Huawei B818-263

[MeanyBoy]

Ref using the RJ11 socket on the back for phonecalls using a normal phone with an adaptor/converter.

There are 2 ways to use the socket.

1. As VOIP, there may be a voip setup page in the router configuration, use a free VOIP provider like Sipbasic and there is only a charge for outgoing calls all incoming are free and you can be assigned a local phone number. I ported accross my old BT number. No sim minutes are used. Voip is not in all firmwares and Three was an issue for a few months with the phone not registering on Sipbasic all the time.

2. Using the sim minutes (again firmware dependant)

For it not to revert to 3G you need to access the VoLTE settings in the router configuration and turn VoLTE on, not all firmwares have this and also not all masts can handle VoLTE.

On my B715 I have both Voip and VoLTE on the router configuration. With VOIP not setup and before VoLTE was enabled on the local mast with a handset plugged in if I used the handset the connection dropped to 3G when making or receiving a call. This affects the download speeds but the timelag dropping back to 3G mean't it took 30 secs for a dial tone to appear and the call was very laggy. VoLTE solved all of this.

Thanks very much. I really can't remember much voip or volte settings in the router configurations but I'll check again and try some of your tips.

The speeds I'm getting are pretty impressive by UK standards so I'm hoping the cell im hanging off is modern enough to support such settings.

 

[The Wee Bear]

That is very kind of you.

I'll PM my details. Im happy to paypal some cash across to cover any issues but I imagine these things don't break the bank.

Each time I try and use the phone the display states "check phone cord" and I'm not allowed to do anything. If I were to try your adapter at least I would know it has worked before.

Yes at least it'll save you buying one to try, got your details in your PM fine thanks.

You can let us all know the good or bad news when you get it.

 

[timh30]

Anyone else thought about getting the B818 from vodafone on their 'Mobile Broadband' deal? It would appear if you take out the 100GB plan on 30 day contract and cancel immediately you'd get it for £130 (£100 upfront for device + £30 for 30 day contract)?

Question is are the devices locked to Vodafone - anyone know?

I'll try to contact them tommorow and ask.

 

[Lucian]

@timh30 they are probably not locked, but they may have features disabled; usually bridge mode.

 

[Blu3fire]

@Blu3fire Smarty uses the Three network, so your not checking a different provider. CA is dynamic, do a speed test and if the cell supports it you'll see it come on although you may have refresh the Web page.

Thanks, I know this but I was testing to see if the speeds were restricted like they were with Virgin Media/Plusnet on and EE as I found out, not sure if they still are however as that was a good while ago now.

So if CA is dynamic, then will improving the signal actually help make sure it happens more often? Ideally I'd like to achieve the best speeds possible (obviously) but all so a stable connection as I am teaching from home at the moment.

Still reading, and learning, and more reading. Appreciate all the help so far though!

 

[The Wee Bear]

Anyone else thought about getting the B818 from vodafone on their 'Mobile Broadband' deal? It would appear if you take out the 100GB plan on 30 day contract and cancel immediately you'd get it for £130 (£100 upfront for device + £30 for 30 day contract)?

Question is are the devices locked to Vodafone - anyone know?

I'll try to contact them tommorow and ask.

That's how I got my first CPE Pro, got it on a 1 month contract then just cancelled.

Vodafone was the only place where you could get it way back then.

It wasn't locked when I got it, but did have some features disabled.

 

[Lucian]

@Blu3fire in the t&c of EE (unlimited data, what I use) they mention something about limiting speeds to 60 Mbps on the unlimited plan. Similarly they mention limiting it to 600GB/m.
I have found both not to be implemented, as I regularly get 300Mbps+ dl (5G) and went a bit over 600GB last month.

I recommend you check out their £23/m unlimited data business plan for 24m, it's a great deal. Afaik you don't have to be a business to get it.

Pay Monthly SIM Only for Business Phones | EE Business

Already own a phone? Take a look at our Pay Monthly 4G & 5G phone SIM only plans for Business and start saving money with EE - the UK's biggest, fastest network

business.ee.co.uk

 

[tartanGuru]

in the t&c of EE (what I use) they mention something about limiting speeds to 60 Mbps on the unlimited plan

This doesn’t appear to be the case anymore for new unlimited contracts from September last year. There’s a nice table on page 7 of the SIM plan T&C’s that says that unlimited essential SIM’s no longer have the speed restriction, nor do Smart plans https://ee.co.uk/content/dam/ee-help/help-pdfs/EE-Price-Guides/ee-sim-only-price-plans-102020.pdf

 

[GavinAshford]

So if CA is dynamic, then will improving the signal actually help make sure it happens more often? Ideally I'd like to achieve the best speeds possible (obviously) but all so a stable connection as I am teaching from home at the moment.

Still reading, and learning, and more reading. Appreciate all the help so far though!

First you need to know what your serving mast has got deployed. Not all masts are built equally (and are constantly going through a process of developments - a bit like painting the Severn bridge!)
As you seem to already be familiar with LTE-Hmonitor then if you lock to a single band at a time.
You probably already know, but Three use B3, B1 and B20 (in descending spectrum capacity) for their 4G bands and so lock to each one of those in turn, noting down the Cell_ID reported for each and cross referencing those with cellmapper to determine if they all emanate from the same mast. Note down the RSRP/SINR/RSRQ metrics while you're doing the locking too - refresh a few times as these are always variable so take an average of 6 or so readings, but note the min/max's too.

Once you have them, yplug the Cell_IDs into https://www.cellmapper.net/enbid and see if the eNB (the mast identifier) is the same for all of them.
If B3 and B1 are different masts then that usually means your main serving mast (the one with B3) doesn't yet have B1 refarmed (B1 - 2100mhz - is Three's 3G frequency and they are slowly refarming some of that spectrum from 3G use over to 4G)

For carrier aggregation to give you the maximum uplift in throughput (downlink throughput only - Three don't deploy upload carrier aggregation...) you want B3 and B1 to aggregate. B20 with Three is mainly deployed for coverage/deeper building penetration and so when aggregating that it often only provides a few Mbps addition and (in my opinion) it is usually not worth the effort/cost to get B3+B20 aggregation.

 

[Blu3fire]

First you need to know what your serving mast has got deployed. Not all masts are built equally (and are constantly going through a process of developments - a bit like painting the Severn bridge!)
As you seem to already be familiar with LTE-Hmonitor then if you lock to a single band at a time.
You probably already know, but Three use B3, B1 and B20 (in descending spectrum capacity) for their 4G bands and so lock to each one of those in turn, noting down the Cell_ID reported for each and cross referencing those with cellmapper to determine if they all emanate from the same mast. Note down the RSRP/SINR/RSRQ metrics while you're doing the locking too - refresh a few times as these are always variable so take an average of 6 or so readings, but note the min/max's too.

Once you have them, yplug the Cell_IDs into https://www.cellmapper.net/enbid and see if the eNB (the mast identifier) is the same for all of them.
If B3 and B1 are different masts then that usually means your main serving mast (the one with B3) doesn't yet have B1 refarmed (B1 - 2100mhz - is Three's 3G frequency and they are slowly refarming some of that spectrum from 3G use over to 4G)

For carrier aggregation to give you the maximum uplift in throughput (downlink throughput only - Three don't deploy upload carrier aggregation...) you want B3 and B1 to aggregate. B20 with Three is mainly deployed for coverage/deeper building penetration and so when aggregating that it often only provides a few Mbps addition and (in my opinion) it is usually not worth the effort/cost to get B3+B20 aggregation.

Many thanks for taking the time to give such a comprehensive response. I'm not fully familiar with LTE H-Mon I only used it for the first time yesterday, but it seems well laid out and easy to understand.

I'm progressing through the things you have suggested, especially the B1 to B3 switch over, as I wasn't aware that one could be 3G and the other 4G, the thought just didn't occur.

I can confirm I have line of site to the cell tower, and have a lovely picture of it, and have confirmed that it is the tower I suspected. Using the data from the modem/app I used Cell Mapper which shows that B1 has a different Cell ID, but maps to the same eNB as B3. B3 shows as 15MHz and B1 as 10MHz. Interestingly in the web page monitoring for the modem is says CA - Deactivated.

Using what you have said does this mean that the cell even though it is in the same location it will be slower due to the facing? Cell Mapper says B1 is 140deg SE, and B3 is 54deg NE, the facing of the back of my property is facing almost directly SE, which would mean it is facing B3 based cell more directly.

I'm still doing the tests and trying to work at the same time! So I'll report back with more findings over the next day or so.

 

[GavinAshford]

Most masts have 3 cells, just because cellmapper doesn't list all the cells for a given band doesn't mean they aren't there, just that no-one (cellmapper uses crowdsourced data) has 'found' them yet. Its 99% certain that the antenna broadcasting B3 will also be broadcasting B1 (on either 3G or 4G).

It seems you're reporting that the mast you are connecting to does indeed have both B1 and B3 for 4G (10mhz and 15 mhz respectively - that's the spectrum Three own and deploy for 4G in those bands), which should mean that CA would be available, providing the network metrics/conditions and mast load balancing allows it to do so.

If you're not getting CA on B3+1 then it could be that the B1 (a higher frequency so doesn't travel as far/penetrate as deeply through obstacles) isn't being seen by your router with high enough metrics to do so. Or the network/mast has calculated that there is significant load on B1 (of those users who are closer to the mast) that it prefers your device to only use the B3 capacity.

What I would do is to lock the router to B1 only and try moving it around to try maximise the metrics of B1, then to add in B3 too, and see if CA is present and remains. Further to that, depending what the metrics are currently, perhaps an antenna could help, however given you're getting ~25Mbps upload (almost the maximum you'd expect for B3 upload) it feels more like the load on the cell is limiting your speeds at the moment. Speed testing in the early hours (2-5am) would highlight this as you'd expect better speeds then when others aren't using it.

Also, I should have said earlier - ensure that you do your testing using a ethernet wired laptop/computer to eliminate any potential wifi congestion/interference/limits.

 

[timh30]

That's how I got my first CPE Pro, got it on a 1 month contract then just cancelled.

Vodafone was the only place where you could get it way back then.

It wasn't locked when I got it, but did have some features disabled.

Just called them and they said it was locked, but will provide the unlock code after 30 days. Delivered next day and can cancel the contract once router recieved.

As my order of the B818 from Spain (GreaTecno) was cancelled due to no stock, I've gone for this instead.

Hopefully can report back if it is actually locked to Vodafone and if any features are disabled.

Thanks again.

 

[Lucian]

It's £180 on Amazon @timh30

PS: are we still talking about the B818? lol

Amazon.co.uk

 

[The Wee Bear]

It's £180 on Amazon @timh30

PS: are we still talking about the B818? lol

Amazon.co.uk

Yes I think so Lucian.

 

[Ronski]

To check if CA is being used open the router on the Advanced - System - Device Information page, at the bottom is CA Mode. Now start a speed test and straight away hit the refresh button at the bottom of the router page, if CA mode is being used it will now show as activated. This is what happens on mine.

 

[The Wee Bear]

To check if CA is being used open the router on the Advanced - System - Device Information page, at the bottom is CA Mode. Now start a speed test and straight away hit the refresh button at the bottom of the router page, if CA mode is being used it will now show as activated. This is what happens on mine.

Or just lookie for the + on the home page too Ronski.

 

[Ronski]

I don't appear to get a + ???

 

[The Wee Bear]

I don't appear to get a + ???

Oh no, maybe the different firmware / software.
That's on the CPE Pro 2 Ronski.
I presumed they would all display 4G+, obviously not.

 

[Ronski]

You would of though so wouldn't you, mines actually branded Optus but everything else looks the same.

 

[The Wee Bear]

You would of though so wouldn't you, mines actually branded Optus but everything else looks the same.

Oh well, your excellent advice is still valid anyway, just a little more complicated than checking out the home page for a +