mtl26637 wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:10 am
Testing with the RM500Q-AE for the Tmob 5G stuff here. I FINALLY got things working well enough I think I can move on to next project. I'm currently testing with 2 of the TVWS yagi's you had previously mentioned and also 2 additional 12dbi 698-2700 yagi's that are very similar to the 2 TVWS antennas. The 2 TVWS yagis are Xpol and picking up 5G n71. The 2 LTE yagis are +pol (due to original mounting) and are picking up my 4G anchor b66. I do not have b2 available but do have access to b12, however, at 700mhz the RM500Q-AE won't latch on to this band since the 2 lower band antenna ports are already latched on to n71. I was using the m.2-usb3 adapter from The Wireless Haven along with the rpi4 running rooter. All I can say is FK the rpi4! I have no idea why but this was my problem the entire time it seems. Even though it 'should' be more than capable, as soon as I swapped out to my wrt32x running rooter/GO my speeds increased to what is expected. At the moment I'm aggregating 4 sims. Check out my peak speeds on the attached OMR snippet I ran this morning. wan1=att prepaid tablet / wan2=US Mobile-vzw / wan3=simplemobile-tmob / wan4=att postpaid tablet. The Tmob 5G is wan3. You gotta love the upload on that one. I can tell that its the first of the month as my speeds are most definitely NOT being throttled. I think this is the best speeds i've seen on every one of them in the past couple years for some reason.
Ultimately for anyone doing a 5G build and after all of my testing i'd have to say be careful with the hardware you choose to push your modem. Spent countless hours troubleshooting but never thought to swap out the pi4 since there isn't many other options with gigabit speeds and usb3 that fit in an external box.
Oh ya, btw, I don't think the omni for your ATT setup would work that well. As far as I know 4G will only aggregate from a single tower at a time at this point so it might be better to do some testing on each tower and pick the fastest and point some directionals at it.
NICE! So I will say I have spent about $2800 testing LOL. I can't take someone's word fully. A problem of mine for sure.
I like where your results are heading. Those TVWS Yagi's are limited in the spectrum but nail n71 so far. I can't wait to test the 600-6000mhz horns.
Omni's may be a bad idea... As far as single tower CA, my AT&T testing is confusing. I think I know where the B4/66, B14 - B2,4/66 - B2/B29, and B2,4/66 towers are. I am thinking when hitting 175-200mbps in rare cases, I may be pulling 3 different towers. 2 almost definitely.
OR! I am pulling everything off the back of the grid and yagis.
OR! I do not realize where another B14 tower head has been deployed.
On the hardware front, I am hoping a WG3526-P, RBM11G (lacks wifi option?) or RBM33G, and an RM500Q-AE is the speed/cost combo (Would like to test a SIM8200 or Sierra 9190...). However, I am still curious what the M-PCIE ports max bandwidth is, I've read anywhere from 300-480mbps. The alternative is using a WG1608 board and a 48v 60w injector to 12v 5a PoE splitter (Though the WG1608's wifi is sketchy as hell, maybe I'm missing a fix, the WG3526-P wifi 55' in the air with 12" fiberglass antennas goes far and rarely restarts). Or obviously I suppose I could use any nice router board, a POE splitter and a usb3.0 to m.2... Hindsight...
Also worried about heat dissipation, it stays hot here in the summer +90F in direct sun is almost a given for a few months minimum.
Going to pick up some mentioned 40x40mm sinks by Didney. Also maybe a IP67 fan or something to vent the cases. I am using a WiFIX antenna case (without the glue on antennas, MHF4 to N bulkheads) also a few Chinese cast 210x130x80mm CATV box (again MHF4 to N bulkheads) I have 3ft LMR400 pigtails to patch them to the antennas, however, some of the shielded RG like included with the antennas or LMR240 ultra flex would be much easier to work with. I do not like the amount of stress the LMR400 3ft pigtails are causing...
If I get everything stable and in a fairly easy to finish and tidy looking package. Going to have some happy neighbors and maybe a happy pay for all this testing.
