5GEE Home Router - External Antenna, No Improvements

[Aquai]

Few months ago we got our 5GEE home router delivered and were getting fairly unstable connections with download speeds ranging from 2-40mb/s and similar for upload dependant on where in the house we located the device.

I contacted EE and they put me in touch with TSG for an external antenna install.

They came round and were surprised by the router we had but said the antenna should work anyway so carried on with the install - I never got a clear answer on whether it would pickup the 5G or not. At the end of the install they were unable to test as they didn't have the right adaptors for the antenna to the router so left and posted some out.

These arrived and I have installed but the performance with the external antenna is actually worse than with the internals...

Any suggestions on what can we do in this situation? I have been looking at the Bluespot external antenna on Amazon but not sure this will help much!

[Aquai]

Forgot to say also tried using all 4 ports with the splitter setup as 1+3/2+4 and 1+2/3+4. 

[Endeavour70]

I too have just got 5G router from ee.  I get 20mb down and 3mb up, and am connected to the 5G network. I have 3 bars signal so connected my external omni directional antenna using  2 ports. Top two the signal dropped to 2 Bars and signal changed to 4G and sped was 15mb down and 1-2mb up. Then I tried the bottom 2 and I got no signal. Called  ee and they said try google. Found the manufacturer manual online and it said top two are 4g and bottom 2 are 5g. Next I’ll try the recommended antenna, a 4 port antenna and if that doesn’t work I’ll try connecting 4 individual antennas to router, as manufacturer say it uses 4 separate antenna ports.

my bigger issue is the router is set to NAT3 and this is a “Strict” firewall and not good for games consoles, as blocks incoming traffic, no headsets, connection drop-outs, and invisible characters, turns out also effects VoIP calls. Again called ee and was told we don’t support that router, try Google, I’ve tried UPnP, DMZ and Port Forwarding and still it’s NAT3, I’ve changed security on ee contract to unrestricted over 18’s and still NAT3, google say it’s an issue with router firmware and buy a different router and put sim in that one.

if it helps it’s made by ZYXEL, and mines the NR5103E 5G Router 2021 model, also supplied to “Three”. It uses 4x4 MIMO omni directional antenna connected by TS9  port, you can get the adapter from TS9 to SMA.

3 years ago I had “3” router, it had bad signal with a Chinese £20 antenna, but had great signal with a £150 antenna.  

I have read that both 4g and 5g can use same antenna, however there is a significant price difference between a 4G and 5G antenna, Im wondering if this is the reason for the rubbish signal,  and maybe should try an antenna that is sold as 5G, 

[EssexBoyEE]

@Endeavour70 wrote - I have read that both 4g and 5g can use same antenna, however there is a significant price difference between a 4G and 5G antenna, Im wondering if this is the reason for the rubbish signal,  and maybe should try an antenna that is sold as 5G, 

You have been misinformed on the fact that a 4G Antenna will perform the same as an 5G Antenna, this is not true, in fact without getting too techy there is no such thing as a 5G Antenna (its all about the Radio Frequency on LTE / NR Bands that the Antenna Covers), unless the 5G Antenna specifically states what Bands it is designed for I would be very selective in purchasing a "so called" 5G Antenna. 

The EE 5G Router (Zyxel NR5103) has 4 External Antenna Ports, with a an Internal / External Antenna Switch, Unlike Previous 5G CPE Units (ie, Huawei which split the 4G / 5G Antenna configuration), the Antenna Switch on the Zyxel is an All or Nothing Switch, meaning if switched to External Antennas, you would need a suitable MiMo Antenna with 4 x Feeder Cable to replace the Internal Antennas of the Device, as the All the Internal Antennas on the Zyxel will be disconnected when the Device is switched to External in favour of a preferred Matched External Antenna setup.

For your Reference, EE's Current Frequency Bands for 4G and 5G use are as follows -

4G Bands - 800Mhz to 2700Mhz (typically B1, B3, B7, B20, and in some locations B38)

5G Bands - 690Mhz to 3800Mhz (Typically N1, N3, N7, N28, N78)

My only other advice is to steer clear of cheap and cheerful Chinese Tat Antennas that cost a few quid and claim to do everything other than agitate the Buyer. 

Chris.