Advice on my setup and 3 speed throttling

[Sticks7]

Hi All

Found the forum and it's been an amazing resource when trying to get my mobile broadband configured. 

Currently using an TP-Link MR200 with a Poynting XPOL-2-5G capable antenna (698 - 960 MHz & 1710 - 3800 MHz, 11dBi) . I'm going to swap the router out for a B525 as it will give me more configuration options, band selection etc. I'm currently getting around 35-45 Mbps download and 15 Mbps upload. Judging by ComReg Site Viewer I'm pointing towards an 800 MHz cell, 4G+ not available, however speeds do vary a little as I would not have direct LOS and it's approx. 3-4kms away. I'll be able to check my signal values better when I get the B525. 

I'm a pretty heavy user and could average 15 to 20 gb of download a day. Every 24 - 36 hours Three appear to be throttling my speeds, download goes below 1Mbps yet upload remains around 15 Mbps. I used to turn off my device for approx. 5 mins and then turn it back on again which would usually fix the issue but the last while it doesn't. If I changed to the 3 Data SIM Unlimited (750GB) Bill Pay plan would this fix my issue? Or has anyone have similar issues? XPOL-2-

[Seán]

Before signing up to a bill pay plan, I suggest checking with someone else nearby on Three, 48 or Virgin Media (both use 3 network) to run a speed test when you notice the speed drop under 1Mbps. It's quite possible that a backhaul link is intermittently dropping, resulting in crippled download speed via a backup link until it comes back up, such as during a nightly maintenance reboot. For example, if the mast is served by a 1Gbps fibre and a 100Mbps microwave backup, the 100Mbps may average out to less than 1Mbps per user download with 100+ customers streaming, but still provide plenty of upload speed due to few uploading.

So far I have not experienced throttling this extreme on my 3 Broadband Bill Pay plan. The only time I experienced it dip towards 1Mbps is during a mast outage, in which case it connects to a much weaker cell. Our typical usage appears to be around 100GB per week, but have downloaded and uploaded 30-50GB in a day a few times without any issue. Since around March 2019, Three has not metered this plan, i.e. when I log in to My3, it always shows I've 750GB out of 750G remaining. Then again, I recommend finding first finding out whether this is just your SIM affected and not a mast backhaul problem.

[Sticks7]

Thanks for the reply Sean. So I changed from the TP-Link MR200 router to the Huawei B525 and downloaded the HUACTRL app thanks to the advice given in other threads on this forum. Look like it wasn’t a SIM card issue and more of a router issue. The Mr200 appears to have been connecting to various cells which were highly congested in the evening. Now with the B525 I can see exactly what band I’m using and select a band. I can get a 4G+ connection however that tends to slow down considerably during the evening due to congestion, so I’ve just adjusted my external antenna slightly and I’m picking up a 2100 MHz cell which will get me 40+ d/l during the day and 10-20 d/l in the evening. Lets hope comreg extend its availability after April 1st!

Thanks again.