MikroTik LHG LTE18 inside and its m.2 EG18-EA modem

[Seán]

Could you help me with an aliexpress link for the  4 U.fl male to MHF4 female pigtails? I can't really find  aproper one and I try to avoid order the wrong one nd wait 2 weeks before order the next one.

I see what looks like a detachable U.fl connector on the main PCB above the m.2 card.  Check if the other 3 pigtails run to easily accessible U.fl connectors.  If you can detach both ends of all 4 pigtails another option would be to get 4 U.fl female to MHF4 female pigtails.  Measure the cables to make sure the length option you choose are long enough:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002340155932.html 

If you can only detach both ends of one or two pigtails, the following should be the proper U.fl male to MHF4 female pigtails to connect the remaining existing pigtails - Choose the "Color: IPEX4 F to IPEX1 M" option:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003172177485.html

IPEX1 is the equivalent to U.fl and IPEX4 is the equivalent to MHF4.

[Peter_]

I see what looks like a detachable U.fl connector on the main PCB above the m.2 card.  Check if the other 3 pigtails run to easily accessible U.fl connectors.  If you can detach both ends of all 4 pigtails another option would be to get 4 U.fl female to MHF4 female pigtails.  Measure the cables to make sure the length option you choose are long enough:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002340155932.html 

If you can only detach both ends of one or two pigtails, the following should be the proper U.fl male to MHF4 female pigtails to connect the remaining existing pigtails - Choose the "Color: IPEX4 F to IPEX1 M" option:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003172177485.html

IPEX1 is the equivalent to U.fl and IPEX4 is the equivalent to MHF4.

So the modem has 2 different connector 2 cable coming from front of the device fit for the RM520N-GL the other 2 connecting to the motherboard from there with a short 5cm cable connecting to the modem so 2 pcs of this cable should be okay https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002340155932.html

 

PXL_20240803_190432827.jpg

[Peter_]

I received the antenna cables Today and size are okay thank you!

I have a final question you mentioned this is your recommended antenna conection:

• EG18-EA ANT0 -> RM520N-GL ANT0
  
• EG18-EA ANT1 -> RM520N-GL ANT1
  
• EG18-EA ANT2 -> RM520N-GL ANT3
  
• EG18-EA ANT3 -> RM520N-GL ANT2
  

 On the RM520 the antenna labelled fine but on the EG18 how you identifed the antenna numbers?

Btw the RM520N-GL lot thinner than the  EG18 look like 2 PCB glued together so I ordered extra thermal pad to make sure the heat wil reach the cooling heatsink.

[Seán]

The the antenna numbers I mentioned for the EG18-EA were from the Quectel documentation. From looking at what's printed on the EG18-EA m.2 board, these appear to be:

• EG18-EA ANT0 - DIV1
  
• EG18-EA ANT1 - DIV2
  
• EG18-EA ANT2 - MAIN
  
• EG18-EA ANT3 - DIV3
  

As for the thickness, I also did wonder whether the EG18-EA is thicker than other m.2 based modems. I put an EG18-EA inside a Waveshare m.2 USB dongle and was surprised that I could only partially fasten the screws surrounding the heatsink provided with the Waveshare kit.

[Peter_]

Thank you! I connected to this way originally but wanted to double check. Hopefully I can put on to the roof some point next week but based on testings I see better result than the original LTE only modem. The original Telekom Speedport Smart 4 is a bad joke only connecting to 1 x 5G band and 1 x 4G band while other bands are availalble so I'm curious what 5G modem they use.

[aleesi]

I got the modem and pigtails this morning and had everything fitted in the afternoon. I can't speak to the antenna performance in the 3Ghz range as I'm getting 5G NSA on b1, but so far so good.

After a quick glance at the rm520 datasheet it seems like it comes with eSim. I'm not sure if its already supported by its latest firm it would be great if it was the case and even better if router os was able to manage profiles... I'm too old to be climbing up the roof to change the SIM card

[julian2060]

I got the modem and pigtails this morning and had everything fitted in the afternoon. I can't speak to the antenna performance in the 3Ghz range as I'm getting 5G NSA on b1, but so far so good.

After a quick glance at the rm520 datasheet it seems like it comes with eSim. I'm not sure if its already supported by its latest firm it would be great if it was the case and even better if router os was able to manage profiles... I'm too old to be climbing up the roof to change the SIM card

there is a huge difference with the 4G modem?
how is connected?B1+?
what operator are you using?
what does the speed test says ? 

PS: sorry too many questions

[aleesi]

there is a huge difference with the 4G modem?
how is connected?B1+?
what operator are you using?
what does the speed test says ? 

PS: sorry too many questions

I haven't got the chance to tinker much but I can comment on a couple of things:
- The modem in 4G seems to work even slightly better than the original LTE CAT 18 that on the other hand is a really good LTE modem
- I'm with three. The mast is 5.5Km away with no line of sight but I'm still getting RSRQ around -9dB when not downloading
- With the LTE18 I was aggregating B3 / B3 & B20 getting 150 / 30mbps and the secondary B3 would switch off (power saving) sometimes randomly bringing it down to 100 / 30
- I'm getting now B3 / B3 / n1 (5G NSA). While the secondary B3 keeps switching off overnight the n1 remains active giving overall 350 / 80 mbps  D/U
- I briefly tried a Vodafone prepaid 5g which gave me 400/100 in some tests however the mast seems to be very congested as some tests struggled to pass 200/100. 

To set the bar, the max speed rate I ever got in this area has been 370 / 100 while standing in front of the mast (5G phone), so I'd say I'm getting 90% of what I could get out of this mast provided I have no sightline and that the mast is 5km away, so I'm very happy with the upgrade

Cons ->
- It is not clear if the RM520N supports eSim (some quectel documentation suggest it comes with the eSIM) and Mikrotik won't support this until they release a product that packs eSim. In any case I hope at some point I can download eSim on the RM520 to avoid climbing up the roof
- No firmware update from RouterOS (yet), I don't have a proper m.2 - usb adapted and I'm also impatient so I fitted the modem with the stock firm, I believe I have the latest version in any case, but make sure you update the firm before installing the mode.

Pros ->
- It is a dropin replacement other than firmware updates, so the install takes a couple of minutes. Only remark is that RF connectors are fragile, make sure you don't brake anything otherwise you'd need to do some extra soldering
- Better pin (14ms vs 38ms 5G vs 4G) / more reliable D/U / Modem is future proof now, the global version I got has a large number of bands so it will be compatible with any set up in years to come. 

MIMO


Antenna


Performance

[julian2060]

I haven't got the chance to tinker much but I can comment on a couple of things:
- The modem in 4G seems to work even slightly better than the original LTE CAT 18 that on the other hand is a really good LTE modem
- I'm with three. The mast is 5.5Km away with no line of sight but I'm still getting RSRQ around -9dB when not downloading
- With the LTE18 I was aggregating B3 / B3 & B20 getting 150 / 30mbps and the secondary B3 would switch off (power saving) sometimes randomly bringing it down to 100 / 30
- I'm getting now B3 / B3 / n1 (5G NSA). While the secondary B3 keeps switching off overnight the n1 remains active giving overall 350 / 80 mbps  D/U
- I briefly tried a Vodafone prepaid 5g which gave me 400/100 in some tests however the mast seems to be very congested as some tests struggled to pass 200/100. 

To set the bar, the max speed rate I ever got in this area has been 370 / 100 while standing in front of the mast (5G phone), so I'd say I'm getting 90% of what I could get out of this mast provided I have no sightline and that the mast is 5km away, so I'm very happy with the upgrade

Cons ->
- It is not clear if the RM520N supports eSim (some quectel documentation suggest it comes with the eSIM) and Mikrotik won't support this until they release a product that packs eSim. In any case I hope at some point I can download eSim on the RM520 to avoid climbing up the roof
- No firmware update from RouterOS (yet), I don't have a proper m.2 - usb adapted and I'm also impatient so I fitted the modem with the stock firm, I believe I have the latest version in any case, but make sure you update the firm before installing the mode.

Pros ->
- It is a dropin replacement other than firmware updates, so the install takes a couple of minutes. Only remark is that RF connectors are fragile, make sure you don't brake anything otherwise you'd need to do some extra soldering
- Better pin (14ms vs 38ms 5G vs 4G) / more reliable D/U / Modem is future proof now, the global version I got has a large number of bands so it will be compatible with any set up in years to come. 

MIMO


Antenna


Performance

thank you so much

can I ask where you got from? aliexpress?

[aleesi]

thank you so much

can I ask where you got from? aliexpress?

Aliexpress delivered in Ireland in less than 2 weeks. 


Pigtails (I got the 5cm but it barely made it)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002340155932

Modem (RM520NGLAAR03)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005637899099

[julian2060]

thank you

I'm 12km from the mast, do you think with the 5g can I improve ?
Before the modem used B1+B3
now just B3+B3 if I use the B20 is slower

at the moment
20Mb dw and 17 Up

before I did 100Mb 20Up

[aleesi]

thank you

I'm 12km from the mast, do you think with the 5g can I improve ?
Before the modem used B1+B3
now just B3+B3 if I use the B20 is slower

at the moment
20Mb dw and 17 Up

before I did 100Mb 20Up

I feel the RM520 is slightly better than the stock LTE18 (slight improvement on RSRQ) but this could be a combination between my own perception and that I've fine tuned the orientation of the antenna to max RSRQ after fitting the RM520, so perhaps I found a slight better orientation. The RM520 is cat20

I'd suggest to try first to locate surrounding masts as three has done upgrades (or downgrades...) across the country and perhaps there are better and closer options. The band n1 in 5G seems to be more stable and comes with a stronger signal, so it is reasonable to assume that you'd be able to aggregate B3+B3 (4G) + N1 (5G). The signal you are getting is poor tho, so I'm not sure bandwidth wise what the n1 can bring in your case (perhaps another 20-40 mbps ?) . I'd suggest again to play with the antenna orientation in case you could find a better mast or orientation as the signal you are getting is rather poor. You'd need to do it anyways if you want to upgrade the modem.

[Seán]

That's a great improvement with the RM520 module, which makes me wonder why MikroTik has yet to release a LHG or ATL kit with a 5G modem. Those speeds are not far off a 500Mbps fibre connection, especially the upload.

I really wish 5G could connect at much greater distances as this band 1 change means that most Three customers over 10km from the mast / site (includes me) are unable to get 5G. As for Three's band change, it would have been much better if they switch they used their 20MHz band 3 carrier for 5G instead of band 1. While this would have still reduced the 4G bandwidth by 5MHz, this probably would not have affected the speeds as drastically due to most routers not supporting band 28 + 3 + 3 CA, let alone 3 + 3 non-contiguous spectrum CA.

[julian2060]

@aleesi

thanks I'll try first to tune the antenna orientation again

@sean

most of the client, but not the client with a LHG?

I'm currently using a 3 sim (15€ forever) real unlimited
Are there any other cheap options with Eir?
Gomo is caped at 120Gb

[aleesi]

That's a great improvement with the RM520 module, which makes me wonder why MikroTik has yet to release a LHG or ATL kit with a 5G modem.  Those speeds are not far off a 500Mbps fibre connection, especially the upload.

I really wish 5G could connect at much greater distances as this band 1 change means that most Three customers over 10km from the mast / site (includes me) are unable to get 5G.  As for Three's band change, it would have been much better if they switch they used their 20MHz band 3 carrier for 5G instead of band 1.  While this would have still reduced the 4G bandwidth by 5MHz, this probably would not have affected the speeds as drastically due to most routers not supporting band 28 + 3 + 3 CA, let alone 3 + 3 non-contiguous spectrum CA.

I flashed the latest RouterOS yesterday and noticed (perhaps it was already there) the tab "Capabilities" that shows a list with supported (or present) features, eSIM is there!!. I'll see if Mikrotik wants to share their plans re eSIM support.

The RM520 seems to perform a bit better than the LTE18, I'm getting RSRQ -5dB on B3 when I used to get -8/9dB (still pretty good) with the LTE18

I did a scan w/out been connected to any network (5G only) and spotted a couple of N78, while I still don't know how well/bad the antennas would perform over 3Ghz (Mikrotik has no tests for that range) at least I know the modem picks up something. Id need to do some test with Vodafone at some point, hopefully the gain won't drop dramatically past 3Ghz

[Seán]

Picking up a few n78's is a good sign that may be able to connect on one.

Check the ARFCN it reports for the n78 cells as these may be of Vodafone or Eir. For example if I set my Chateau 5G to 5G only, cell monitor shows the band n3 ARFCNs for Eir and the band n1 ARFCNs of Three.

For band n78, the ARFCNs are:

• ARFCN 647424 - Three
  
• ARFCN 643968 - Eir
  
• ARFCN 632448 - Vodafone
  

[aleesi]

Picking up a few n78's is a good sign that may be able to connect on one.
Check the ARFCN it reports for the n78 cells as these may be of Vodafone or Eir.  For example if I set my Chateau 5G to 5G only, cell monitor shows the band n3 ARFCNs for Eir and the band n1 ARFCNs of Three. 
For band n78, the ARFCNs are:

• ARFCN 647424 - Three
  
• ARFCN 643968 - Eir
  
• ARFCN 632448 - Vodafone
  

Thanks Sean, 632448 so Vodafone as I suspected.

On a slightly related topic, wrt the ESIM I've done some progress in the most unexpected way and I have managed to have 2 sims profiles (vodafone / three) working on demand in the Mikrotik.

I contacted to Mikrotik who gave me the below experimental commands

[admin@MikroTik] > /interface/lte/esim/
activate-profile    delete-profile    enable-profile    esim-id    list-profiles    rename-profile
However I'm getting the below error

However it seems like the eSim is not initialised error ->

[admin@MikroTik] > /interface/lte/esim esim-id     
failure: eSim not initialized, modem needs reboot!

So no further progress down this route yet.

In parallel I've done a bit of light research on the quectel side and found the below screenshot. I noticed that some commands actually did something.

Turns out that "lpa_enable" command actually works, and funnily enough, the SIM card that I have in the router is a bit special, it is a sim from 5ber that pretty much contains an eSIM chip in a normal / standard micro SIM form factor. I use this external eSim when traveling outside EU or to store pay as you go irish eSIM when running tests. More info here https://esim.5ber.com

I happen to have it configured with 2 irish profiles at the moment (vodafone & three both 5G enabled) and it turns out that the quectel LPA is able to read not the modem builtin eSIM profiles (I guess the eSIM is either not present or not enabled or not supported by firm) but the actual SIM from 5ber (that is an external eSIM), so I can switch from vodafone to three (profiles 1 and 2 respectively) without changing the SIM, so no more climbing up the roof!!

This is not perfect, you'd need to have an eSIM like the one I have (5ber) and the eSIM needs to be loaded with profiles in advance, I haven't tried to upload a new profile via AT commands. In any case profiles can be freely loaded in the 5ber (or eim.me like) eSIMs with a smart card with eiUCC.

I will continue pestering Quectel until I figure out how to enable the builtin eSIM.

You'd need to enable LPA first 

[admin@MikroTik] > interface/lte/at-chat lte1 input="AT+QESIM=\"lpa_enable\""
  output: +QESIM: "lpa_enable",1 OK


To then select the different profiles in the SIM (eSIM from 5ber)

[admin@MikroTik] > interface/lte/at-chat lte1 input="AT+QESIM=?"
output: +QESIM: "lpa_enable",(0-1)
+QESIM: "profile_brief"
+QESIM: "profile_detail",(1-8)
+QESIM: "eid"
+QESIM: "delete_profile",(1-8)
+QESIM: "nickname",(1-8),<nickname>
+QESIM: "def_svr_addr",<address>
+QESIM: "disable_profile",(1-8)
+QESIM: "enable_profile",(1-8)
OK

[admin@MikroTik] > interface/lte/at-chat lte1 input="AT+QESIM=\"profile_detail\",2"
output: +QESIM: "profile_detail",XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX,1,"Three Ireland","Three Ireland","Three Ireland",2
OK

[admin@MikroTik] > interface/lte/at-chat lte1 input="AT+QESIM=\"profile_detail\",1"
output: +QESIM: "profile_detail",XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX,0,"Voda Internet","Vodafone IE","Vodafone IE eSIM",2
OK

[Seán]

That is great that the modem is able to interact with the eSIM profiles on the 5ber SIM. I would not have expected the modem's AT eSIM management commands to interact with a third party eSIM card.

I have a 5ber SIM in my phone which I mainly use with BNE eSIM for connectivity in Three signal black spots, such as the nearby village Carrick that still does not have any Three coverage, not even 2G. BNE costs 89c per month for 1GB and roams on Eir and Three, which is plenty for getting WhatsApp messages, light web access, etc. It also has 5G access, not that I would want to run a 5G speed test with only 1GB of data! However it is useful for running CellMapper / NetMonster to check for any mast / site upgrades without having to top up a prepay Eir SIM.

The only downside I've run into with 5ber is that it does not work with eSIM providers that depend on an App to install the eSIM. For example, GoMoWorld does not work with 5ber.

[aleesi]

That is great that the modem is able to interact with the eSIM profiles on the 5ber SIM.  I would not have expected the modem's AT eSIM management commands to interact with a third party eSIM card. 

I have a 5ber SIM in my phone which I mainly use with BNE eSIM for connectivity in Three signal black spots, such as the nearby village Carrick that still does not have any Three coverage, not even 2G.  BNE costs 89c per month for 1GB and roams on Eir and Three, which is plenty for getting WhatsApp messages, light web access, etc.  It also has 5G access, not that I would want to run a 5G speed test with only 1GB of data!  However it is useful for running CellMapper / NetMonster to check for any mast / site upgrades without having to top up a prepay Eir SIM. 

The only downside I've run into with 5ber is that it does not work with eSIM providers that depend on an App to install the eSIM.  For example, GoMoWorld does not work with 5ber.

To be honest, I was puzzled when I realised after some tinkering that I had managed to switch to Vodafone profile (5ber sim) while testing AT commands...
I haven't tried to upload a new profile using AT commands yet, but it should work (at least for those carriers that provide SM-DP+ / Confirmation code, vodafone / three work). I will leave it for the weekend. According to quectel documentation, the RM502Q and RM500Q also support eSIM so the AT commands I listed earlier on should also work. 

In my case, the eSIM is almost a must have as I have an outdoor router. Three and in general all carriers, have been recently messing with the masts in my area, and it's always good to have a backup without the need to physically accessing the router.

On a separate note, the profiles in eSIM like 5ber or esim.me can be managed with an CCID ISO7816 car reader (7 quid in aliexpress) and a LPA sw for the laptop, for instance -> https://github.com/EsimMoe/MiniLPA so need to pay any subscription

quick update, the AT command for profile upload is not working, at least for my current firm, I'd need to keep an eye on coming firms. in any case the 5ber sim saved the day, I have the 2 profiles I needed, vodafone and three.

[admin@MikroTik] > interface/lte/at-chat lte1 input="AT+QESIM=\"add_profile\""
output: Coming soon!
OK

[aleesi]

I though it would be helpful to summarise the findings in case there is anyone considering upgrading the RHG or ATLGM

- The RM520N-GL seems to perform a bit better in 4G than the original LTE18. I'm getting better results for RSRQ same mast / same orientation
- The ATLGM seems to be able to work with N78/N77. Mikrotik has no performance test for the antennas beyond 2.9Ghz however I've successfully aggregated several bands including N78/N77. However I have no line of sight to the couple of masts that have N78/N77 resulting in worse performance / less throughput compared to closer masts with 5G over n1 (20mHz). Although I managed to aggregate B3+B3+B28+n78 the signal was poor in all 4 bands but I'd assume the gain doesn't dramatically drop past 3Ghz as I was able to aggregate the n78 with similar signal strength as the B3 / B28



- Mikrotik does not support firmware update for this modem as of yet. The latest firm is RM520NGLAAR03A03M4G_01.201.01.201 (mine came with it) so make sure to flash the latest before installing it in the ATLGM. 



- ESIM
1) Quectel does not fully support this module and furthermore the module is not equipped with an actual eSIM. My module has no eSIM built in as I can list 2 SIM slots however the second is empty (where the eSIM should have been listed). To switch between SIM slots -> AT+QUIMSLOT=<slot> (slot = 0,1 ...) 
Other relevant commands ->/interface/lte/at-chat lte1 input="AT+QSIMCFG=\"dual_slot_status\"" 
2) Mikrotik has no formal support for eSIM and the non official commands don't seem to work with this module. It's based on Quectel LPA anyways.
3) I managed to use an external eSIM (5ber) by pre-loading profiles before fitting the SIM in the router. You'd need to enable LPA via shell
Enable LPA
[admin@MikroTik] > interface/lte/at-chat lte1 input="AT+QESIM=\"lpa_enable\",1" 
Switch from existing Profiles
[admin@MikroTik] > interface/lte/at-chat lte1 input="AT+QESIM=\"enable_profile\",2"  (1,2 .... Xth profile)

In summary, if the RM520N-GL is within your budget I think it's an excellent upgrade for the ATLGM / RHG, in fact if I was Mikrotik I would prioritise having a RHG / ATLGM - 5G available as soon as possible (with full eSIM support for either built-in or external eSIM such as 5ber or esim.me).