Wireless Joint

Hello all!

I've lurked quite a bit, thanks to many for useful threads. I'm not sure which category this would best fit into, as I'm only doing this for the first time (LTE Modem that isn't a phone hotspot).

Using the AT&T method, and my results on first attempt are pretty good.




Not sure if there are better bands to try, or if I should attempt adjusting my dual yagi antennas in X config...

Any suggestions? Speeds are decent, but was hoping for more. This test is at 7PM so peak usage no doubt, might see better in non-peak times for sure.

Thank you all!

Seems like it should be higher. Your signal strength on the first band and 3rd band aren't horrible, but they aren't the worst. You have a reasonably good SINR. There is either interference or congestion or both, as shown by the RSRQ value.

Unplug the second antenna to see if you are getting spacial multiplexing MIMO. If the download speed goes down to about half the current speed, then you were already getting it. If it doesn't go down, then either the tower doesn't support it or something in your antennas isn't supporting it. You can try spacing the antennas out more to help optimize MIMO or ensure they are at 90 degrees from each other as you mentioned.

Have you tried aiming them left or right to try to increase the RSRP values (get them closer to zero)? If you could get the 1st and the 3rd carriers down to about -90 and the middle carrier to -80, then the speed should go up a lot, unless the tower is highly congested.

The upload generally isn't affected as much during peak times as the download, and your upload is a bit slower too. But maybe that is normal for -100 RSRP. Your best option is to try to get the RSRP numbers higher.

I'll probably work with the antenna pair sometime this weekend. I don't like speed tests, they aren't often that accurate. I started a file download and was getting between 9 and 9.5MB/s (not mbps) So that's much better than 37mbps reported by the speed test.

The antenna are approximately 17 inches apart, and are in X config. This is AT&T country, meaning everyone I know uses it, so it's likely congestion. We'll see what I get on a late night soon enough.

Open to any other suggestions of course. Any suggestions on band locking? I see there's an option to ask the router/modem to do 4G only, but when I tried that it seemingly froze up. Not sure if I was just impatient or what.

thejohnfist wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2019 8:32 pm I'll probably work with the antenna pair sometime this weekend. I don't like speed tests, they aren't often that accurate. I started a file download and was getting between 9 and 9.5MB/s (not mbps) So that's much better than 37mbps reported by the speed test.

Very good point. That sounds more like it for download speeds for as much bandwidth as you have with those 3 carriers. I forgot to mention that. Although I use that google speed test often in other scenarios, if I want to have something more reliable, I use the speedtest app.

Are you connected to the router with an ethernet cable when you are doing the tests? Wifi will often skew things. Turning off or disconnecting all other devices in the house helps too. I've even gone as far as using windows firewall to disable all other apps other than speedtest and chrome from being able to connect to the internet. I use the speedtest app for windows 10 rather than the website too. And I mark speedtest.net's server in Chicago (since my AT&T seems to route to the internet there, even though I live in Minnesota) as my favorite so that it always uses the same server. That reduces variability and I get good speeds with that server. In your case, if you use speedtest's app, and if there is a speedtest.net server in Texas somewhere, that would be my pick.

thejohnfist wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2019 8:32 pm The antenna are approximately 17 inches apart, and are in X config. This is AT&T country, meaning everyone I know uses it, so it's likely congestion. We'll see what I get on a late night soon enough.

What is interesting is that your upload is a little slow. Generally, with a good connection, the upload will sometimes be faster than the download. Your connection strength is sort of middle ground, so that might be what's going on.

thejohnfist wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2019 8:32 pm Open to any other suggestions of course. Any suggestions on band locking? I see there's an option to ask the router/modem to do 4G only, but when I tried that it seemingly froze up. Not sure if I was just impatient or what.

You can certainly band lock it to each of those bands individually to see which ones are faster than the others. You can also configure it to allow all bands *except* those bands above to see if other bands show up to the party and what speeds you get from those. If you get faster speeds from other bands, then you can lock in the fastest ones.

Of course, any time you lock in anything, you are losing out on some flexibility/redundancy. If those bands go down or become busy, or your modem connects to another tower, then locking could have some negative consequences too. It is a trade-off.

You'll want to grab the stats while the speed test is happening, as you have below, to see all the bands in action and to ensure that the unique identifier for the sector of the tower that you are connected to is consistent from one test to another. If the modem connects to another tower, then that's a whole new ballgame.

Welcome to the forums!

Small bits of info I thought might be useful to add.

I'm pointing at a tower that's approximately 3.1 miles away, with moderate foliage between. My antenna, unfortunately, are pointing across TWO metal buildings, I've read that can cause problems. I've also not attempted to adjust my antenna for elevation difference, simply pointed it in the direction of the tower itself.

I'll try to get back here this weekend with more updates once I can spend some time doing more tests. For now, it's doing a good job filling the connectivity needs of my family.

Also wanted to make note here, that we've had a few short instances where loss of connectivity has happened. Unfortunately, I was unable to get to a computer fast enough to see if it was the signal/modem or a routing issue.

Not sure if this is something that happens? It only happened maybe 3 or 4 times during the day, with 5 to 30 second loss of connectivity.

Small improvement I think. Could probably improve the SSC1 a bit more since it was better last time before I messed with it. Still getting north of 70mbps... somewhere between 70-100 actually. Speed tests don't verify, but large file downloads over wifi are going at up to 7.1MB/s and over ethernet at approximately 9.6MB/s

Pings have been low, around 70-80 which is acceptable. Not too much packet loss despite the signal quality. I think some of that may be the metal roofs it's shooting over by only about 6 feet.

Could anyone why it shows LTE Band as B5, then shows SCC1 Band as B30 then SCC2 Band as B2?

Thanks!

thejohnfist wrote: ↑Sun Jul 21, 2019 1:50 pm Could anyone why it shows LTE Band as B5, then shows SCC1 Band as B30 then SCC2 Band as B2?

The first one is the primary carrier. The other two are secondary carriers. The first one is used for downloads and uploads. The first plus the other two are used for downloads by aggregating all that bandwidth together and talking on all 3 bands at the same time. Since the first band is only 5 MHz wide, your uploads will be slower.

Your first screenshot of the stats and your most recent one are from different towers or from different equipment on the same tower. I'm guessing your speed test that you originally posted was when the modem was connected to this latest tower, hence the slower upload speeds.

The only way you can get faster upload speeds is to point at a different tower that gives you a wider band for the primary carrier. 20 MHz is the most you'll get and 5 MHz is generally the least you'll get. For downloads, whichever tower gives you the most bandwidth across all carriers is generally your best bet. For instance if you can get 20+10+10, that would be really good, giving you 40 MHz of bandwidth. If you get 5+10+10 (your latest tower stats), then that's 25 MHz.

How busy the tower is plays into this a lot too. In theory, you could have a very busy tower with more bandwidth and get slower speeds. That bandwidth isn't reserved just for you. It is shared between you and whoever else is connected at the same time. Each of those chunks of bandwidth are broken down into small units and everyone connected gets a share of them. The shares are re-evaluated at the millisecond level, so as someone's download finishes, then the resources are returned to the pool and given out to the other devices that are still connected.

Obviously, signal strength plays into it too. But, in general, aim the antennas until you get a tower that gives you more bandwidth than the other towers and then fine tune that connection. Do speed tests for all towers to see if there are any oddballs that give you more speed with less bandwidth or vice versa. Just keep an eye on the Cell ID number and always get your signal stats *while* you are doing the speed test, to be sure the speeds you are recording are for the Cell ID you think they are for.

Thanks! - Yep, not unfamiliar with the backhaul methods of bandwidth management. Didn't expect to get 3CA out of this set up.

There's another tower a few miles farther than the one I'm on, but honestly, I can't complain with 60-100mbps. It's more than I need, and enough to be happy with. Ping is good enough for me. Upload really isn't all that important to me, I think I'm getting between 3 and 7mbps. Which is plenty.

Thanks for all the input. Love this site, will continue to lurk. Might be helping out a friend with a similar setup in the not so distant future.

Congrats on a working setup!