Same antenna, same spot, different router/modem combo different speeds

[caseyfoster]

I am new to this, I have not gone the full swapping modems in a router phase yet, I have been trying off the shelf modem/router combos from amazon and tweaking antennas and locations.

I have 2 modem/router combos currently that I am testing with an antenna that is in a fixed position. I have a Alcatel Link Hub and a NETGEAR LAX20 that I am tinkering with right now, the Alcatel linkhub gets me about 15mb down, 2 up, where as the NETGEAR LAX20 gets me about 30down, 10 up.

My problem is my LOSMOBILE ATT SIM does not work in the LAX20 for some reason but does in the Alcatel.

My question is, does the power supply to the modem/router combo impact the power to the antenna? Or what would be the reason for the significant speed difference.

[Didneywhorl]

Lookup the modem category of the device. If one is a higher category modem than the other and is the faster one, that is your answer.

Also make sure your signal levels match when comparing. Sometimes the devices will also connect to different towers even when you don't think it could. That is if there are more than one tower around you reaching you.

[caseyfoster]

Interesting, I did read something about modem category here but didnt put that together.

Is there a list/resource/index of all of the modems by category? Or is there a way to tell what category my modem is?

[gscheb]

Best bet is to search for what modem it has.
If they are cheaper devices more than likely category 4 or 6.

Far as speed differences could also be band connection. If one modem has a band frequency the other doesn't have or just naturally connects to the faster band.

Here is a video about why different devices matter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxsEEDsgM3c

That is how you will get more speed.
Better signal strength with more Modem power.

[caseyfoster]

Thanks for the responses!

I should have specified i am connecting to the same band on both modems.

So looks like the category of these modems i am using are quite low, they are just plug and play devices from amazon, which I want to exhaust first before going too crazy. I just bought this NETGEAR Orbi - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0886XZLSJ?ps ... yp_imgToDp which looks like the modem in it is category 16.

[Didneywhorl]

Orbi is a cat 18, Quectel EG18

[Dr-BroadBand]

Need to be careful with running speed test. Take note on what server it’s connecting to. This can change your results by over half. The test also uses a lot of data.

It would be better to track your Single strength in dB’s, Single Quality and single to noise.

I have seen dl change from 50Mbs to 25Mbs from one test to another with the same hardware