Eir mobile broadband slow with Poynting 4G-XPOL-A0001

[daz92]

Hi Sean,
fairly new to this page so if im on wrong thread apologies in advance!
im from west Tipperary and where i live fixed line is not an option, so i have a 4g router with eir , a huawei b315 s 22 with a poynting 4g-xpol-a0001 external antenna all was going well with up to 30 mg speeds with no problems up to the start of the year speeds dropped to max of 5mg and down to .22 mg. rang eir and they sent new sim and b618 router which was worse! bought a b525 online and speeds similar to b315 which was disappointing! if i put my old Samsung  s8 with the routers sim in it in the spot i keep the router i can achieve speeds up to 30 again as of now i use the phones hotspot and a range extender for internet which im not too comfortable with but its a stopgap! Any insight into why the phone is performing better than any of the routers? also the routers are on band 20 and the phones on band 28 and i cant get the routers to band 28 ive tried forcing them with lte inspecteur but they wont register on that band!

[Seán]

I moved your post into this new thread as the other discusses about 5G broadband.

It looks like Eir put up a new mast in your area at the start of the year and you happen to be in-between the two, where the one you are not connected to is causing interference.

Try the Huawei B618 router again, but use the Android App huaCtrl to manually select band 28. The Huawei B525 does not support band 28. If the B618 still does not connect, detacth the antennae leads and set it to use its internal antenna in the web interface, just to rule out an antenna issue.

As the Poynting 4G-XPOL-A0001 is omni-directional, you will likely need to move or replace it with a directional antenna. The next day it is dry outside, use a long extension lead to temporary place the router outside, e.g. on a window sill or chair midway along the side of the house. Check the SINR reading using huaCtrl or LTEInspecteur and try a few speed tests. Move the router to the next side and repeat for each side. This will determine which side of the house gives the strongest reading or speed.

The side with the highest SINR readings is where omni-direcitonal antenna should go. Ideally it should be no higher than the top of the wall. By being below the roof, the house effectively blocks unwanted interference from behind.

A better option would be to replace the antenna with a directional antenna such as the Poynting 4G-XPOL-A0002 or the LowCostMobile 700-2600MHz. This will let you aim the antenna to avoid picking up unwanted interference coming from masts in other directions. Assuming the new or faster mast is not at the opposite side of the house, this would let you reuse the current wall mount and drill holes. For aiming, you would turn the directional antenna roughly 20-30 degrees at a time until you get the highest and most stable SINR reading, preferably above 10dB.

[daz92]

I moved your post into this new thread as the other discusses about 5G broadband.

It looks like Eir put up a new mast in your area at the start of the year and you happen to be in-between the two, where the one you are not connected to is causing interference.

Try the Huawei B618 router again, but use the Android App huaCtrl to manually select band 28.  The Huawei B525 does not support band 28.  If the B618 still does not connect, detacth the antennae leads and set it to use its internal antenna in the web interface, just to rule out an antenna issue.

As the Poynting 4G-XPOL-A0001 is omni-directional, you will likely need to move or replace it with a directional antenna.  The next day it is dry outside, use a long extension lead to temporary place the router outside, e.g. on a window sill or chair midway along the side of the house.  Check the SINR reading using huaCtrl or LTEInspecteur and try a few speed tests.  Move the router to the next side and repeat for each side.  This will determine which side of the house gives the strongest reading or speed.

The side with the highest SINR readings is where omni-direcitonal antenna should go.  Ideally it should be no higher than the top of the wall.  By being below the roof, the house effectively blocks unwanted interference from behind. 

A better option would be to replace the antenna with a directional antenna such as the Poynting 4G-XPOL-A0002 or the LowCostMobile 700-2600MHz.  This will let you aim the antenna to avoid picking up unwanted interference coming from masts in other directions. Assuming the new or faster mast is not at the opposite side of the house, this would let you reuse the current wall mount and drill holes.  For aiming, you would turn the directional antenna roughly 20-30 degrees at a time until you get the highest and most stable SINR reading, preferably above 10dB.

Hi Sean,
Thanks so much for the advice much better improvement in 4g speeds. Had to keep external antenna on router as signal not strong enough with internal antennas! 
i have ordered the xpol a0002 in the hopes it might make the signal more stable. Also my mistake with routers its an huawei B818-263 not a 618, the 818 picked up band 28 no problem.

rsrp=-95dBm
max -95 min -96
average -95.03

RSSI= -71
max -71 min -71
average -71

RSRQ= -12
Max -5 Min -12
Average -9.47

SINR= -2
max 13 min -2
Average -9.47

Download= 9.69
Max 14.01 min 0
Average 9.70

Upload= 0.17
Max 7.87 min 0
Average 0.19

these figures were taking from lte inspecteur today @ 16:41. i couldnt post a pic of it so i just copied the data over.
also my download speeds can range from anywhere between 7mb and 42mb at the moment.

---

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
<pci>250</pci>
<sc></sc>
<cell_id>10741064</cell_id>
<rsrq>-8.0dB</rsrq>
<rsrp>-95dBm</rsrp>
<rssi>-71dBm</rssi>
<sinr>-1dB</sinr>
<rscp></rscp>
<ecio></ecio>
<mode>7</mode>
<ulbandwidth>10MHz</ulbandwidth>
<dlbandwidth>10MHz</dlbandwidth>
<txpower>PPusch:19dBm PPucch:9dBm PSrs:23dBm PPrach:16dBm</txpower>
<tdd></tdd>
<ul_mcs>mcsUpCarrier1:23</ul_mcs>
<dl_mcs>mcsDownCarrier1Code0:15 mcsDownCarrier1Code1:30</dl_mcs>
<earfcn>DL:7630 UL:7080</earfcn>
<rrc_status>1</rrc_status>
<rac></rac>
<lac></lac>
<tac>40121</tac>
<band>28</band>
<nei_cellid>No1:249No2:378</nei_cellid>
<plmn>27203</plmn>
<ims>0</ims>
<wdlfreq></wdlfreq>
<lteulfreq>7080</lteulfreq>
<ltedlfreq>7630</ltedlfreq>
<transmode>TM[3]</transmode>
<enodeb_id>0041957</enodeb_id>
<cqi0>6</cqi0>
<cqi1>10</cqi1>
<ulfrequency>708000kHz</ulfrequency>
<dlfrequency>763000kHz</dlfrequency>
<arfcn></arfcn>
<bsic></bsic>
<rxlev></rxlev>
</response>

[Seán]

With the SINR going negative, you are picking up quite a lot of interference, so that new xpol a0002 should help reduce that. When your antenna arrives, I suggest doing a temporary set up such as on a tripod or pole before mounting it on the house.

If the masts are spread far enough part (e.g. one facing North and the other South), you may be able to pick them up individually with the directional antenna. So once you determine the direction of one mast, run a few speed tests, then continue turning the antenna to try picking up the other site and run a few more speed tests. This way you know which one to aim for. When turning the antenna, try to get the SINR reading as high and stable as possible.