Help needed; Huawei H112-370 on EE 5G

[Jameszee]

Hi

First post here, sorry if this may be answered somewhere already (please do link me to the thread if so).

Without going into too much detail, I was an ex Relish customer that moved on Three BB 5G service after they took over. I had cracking speeds, half gig dl speeds were common over ethernet. Then I had a letter saying that Three UK were taking over in Sept, and I could switch to Three's "wider 5G services". As I had little option and assumed I would still connect to same mast that served me so well in the past. I went ahead. Simple you would think!

Alas no, even though they set me up with a 5G account, when d day came. I put in the new sim and could only connect to a paltry 1-2mb dl 4G service. After much dancing with their service teams, we got to a conclusion that Three UK do not offer a 5G service in my area(!?) and they did not know why it was sold to me. (this is all going through the ombudsman as reached deadlock).

Anyway, in my hunt for a solution that in someway replicates this I've opened up new dilemmas! I live down a private road in London with no fibre services. My copper services are abysmal. So natural solution would be mobile / wireless.

I've bought a used Voda Gigacube and have been getting some reasonable speeds via a VF unlimited Sim. It gives me 4G+ (no VF 5G here yet) and I can get 70mbs dl speeds sometimes, though the latency can be awful and unusable. Sometimes the up speed has just gone on us too. Checked on VF network status and says they are aware of a problem and are due to fix the mast soon. I called them and established the check of the mast was still weeks away, and this visit may not lead to an immediate fix depending what is found.

So, third time lucky. I've now bought an EE 5G unlimited sim, seeing that there is 5G signal here with them. This has just arrived today, and I first tested in my Note 10+ 5G. Instantly told me I was connected to 5G, though interestingly only showed about 30mbs DL speeds when tested? When I then put this sim into the 370, firstly I noticed that the 5G never connected / showed only 4G+? I also had the IPv4 / IPv6 issue, and was unable to connect to my work VPN etc. So applied the fix to get it to connect to via IPv4. Though still no 5G coming through?? Also the 4G+ from my local mast via EE is oversubscribed. Even though I have 5 bar connection, I'm only getting 2-3mbs dl speed!

Can any experts on here advise if there is a fix to the 5G issue with EE on the 370 please??

Really feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall trying to find a decent service. ...and yes, I am deeply bitter Three UK took away my brilliant stable 5G service. Ha

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lucian]

If you keep the router outside the windows, does it get 5G? Try multiple positions, windows etc.

 

[Jameszee]

If you keep the router outside the windows, does it get 5G? Try multiple positions, windows etc.

Thank you for replying as my note 10+ 5g connects to 5g immediately in same location and throughout house with the same sim. I am sure Reception is not the cause. Also it has 5bar connection to 4g+, im not an expert, though my understanding is that the 5g should be delivered over the same connection/ mast??

 

[Lucian]

Even so, I would still try it outside.
How many bars do you have on 5G?
If you install the AI Life app from Huawei, it has a "best position" button which will try to guide you as to where to put it and also what signals you are getting, it'd be interesting to know those (rsrp, sinr etc).

 

[Buggerlugz]

Welcome to the UK carriers sad excuse for mobile Internet in this country. I've had very similar experience with 4g+ where I live. Sadly it makes little difference which carrier I chose, the general experience is poor at best.

I believe its down to how all the UK carriers have implemented 3g then 4g and now 5g. They all lacked any future proofing whatsoever and have no interest in providing customers with decent home broadband.

The reasons:
1.Not enough spectrum
2.Not enough back haul to their cores
3. mast contention problems are never addressed.

Its just not important to any of them.

The problem with mobile data is its simply not good enough for home use in the UK. Its acceptable on the move going from mast to mast because you are constantly reconnecting and changing the variables. In one location the entire UK 4g network is not mature enough for home use.

That's because the carriers can't and don't want to compete with FTTP, FTTC or cable. They'll dip their toes in the water, but it's half hearted at best.

(Meanwhile, if you live in any "well cabled" town or city, you can expect any number of new start ups digging up your road for the 20th time to lay more FTTP.)

 

[Jameszee]

Thanks for the replies both.

@Buggerlugz , what makes this a bitter pill to swallow is that the (ex relish) three BB 5G i had originally, really exceeded expectations. It was brilliant all the time and showed home bb can be done over cellular ....then the carpet was whipped from under my feet!

Anyway, I've made some progress since my last message. Again, I have 2 sim cards i can try. Both EE and Vodafone tech teams have claimed there is work due on my local mast this week which may affect connection. Not sure if they share same mast?

Oddly when I was playing about swapping sims, my Vodafone sim made the 5g top light come on, albeit briefly. I did a speed test and speed was only 35% of what I get on VF 4g+. So rebooted via the interface to see if that would help ....and the 5g connection on VF has never been seen again! Guessing a glitch?

My latency using VF yesterday got so bad, I needed to down tools and revert back to the EE sim that I had given up on. Making a very attractive adhoc cardboard box tower, next to the full size window we have. I discovered that I can now get a reasonable connection to EE 4G+ and a little 5G. whilst the speeds don't quite match Vodafone. The latency is FAR better and usable.

I'm going to continue testing for next few day, and have today installed a nifty little invisible bookshelf high in the window. Which was perfect for footprint of the cpe pro!

Is it worth me considering a Huawei 5G AF9E external antenna too maybe, waste of time??

 

[Lucian]

Try sticking the router outside temporarily, in your hand or smth. If rsrp, sinr etc improve and you notice better speeds, then it may be worth getting the antenna.

Do keep in mind the external antenna is for 5G only.

Install the AI Life app from Huawei (see pic) to get proper signal readings for both 4g and 5g, the web ui or huactrl only show 4g.

 

[Jameszee]

Try sticking the router outside temporarily, in your hand or smth. If rsrp, sinr etc improve and you notice better speeds, then it may be worth getting the antenna.

Do keep in mind the external antenna is for 5G only.

Install the AI Life app from Huawei (see pic) to get proper signal readings for both 4g and 5g, the web ui or huactrl only show 4g.

Thanks Lucian.

Sorry if an obvious question, but which menu option is this? I have AI life and can only see the optimal location option. Which doesn't doesn't give the same stats? Cheers

 

[Lucian]

Hm, yes, that's the menu I think.
Will double check once I get home.
I have the outdoor variant, 5G Cpe Win, perhaps they show different things about different routers.

 

[Jameszee]

Hm, yes, that's the men I think.
Will double check once I get home.
I have the outdoor variant, 5G Cpe Win, perhaps they show different things about different routers.

Just out of interest, how are you finding the outside router @Lucian ? Have you compared to a CPE Pro? Suspect this could be another solution to me, as currently getting strong 4g signal, but the 5g is weak. Oh, sorry for all the questions, does the sim go in the unit outside? If so, is it a pain to switch over?

Thanks in advance

 

[Lucian]

Hello,

I never used the CPE Pro. Was going to, but then I found out you couldn't hook up an external antenna that would work for both 4G and 5G, only 5G.

So I went with the CPE Win.. Coming from the B818 (great router btw), I'm quite a happy bunny.
Record speed I got from fast.com was 500Mbps dl, but didn't see that again, however I think I'm averaging 300 Mbps, never goes under 200Mbps, not even now with heavy rain and wind.
Upload between 50-90 Mbps.
Latency 20-30ms.

The sim is indeed installed in a water tight chamber at the bottom of the router. You need to screw it in with an allen key, not too bad, it's proper.

I'm lucky I have a line of sight to the EE mast 1.5km away or so, hope it stays up.

 

[TTJJ]

Hello,

I never used the CPE Pro. Was going to, but then I found out you couldn't hook up an external antenna that would work for both 4G and 5G, only 5G.

So I went with the CPE Win.. Coming from the B818 (great router btw), I'm quite a happy bunny.
Record speed I got from fast.com was 500Mbps dl, but didn't see that again, however I think I'm averaging 300 Mbps, never goes under 200Mbps, not even now with heavy rain and wind.
Upload between 50-90 Mbps.
Latency 20-30ms.

The sim is indeed installed in a water tight chamber at the bottom of the router. You need to screw it in with an allen key, not too bad, it's proper.

I'm lucky I have a line of sight to the EE mast 1.5km away or so, hope it stays up.

You’ve got me curious, seems like an excellent device, where did you manage to buy one?

 

[Jameszee]

Hello,

I never used the CPE Pro. Was going to, but then I found out you couldn't hook up an external antenna that would work for both 4G and 5G, only 5G.

So I went with the CPE Win.. Coming from the B818 (great router btw), I'm quite a happy bunny.
Record speed I got from fast.com was 500Mbps dl, but didn't see that again, however I think I'm averaging 300 Mbps, never goes under 200Mbps, not even now with heavy rain and wind.
Upload between 50-90 Mbps.
Latency 20-30ms.

The sim is indeed installed in a water tight chamber at the bottom of the router. You need to screw it in with an allen key, not too bad, it's proper.

I'm lucky I have a line of sight to the EE mast 1.5km away or so, hope it stays up.

Oh no, I feel another purchase coming along! Sounds great (except I might need to drill through the wall to get that flat cable through).

How are you splitting the signal throughout your property? We do have a couple of wifi blackspots here, so thinking about getting a mesh system. Though haven't tried one before and not sure if you have loss on those systems?

 

[Jameszee]

Well I just registered the best speed yet on EE on the cpe pro. Again this is with weak 5G connection, so think gains can be made by replacing with an outside router

 

[Jameszee]

I was also able to locate my current signal strength in the web ui, under device information....

CELL_ID
4433172
RSRQ
-11.0dB
RSRP
-91dBm
RSSI
-63dBm
SINR
9dB

Have not a clue what most of this means?

I spent time last night trying locate what I believe is the mast id (cell id??). But on cellmapper, there doesn't appear any EE masts listed in my area? Though chances of me doing something wrong are high . Can anyone help me identify this mast, I don't actually know where it is and it might useful to know! Cheers

 

[Lucian]

@Jameszee easy to check before ordering new kit, just hold the thing outside the window in your hand or smth, if it doesn't get better, it's unlikely the outdoor variant will, imho. 230 Mbps is pretty good, sometimes better is the enemy of good.

@TTJJ from a1smartshop.com, was around £250. I felt a bit scared to order it as the site looks quite dodgy but it arrived in the post a week later, hehe. Not sure on their return policy, certainly not pain-free like Amazon, so be sure you want it in case you have to return it to some China address at a huge cost )
As above, if you have the CPE Pro and holding it outside the speeds don't get better, I doubt this will perform any better.
The flat cable is really nice, I could easily close the loft window with it installed and the cable is quite long as well, not sure you'll need to drill.
Re Wifi, as the CPE win doesn't have any, I plan to to get a couple of used Vodafone hub THG3000[1] from Ebay and turn then into APs, that'll be my "mesh network", probably at a cost of under £30 overall.


[1]

 

[Jameszee]

@Jameszee easy to check before ordering new kit, just hold the thing outside the window in your hand or smth, if it doesn't get better, it's unlikely the outdoor variant will, imho. 230 Mbps is pretty good, sometimes better is the enemy of good.

@TTJJ from a1smartshop.com, was around £250. I felt a bit scared to order it as the site looks quite dodgy but it arrived in the post a week later, hehe. Not sure on their return policy, certainly not pain-free like Amazon, so be sure you want it in case you have to return it to some China address at a huge cost )
As above, if you have the CPE Pro and holding it outside the speeds don't get better, I doubt this will perform any better.
The flat cable is really nice, I could easily close the loft window with it installed and the cable is quite long as well, not sure you'll need to drill.
Re Wifi, as the CPE win doesn't have any, I plan to to get a couple of used Vodafone hub THG3000[1] from Ebay and turn then into APs, that'll be my "mesh network", probably at a cost of under £30 overall.


[1]

Thank you again @Lucian your advice was wise! So, I did a test in situ to see what I needed to compare with....

Then, I stuck the router out of window straight after the above test.....

Think you have saved me some cash, time and patience Kept on trying and the signal was constantly lower outside, guaranteed.

As a pay off I managed to strengthen the signal inside whilst playing about, and found that I gained a little more 5g reception by turning the router a fraction more to the left. I must just have a little signal hotspot in that corner of the window!?

Thanks for sharing that vid too, very frugal way of sorting the WiFi

 

[GavinAshford]

I was also able to locate my current signal strength in the web ui, under device information....

CELL_ID
4433172
RSRQ
-11.0dB
RSRP
-91dBm
RSSI
-63dBm
SINR
9dB

Have not a clue what most of this means?

I spent time last night trying locate what I believe is the mast id (cell id??). But on cellmapper, there doesn't appear any EE masts listed in my area? Though chances of me doing something wrong are high . Can anyone help me identify this mast, I don't actually know where it is and it might useful to know! Cheers

The cell ID is the cell, that needs converting to the eNB ID (mast) to be searched in cellmapper. Cellmapper has a tool for that, under Tools.

The eNB is 17317, which is located at Rye Hill Park SE16 3JN.

 

[GavinAshford]

Thank you again @Lucian your advice was wise! So, I did a test in situ to see what I needed to compare with....

View attachment 532

Then, I stuck the router out of window straight after the above test.....

View attachment 533

Think you have saved me some cash, time and patience Kept on trying and the signal was constantly lower outside, guaranteed.

As a pay off I managed to strengthen the signal inside whilst playing about, and found that I gained a little more 5g reception by turning the router a fraction more to the left. I must just have a little signal hotspot in that corner of the window!?

Thanks for sharing that vid too, very frugal way of sorting the WiFi

When comparing signals after moving things you need to be confident what cell you are connected to - it needs to be the same one - moving things may make it connect to a different cell, which could provide different speeds.

 

[Jameszee]

The cell ID is the cell, that needs converting to the eNB ID (mast) to be searched in cellmapper. Cellmapper has a tool for that, under Tools.

The eNB is 17317, which is located at Rye Hill Park SE16 3JN.

Well that is intriguing thank you. That mast is a lot further away than I expected! As the crow flys that's 0.7 miles away! Which in a heavily congested area like mine can't be great news and is perhaps the reason why my speeds slow so much during the day. Need to do some testing then it seems.