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Mikrotik Syntax help, please

Just rewinding back to your original post and the reason you want to cell lock ...

Without Cell lock, after a while, the router will jump to Band 3 as main band without CA.

^--- I've seen this with some modems/routers and CA only kicks in when you load up the internet connection - for example start a big download or a speed test.

It might be the mobile network/mast controlling this rather than your modem/router? With cell locking in RouterOS you can only lock the primary cell anyway so cell locking might not fix your (perceived) issue - in fact it could make it worse.

This is just my understanding based on other posts that I've read, I don't know this for sure. The more I think about it, the more I think cell locking isn't the solution here.
 
Thanks again - much appreciated that you put the time in on my behalf! I bought on E-bay with a return accepted until 21 October. Hopefully Mikrotik might get back to me with a solution in time or someone else here familiar with Chateaus might have an answer. I'll also see how the router behaves for a couple of days: it seems to have stayed on the desired cell all evening, which is something my Huawei B535-333 would never do.
 
If you DID get it to cell lock, you'd have to cell lock your B20 cell and then set the band selection list to have just B20 and B3. However, there's no way to force it to use CA - it could just leave you with B20 only and that would be slower (usually) than just BAND locking to B3 and forgetting CA.

TLDR; I don't think RouterOS can do what you want it to do - but I might be wrong. The more I think about it, the more I think this is a fool's errand and won't yield you any improvement.
 
With the Huiawei B525/B535 and indeed the MIkrotik's - which I've probably installed 55-60 of over the past few years - mostly on Three/Smarty - I've found that the Three mast is in control rather than the router - as I get similar behaviour (and have to use a similar workaround) with both Huawei B525/B535 routers and Mikrotik LTE devices.

I don't think the behaviour is router related - I think it's the mobile operator/mast.

I find that, after a period of time connected (B20 + B3 CA on Three), it slows down and I have to use tools/commands to force B20 only - wait a couple of minutes and then re-add B3. Otherwise I get lower speeds. I too thought Mikrotik kit might help fix this but I'm getting the same behaviour with the Mikrotik kit. I don't think a router alone will fix the issue, although the RouterOS scripting facility is useful for adding 'smartness' to automate some of the workarounds and band hopping.
 
I confirm I have tried inputting and toggling Safe Mode: no difference.

FG621-EA: I can find no reference to this in the manual re cell lock- so I am beginning to fear cell lock is not supported, unless anyone else with a Chateau LTE6 can confirm differently. I am surprised: I bought a Mikrotik on the basis that cell locking was one of its big selling points.

i have written to Mikrotik support but am not holding my breath for a quick reply.

Thanks again for your attempts to help.
if it's a fibocom modem try the at commands dazmatic was able to get a hold of in another thread for the nl952-eau-10 modem from the sercomm lte2122gr 3 branded 4g+ router they might share some of the same at commands

celllock is on page 148

I think the command should be setup like one of these which you can copy and paste and try for yourself

/interface lte at-chat lte1 input="AT+GTCELLLOCK=1,0,0,"6175","176""
/interface lte at-chat lte1 input="AT+GTCELLLOCK=1,0,0,6175,176"

Note 2: If user want to change different SIM card, please disable this feature first.
Note 3: If user want to lock earfcn only, please input AT+GTCELLLOCK=1,0,1,”earfcn”, if user want to lock
pci, please input AT+GTCELLLOCK=1,0,0,”earfcn”,”pci”
Note 4: After inputting this at command, UE must reboot because EFS file should take effect

 
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Thanks MrTwinky2.

This is what I get, but I don't think it
Screenshot 2023-09-22 at 07.29.54.webp
is working either
 
Finally, a solution!

I have just had this response from Mikrotik support:

Hello,
Thank you for contacting MikroTik Support.
FG621 has a different cell lock commands, which are not uploaded to our Wiki, but will be in a short period of time.
In your case, the command will be:
interface lte/at-chat lte1 input="AT+GTCELLLOCK=1,0,0,6175,176"
AT+GTCELLLOCK=<mode>[,<rat>,<type>,<earfcn>[,<PCI>]]
< mode >: integer type; 0 Disable this function 1 Enable this function 2 Add new cell to be locked
<rat>: integer type; 0 LTE 1 WCDMA
<type>: integer type; 0 Lock PCI 1 Lock frequency
Best regards,
Aleksis Graudužis

Thanks so much, again, to Norfok&Signal and MrTwinky2 for helping me to get there!
MrTwinky2 your solution 2 was indeed correct! I now see I missed out "GT" when I first tried - hence the error!

Hopefully this information will prove useful to anyone else who tries to cell lock a Chateau LTE6
 
Finally, a solution!

I have just had this response from Mikrotik support:

Hello,
Thank you for contacting MikroTik Support.
FG621 has a different cell lock commands, which are not uploaded to our Wiki, but will be in a short period of time.
In your case, the command will be:
interface lte/at-chat lte1 input="AT+GTCELLLOCK=1,0,0,6175,176"
AT+GTCELLLOCK=<mode>[,<rat>,<type>,<earfcn>[,<PCI>]]
< mode >: integer type; 0 Disable this function 1 Enable this function 2 Add new cell to be locked
<rat>: integer type; 0 LTE 1 WCDMA
<type>: integer type; 0 Lock PCI 1 Lock frequency
Best regards,
Aleksis Graudužis

Thanks so much, again, to Norfok&Signal and MrTwinky2 for helping me to get there!
MrTwinky2 your solution 2 was indeed correct! I now see I missed out "GT" when I first tried - hence the error!

Hopefully this information will prove useful to anyone else who tries to cell lock a Chateau LTE6
im glad you got it sorted :)
fingers crossed it works out, I recently got myself a mikrotik rbm33g and im using a fibocom nl952 in mine and was in the same boat as you when it came to band locking in mycase. I was concerned I was going to have to buy a different modem until I came across the other thread dazmatic shared the at commands in,
+GTACT seems to be the one I need for band locking, I've been on the good band in my area for 2 days straight so far with no link downs, but I'm also at the start of my new month, i'll know by the end of the month if it's really working or not in my case ;)
 
Cheers, Norfolk&Signal

In my case, the cell lock facility does seem to be providing the increased speed solution I am seeking, as I am now achieving CA on a cell that routers choose to avoid otherwise.

One other piece of learning that may be worth passing on: the Chateau LTE6 does not hold the setting on a reboot, so some scheduling is necessary.

I thought I was entering the correct code to achieve this, but I was not automatically retrieving cell lock on a reboot. I contacted Mikrotik and the answer is interesting regarding the time delay that is needed:

Hello,

Cell lock might not be activated because modem needs some more time for startup than router itself, so AT command can not be launched on interface which only starting to boot up.

In this case, you can try to write a script with a delay, or let the AT command to be executed only when LTE interface is up.

You can try something like this:

/system script add name=tests source={
{
:delay 30s;
{
/interface lte at-chat lte1 input="AT+GTCELLLOCK=1,0,0,6175,176"
}
}
/system scheduler add disabled=no name=tests on-event=tests start-time=startup
Or you can search for inspiration on our wiki page or forum


I actually think 30s may be too short. My setup is now working perfectly with a 90s delay.

Also the code looks a lot simpler when viewed in Scheduler and Scripts in Webfig, as the attached screenshots show.
 

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Cheers, Norfolk&Signal

In my case, the cell lock facility does seem to be providing the increased speed solution I am seeking, as I am now achieving CA on a cell that routers choose to avoid otherwise.

One other piece of learning that may be worth passing on: the Chateau LTE6 does not hold the setting on a reboot, so some scheduling is necessary.

I thought I was entering the correct code to achieve this, but I was not automatically retrieving cell lock on a reboot. I contacted Mikrotik and the answer is interesting regarding the time delay that is needed:

Hello,

Cell lock might not be activated because modem needs some more time for startup than router itself, so AT command can not be launched on interface which only starting to boot up.

In this case, you can try to write a script with a delay, or let the AT command to be executed only when LTE interface is up.

You can try something like this:

/system script add name=tests source={
{
:delay 30s;
{
/interface lte at-chat lte1 input="AT+GTCELLLOCK=1,0,0,6175,176"
}
}
/system scheduler add disabled=no name=tests on-event=tests start-time=startup
Or you can search for inspiration on our wiki page or forum


I actually think 30s may be too short. My setup is now working perfectly with a 90s delay.

Also the code looks a lot simpler when viewed in Scheduler and Scripts in Webfig, as the attached screenshots show.
Thats good to know as well, I'll probably need to do the same thing with my rbm33g for my GTACT command, I haven't tested mine with reboots yet, I have thankfully had a stable connection for 6d 12hours so far with no link downs or switches to B20 after entering the GTACT command in my case.

Thanks very much for sharing i'll be adding the delay for good messure on my end too ;)
 
Norfolk&Signal

You said this:

I've found that the Three mast is in control rather than the router - as I get similar behaviour (and have to use a similar workaround) with both Huawei B525/B535 routers and Mikrotik LTE devices.

I don't think the behaviour is router related - I think it's the mobile operator/mast.

I find that, after a period of time connected (B20 + B3 CA on Three), it slows down and I have to use tools/commands to force B20 only - wait a couple of minutes and then re-add B3. Otherwise I get lower speeds. I too thought Mikrotik kit might help fix this but I'm getting the same behaviour with the Mikrotik kit. I don't think a router alone will fix the issue, although the RouterOS scripting facility is useful for adding 'smartness' to automate some of the workarounds and band hopping.


I suspect you are correct in my case, too! I noticed speeds dropping after a time, but thought that was just congestion! Seemingly not, though. If I drop Band 3 and then put it back, speeds recover.

I have taken a lead from you and have auto scheduled to drop Band 3 for a couple of minutes and then to auto add it. For now, I have set this for two-hour intervals.

I wondered what intervals did you find worked best for you?
 
I've not spent any time or indeed been scientific enough about it to establish a pattern or any timings as the problematic Three mast is at my holiday/weekend home at the coast and is therefore pretty low down in my list of priorities - but I thought I'd share my experiences on here as they've been pretty consistent over a 7 or 8 year period so I know there's something going on and my workaround seems to alleviate the issue for me most of the time.
 
Thanks for the reply. I'm still feeling my way, but provisionally concluding that a two-hour reset is overkill. Once or twice a day may be enough to keep speeds decent.
 
For Fibocom, at least in my experience, for cell lock to work you need to cfun=1,1 afterwards for the lock to take.
 
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Skippiee boppity boo
 
For Fibocom, at least in my experience, for cell lock to work you need to cfun=1,1 afterwards for the lock to take.
with the commands gtact and gtcelllock and the startup scripts for them i've been locked to the good band and cell in my area all week, I even have a timer plug rebooting the router every morning before I get up.
I'm also pretty sure you don't need a startup script for gtcelllock because it mentions you need to reboot for it to take effect anyway and to enter the atcommand to disable it if you want to change sim card

Note 2: If user want to change different SIM card, please disable this feature first.
Note 4: After inputting this at command, UE must reboot because EFS file should take effect

to disable it I believe the command should be
/interface lte at-chat lte1 input="AT+GTCELLLOCK=0"
 
I'm also pretty sure you don't need a startup script for gtcelllock because it mentions you need to reboot for it to take effect anyway and to enter the atcommand to disable it if you want to change sim card
That's what cfun=1,1 does. For the cell lock to take place you have to restart the modem and cfun=1,1 does that without rebooting the router.
 
Just to re-confirm from my own recent user experience with a Chateau LTE 6 (FG621-EA):

The syntax provided by Mikrotik and reproduced in post #28 above does work.

As soon as it is entered in Terminal (to lock or unlock) the changes take effect.

I have found no need for "cfun=1,1" and had not previously seen it mentioned.

To keep the lock after a reboot, refer to the explanations provided by Mikrotik in post #33 above.

My Chateau is now doing everything I hoped for, by providing a stable cell lock solution to a faster cell with CA that other routers (and in particular, a Huawei B535-333) were reluctant to find or stick to.

Other Fibocom routers may be different, of course.
 
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