Bandwidth to a specific tower

[Walmyster]

Hi all,

I use 4GEE for my home broadband having tried many services over the years it has proved to be the best both in speed and in reliability. Except that.... the variation in download speed over the day is massive. I have seen over 50 Mb/s in the early hours of the morning but this can drop as low a 2 Mb/s during the day. I don’t know what else uses that specific tower during the day, perhaps the local college/students or a local school or business but this is too much of a variation. It’s clear that that particular tower needs more daytime bandwidth. Perhaps load balancing could be adjusted or something?

Anyway, I’ve tried to get a sensible conclusion from EE but I can’t get to a decent technical conversation from the EE help desk, Level 3 or whatever. I keep getting stuck at “reboot your server” etc. My system has proven that it can run close to the practical maximum speed. What I need is wider bandwidth at the tower.

Has anyone managed to get through to decent technical support? Any ideas?

[bristolian]

I'm tended to agree that those look like fairly cell-edge figures to me, the cell-ID unfortunately isn't much use without the corresponding eNB ID.

Assuming that you are on the edge of coverage, then the bandwidth available on that cell (which, in a rural area, could potentially be limited spectrum 800Mhz) is only part of the equation.

[Walmyster]

On a hill behind the house. Single tower about 3km away.

Huawei B618 2020- Unlocked 4G/LTE 600 Mbps Mobile Wi-Fi Router

Theta Communication Omni Directional 4G 3G LTE MIMO External Antenna Aerial Signal Booster 46dbi

[Walmyster]

Indeed. I don’t think the tower is even in LoS. Still gets 50 meg in the early hours though...

[EssexBoyEE]

3km inst that far especially if your using external Antennas. Where are they mounted and how far apart, presumably there 180 degree with a 45 degree offset. ?

Is the Site line of sight. Can you see it

What's the Amp your using here and why, what Bands does the Amp have

[Walmyster]

The antenna is a single one with two “poles’ and it’s on a 15 ft pole attached to a garden shed.

not LoS.

the amp is part of the router I think.

[bristolian]

Does the software have any reference to "LTE Carrier ID" or EARFCN?

[EssexBoyEE]

I don't know the Antenna, any Web Links on it or a Picture of your setup.

If the Router is 600mbs rated then Cat11 or 12 from memory, so will have 4x4 Mimo.

Still not sure about this Amp your using, how many feeders from and to the antennas and the Amp, how long is the feeder cable and what type.

[bristolian]

If you have an EE mobile, what sort of speeds are you getting from that?

[EssexBoyEE]

If you got another Phone put the SIM in that then do some Tests near the Shed where you antennas are.

Download Netmonster from the App Store, that will tell you info like Log On Band. Carrier Aggregation, CI, EARFCN, eNBID plus more on the Phone,then Post up so that @bristolian can look up other Cell Info near you.

Alternatively, if no Phone  I did post up an Huawei API Command Post recently on here, regarding getting Info from the Router directly but can't seem to find the Post at the moment.

[bristolian]

By means of "stepping back" a little, here...

This post was started by @Walmyster commenting on perceived variable data speeds. Those data speeds can be impacted by many factors, but signal quality and the amount of traffic on the local network can all make a difference.

The RSRP figures that've been posted, suggest to me that this device is being used on the edge of coverage, and this will certainly have some impact.

An EARFCN or eNB-ID will help enable identification of what 4G-carriers are in-use, and therefore how much bandwidth is ordinarily available.

Testing using another EE phone will be a good check of whether this is an issue with the router or not.