5gee router which antenna

[simonharryharri]

Can someone point me in the direction of the best Antenna for the 5gee router I got delivered today, EE tell me they don't sell one to go with it?!

[Barz91]

Thank you so much for your easy to understand part by part reply. 

you dissected that essay I wrote nicely 😀 

Ok so I got home and played around with the order and patterns of the wires and also the INT AND EXT switch on the back. 

let’s start with the switch on the back of the ee 2021 5g router. 

with no antenna connected on external setting I got 105mbs down and 3.91mbs up

with no antenna connected on internal setting I got 363mbs down and 31.2mbs up

bare in mind this is all with the router by the window with the fake Rolex watches ( the router can hopefully move to its desired place once I get passed the trouble shooting stage which I’m confident we will. 

I just read the parts where you said not to use the 1 to 2 adapters, the crazy thing is out of the many speed tests i just completed with the many different combinations that 1 to 2 setup is getting considerably faster speeds. However I’m definitely going to remove them and do a few more tests with the single adapters now that I’ve worked out which order gives the fastest speeds. 

replying back to the person I was chatting to earlier I can provide confident feedback that ports 3 and 4 (the bottom 2 ports) definitely  give me double the speeds. I switched to the single SME to TS9 adapters and the results are as follows:

1 & 2 got 15.7 down and 28.2 up

1 & 2 with wires flipped around increased to 200 down and 61 up

3 & 4 got 200 down and 60 up (kept the main wires how they were)

this is where it gets mind boggling. 

I switched back to the 1 to 2 adapters and was shocked at how much faster the speeds are. 

Im talking about 450mbs down and 70mbs up

see photos below. 

And 

I’ve spent about an hour messing about with all this and as it stands the split cables shouldn’t be getting faster speeds but they definitely are. 

I will be ordering a 4x4 Mimo antenna to test it and compare and the person I’ve been emailing said he would give me a full refund if I’m not happy with it once testing it.

Here is the link RRP £135 for 5m cable or £145 for 10m cable

https://quwireless.com/product/QuPanel-5G-LTE-MIMO-4x4

[BoltonSailor]

Thanks for the update.  I have to say it's pretty confusing understanding the various connection combinations you've listed now, but it's clear you're getting better speeds with the splitters and I would be very happy with that performance.  EssexBoy clearly has a view on the splitters, but evidence seems to be suggesting otherwise.  (No disrespect EssexBoy!)

The 4x4 antenna you've ordered is the same as mine.  I was advised to order the 5m version as signal loss increases the longer those wires are.  Be aware that antenna is large (c400mm square) and takes some handling up a ladder!  I'll be interested to see how you get on.

[BoltonSailor]

The other thing I would strongly advise is to be very careful when connecting to the ports at the back, especially with any new leads.  I managed to break off one of the connections  when faffing about in the loft and had to source a new router.  I learned that you might have to ease open the TS9 on the lead to make it easier to connect to the router.

I'd be really grateful if you could clarify this section please:

replying back to the person I was chatting to earlier I can provide confident feedback that ports 3 and 4 (the bottom 2 ports) definitely  give me double the speeds. I switched to the single SME to TS9 adapters and the results are as follows:

1 & 2 got 15.7 down and 28.2 up

1 & 2 with wires flipped around increased to 200 down and 61 up

3 & 4 got 200 down and 60 up (kept the main wires how they were)

I think you're saying that with just the two wires from the antenna, you got a massive speed increase just swapping the wires round when connecting to ports 1 and 2 which was about the same as connecting the two wires to ports 3 and 4.  I don't understand what you mean by (kept the main wires how they were).  Thanks.

[EssexBoyEE]

@BoltonSailor wrote -

TSG insist on connecting this antenna to ports 1 and 2 (they obviously don't provide the adaptors you have), however you will achieve (as I did) far better speeds on connecting to ports 3 and 4.  The last TSG to engineer to visit me confirmed this (and said he was sick of telling TSG there were wrong!)  His view was that the top two ports are 4G and the bottom two are 5G, but wasn't certain.  The absence of any documentation on this router is really frustrating.

- On thinking the four ports enabled 4x4 MIMO connection, I purchased and installed a 4x4 antenna, but am achieving only slightly better speeds than the panorama antenna provided by TSG.

Hmm, so your getting better spends when using a 2x2 Mimo Antenna on Pair 3/4 over Pair 1/2 ?, interesting, can you pull off Signal Info from the Router, RSRP, RSRQ and SINR for both 4G and 5G (I take it you are getting a 5G Signal) also an eNiB Cell Site Ref would be good or what ever Cell Site info it gives.

So the TSG Chap seems think Ports 1/2 are 4G and 3/4 are for 5G only, also interesting but, hmm,  why the hell would an Established Router and Switch Manufacture like Zyxel put 4 Aerial Connecters on a 5G Router for different functions and Not Label them,  unless it was at the request of EE (as the Router in question is solely exclusive to EE, well for now anyway) just doesnt make sense.

As per coincidence, theres a fairly new Kid on the Block, the ZTE MU5001 Pocket 5G Router, which has 2 External Antenna Ports, with a rumour going around that the Antenna Ports are for 5G Only, same goes for the Newish Zyxel NR5101 5G Router (very simular to the EE one but only with 2 x Antenna Ports) again uncertain rumours the Antenna Ports are 5G only, which kind of goes against the grain as most current 5G Networks are NSA, so without a an initial good 4G Signal in place, you wont get connected to the 5G Signal Layer anyway.

Im currently in the process of finishing off a Huawei 5G CPE Pro 3 Router evaluation, next on the list is the ZTE MU5001 above which Im due to get in later this week (so hopefully I can confirm what the Antenna Ports are up to on that one),  would be nice to get my hands on the EE 5G Zyxel version to test but as its an exclusive to EE and only available on a 24 month Contract its probably never going to happen.

[Barz91]

They do a 14 day cancellation 👀 

[Barz91]

I will get the 5m one thanks for the advice! 

if it makes no noticeable difference it will be going back. 

in regards to to what I wrote previously. 

I tested the single SME to ts9 adapters for you to see how the different ports perform. 

I plugged the first cable with ts9 adapter in to port one and then the other in to port two and got the terrible speeds of less than 20mbs down which I mentioned. 

I thought that can’t be right so I swapped the wires around, putting 2 to 1 and 1 to 2 (just flipped them around still using ports one and two only)

soon as I flipped them around I immediately got around the 200mbs down region.  

so that’s when I realised the two cables coming from the antenna definitely make a difference which order you plug them in. Which is why I’m my photo you will see I labelled the two main cables as top and bottom as the port configuration is vertical so it’s easier for me to remember. 

so moving on the the ports 3 and 4 I kept the same order as the better speed I achieved from 1 and two and just plugged in to 3 and 4 and sure enough the speeds was in the 350+ range (still not as quick as the 1-2 adapter I used. 

If you are still confused just use port 3 and 4 do about 5 speed tests and then swap 3 with 4 and do another 5 speed tests. Which ever gives you the beater speeds stick with that. 

can I ask you what was the difference in speed with the 4x4 antenna you received compared to the 2x2 originally used?

[BoltonSailor]

@EssexBoyEE There was definitely better speed when connecting to ports 3 and 4 over 1 and 2 - a fact confirmed by Barz91.  I agree with you that it seems most likely that the four ports are for 4x4 MIMO connections rather than a pair for 4G and a pair for 5G but the performance difference is equally notable and illogical (to me).

As I've said in this thread somewhere, I ditched the Panorama 2x2 supplied by TSG (so don't have the ability to test this any more), and installed a QuPanel 4x4 connecting it as you advised me somewhere in this thread.  I'm not getting fantastic speeds - only about c150mb but I feel I've tried everything I can now, short of trying all the options for connecting the 4 cables to the 4 ports.  I'm wary of doing this though given I've already broke a router due to the flimsy ports.

I just keep an eye on this thread, offering input where I can, and looking out for any new information.

[BoltonSailor]

@Barz91 this is very interesting.  I have no idea why swapping the cables round on ports 1 and 2 would make such a difference.  It's making me want to try all the options for connecting my 4x4 now!
I have to say that currently the 4x4 didn't achieve hugely faster performance - may be 20Mbs more but it does get better signal readings and is generally more reliable.  I remain uncertain whether there was actually any benefit in getting it, but given your test results, as I say, I may well have a play with the connection options to see if it makes any difference.  Thanks.

[EssexBoyEE]

@BoltonSailor and @Barz91 if you guys can get the Signal Info whilst doing the speed Tests and which Port(S) that would help to through some light on whats going on. 

You should find the Signal info on the Admin Area somewhere, ideally RSRP, RSRQ and SINR (on Both 4G and 5G, together with any Cell Site, Band InFo, CA and ideally the Cell eNIB.

Best time to do Speed Testing is late at Night when there is less or no congestion.

On the 4x4 Mimo antenna, its not really going to make any difference on whether the Ports are 4G / 5G separated (although I still cant see this personally) because the 4x4 Antenna covers All the Bands anyway for each Coax Cable Port.

On the 4x4 Mimo Speed, its wont be Gospel, the 4x4 Mimo Signal will probably only Kick In during a heavy download (Speed Test should do it) and is also subject to an offering of a High Quality Equipped Cell Site, and the right conditions of Signal Strength and Signal Quality, in fact same goes for 2x2 Mimo but its not as stringent. 

Hopefully EE haven't locked the Firmware Down to much, you you should be able to get some Info from the Admin Area, or even try the Zyxel Apps from the Store, from memory there is also a App called LTE Alley, fairly sure that's Zyxel, might be worth giving LTE Alley a go, is for LTE Router positioning for best Signal but could be useful for your Antenna Testing.

[BoltonSailor]

Hi EssexBoy.  This shows the information from the router's status page.  It was from here and using cellmapper.net that I realised I wasn't connecting to the 5G mast that EE and TSG said I should be connecting to (but this is another long story).  I believe I am now pointing my antenna directly at the mast for this cell ID which I loosely understand is providing me 5G (N78) on top of 4G on NSA.  I've looked at LTE Alley, but it does not support this router (NR5103) plus I think EE have locked it down severely.  I'm summoning up the courage to get back in the loft and try the 24 combinations of connections without breaking my router again!  It will probably be the weekend to be honest.