Zyxel 5103e + BlueSpot now slow

[bob320320]

So as a background I live in a semi-rural village, work from home and have fibre to the cabinet, copper to my house. Landline ISPs offer me up to 38Mbs, which roughly translates to between 20 - 30Mbs download. I can live with this but I find the connection keeps dropping out particularly when I`m in a Teams call. I can still see and hear the other meeting members but they say I`ve "frozen" and they can`t hear me. Sounds like lack of upload to me.

So following countless visits from OpenReach which resulted in the engineer informing me that I`m 1000m+ from the cabinet and they are unlikely to resolve the issue anytime soon, take it or leave it. I bit the bullet and bought an "unlocked" Zyxel NR5103e (Ex-Three) collected PAYG sims from the big 4 and tested each sim in the device in each window of the house. I expected to get LTE+ at best maybe 50mb but was pleasantly surprised to hook up to 5G using the Three sim in my bedroom window. The signal occasionally dropped back to 4G+ (particularly when idle) but download speeds at between 200 and 300mbs had me dancing around the room.

I spared no time in grabbing an unlimited Smarty sim. In my bedroom window the RSRP when on 5G was around -115, so in an attempt to improve signal strength (and stop it going back to LTE+) I ordered a Bluespot 4/5G antenna. I suction cupped the antenna to the outside of the bedroom window (to test it) and after trying all the different combination of the 2 antenna leads in the 4 antenna ports noted that (counting from top to bottom) ports 1 and 3 were best, the RSRP improved to -105, giving me over 400mb download speed. Great. So next step get a TV ariel installer to stick it on the roof. Which I did. He came Monday installed the antenna on a pole on the roof. Plugged newly elevated antenna into ports 1 and 3, RSRP is now at -95 great, with both LTE and 5G signal showing 4 or 5 bars, (auto) connected to bands B1,B3,n78,n78 over 600mbs download, life is good, ran loads of speed test as I couldn`t believe it! Went to bed with a massive smile on my face.

Here`s where it turns sour, woke up next day and ran another speed test, 10mb, huh, smile disappears. Check the router and its still connected to the same bands (not sure if cell changed), same RSRP, same signal strength for both 4 and 5G? Numerous other speed tests and faffing in the loft occasionally got me back to top speed but more often than not I`m stuck on 10Mbs. Troubleshooting begins. I unplug router from ariel and return it to original window location, still 10Mbs. Maybe Smartys "unlimited" data isn`t quite unlimited and all these speed tests have marked me as a troublemaker/data muncher? so I stick my Three sim in, still 10Mbs

I believe I`ve tried everything including band selecting combinations (I can see B1,B3,B28,n78), moving router, patching directly into it, antenna in, antenna out, disable mesh network but still can`t get my warp speed back. I did note that since the speed issue occured at one point I did briefly get it back, quickly noted the bands and Cell ID I had connected to before it dropped me back to 10Mb, I don`t believe I`ve been on this cell since.

I`m now leaning towards looking at a router that does cell locking and trying to lock back to this cell. The Gui doesn`t have cell locking but I heard it is capable of it. Has anyone flashed their 5103e with the 5103 firmware that specifically says its not for the 5103e on the Zxyel website? Don`t fancy bricking it. https://support.zyxel.eu/hc/en-us/a...nced-Downloads-Firmwares-and-other-resources-

Any help / suggestions greatly received

 

[markc1183]

I would look at getting a 4x4 mimo antenna first and trying that, you are only using 2 of the 4 external antenna ports so that might be causing you issues with the signal and what mast/cell you connect to. Also there are posts on here about companies sleeping certain bands at night, I have that issue with my mast, I band lock to B3, B20, B32 and N78, every morning it was only B20 and N78, I leave band selection on Auto now until Three decide to send an update with cell locking.

 

[dazmatic]

ports 1 and 3 were best, the RSRP improved to -105, giving me over 400mb download speed.

That's because port 1 and 3 are the "main" 2 antenna ports - exactly the same as I found so there's a positive confirmation there - stick with them.

Wouldn't bother with another antenna just yet - it's unlikely you'll see any improvement.

I did note that since the speed issue occured at one point I did briefly get it back, quickly noted the bands and Cell ID I had connected to before it dropped me back to 10Mb, I don`t believe I`ve been on this cell since.

I don't quite understand this, do you mean the router has switched cell and is slower?

Did the Antenna installer actually install the antenna facing the mast you prefer to use? If so, did they check signal stats while installing?

I`m now leaning towards looking at a router that does cell locking and trying to lock back to this cell. The Gui doesn`t have cell locking but I heard it is capable of it. Has anyone flashed their 5103e with the 5103 firmware that specifically says its not for the 5103e on the Zxyel website? Don`t fancy bricking it. https://support.zyxel.eu/hc/en-us/a...nced-Downloads-Firmwares-and-other-resources-

Any help / suggestions greatly received

Don't bother changing router yet.

Need to confirm which masts your connecting to and which one is troublesome.

Use cellmapper.net to figure that out.

Get some screen shots of the statistics page also, it'll help figure it out.

 

[bob320320]

That's because port 1 and 3 are the "main" 2 antenna ports - exactly the same as I found so there's a positive confirmation there - stick with them.

Wouldn't bother with another antenna just yet - it's unlikely you'll see any improvement.



I don't quite understand this, do you mean the router has switched cell and is slower?

Did the Antenna installer actually install the antenna facing the mast you prefer to use? If so, did they check signal stats while installing?



Don't bother changing router yet.

Need to confirm which masts your connecting to and which one is troublesome.

Use cellmapper.net to figure that out.

Get some screen shots of the statistics page also, it'll help figure it out.

Sorry probably not explained this very well. Originally using the internal antenna I had around 200mbps. After the external antenna was installed and tested I had over 600mbs for an evening and RSRP had improved. Now without changing anything I'm getting 10mbs with or without antenna. Don't know what original cell I was on but since the issue I briefly had my 600mbs back and noted I was on cellID 282183. I can't see this on cell mapper. In fact I can't see any of the cells I ever connect to on there. Currently connected to 13172480 no antenna attached at 15mbps download.
Tried to upload screen shot but says file too large

 

[bob320320]

Ah, here we go, this equates to around 10-15Mb down and 7Mb up

 

[bob320320]

Also I did some testing selecting various combinations of bands here are the results, bottom entry is where it went warp speed for a brief period so I grabbed the info and stuck it on the bottom for future reference

 

[dazmatic]

Well, firstly bin off using B20 and B28. They add consequentially nothing of significance to the overall performance and can make things worse by presenting a stronger signal of lesser performance which many routers will steer towards.

Presumably you are checking the switch is set to ext when using external antennas? Likewise int when using internal?

Here's something to try - it'll sound daft but there's reason to the madness. With the antennas disconnected, switched to int, place a large baking tray or similar behind the router, about 15-20cm away and watch the signal page on the router and see what it does.

Wait a few minutes, keep checking and then move it around the router 45 degrees or so and repeat.

What it does is block signals from behind, but, also reflects those from the front.

You may see a difference, it may switch towers. There's a lot of variables here so might not see any difference at all.

 

[bob320320]

Thanks for the

Well, firstly bin off using B20 and B28. They add consequentially nothing of significance to the overall performance and can make things worse by presenting a stronger signal of lesser performance which many routers will steer towards.

Presumably you are checking the switch is set to ext when using external antennas? Likewise int when using internal?

Here's something to try - it'll sound daft but there's reason to the madness. With the antennas disconnected, switched to int, place a large baking tray or similar behind the router, about 15-20cm away and watch the signal page on the router and see what it does.

Wait a few minutes, keep checking and then move it around the router 45 degrees or so and repeat.

What it does is block signals from behind, but, also reflects those from the front.

You may see a difference, it may switch towers. There's a lot of variables here so might not see any difference at all.

Thanks for the reply. Yes switching the antenna switch as I plug and unplug the antenna. I like the baking tray idea, I'll give it a go tomorrow. Any ideas on those cell id locations? Might give me some idea where to point the router and put the baking tray.

 

[dazmatic]

So, as an FYI - cell identifiers are a bit of a confusing mess.

In a round about way, theres a cell identifier like what you've listed above, and theres the physical cell identifier. More often than not, these 2 get mixed up.

282183 is a cell on a tower or node (eNodeB) within central loughborough, eNB 1102

Cell ID Calculator - Cellular Coverage and Tower Map

CellMapper is a crowd-sourced cellular tower and coverage mapping service.

www.cellmapper.net

Searching eNB 1102 brings up where it is. Check whether your antenna is pointing in that direction.

 

[bob320320]

Aha, I see the mast on the map and I think I also see the problem. I'm around 5 or 6 miles NNW of that tower, the antenna is facing in that general direction but there are at least 2 masts between my house and that cell.

 

[Liono]

Yeah you won't get 5G from there unless on a lower frequency band. I am on the fringes of 5G and my masts are 3km away. I'm told 3.5GHz (n78) normally only propagates around ~ 2.5km max.

 

[dazmatic]

Yeah you won't get 5G from there unless on a lower frequency band. I am on the fringes of 5G and my masts are 3km away. I'm told 3.5GHz (n78) normally only propagates around ~ 2.5km max.

Not entirely true.

Take a look at the Solwise elevation tool https://www.solwise.co.uk/wireless-elevationtool.html

You might find despite the distance, you might have reasonably clear line of sight and be able to get 5G off it - it appears to be on top of the Loughborough college building so it's possible.

I'm 5 miles from a mast with n78 without line of sight but can see RSRP 125dBm. Not enough to connect too mind but it's there but my circumstances are extreme, for the most part I've got huge antennas.

It might be the case that you need higher gain, lower beam width antennas. The Bluespot is an ok antenna but it's gain figures are overinflated and beamwidth really wide so it'll drop over to other masts really easily.

Literally cannibalised mine with short leads and direct modem connection.

 

[bob320320]

So spent an afternoon in the loft with a couple of baking trays but no joy, tried everything but can't get back on to the mast on top of college. However, while building a temporary cardboard structure to balance the router on at height I sat the router down randomly on its side and noticed the blue globe and green bars illuminate, always a good sign with this device. Hopped onto the gui and noted it had connected to mast 2943560 at -102 never seen this mast before but looking on cellmapper it is to the west about 2 or 3 miles away. So far been solid at around 300mb but only connects to a single n78 where as had 2 on the college mast. Happy to have found the new source of 5G and happy with the speed for now. Not so happy that my bluespot now is facing the wrong way. It's a nightmare to get to and I really don't like heights.