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Three ( 3 ) 5g signal

ljw2k

Regular Member
Hi all. have a ZTE MU5001 5g broadband router which is using a Three ( 3 ) data sim.

Looking on Cell Mapper and Mastdata I will or should not get 5g here but I have mounted a BlueSpot Mini 5G ONLY antenna around 4m up the gutter and get around 300Mbps-400Mbps Download but Only 3-5 Upload.

My question is there anyway to get more upload speed, I have tried to move the BlueSpot directional antenna a little to the left & right bit doesn't seam to make any difference.

I'm quite happy with the download speed especially when I wasn't expecting to get 5g.
 

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The thing is the upload uses 4G. That antenna - if 5g only - does not have an impact on upload.
 
The thing is the upload uses 4G. That antenna - if 5g only - does not have an impact on upload.

I did not know the upload would use 4g and this antenna is definitely ONLY 5G. The reason I went for this is the next model up doubles in price and considerably larger.

It must be picking some 4g up then to enable my low upload speed right?
 
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That's the problem. UK 5G uses 5G only for download. Upload still uses 4G, therefore for a good upload you need a decent 4g signal. -116db decidedly isn't good. Try moving your router around for best 4g signal. Also turn it slowly through 360 degrees while watching your 4g signal. If you can bump that 4g signal up to -90 -100db it'll be much better. You may find it easier to unplug the antenna temporarily.
 
Another reason I went for the Mini version besides it being cheaper it had almost double the gain of the more expensive one and this might be why my upload speeds are more than acceptable.

My dilemma now is if I buy the 4g&5g Bluespot antenna it won't perform as well on downloads as it only has 5-8dBi compared to the Mini which has a 12 dBi gain.
 

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The thing is the upload uses 4G. That antenna - if 5g only - does not have an impact on upload.
The bluespot mini 5G increases upload significantly for me on the MU5001 (see below topic). I go from 1-3Mbps upload without the antenna attached to 30-35Mbps with it attached. It has no effect on 4g signal. I've read previously that 5G NSA is used for download only but the indications are that N78 is being used for upload? I have an RTL SDR so I'm thinking I could lock to band 3 and then scan the upload frequency whilst doing a speed test (the best I can do with the limitation of the RTL frequency range).


@ljw2k I can't help you given our different experiences with the same antenna and router setup however with reference to your comment on HUKD about power cycling to keep the MU5001 battery in good condition - this isn't needed.

The Telestra manual for the MU500 which is a similar model has the following notes under charging information
This device can be left on charge permanently but the battery charge will be limited to 65% capacity (please refer to Protected Charging Mode detailed on page 3 of this guide). This is to protect the battery from over-charging and is not a fault. If the unit is left on charge for more than 16 hours then
it will switch to Protected Charging Mode, limiting the battery to 65% capacity.

The same protected charging mode occurs on the MU5001. After being plugged in for a similar amount of time it will limit charging to 65%. This isn't reflected on the device as it will show 100% until you restart it (after which point it will correctly show 65%). I'm assuming this is a bug which may get fixed in a later update
 
Another reason I went for the Mini version besides it being cheaper it had almost double the gain of the more expensive one and this might be why my upload speeds are more than acceptable.

My dilemma now is if I buy the 4g&5g Bluespot antenna it won't perform as well on downloads as it only has 5-8dBi compared to the Mini which has a 12 dBi gain.
Have you tried without an external antenna? Try positioning it in various places around the house, see what happens.
Also, not sure this router even has the capability to use an external antenna for other than 5g, it seems to be a trend.
 
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I only get 4g inside the house @around 10Mbps download but if I walk outside into the front garden then it picks up the 5G. a few hundred meg and did not take much notice of the upload as I knew I needed an outside antenna to get 5g.

I will see how I get on with the speeds and monitor it to see how stable it is.
I'm sure my son who plays online games will let me know if any worse than my ISP which is Virgin.

I appreciate your time and help.
 
If I purchased the 4g/5g Bluespot antenna would I see an improvement. I would like to mention my son plays online games and he says his ping is around 80 and lag is pretty bad.
 
Not sure a 4G+5G antenna will help with the ping, but it should help with the upload.
Try some Panorama or Bluespot antennas off amazon.. Easy return if it doesn't work out.
 
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I have today purchased the Poynting XPOL-2-5g version 3 antenna which has mostly excellent reviews.

 
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