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Slow 5g broadband driving me nuts

boojieben

Casual Member
A couple of years ago I moved home and had the bright idea of using 5g broadband to save a few quid over getting fibre connected but I never achieved the speeds I should be getting. I cannot get any more than 30Mbps over 5g. If I put the sim card into my phone and do a speed text whilst sat right next to the router I can get 500Mbps+.

My router is a Huawei CPE Pro 2 and upon realising that my speeds are bad I send the router off for a partial modification which has given me a couple of external antenna ports. To those ports I have a Bluespot mini 5g antenna mounted to the side of my house. I'm fairly close to a mast and the antenna is facing the way it should be. The post code is S6 1AL.

1714475548451.webp


Still my speeds remained the same. I contacted Paradar for some advice and they asked me to show my signal strength with the antenna attached and detached, which are below.

1714475905606.webp


Paradar tell me that my signal was fine without the antenna so that was a waste of money.
In case it was a network problem I switched from Three to Vodafone - the same problem remains.

Could anyone shed any light as to what the problem could be? I'm losing the will and the few quid I was looking to save on fibre has been heavily outweighed by the money I'm wasting on hardware.
 
A different nearby mast could provide better performance, if any such mast exists.

Do you require any more performance than you currently see?

There are debugging steps that could be taken on a hobby basis but the expectation there can be a quick fix, or solution by money, is often going to lead to disappointment.

I would agree you would expect better than 30 Mbps down. Do https://speedtest.net and https://fast.com agree on this number early in the morning and late at night?
 
Thanks for replying. Alternative masts are the other side of the house and I'm on a hill so there's a lot of houses and a fair bit of distance between us.
The 30Mbps is the maximum I can get, it's often less and isn't enough to run a busy household from.
I presume there's nothing glaringly obvious as to what the issue could be?
 
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I don't know if it will help but here's the signal XML....

<response>
<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" id="dark-mode-custom-link"/>
<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" id="dark-mode-general-link"/>
<style lang="en" type="text/css" id="dark-mode-custom-style"/>
<style lang="en" type="text/css" id="dark-mode-native-style"/>
<style lang="en" type="text/css" id="dark-mode-native-sheet"/>
<pci>337</pci>
<sc/>
<cell_id>4656402</cell_id>
<rsrq>-6.0dB</rsrq>
<rsrp>-87dBm</rsrp>
<rssi>-61dBm</rssi>
<sinr>28dB</sinr>
<rscp/>
<ecio/>
<mode>7</mode>
<ulbandwidth>20MHz</ulbandwidth>
<dlbandwidth>20MHz</dlbandwidth>
<txpower>PPusch:2dBm PPucch:0dBm PSrs:0dBm PPrach:0dBm</txpower>
<tdd/>
<ul_mcs>mcsUpCarrier1:15</ul_mcs>
<dl_mcs>mcsDownCarrier1Code0:0 mcsDownCarrier1Code1:5</dl_mcs>
<earfcn>DL:2850 UL:20850</earfcn>
<rrc_status>1</rrc_status>
<rac/>
<lac/>
<tac>40967</tac>
<band>7</band>
<nei_cellid>No1:337No2:5No3:338</nei_cellid>
<plmn>23415</plmn>
<ims>0</ims>
<wdlfreq/>
<lteulfreq>25100</lteulfreq>
<ltedlfreq>26300</ltedlfreq>
<transmode>TM[4]</transmode>
<enodeb_id>0018189</enodeb_id>
<cqi0>15</cqi0>
<cqi1>127</cqi1>
<ulfrequency>2510000kHz</ulfrequency>
<dlfrequency>2630000kHz</dlfrequency>
<nrulbandwidth>50MHz</nrulbandwidth>
<nrdlbandwidth>50MHz</nrdlbandwidth>
<nrulmcs>NRmcsUpCarrier1:16</nrulmcs>
<nrdlmcs>NRmcsDownCarrier1Code0:25 NRmcsDownCarrier1Code1:0</nrdlmcs>
<nrtxpower>PPusch:18dBm PPucch:12dBm PSrs:18dBm PPrach:0dBm</nrtxpower>
<nrearfcn>DL:629000 UL:629000</nrearfcn>
<nrulfreq>3435000kHz</nrulfreq>
<nrdlfreq>3435000kHz</nrdlfreq>
<nrsinr>12dB</nrsinr>
<nrrsrp>-89dBm</nrrsrp>
<nrrsrq>-10.0dB</nrrsrq>
<nrbler/>
<nrrank/>
<nrcqi0>32639</nrcqi0>
<nrcqi1>32639</nrcqi1>
<scc_pci>0xA</scc_pci>
<arfcn/>
<bsic/>
<rxlev/>
</response>
 
It may be worth locking different bands as well as trying for a different mast.

When I was on 4G my max speeds were ~ 160Mbps with Three and 270Mbps with Lyca.

When I found out Three had started 5G but not told anyone I got a 5G router. Now I'm happy with Three 5G.

I also tested Lyca and RWG (both EE) in the current router:

5G - connects to n28 - pathetic speed, around 30Mbps if I'm lucky, a similar speed to you. But if I band lock n78 instead I can sometimes get a whiff of n78 and speeds of 300Mbps. However, sticking to 4G with EE gives reliably around 180Mbps.
 
Your 5g signal stats are very good without the antenna connected but even better with it, so you may as well keep it connected bearing in mind the money you've spent on modifications.

On your first point about trying the SIM in your phone and achieving 500Mbps+, I would check if you can see what bands/cell you're connected to using your phone and comparing with your Huawei. On Samsung you can find this information by dialling *#0011# at the dial screen and getting up the service menu.

As mikeliuk has said you should expect far better speeds than 30Mbps bearing in mind your stats (and I have a couple of devices that achieve 200Mbps+ on worse stats than yours) so I see it being either your Huawei happens to connect to a different/congested mast than your phone (unlikely) or there's an issue with the Huawei.
 
Have you considered that there might be something wrong with your router?

You say that it's slow with 2 different networks and that a phone, with smaller internal antennas, gets 500Mbps... unless the router isn't good a picking the fast bands, something's wrong with it.

If you don't want to spend money on something that might not work, order a router from a place like CEX and, if it doesn't work, send it back during the return period.
 
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I don't know if it will help but here's the signal XML....

<response>
<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" id="dark-mode-custom-link"/>
<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" id="dark-mode-general-link"/>
<style lang="en" type="text/css" id="dark-mode-custom-style"/>
<style lang="en" type="text/css" id="dark-mode-native-style"/>
<style lang="en" type="text/css" id="dark-mode-native-sheet"/>
<pci>337</pci>
<sc/>
<cell_id>4656402</cell_id>
<rsrq>-6.0dB</rsrq>
<rsrp>-87dBm</rsrp>
<rssi>-61dBm</rssi>
<sinr>28dB</sinr>
<rscp/>
<ecio/>
<mode>7</mode>
<ulbandwidth>20MHz</ulbandwidth>
<dlbandwidth>20MHz</dlbandwidth>
<txpower>PPusch:2dBm PPucch:0dBm PSrs:0dBm PPrach:0dBm</txpower>
<tdd/>
<ul_mcs>mcsUpCarrier1:15</ul_mcs>
<dl_mcs>mcsDownCarrier1Code0:0 mcsDownCarrier1Code1:5</dl_mcs>
<earfcn>DL:2850 UL:20850</earfcn>
<rrc_status>1</rrc_status>
<rac/>
<lac/>
<tac>40967</tac>
<band>7</band>
<nei_cellid>No1:337No2:5No3:338</nei_cellid>
<plmn>23415</plmn>
<ims>0</ims>
<wdlfreq/>
<lteulfreq>25100</lteulfreq>
<ltedlfreq>26300</ltedlfreq>
<transmode>TM[4]</transmode>
<enodeb_id>0018189</enodeb_id>
<cqi0>15</cqi0>
<cqi1>127</cqi1>
<ulfrequency>2510000kHz</ulfrequency>
<dlfrequency>2630000kHz</dlfrequency>
<nrulbandwidth>50MHz</nrulbandwidth>
<nrdlbandwidth>50MHz</nrdlbandwidth>
<nrulmcs>NRmcsUpCarrier1:16</nrulmcs>
<nrdlmcs>NRmcsDownCarrier1Code0:25 NRmcsDownCarrier1Code1:0</nrdlmcs>
<nrtxpower>PPusch:18dBm PPucch:12dBm PSrs:18dBm PPrach:0dBm</nrtxpower>
<nrearfcn>DL:629000 UL:629000</nrearfcn>
<nrulfreq>3435000kHz</nrulfreq>
<nrdlfreq>3435000kHz</nrdlfreq>
<nrsinr>12dB</nrsinr>
<nrrsrp>-89dBm</nrrsrp>
<nrrsrq>-10.0dB</nrrsrq>
<nrbler/>
<nrrank/>
<nrcqi0>32639</nrcqi0>
<nrcqi1>32639</nrcqi1>
<scc_pci>0xA</scc_pci>
<arfcn/>
<bsic/>
<rxlev/>
</response>
That looks good, B7+n78 (70MHz) total at excellent signal quality.

I think it's something to do with the router, I've heard that people have much better experiences on the NR5103E routers compared to the CPE Pro routers. Trust me from hearing people's stories, you won't regret upgrading.
 
I'm close to giving up. Spending £200+ on another router to save £10 a month against fibre is just not worth it.
I've had a look at LTE H-Monitor and it's connecting to a cell which isn't even listed on the tower I'm connecting to according to cell mapper. My phone connects to the same tower but a different cell.
As a last resort does anyone know if I can lock to a cell?
 
I'm close to giving up. Spending £200+ on another router to save £10 a month against fibre is just not worth it.
I've had a look at LTE H-Monitor and it's connecting to a cell which isn't even listed on the tower I'm connecting to according to cell mapper. My phone connects to the same tower but a different cell.
As a last resort does anyone know if I can lock to a cell?
It's probably just not mapped yet, Cell 18 is quite normal for band 7.

If you have a spare 5G phone, you could always use that instead of buying a router for £150. I would probably just invest in the fibre at this point though since mobile networks are not reliable.

CPE Pros just aren't that great if you look around online compared to the NR5103E's.
 
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If it were me I'd just get fibre (assuming it's proper FTTP), 5G can be OK for speed but the consistency and stability of FTTP should be leaps and bounds ahead.

I have FTTC + 5G (Used to have Starlink) here, only use the 5G for downloading but keep the FTTC around for it's more consistent performance/better latency.
 
Just reporting in. It was the bloody router after all! I swapped it out for a 2nd hand NR5103E and I'm now getting 400Mbps down. Thanks to everyone to replied.
Good to read that the new router is working for you, as you can very quickly dive down a 'rabbit hole' with this, from personal experience! I was becoming convinced that my router (Huawei 5G CPE Win H312-371 Outdoor/External Antenna) was the problem as I was getting hugely varying speeds from 3Mbps to 30Mbps, within minutes of each test. (IDMobile using Three).

On advice from this site, I'm trying a 1pmobile (EE) SIM and immediately I seem to be getting a stable 122Mbps or greater download speed plus 5G from a mast for which Three doesn't seem to provide 5G. All this from behind a double glazed window. Thus my problem, in my location, seemed to be with Three.

(BTW, Vodafone was even worse on this mast/router plus no fibre available even though I live on the edge of a town with a population well in excess of 200,000.)

24y-5grouter.webp
 
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A quick update
1. I now have the H312-371 outside on a pole and am getting good speeds from it (1pmobile/EE). I believe I would be getting higher speeds if I put it on a longer pole, ie higher, but it is much more than sufficient for my needs.
24u-wooden-support.webp

2. I was asked a question about my wooden construct. It is just two bits of wood cut off a palette, and screwed together very crudely. I then put 2 screws in the construct, positioned so that they would line up with the back of the H312-371, similar to the bolts on the official support that holds it on the pole.

My aim with this 'construct' was so that I could move this router around the house, to judge the best position with the best mast, as we have several around here. As you know, because the router cable comes out of the bottom, it wont stand up on its own. The 'construct' served its purpose and is no longer in use.
 
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