Sponsored Links

B525 Carrier Aggregation

6moe66

Casual Member
Hi,
Have ran this router with Poynting XPOL -2- 5G antenna for over a year at a pretty steady 22-25Mbps. Three LTE network (Band 20) went down last week and hasn't been the same since.

I see this router has carrier aggregation, does this mean if i select available bands (B1/B3/20) and select to use LTE only it will Join the 3 together increasing speeds and stability? If i select AUTO it will always revert to 3G UTMS which has full bars signal but the speed is not great (8mps).

My signal is not great on LTE (3/4 bars out of 5) but speeds and reliability have always been good up until now. My house is the red circle in the cellmapper, would i also benefit from a directional antenna as i have almost full line of site at 3.5kms

 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20230209_052912_WhatsApp.webp
    Screenshot_20230209_052912_WhatsApp.webp
    38 KB · Views: 169
  • Screenshot 2023-02-09 055208 (Small) (Small) (Small).webp
    Screenshot 2023-02-09 055208 (Small) (Small) (Small).webp
    18.4 KB · Views: 129
Hi,
Have ran this router with Poynting XPOL -2- 5G antenna for over a year at a pretty steady 22-25Mbps. Three LTE network (Band 20) went down last week and hasn't been the same since.

I see this router has carrier aggregation, does this mean if i select available bands (B1/B3/20) and select to use LTE only it will Join the 3 together increasing speeds and stability? If i select AUTO it will always revert to 3G UTMS which has full bars signal but the speed is not great (8mps).

My signal is not great on LTE (3/4 bars out of 5) but speeds and reliability have always been good up until now. My house is the red circle in the cellmapper, would i also benefit from a directional antenna as i have almost full line of site at 3.5kms

For initial testing, it's best to allow the router to select between 4G LTE and 5G NR. Historically, I've only found 3G to be useful on Three when connecting by 4G showed a serious congestion issue.

I believe the XPOL-2 is a directional antenna. Perhaps you have the XPOL-1 which I think is an omni-directional antenna, although the one I own and use feels quite very sensitive to direction.

Are you sure you have the XPOL pointed at the best mast/tower at the moment? Are you able to rotate it to point at other towers to see if the signal parameters are any better? Are you able to see the 4G RSSI, RSRP, RSRQ, and SINR, and able to take notes to correlate with measured performance?

It's only worth excluding bands when it's certain they are bad (e.g. B3 on EE is bad for measured bandwidth in my area so worth excluding to favour B7), otherwise best to let the router decide itself.

This is useful: https://www.solwise.co.uk/wireless-elevationtool.html
 
Last edited:
Sponsored Links
@6moe66 the b525 cannot aggregate b3+b1, only b20+b1,b3 or b32.

b28 may have been deployed locally, but as your router cannot see it you cannot use it.

I would try b3 first and then consider a new router like a ZTE MF286d for £40ish from CEX.
 
@6moe66 , I am not familiar with the B525's UI and I can't make out the band numbers on the cellmapper screenshot, but it looks to me as if you may have selected band 20 only (to the exclusion of others). Of course, it should be worth forcing 4G only, assuming that you have a half-decent 4G service available.

Based on my experience with the B315 and (briefly) the B535, I would echo @meritez 's suggestion to try B3 -- or simply let it pick whatever band or combination of bands it thinks is best. Admittedly with EE and with a mast c.6.5 miles distant with not quite line-of-sight, I get several times faster download with B3 than B20. So you may find that B3 on its own, even without CA, is considerably better.

@mikeliuk is, I'm sure, correct to say that the XPOL-2 is directional. That is certainly what I have found with the 4G (not 5G) models. I found the -2 to be a big improvement -- but it certainly needs to be pointed quite closely to the mast in question.

Andrew
 
For initial testing, it's best to allow the router to select between 4G LTE and 5G NR. Historically, I've only found 3G to be useful on Three when connecting by 4G showed a serious congestion issue.

I believe the XPOL-2 is a directional antenna. Perhaps you have the XPOL-1 which I think is an omni-directional antenna, although the one I own and use feels quite very sensitive to direction.

Are you sure you have the XPOL pointed at the best mast/tower at the moment? Are you able to rotate it to point at other towers to see if the signal parameters are any better? Are you able to see the 4G RSSI, RSRP, RSRQ, and SINR, and able to take notes to correlate with measured performance?

It's only worth excluding bands when it's certain they are bad (e.g. B3 on EE is bad for measured bandwidth in my area so worth excluding to favour B7), otherwise best to let the router decide itself.

This is useful: https://www.solwise.co.uk/wireless-elevationtool.html
Thanks, I have the following- Poynting 5G LTE 3dBi Omni-Directional Cross Polarised 2x2 MIMO Outdoor Antenna
External Antenna
Granted it is not in the best position as i have 4ft thick granite walls that i cant easily drill through. Im away at the moment and just getting a bit of time to research so thought id ask and see what the experts say ;)

I have previously used huactrl to setup best possible direction for the location its at but it has been up a while and has maybe taken a pasting with the recent storms.

I plan to mount it higher (on the chimney stack) but access is real tough. I may just have to swallow a brave pill and get up there!!
 
Sponsored Links
@6moe66 the b525 cannot aggregate b3+b1, only b20+b1,b3 or b32.

b28 may have been deployed locally, but as your router cannot see it you cannot use it.

I would try b3 first and then consider a new router like a ZTE MF286d for £40ish from CEX.
I will need to check this as i've always left it on B20 only.

Funny you say that about the ZTE MF286, i just gave one away to a friend since he was looking to switch to mobile broadband and has claimed it. This was before i knew they can be re-flashed to allow selection of specific bands.

Is there any specific reason why i should swap my B525 for a MF286? I run a mesh system since i have thick granite walls in the house (Tenda MW6) which runs pretty close to ethernet test speeds. I get 22-25Mbps (on forced B20)so not super fast but very usable and faster than any ISP can provide in my area.

I am interested in upgrade options from the B525 but wont see 5G near me any time soon.
 
The mf286d fully supports bridge mode allowing your Tenda mw6 master node to be the firewall on your network.

The b525 was good a few years ago but it's just aged badly with lack of support for new 4g bands and being cat6 it's getting outmatched.

Saying that my sister in law and her husband still refuse to upgrade from the one I gave them three years ago.

They live down hill from a three 5g mast but refused the vn007 I offered them.
 
@6moe66 , I am not familiar with the B525's UI and I can't make out the band numbers on the cellmapper screenshot, but it looks to me as if you may have selected band 20 only (to the exclusion of others). Of course, it should be worth forcing 4G only, assuming that you have a half-decent 4G service available.

Based on my experience with the B315 and (briefly) the B535, I would echo @meritez 's suggestion to try B3 -- or simply let it pick whatever band or combination of bands it thinks is best. Admittedly with EE and with a mast c.6.5 miles distant with not quite line-of-sight, I get several times faster download with B3 than B20. So you may find that B3 on its own, even without CA, is considerably better.

@mikeliuk is, I'm sure, correct to say that the XPOL-2 is directional. That is certainly what I have found with the 4G (not 5G) models. I found the -2 to be a big improvement -- but it certainly needs to be pointed quite closely to the mast in question.

Andrew
Thanks, yes B1, B3 and B20 are available. Band 3 is super fast (90+Mbps) but is temperamental, only getting 2/3 bars out of 5. Band 20 see's 22-25Mbps with 3/4bars and Band 1 sees 18-20Mbps with constant Full signal.

Looking at Carrier Aggregation it looks like i may be best with B1+B20.

Cell mapper doesn't show B28 but i will have a drive around and check on the phone.

My mistake saying i had an XPOL -2 it is the omni directional 5G one. I do need to take it higher(its currently at the bottom of the tile line of a 2 storey house but will mount it to the top of the chimney when i get the🍒). And will spend time with huactrl and LTEHmonitor to get it right.
 
The mf286d fully supports bridge mode allowing your Tenda mw6 master node to be the firewall on your network.

The b525 was good a few years ago but it's just aged badly with lack of support for new 4g bands and being cat6 it's getting outmatched.

Saying that my sister in law and her husband still refuse to upgrade from the one I gave them three years ago.

They live down hill from a three 5g mast but refused the vn007 I offered them.
Yes, bridge mode would be handy but not really necessary/beneficial to my system and doubt it would bring noticeably better speeds🤔? If the CA was better or could select usable bands that i couldnt on the B525 then i would purchase one (or get the one back which id gifted to my mate).

Are there any other routers that may benefit my setup?
 
Sponsored Links
The mf286d supports 3ca


Bands 1+3+20 are supported at the same time, so in an ideal situation you would see around 140 download?

It also supports upload carrier aggregation so more than 1 band on the upload.

I could find you a cat16 or cat20, but they're not as low as the mf286d is.
 
Thanks, yes B1, B3 and B20 are available. Band 3 is super fast (90+Mbps) but is temperamental, only getting 2/3 bars out of 5. Band 20 see's 22-25Mbps with 3/4bars and Band 1 sees 18-20Mbps with constant Full signal.
interesting. Do you find that B3 is not usable? B3 is what gives me much higher speeds It very rarely has more than two bars, RSRP typically worse than about -112dBm, the mast is over 6 miles away — but it works fine.

I’d be tempted to at least try enabling B3 for a few days, to see how it performs in conjunction with either B1 or B20 (unless you’ve already done that, of course).
Looking at Carrier Aggregation it looks like i may be best with B1+B20.

Cell mapper doesn't show B28 but i will have a drive around and check on the phone.

My mistake saying i had an XPOL -2 it is the omni directional 5G one. I do need to take it higher(its currently at the bottom of the tile line of a 2 storey house but will mount it to the top of the chimney when i get the🍒). And will spend time with huactrl and LTEHmonitor to get it right.
More height is almost always good, of course, but there are occasional instances (there was brief discussion of this in another thread just a few days ago) of a lower position — perhaps due to reflections — being better. I have had this. If you have even semi-decent line of sight, an XPOL-2 might be worth considering, as an alternative to braving the chimney! Admittedly for 4G, I found the -2 to be a huge improvement (although I’ve now been led astray by @dazmatic and am on the parabolic dish slippery slope … 😱).
 
Thanks, yes B1, B3 and B20 are available. Band 3 is super fast (90+Mbps) but is temperamental, only getting 2/3 bars out of 5. Band 20 see's 22-25Mbps with 3/4bars and Band 1 sees 18-20Mbps with constant Full signal.

Looking at Carrier Aggregation it looks like i may be best with B1+B20.

Cell mapper doesn't show B28 but i will have a drive around and check on the phone.

My mistake saying i had an XPOL -2 it is the omni directional 5G one. I do need to take it higher(its currently at the bottom of the tile line of a 2 storey house but will mount it to the top of the chimney when i get the🍒). And will spend time with huactrl and LTEHmonitor to get it right.
I would say forget the bars which I believe refers to RSSI. It's only useful for suggesting the best directions to check. Once you've selected a good direction, it's more a case of functional fine tuning and I would take the 90 Mbps if it's really reliable.

I feel consideration of the SINR is useful as you get a feeling of how much useful signal is in that "signal" compared to unwanted noise and interference contributing to the received power.

It's like you're trying to read a book with good SINR and I start throwing other books at you, the number of words hitting you go way up but you can't actually get any useful reading done (high power received but bad SINR).

Does the current position have line of sight? Will the raised position obtain line of sight not available lower? (Solwise elevation tool is good to help.)

Is it certain which direction to be pointing? How many candidate/viable masts are there, and how likely will it be that the antenna will need realigning? Is it certain that mounting in the loft won't be good enough? My feeling is that getting it right is a matter of days for an enthusiastic amateur. Perhaps a professional could get it right in hours or less (not that I'm recommending this route as I prefer to do things myself and tinker).
 
Top
Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £22.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
Vodafone UK ISP Logo
Vodafone £24.00 - 26.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
NOW UK ISP Logo
NOW £24.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £25.99
145Mbps
Gift: £50 Reward Card
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £17.00
200Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £22.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Youfibre UK ISP Logo
Youfibre £23.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Sponsored Links
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (6026)
  2. BT (3639)
  3. Politics (2721)
  4. Business (2439)
  5. Openreach (2405)
  6. Building Digital UK (2330)
  7. Mobile Broadband (2146)
  8. FTTC (2083)
  9. Statistics (1901)
  10. 4G (1816)
  11. Virgin Media (1764)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1582)
  13. Fibre Optic (1467)
  14. Wireless Internet (1462)
  15. 5G (1407)
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms  ,  Privacy and Cookie Policy  ,  Links  ,  Website Rules