Good Signals Bad Speeds

[JasonRhodewalt]

Hello - I'm new to the scene and know just enough to be dangerous. I have a Mofi 4500 with UbiFi ATT SIM card. In my house I get sporadic download speeds that range from 1-15MBs down without touching the router. Below is a map of local cell towers... you can see there are multiple within a couple miles and although not directly LOS mostly clear except some trees. Inside the house my readings are picture #1 below. I went on the roof and got dramatically better signal (picture #2) but not much better download speeds and it still seemed somewhat sporadic (I know Pic 1 is Band 2 and Pic 2 is band 12 I just forgot to take a screen shot of band 2 while on the roof however either band was similar DL speeds). Reading around online I see people get 50+MBs/down and I feel like geographically I'm in a good spot to be getting better speeds and more consistent speeds. I'm wondering if I have some settings wrong in the modem or if I'm doing something else wrong. Any ideas would be very much appreciated.

Separate question - despite searching extensively I can't find a good way to determine which tower I'm connected to. Many sites/forums reference OpenSignal app but the app must have changed as it doesn't have the same info.

Map.PNG

Picture1.PNG

Picture2.PNG

[BillA]

Well yeah, your speeds depend on the phase of the moon... nah just kidding.
Based on the RSSI of -500+ and RSRQ of -100+ those are really bad numbers.
They should be in the > -100 and > -10 range to get any decent speeds.
You didn't mention the antennas used, assuming you're using the standard stick antennas, those are sensitive enough coupled with your low signals that someone walking by the router or trucks driving near by can deflect the signal, could cause speed fluctuations. You should try external antennas by aiming it at each towers one at a time, running speeds, then re-aim at the next one. Here are some external antennas you may want to consider:
https://thewirelesshaven.com/product-category/antennas/

[JasonRhodewalt]

Thanks for the response Bill. I was using the paddle ones (which I guess are better then stick?) for those original posts. Today I actually received a Yagi antenna and got on the roof again. I didn't record all numbers (should have...) but saw that when pointed in the right direction I could get a signal strength of -70DBm - which seems really good to me - but still getting similar DL speeds! Then on top of that I remembered I had a little AT&T hotspot for work and tried that with no antennas and I get 15-20MBs reliably. I feel like I must be doing something wrong.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J1 ... UTF8&psc=1

[BillA]

Thanks for the response Bill. I was using the paddle ones (which I guess are better then stick?) for those original posts. Today I actually received a Yagi antenna and got on the roof again. I didn't record all numbers (should have...) but saw that when pointed in the right direction I could get a signal strength of -70DBm - which seems really good to me - but still getting similar DL speeds! Then on top of that I remembered I had a little AT&T hotspot for work and tried that with no antennas and I get 15-20MBs reliably. I feel like I must be doing something wrong.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J1 ... UTF8&psc=1

Did you use the same UbiFi ATT sim in the little ATT hotspot?
If not, then you can't really compare apples with oranges.
If yes, then most likely your router/modem is causing the speed issue.
I would do a full flash of the router, preferably using the latest GoldenOrb/WiFix firmware, instead of the MoFi firmware, and see it has helped. Here's a step by step guide:
https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=6007#p6007

[JasonRhodewalt]

good point - I did not swap SIMs. I’ll try that.

I’ve also thought about switching firmware - in your experience is that usually helpful? Do you see any sort of security risks using open source firmware?

[BillA]

good point - I did not swap SIMs. I’ll try that.

I’ve also thought about switching firmware - in your experience is that usually helpful? Do you see any sort of security risks using open source firmware?

Well, you must use the same sim in both devices in order to make an accurate comparison.
I have the feeling that the UbiFi sim/plan may be throttled (either speed or data allowance), but run a test first.
MoFi's firmware is also based on OpenWRT, it's just customized.
The GoldenOrb/WiFix versions are newer with updated modem driver and bug fixes.

[JasonRhodewalt]

I looked into swapping the SIM cards and found that they are different sizes so can't try that. I went back up on the roof with the Yagi and recorded the numbers (see below). Also seemed like the DL speeds were much more consistent at between 20-25MBs down. I noticed I'm connected to a different PCI... I have multiple towers in the same direction. I have a few more questions that came up

1) You mention my RSSI and RSSQ are very poor - are there specific things I can try in the router to compensate for this? I guess I'm still stuck on the strong signal strength and not sure what else to do
2) If I move to GoldenOrb/WiFix any concerns about not being able to go back? I am quarantined in home with kids and a wife that depend on internet
3) I think the answer is no but just to confirm is there a way to force connection to a certain tower? I have multiple in the same direction from house and not sure which I'm connected to. Earlier in the day it seemed I was connected to a different one that may have been more stable

Thanks again for sharing all your knowledge!

YagiOnRoof.PNG

[BillA]

I looked into swapping the SIM cards and found that they are different sizes so can't try that. I went back up on the roof with the Yagi and recorded the numbers (see below). Also seemed like the DL speeds were much more consistent at between 20-25MBs down. I noticed I'm connected to a different PCI... I have multiple towers in the same direction. I have a few more questions that came up

1) You mention my RSSI and RSSQ are very poor - are there specific things I can try in the router to compensate for this? I guess I'm still stuck on the strong signal strength and not sure what else to do
2) If I move to GoldenOrb/WiFix any concerns about not being able to go back? I am quarantined in home with kids and a wife that depend on internet
3) I think the answer is no but just to confirm is there a way to force connection to a certain tower? I have multiple in the same direction from house and not sure which I'm connected to. Earlier in the day it seemed I was connected to a different one that may have been more stable

Thanks again for sharing all your knowledge!

YagiOnRoof.PNG

You could buy a sim cutter/adapter which is always a good thing to have on hand from Amazon or even at a local independent phone shop. Like this > https://www.amazon.com/MMOBIEL-Universa ... B01MDNZ1PV

The RSSI/RSRQ shown in the picture are really poor for data to work. It could have been taken at a time when the antennas was disconnected... who knows.

You can flash the latest GoldenOrb/WiFix in bootloader mode, and back to Mofi at any time.
https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=6007#p6007

Before worrying about connecting to any particular tower, make sure you have a pair of good antennas, and let the modem search out the best bands. I would rotate the external antennas 360 degrees at 10degree increments while restarting the router at every adjustment increment, run some speeds test and go from there. Forget those online tower maps, other than giving you a general idea, they aren't the most accurate in the real world. Once you got a decent signal/speed, you can think about optimizing it by locking it to certain bands.

[Chungus23]

Doesn't it also depend on the cell tower's capacity/technology/congestion? I've been to areas where I get -25 dBm worse signal on a particular band but get 4 times the speeds without any carrier aggregation.

Also, idk how it works on sierra but if you lock to a particular band as you're doing, does it hinder carrier aggregation combinations to that band?

The red circles on the map are, "unconfirmed" cell towers/antennas, they are just assumed to be there because of crowdsourced signal data. The cell towers that are green circles are, "confirmed".

But it seems like Sprint actually has the closest cell tower there and your device supports all sprint bands. What you can do is get the unlimited data $15 tablet plan on Sprint and test your speeds on that network and if it doesn't work, just tell them you didn't use data and they'll refund.

Same thing with Verizon, which actually shows to be the best signal option there and will probably have the best speeds.

[BillA]

Doesn't it also depend on the cell tower's capacity/technology/congestion? I've been to areas where I get -25 dBm worse signal on a particular band but get 4 times the speeds without any carrier aggregation.

Also, idk how it works on sierra but if you lock to a particular band as you're doing, does it hinder carrier aggregation combinations to that band?

The red circles on the map are, "unconfirmed" cell towers/antennas, they are just assumed to be there because of crowdsourced signal data. The cell towers that are green circles are, "confirmed".

But it seems like Sprint actually has the closest cell tower there and your device supports all sprint bands. What you can do is get the unlimited data $15 tablet plan on Sprint and test your speeds on that network and if it doesn't work, just tell them you didn't use data and they'll refund.

Same thing with Verizon, which actually shows to be the best signal option there and will probably have the best speeds.

One of the best and cheapest ways to find out which carrier has good signal/speed in your area is by borrowing all the different carrier phones from family, friends, or neighbors, then run some speed tests in and around your home. Whichever gives you the best performance, usually will be even better with a good modem with external antennas.
While those online tower maps may give you a general idea about tower locations, there's nothing better than actually trying it out in the real world. That's just my 20+ years of experience in the cellular field.