It says 5G but no 5G frequency which means it's downloading from 4G and slow

[Ar5had07]

So I have a 5G router, Huawei CPE Pro 2 and couple of days ago I was getting good download speeds using 5G and all of a sudden the speed went down and became slow.

I checked the settings of my router to see if it's getting any 5G frequency but it's not. 

The unit has full 5G 5 bars, but no frequency which means it's not getting any 5G data.

I can't upload any pictures to show you because it's not letting me add it to this post.

Are there any issues with 5G currently?

https://i.imgur.com/nRlYyHq.png

https://i.imgur.com/juZIFM0.png

[Ar5had07]

Here you go, sorry.  https://i.imgur.com/6To1qML.png

And you are correct, this is the CPE Pro 2 Modified with 8 antenna ports.  So I have 2 x 4G Antennas (for CA) and 1 x 5G antenna connected.

the 2 x 4G antennas are XPOL-2-5G (Poynting XPOL-2-5G Antenna: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo), and the 5G one is Bluespot Mini (Bluespot Mini: a compact, highly-sensitive 5G MIMO broadband internet antenna for the UK, SMA connec...)

I'm using those antennas for better performance.  Without the external antennas and the modded router, I was getting around 40Mbps on both 4G and 5G.  And with it (previously) I was getting 300Mbps+ download on 5G and around 80Mbps on 4G.

Here is a pic of it - https://i.imgur.com/r52S1ow.png

And yes, Dartford Area.  Postcode starting with DA1, so right in the middle.

[bristolian]

Do you have a 5G phone with which to compare?

[Ar5had07]

I have but how can I check if I’m downloading on 5G and not 4G? Because using phones I don’t get fast speeds so it might using be either 4G or 5G so I won’t know. That’s why I use external antennas with my CPE PRO 2.  

With either 4G and 5G on my phone I get around 40Mbps. 

my Huawei CPE PRO 2 is in the loft connected to 3 external antennas to get the fastest speed as possible. I was getting 300Mbps + before this issue occurred. 

[Schockwave]

@Ar5had07 ,You will see it on your phone where it shows your signal strength it should show 5G if you do not have 5G, it should show 4G. You can also get an app like Speedtest by Ookla, which you can download from the App Store.

[Ar5had07]

That’s the same thing that’s happening in the router. It’s saying 5G but not actually downloading from 5G. If there was no 5G on the router, it will just show 4G. 
 Showing 5G and full signal means it’s connected to a 5G mast but not actually doing anything. 

[bristolian]

Unfortunately it's not true to say that a 5G indicator on your screen automatically means you are using 5G - there are circumstances where it can mean 5G is available but your phone uses 4G for some services.

[bristolian]

I've now seen the question from the OP asking how to tell on a phone, whether you're using 4G or 5G.

The answer partly depends whether you're using Android or iOS, but fundamentally a third-party app giving you the active radio-info is the only reliable method.

For Android, Cellmapper is an excellent solution, you can also contribute to the crowd-sourced data. Otherwise Netmonitor is as good as any.

[EssexBoyEE]

On the Huawei Rooter side of things the seperate API link I posted up earlier is pretty much a bullet proof way of telling you whether you are actually connected to a 5G Layer or not rather than the Signal Bar Status.

If the API response reports back a connected Signal State, then yes you will work with a 4G and NR Band or 4G+ CA and NR Band connected Data, if the API reports Back with No 5G Signal State then you will not be connected to any 5G NR Layer, irrespective of what the Front Panel 5G Connected LED light and the Admin 5G Signal Bar Level is telling you.

As for Phones (I Don't do iOS) for Android there are only 3 Apps that I use that will tell you whether you have a valid 5G NR Connected State Layer over your 4G Connection (I'm always open to suggestion of others), and these do work differently on the individual UK Networks in how it is reported as both Vodafone and O2 do not currently support 5G NR ENDC where as EE and Three do.

Free Apps for Android - 

Netmonster

G-MoN Pro

Signal Check Lite

In the ideal world we would all be using the excellent Network Guru App but at 50 Quid a pop per Month, or what ever they charge these days and your Phone needs to be Rooted puts this App out of scope for most. 

Netmonster is probably one of my favourites, purely because it tells you, in addition to the Signal Info, includes  your Carrier Aggregation State, and what CA Bands are, and what's available to your device, as well as whether you are Connected or Disconnected to the 5G NR layer.

G-MoN Pro same deal but will also give you NR PCi Info and NR Bandwidth but the info just disappears if the 5G NR is not truly connected.

Signal Check Lite or Pro same as G-MoN but it doesn't seem to to like the EE NR ENDC setup, but this is probably the way the Android Device reports the Signal info. 

Netmonstor is the only App that I know of the shows the NR ENDC state as either Connected or Discounted, but, on the EE Network you sometimes have to pull in a heavy Data Dump for it to kick in as Connected (a few 100mbs should do it) or just do a full Ooka Speed Test, on a good 4G+ or 5G that's normally pulls in around or at least 500Mbs of Data. 

[EssexBoyEE]

@Ar5had07 I haven't forgotten about you, been out and about this weekend, got some ideas to post up tomorrow which may have some use with your issues, let's see.

[Ar5had07]

Thanks, really appreciate it.

Quick Update:  I just bought a PAYG sim to test and see if it's account related.  To my surprise, 5G doesn't even come up on the router nor on the iPhone 13 Pro Max.  

So the Pay Monthly sim comes up with 5G but doesn't download from 5G (it's like a false positive) and the PAYG sim doesn't even come up with 5G (just 4G).  So the issue is the signal I guess or the mast.

I rang up EE to ask about this issue, telling them it was working fine over 5G 2-3 days ago hitting speeds up to 350Mbps off peak and around 280 Mbps peak time.  But they said there are no issues in my area and there is nothing they can do.  

I have invested so much money in these equipment just to get fast speeds (because my house is fully smart, everything requires internet connection.  I currently have 150 devices connected on my network, including spot lights and whatnot).  ADSL can only get me 32Mbps down and 7 Mbps up.

Okay let's say there is nothing I can do about the 5G, as it's out of my hands.  Surely with 4G+ I should be getting over what I'm getting right now, which is around 80Mbps.  @EssexBoyEE said with 4G+ I should be getting around 500Mbps.  I'm getting nowhere near that.  I even modded the CPE PRO 2 with 8 connectors at the back (i'm only using 6 though).  2 x 4G antennas and 1 x 5G antenna.  Not getting any faster.  The 4G antennas are pointing directly to the mast (according to cellmapper).  The 4G antennas are directional.

The antennas are outside the house above it, connected the router inside the loft, which is then wired to a TP-Link enterprise grade router, which then connects the whole house via WAPs, several switches, etc.

I have an iPhone so I can't really download those apps to check.