consoles I’m keen to wrestle more speed. Currently I average 80-10mbps in a rural
area which is really great - so a marginal increase would be worth the cost of the 818.
I didn't really notice any improvement versus my old B618...although EE have since enabled intra-band CA for Band 3 which has boosted my download speeds (and I'm not sure if that would have been supported on the B618). Main reason I bought it was for modem mode (and I like shiny new things).

Amazed you're getting decent speeds with the B618 under the stairs - as others have said, your biggest improvement will probably be moving it near a window on the mast-side of the house. Don't know which provider you're with, but for reference I'm with EE and in a rural location (2km from the mast) get best-case download of nearly 200 Mbps with Band 3 and intra-band CA. Upload tops out at about 17 Mbps (although in the past it used to get over 30 Mbps on the primary carrier).
 
Believe it or not under the stairs yields the best speeds with full bars of signal than upstairs on the window sill. I did throughly check locations prior to leaving it under the stairs - doing a series of speed tests and checking signal strength.

Here’s the info from the router:

913FD43F-B35D-49F2-8874-52A711DB9B69.jpeg
 
That's an amazing price - even when you add shipping costs it's still about the same as I paid for mine in this country (and of course nobody seems to have them in stock any more!).
Only issue is the postage costs and likely need for a UK variant plug.
 
Those are pretty good stats considering - I'm actually surprised!

Looks like you're on a single B3 carrier mast with EE, I really don't think there'd be much difference between your current B618-22d and an B818.
If/when EE add a second carrier, both B618 and B818 can aggregate them (FYI @GaryW).

However it would depend if EE decide to put anything else on there, for example if they add B1 as well as a second B3 carrier, and enable 256QAM then the B818 would theoretically be able to take advantage and aggregate all three together (signal depending).
Though the big question mark is if or when and if you want to risk buying something now for a change that may never happen.

Edit: I should have also added...
While your metrics are seem good in that snapshot your SINR is still too low for Rank 4 (4 streams on a 4x4 MIMO device) even if you did have a B818.

Rank 4 is very hard to get in practice - the metrics have to be the top of excellent - you're much more likely to see Rank 2 (2 streams, what you probably have now) or Rank 3 (3 streams) when metrics aren't excellent.
 
Those are pretty good stats considering - I'm actually surprised!

Looks like you're on a single B3 carrier mast with EE, I really don't think there'd be much difference between your current B618-22d and an B818.
If/when EE add a second carrier, both B618 and B818 can aggregate them (FYI @GaryW).

However it would depend if EE decide to put anything else on there, for example if they add B1 as well as a second B3 carrier then the B818 would be able to take advantage of that and aggregate all three together.
Though the big question mark is if and when and if you want to get something now for something that may never happen.
My guess is it's a new build house and we have an external water tank and a lot of external power cabling which terminates there. I did wonder if that's acting as an aerial - god knows. How do I find out the info on the mast? is that the Cell_ID or the PLMN
 
My guess is it's a new build house and we have an external water tank and a lot of external power cabling which terminates there. I did wonder if that's acting as an aerial - god knows. How do I find out the info on the mast? is that the Cell_ID or the PLMN
Use the CellID, plug it in here https://www.cellmapper.net/enbid = 13780
From the result, take the eNB (mast) ID and search/filter in the cellmapper map for the [Tower] using that eNBID
 
Use the CellID, plug it in here https://www.cellmapper.net/enbid = 13780
From the result, take the eNB (mast) ID and search/filter in the cellmapper map for the [Tower] using that eNBID
Ok - so there are 3 cell elements that each point in a different direction and bathe that area in signal goodness. The one that covers my house gives me the following info. What from this is useful to know?

Thanks - Matt

Screenshot 2021-01-13 at 13.38.57.png
 
That's an amazing price - even when you add shipping costs it's still about the same as I paid for mine in this country (and of course nobody seems to have them in stock any more!).

Just take note of the extra 20% you'll get lumbered with if its coming from Europe now. I'm still struggling with the "5g ready" thing about this router, considering it isn't 5g capable at all.
 
Just take note of the extra 20% you'll get lumbered with if its coming from Europe now.
That company is in US (so significant delivery and tax), but what's with the 20% if from Europe? I thought there would be no tariffs...
 
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