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Huawei CPE Pro 2 does not get 5g Speeds on EE

leomuzzi
Investigator
Investigator

Hi. I have a Huawei CPE Pro 2 modem at home, which currently has a Three SIM on it. When it connects to 5G over Three, it gets decent speeds (200MBps+ download), however it is rare to find the 5G signal for Three. The same happens on mobile phones.

 

Now I got a 5G SIM pay monthly from EE on my iPhone 13, which easily gets to 250MBps download speeds anywhere in the flat, solid 5G full bars.

 

However, when I put the EE SIM on the modem, it gets to maximum 30MBps, even though the modem is showing full 5G signal. It seems to be using 4G instead. When I try to select network manually, it only shows 4G networks.

 

The modem is unlocked (bough directly) and I've factory reseted it many times, same behaviour.

 

Any ideas?

12 REPLIES 12
Leanne_T
EE Community Support Team

Hi @leomuzzi 

 

Thanks for coming here 🙂

 

If the SIM card has 5G signal in your iPhone this should show the same in the router. 

 

Are you able to try any other SIM card in the WiFi device to see if this shows 5G? 

 

It could be a problem with the router if this is not showing. 

 

Leanne.

 

Hi @Leanne_T , thanks for the message.

 

The modem does show full 5G signal. However it does not get 5G speeds as the iPhone does. I think it is using 4g instead.

 

The iPhone easily surpasses 250 MBps, but the modem is stuck at 30 MBps. Same SIM, full 5G signal showing in both cases.

EssexBoyEE
Ace Contributor
Ace Contributor

This is fairly common with 5G Routers and the EE 5G Network, just because its showing a 5G Signal on either the Front Led or the 4/5G Signal Level Bars on the Admin Page doesn't actually mean your connected to 5G just that its picking up a 5G Signal in the Air but using 4G from a different Mast

 

Although this happens on Mobile Phones its more predominant on 4/5G Routers as they are static and dont move around, your first point of call is to see if the Huawei is actually connected to the 5G Signal Layer, on a Huawei there are 2 ways to do this -

 

Login into Admin Web Page (192.168.8.1) and go to System and Device Information, towards the lower part of the info your see something like this - (ignore the numbers)

 

RSRQ -8.0dB
RSRP -104dBm
RSSI -77dBm
SINR -2dB
 
This is showing your 4G Signal Connection Status, below this you may see the following again -
 
5G or NR RSRQ -8.0dB
5G or NR RSRP -104dBm
5G or NR SINR -2dB
 
if its showing this the second lot of info then you are connected to 4G plus 5G, if there is no batch of second Info then you are not connected to 5G only 4G.
 
the second way to confirm is again Log in to the Admin Web Page, then after logging in input this line on the HTTP Search Page, to replace the original Login address to this - 
 
 
you will get a return line of information back wit the simular information that is posted above, again lack of 5G or NR Info signifies you are not connected to 5G.

 

H i @EssexBoyEE , thank you for the answer. Yes the device information page did show 5G numbers: 

 

5G RSRP -86dBm
5G RSRQ -10.0dB
5G SINR 18dB
 
There has been a development. Now the exact same strange behaviour happens with the Three SIM as well. All the stages below happened with the Three SIM.
 
Stage 1) The modem was showing 5G signal and getting 5G speeds (400 MBps). The stats inside was showing full 5G signal, with all the associated 5G RSRP/RSQR/SINR.
 
Stage 2) However after a restart (not a factory reset), the modem was still showing the 5G signal, with the associated 5G RSRP/RSQR/SINR above, BUT only getting around 30 MBps. 
 
Stage 3) I did another restart (not factory reset) and to my surprise the modem lost the 5G signal completely (no green light, no bars in the admin screen, no 5G RSRP/RSQR/SINR. Speeds around 30 MBps.
 
Stage 4) After a factory reset, the modem is back to the same as Stage 2): showing the 5G signal and associated 5G RSRP/RSQR/SINR, but getting 4G speeds.
 
All that with the Three SIM.
 
It does seem to me that the problem is on the device. Any chances you met that problem before?
 

@leomuzzi wrote - It does seem to me that the problem is on the device. Any chances you met that problem before?

 

I haven't seen that problem before within the scope that you are describing, so Im not to sure what's occurring with your speed, could be the Device but as a general rule Huawei do make good and reliable Kit.

 

You mentioned your swapping the Three Sim with the EE Sim, so first off just concentrate on one issue at a time rather than comparing two different Networks. lets concentrate on the EE Sim for now. Have you been checking the APN Profiles after a Sim Swop or Factory Reset, it should be Automatic but still worth checking that the profiles are correct for EE.

 

For Huawei and EE I normally set the APN to as follows - 

APN - everywhere

Authentication - PAP

IP type - IPV4 Only

 

Preferred Network Mode - Auto

Networks Search Mode - Auto

Network Roaming - Off

 

If your doing a Manual Network Selection, you will not see any 5G Networks, only 2, 3 and 4G so select 4G as the 5G Signal sits on top of 4G on SA Network currently. But its best to keep the Network Selection to Auto.

 

Split the issue into 2 parts for 1, the Radio Modem (4/5G) and 2, the Device WiFi, on the WiFi check you have split the 2.4 and 5ghz Wifi Bands and are using the 5Ghz and the Bandwidth is either set to Max, probably 160Mhz if it has WIFI 6. also check your WiFi Channels are not conflicting with the same Channels in your Area (any good WiFi Tool App will do, I tend to use 'WiFi Analyzer' or 'Network Signal Info' from the App Store).  If you can, do a direct Cable connection (Ethernet) to a Lappy or PC so you can work out what your WiFi Speed Loses are (Cable vs WiFi), if not always carry out Speed Test within a Meter or two to the Router (Not Too Close ie next to it as you may lose WiFi MiMo). Once your happy the WiFi is doing its Job then concentrate on the EE Network side.

 

Try placing the Device in different locations around the Home, Ideally High Up and near a Window, after each move do a restart and wait at least 5+ Mins, if your Device is Unlocked and Firmware Free there should be a Tool within the Admin Page that will assist you for Logging the best Signal Position for your Device when Moving, if not you can download the Huawei AI Life App from the App Store as the App will have a Tool called Find Optimal Location, this App is for External Antenna Installation but will work with the Device being moved indoors, if your Device is a Pro 2 then it probably will not have any External Antenna Ports but if it Has, make sure the Antenna Settings are set to 'Internal or Auto' within the Admin Settings.

 

By the way your 5G Signal Levels are very Good, but as said the 5G sits on top of the 4G Network so good 4G Signals are just as important.

 

Try all of the above and report back your findings also do a EE Network Status Check from the EE Site or App, when testing try and make a note of the time of day, 4 and 5G Signal and the CellID (Mast ID) and Speeds.

I forgot to add to the above, if your Device is a CPE Pro 2 and Network Free it may (or not) have a 4G or 4G + 5G or a 5G Only Network Switch Selection as well as NR SA and NR NSA selection within Admin Settings, if so make sure that it is selected to 4G+5G NR NSA.

Hi @EssexBoyEE . Thanks a lot for all the help.

 

I've been testing in the last few days and apparently Three has improved the 5G signal a lot in my area for some time now. For some reason the modem did not catch that, but after all the resets it has a strong 5G from Three with speeds 400 MBps+ (EE speeds were up to 250MBps).

 

It has been stable for the last days so I'll just keep the Three SIM for now.

 

My diagnosis at the moment:

1) The modem doesn't seem to look for a 5G signal after not finding it the first time. Three upgraded the 5G in my area for a few months now and the modem continued on 4G only.

2) After a restart or reset, when the modem connects to both 4G and 5G, it takes some time for the modem to actually use the 5G signal. It stays on 30 MBps for some time (10 to 30 minutes) before going up to 5G speeds (400MBps).

 

I have the Huawei CPE Pro 2 (no external antennas). I'm 100% certain it is not a Wi-fi issue.

 

Thank you for all the help. 

 

Best regards,

 

Leo 

By all means carry on using the Three Sim if thar solves your issue and by all means post up your future findings.

 

Another possible issue with the EE Network and the way they deliver the 5G Layer over your 4G connection is based on Signal Quality to the Huawei Router, you may not see the 5G Connection kick in until you do a heavy Data Download, in other words a simple email download will not allows kick in 5G, to test this do a Full Okla Speed Test you may find the 5G and the 5G Signal kicks in half way through the Test. 

Hey mate,

 

mine keeps blocking certain websites for streaming and also WhatsApp ?

 

I have same settings as you