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Any suggestions on how I could improve my 4G BB speeds?

Thank you.

Sorry but I don't understand how I can tell if my phone has a greater CAT than the router? I assume it has because it newer..? Also how would I tell when the masts capability is?

Cheers and sorry for the Q's trying to get my head around things :)
 
Cellmapper only reports the data that has been crowdsourced, so it doesn't mean B1 doesn't exist on a given mast if cellmapper doesn't list it, only that no-one has seen/logged it.
 
Yeah set try each of your providers band at a time and see what mast it connects to, if any (if B1 falls back to 3G then you know there's no usable B1 4G mast in the vicinity).

Trying to understand your local network infrastructure is an important first step.
 
Sorry but I don't understand how I can tell if my phone has a greater CAT than the router?
You check the detailed specs of your phone, normally a Google search will track down these easily enough and detailed band capabilities.
 
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Wikipwdia says iPhone 11 pro has a category 19 modem with 4x4 mimo, so there you go.
 
Cheers guys. I've just done a speed test via my mac in the house connected to the G4 router via antenna and it is receiving:

PING 96 DL 21.57mbps UL 1.27mbps

Stood outside the house in the direction of the mast via my iphone

PING 97 DL 72.84mbps UL 15.70mbps

I'm yet to go through opening and closing bands on the router as I have guests staying at the house. It is currently on band 3 only.

Would this point towards the router being a weak spot? I feel that I should be able to increase the upload speed via some of the bands.. Will report back.

Any further thoughts?

Many thanks, Steve.
 
Are you on the same network for both router and iPhone tests? If so, it feels like your antenna isn't really doing its job, or they're not connected to the same mast/cell. There shouldn't be that much of a difference in speeds, particularly upload.
With Three only one band is used for upload (they don't have uplink-aggregation) and Three own the largest amount of spectrum in B3 so that's the band which provides the highest theoretical capacity for upload (37.5mbps)
 
PING 96 DL 21.57mbps UL 1.27mbps

Stood outside the house in the direction of the mast via my iphone

PING 97 DL 72.84mbps UL 15.70mbps
Hi, just thought I'd add our findings from going through a similar set of changes last year.. short version - if you're getting 72Mbps down / 15Mbps up with your phone it may well be worth trying a different router.

We went through a similar set of speeds here, initially with a TP Link router, then a B535 and now on a Huawei B818 connected to an external omni antenna mounted high and aimed roughly towards our nearest mast (yeah, shouldn't make a difference with an omni but seems to help). Initial speeds were around 20Mbps/10Mbps with the TP Link, but with the 818 we're now getting a steady 75Mbps down, 32Mbps up on Vodafone. Compared to our fttc broadband which topped out at 6Mbps upload it's a game changing improvement when working from home!

Without the antenna the B818 delivered about 40Mbps down / 20Mbps up but after spending a chunk of time working around the house outside with the antenna on the end of a long decorators pole we eventually found a decent place to mount it and speeds have been remarkably consistent ever since.

My phone for comparison (iPhone 11 Pro) speeds test at around 73Mbps / 15Mbps when in roughly the same place as the antenna so the router + antenna seems to deliver constantly higher upload speeds.

Hope that's some use - good luck!
 
Are you on the same network for both router and iPhone tests? If so, it feels like your antenna isn't really doing its job, or they're not connected to the same mast/cell. There shouldn't be that much of a difference in speeds, particularly upload.
With Three only one band is used for upload (they don't have uplink-aggregation) and Three own the largest amount of spectrum in B3 so that's the band which provides the highest theoretical capacity for upload (37.5mbps)
Hi Gavin, no I tested in the house on a mac connected to the network via antenna. Then went outside with the phone and stood in the same position as the antenna turned wifi off on the phone and performed the same test with great speeds.

Is there a way to tell if my mast has uplink-aggregation?

Thanks.
 
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Do you mean you tested from your Mac using WiFi to the router and the router has the external antenna connected? You should endeavour to speed test with ethernet connected to the router whenever possible to eliminate any fluctuations/congestion from WiFi.

As above, Three do not support/deploy uplink-aggregation
 
Hi, just thought I'd add our findings from going through a similar set of changes last year.. short version - if you're getting 72Mbps down / 15Mbps up with your phone it may well be worth trying a different router.

We went through a similar set of speeds here, initially with a TP Link router, then a B535 and now on a Huawei B818 connected to an external omni antenna mounted high and aimed roughly towards our nearest mast (yeah, shouldn't make a difference with an omni but seems to help). Initial speeds were around 20Mbps/10Mbps with the TP Link, but with the 818 we're now getting a steady 75Mbps down, 32Mbps up on Vodafone. Compared to our fttc broadband which topped out at 6Mbps upload it's a game changing improvement when working from home!

Without the antenna the B818 delivered about 40Mbps down / 20Mbps up but after spending a chunk of time working around the house outside with the antenna on the end of a long decorators pole we eventually found a decent place to mount it and speeds have been remarkably consistent ever since.

My phone for comparison (iPhone 11 Pro) speeds test at around 73Mbps / 15Mbps when in roughly the same place as the antenna so the router + antenna seems to deliver constantly higher upload speeds.

Hope that's some use - good luck!
Hi there and many thanks for your input.

I was just about to hit the 'buy' button on a B818 via amazon but the only stock seems to be a Indonesian version :(

(I had hoped to buy via amazons prime as if for some reason it didn't help I would easily be able to return.)

Can I ask do Vodafone provide you with unlimited data?

Also can anyone reading recommend any other routers that would be worth a try?

Many thanks
 
Do you mean you tested from your Mac using WiFi to the router and the router has the external antenna connected? You should endeavour to speed test with ethernet connected to the router whenever possible to eliminate any fluctuations/congestion from WiFi.

As above, Three do not support/deploy uplink-aggregation
Thats correct as to how I tested. I'll bring a laptop up to the loft (where the router is sited) and test connected directly. Thank you
 
Okay just performed a further speed test (via speedtest.net) whilst connected directly to the 4g router that is connected to an external antenna using 3mobile via band 3 via a MacBook.

MacBook directly connected:

PING 88 DL 47.49mbps UL 0.63mbps

Internal iMac connected via WiFi to 4G Router:

PING 96 DL 29.72mbps UL 1.72mbps

iPhone 11 Test outside 4G stood facing masts location below the antenna (WiFi turned off)

PING 109 DL 69.51mbps UL 10.62mbps

(On a side note the server selection was change via speedtest on each test)

HUAWEI B528S-23A 4G Router is receiving full mast reception.

What does this tell anyone in the know?!
 
Last edited:
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Is the router 5Ghz WiFi, or just 2.4Ghz? Seems like a fair amount of download speed to lose on WiFi. Did you do multiple tests? Was it roughly the same each time?

What's your roof material made of? Is there foil-backed insulation on the pitch roof, rather than/ in addition to the floor of the loft?
 
Hi it is 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz. I did two tests in each location as I wanted to move quickly for them to be fair and yes they were pretty similar each time. However I spotted that the servers differed.

The antenna is situated outside the house on an external wall.

Let me explain the setup...

4G Router in Loft connected to external Antenna > Powerline adapter (TP-Link 1200Mbps 3 Port) connected to router > One Ex Port on the Powerline is connected to a BT Disc within the loft > One BT Disc on the 1st Floor > One BT Disc on the ground floor > The other Powerline terminates in a comms room that contains switches that feed various cat6 ports in rooms around the house.

Its a pretty big house 4400sqft and that was my best pop at getting internet around the place without any cable draw access from the loft down.

The wifi reception is decent I'm just beginning to feel that the router is letting me down.
 
I see, so when you're on WiFi there is no way of telling which frequency you're connected to (both frequencies share the same SSID), so you could be sat on 2.4Ghz? And in addition there is a chance that when connected to WiFi the connection is going through a powerline adapter and/or multiple hops of meshed BT discs?

I really don't understand the upload speeds being so low. How long is the router>antenna cable - pretty short I'd guess if it's in the loft and the antenna is just outside?

Try to test with the same speedtest server if you can - you can manually select them in the app/website. And/or use multiple test sites - cloudflare/fast.com/etc to get more data points.

iPhones do have Field Test Mode built in through a dialer code, that can show you what cell/mast/frequency your connected to, but I lack experience with iOS devices to give detailed instructions on that - but I do know that FTM can be finicky to updateamd report accurately the current information
 
The router has both 2.4 and 5ghz enabled as follows.. However I assume that the 5ghz is only accessible to users that are within the range of the routers wifi broadcast.

Screen Shot 2020-12-30 at 16.29.38.webpScreen Shot 2020-12-30 at 16.29.26.webp

The additional discs are not connected via ethernet cable. The main one in the loft is the only one that is wired into the Powerline and the other two bounce from each other.

Hi yes the antenna cable is pretty short 2 maybe 3m as I recall. The standard that was supplied.

My download speed was faster with all the bands open however when I switched to band 3 only my DL speeds increased and UP speeds decreased.

Prior to using only Band 3:

Ping: 102
D/L 5.30mbps
U/L 6.76mbps

I will test again now via the same servers and report back :)
 
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