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Gigacube users?

What issues are you facing exactly?

You should be able to connect the LAN port on the gigacube to the WAN port of the airport. The gigacube may need forcing to 'LAN only' within its 'ethernet' settings page, and you may need to configure the airport to accept DHCP on its WAN port if its not already (the gigacube will try assign the an IP to the airport).

Thanks Gavin.

Forced LAN only setting on Gigacube - it's woking :-).
 
I know there will only be a few Gigacube users out there, but for us, this is a perfect solution to our 3mb standard broadband. We now have it and are getting steady 40mb connections which is a dream for us! However, we are having a few issues and it would be great to reach out to others who have this system.

So please let yourselves be known! :)
I have signed up to a 5G Gigacube (H112-370) from Vodafone this week as I am in rural location, the ADSL connection is very slow and the promised fibre roll out is as the name suggests - promised.

I must admit the speeds are flaky from nothing! to alright and I need a bit of reassurance that I have gone with the right product and solution.
 
I have signed up to a 5G Gigacube (H112-370) from Vodafone this week as I am in rural location, the ADSL connection is very slow and the promised fibre roll out is as the name suggests - promised.

I must admit the speeds are flaky from nothing! to alright and I need a bit of reassurance that I have gone with the right product and solution.
Did you test Vodafone for coverage/speed in your location beforehand? Is your mobile with Vodafone, if so, how does that perform/compare?
 
I have signed up to a 5G Gigacube (H112-370) from Vodafone this week as I am in rural location, the ADSL connection is very slow and the promised fibre roll out is as the name suggests - promised.

I must admit the speeds are flaky from nothing! to alright and I need a bit of reassurance that I have gone with the right product and solution.
Make sure you have the router in a good spot, usually sitting in the loft or using an external directional antenna will help.

Just a note also that Vodafone have a strict NAT (CGNAT) setup so if you intend on playing online games I would possibly swap to Three if that is an option for you.
 
Did you test Vodafone for coverage/speed in your location beforehand? Is your mobile with Vodafone, if so, how does that perform/compare?
I did a check for mobile coverage and 4G was good inside and outside. The device management software is showing a good signal but the upload and download speeds are pretty poor. I am wondering if the actual mobile infrastructure is at fault and cannot cope with the demand?
 
Make sure you have the router in a good spot, usually sitting in the loft or using an external directional antenna will help.

Just a note also that Vodafone have a strict NAT (CGNAT) setup so if you intend on playing online games I would possibly swap to Three if that is an option for you.
Online gaming is not for me. What I did do was invest in the 5G version knowing that I didn't have a 5G network in my area at the moment for two reasons. To be future proof as and when 5G is available and assuming that the device is backwards compatible for the 4G network.
 
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I did a check for mobile coverage and 4G was good inside and outside. The device management software is showing a good signal but the upload and download speeds are pretty poor. I am wondering if the actual mobile infrastructure is at fault and cannot cope with the demand?
As you've found, signal level doesn't necessarily mean good speed with mobile (whereas with something like WiFi it generally does). Also, what are you checking to see the signal level? If its the number of 'bars' you have, those are an interpretation of the signal metrics: RSRP (power), RSRQ (quality), SINR (signal to interference + noise ratio).
Those individual metrics give more detailed information on what signal you are receiving and potentially identify what changes might lead to improved metrics. If you look at and note down those values over time when you're experiencing the variations in speeds I would think they show some kind of pattern.

There could be a number of reasons for low speeds.
Overloaded capacity on the antenna/mast (too many users) is certainly one, however you say you're rural, so that might well not be the case.
The speed of the back-haul connection to the mast might be another, though I see this mentioned quite a lot, but I believe in most cases it's generally not really a limiting factor, except in the cases of multiple daisy-chained microwave-linked rural masts - which might be the case for you.

Finally, you say you've future-proofed yourself with 5G, however I don't believe any of the operators are planning to deploy 5G as far as they currently have 4G deployed.
Personally I think in the mid-term timeframe (up to 5-8years?) 5G will just be focused on urban/suburban deployments, where it brings the most benefit/ROI - I really wouldn't expect rural areas to get 5G. Though obviously there might be exceptions to this where rural capacity could be needed - I'm thinking places like center parks/theme parks/glastonbury festival site.
 
As you've found, signal level doesn't necessarily mean good speed with mobile (whereas with something like WiFi it generally does). Also, what are you checking to see the signal level? If its the number of 'bars' you have, those are an interpretation of the signal metrics: RSRP (power), RSRQ (quality), SINR (signal to interference + noise ratio).
Those individual metrics give more detailed information on what signal you are receiving and potentially identify what changes might lead to improved metrics. If you look at and note down those values over time when you're experiencing the variations in speeds I would think they show some kind of pattern.

There could be a number of reasons for low speeds.
Overloaded capacity on the antenna/mast (too many users) is certainly one, however you say you're rural, so that might well not be the case.
The speed of the back-haul connection to the mast might be another, though I see this mentioned quite a lot, but I believe in most cases it's generally not really a limiting factor, except in the cases of multiple daisy-chained microwave-linked rural masts - which might be the case for you.

Finally, you say you've future-proofed yourself with 5G, however I don't believe any of the operators are planning to deploy 5G as far as they currently have 4G deployed.
Personally I think in the mid-term timeframe (up to 5-8years?) 5G will just be focused on urban/suburban deployments, where it brings the most benefit/ROI - I really wouldn't expect rural areas to get 5G. Though obviously there might be exceptions to this where rural capacity could be needed - I'm thinking places like center parks/theme parks/glastonbury festival site.
Thank you Gavin you make some good points. To put a little more context around the issue whilst the area and village that I live is rural it is near Malmesbury and more importantly the Dyson business. Methinks that they have quite a sway over technology deployment - but we shall see.

I am not too concerned about 5G though I invested in the 5G device in preference to the 4G device as it was newer, had a 5G capability in case I needed it in the future and expected and hoped that it would be backwrds compatible for the LTE/4G network. I wonder if there was a way to 'force' the 5G device to only use the 4G network and if that would improve the speed consistency?

A friend and ex-technology colleague of mine suggested that the mobile back-haul might be the issue. If that is the problem how might that be proven and do you think there is any pressure that can be put on Vodafone to improve it?
 
Have you taken a look at cellmapper in the area? It seems most of the masts have been placed (someone has positioned them) so they should be accurate.

It looks like all the masts around there are band 20 only and widely spaced, which makes sense given the terrain, population density and how best to provide coverage.

As for backhaul, you've got little to no chance of getting a profit to improve it until they deem a site gets enough traffic to warrant an upgrade on any parts (antenna/bands/backhaul).

Do you know which mast you are actually connected to? If you do you might be best off putting the SIM in a phone and going closer to your mast and doing speed tests there to see if it improves (if it does then that would suggest it's mainly the distance that is the limiting factor).
 
The best I get connecting to a Band 20 Vodafone mast is 25mb download. That's a CAT 4 router, if the mast did 20+20 2CA then the right router could get 50mb. If you go onto the Vodafone network checker you can click on a box to see the max download the mast offers, for my mast it's 50mb but I am 4km away so 25mb makes sense.
 
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Hi all, am going to get a 5G Gigacube later today and only now read in some place online that it might not work with BT Whole Home. Is that true? Also, is it possible to plug the Gigacube into my existing router (that is then plugged in to BT Whole Home?)?
 
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