EE APN Settings: Where to find them

[hutchibi]

I have a slightly different question.  I have a router designed for use on a boat, which takes a data SIM.  I’ve tried the settings with ‘everywhere’ as the APN name but am getting a terrible connection.  My iPhone, which is also on EE, gets 60MB but the router even though it shows a very strong EE connection (50dB) is only getting about 2MB in exactly the same spot.  Are there different settings for data only/ should I be using eezone as the APN name or something different?

[hutchibi]

I’ve now got those additional RSRP/Q settings etc so hopefully that may shed a bit more light on this.  I’d certainly be very grateful for any advice.  I’ve attached screenshots of the main settings but the key ones I think are needed are as follows:

- Signal strength -51dBm

- Cell ID 8531202

- RSRP -77dBm

- RSRQ -11 dB

- SINR 21.5 dB

- Connected band LTE Band 3

I’ve also done a few speed tests and I’m consistently getting download speeds of around 2MB but upload speeds of somewhere between 8 and 10MB, which seems a bit weird.

[XRaySpeX]

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[EssexBoyEE]

The RSRP Signal and SINR is very good, excellent in fact, the RSRQ is a bit down but nothing too sad, the RSRP is around 20 to 25db down on the RSSI (Signal Strength -51) that's about normal as to be expected, it all looks good tbh.

The APN Setting are all as they should be.

Might be the Router, or the Network issue but you said you were getting Good DL from the Mobile is that still the case?.

Are you at this location now and do you have a postcode of the, or near, the location.

[hutchibi]

Thanks for the quick reply. I’m not at the boat now unfortunately (would be much nicer than working!) but the postcode is SO31 1ZL. I was puzzled why the upload speed was so much faster than the download one. I did get a few tests where the download speed was a bit better, so it was quite variable, but the upload speeds have stayed in a consistently narrow range.

[EssexBoyEE]

The EE Mast your logged on to is eNB 33325 which is just north of Addison Rd, Sarisbury, I've just done a quick check on the EE Public Status Page and there doesn't appear to be any Network issues.

One thing I have just notice from your List of the APN is there is a Dail Number Field within Settings which is blank, I don't know your Router so does this need an entry, if it does type in number *99# 

When you bought this Router did it come with the internal Aerials and how portable or removable is it, I assume it runs of 12V.

[hutchibi]

That's a good point re the internal aerials. Yes, I still have them so it
should be possible for me to bring it home and test them here as well.

[EssexBoyEE]

Yea, that was my thinking, but would probably go one step further and take it for a drive, then you could get a feel for how it's performing  compared with your phone across various masts etc

Did you get anywhere with your SIM swop by the way.

How long have you had this Router and what did it cost if you don't mind me asking

[hutchibi]

I didn’t get a chance to do the SIM swap in the end, so still need to try
that.



Fair to say that the minute any equipment is put on a boat it seems to
double in price! The router itself was £400 but the main reason I bought it
was that I wanted a one-stop product with marine spec external antennas (an
extra £300 including low loss LMR400 cable ...) that would work on 12V DC.



The sales pitch is that the LTE Class 3 modem offers long range and up to
70Mbps speeds and with the twin MIMO antennas will operate up to 20 miles
offshore. Time will tell, but the vendor has a very good reputation in the
marine market.

[EssexBoyEE]

Yes I understand the bolting things on the Boat cost thing (glad you said Boat and not Ship) as although I've spent most of my time on Land Mobile Radio stuff I've have done a few Marine Projects, but as you say the Bolt On's are not cheap, and seems to get more expensive the closer you get to that Sunseeker place in Poole.

The 700 quid all in doesn't supprise me, the LMR cable is descent enough stuff as long as it's genuine (Times Microwave make etc) and not some Chinese Copy, can't vouch for the Aerials as don't know what they use but if there is any info on them I would expect them to cover around 700mhz to 2.7ghz and have a good Omni Directional pattern and be a proven Make or Design. That just leaves the Router, again no knowledge on them but I just hope it's not some cheapo mounted in a Splash Proof or Water Sealed Container.

Without putting my neck out of joint its the lack of 4G+ / LTE A on the Router is where I seem to have a mental block for the asking price.

Your never really going to get amazing speeds on a 4G Router or Phone that doesn't support Carrier Aggregation (LTE A) and most stuff out there today, even the cheaper stuff supports some form of CA,.

As for the Sales Pitch, well a Sales Pitch is just that, but again the Class 3 or Cat 3 (it's probably Cat 4) is a Specification Category and has nothing to do with Range or Distance, although modern advancement in LTE Categories is designed so that as you move away from the Mast, or in other words Signal Quality starts to degrade, all the magical trickery of LTE starts to fall off, or roll back if you like, to a lower specification and hence speed. The Twin Antennas again don't have much to do with Range but again speed, you need twin antennas to receive 2x2 MiMo, 4 to get 4x4 and so on, 2x2 Mimo will theoretically double your Speed, 4x4 double again over 2x2 etc.