Reply to post: Getting the Best out of EE

Getting the Best out of EE

This my experience with HUAWEI CPE routers using external antennas

This two routers work well with the external antenna ports

HUAWEI B593u-12: LTE FDD Band 1/3/7/8/20 (800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz) (Speed up to 100Mbps)

HUAWEI B593s-22: LTE FDD Band 1/3/7/8/20 (800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz) and TDD Band 38 (2600MHz),

LTE Category 4 CPE (Speed up to 150Mbps)

Best firmware for the HUAWEI B593u-12 ( Use google translate to convert Swedish to English)

Firmware runs in English :: https://www.telia.se/privat/support/info/uppdatera-usb-modem-och-router-huawei-b593

This router does not work well with the external antenna ports.

Once activitated the user can switch back to internal ports.

Huawei E5186s-22a: LTE Band 1/3/7/8/20/38 (FDD 800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz, TDD 2600MHz)

LTE Category 6 Wireless Router/Gateway

* Technical Standards: LTE/DC-HSPA+/HSPA+/HSPA/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM

I have purchased 3 of the above routers for use with external antenna the one that works the best

is HUAWEI B593s-22 in my experience. Regulary gives 150MB data rate.

Stay away from 02 network , EE is the best network for 4G in my experience

Important things to remember

- find your local LTE basestations.

- note the difference between LTE & 3G HSPA for each local basestation

- only use 3G HSPA if there is nothing else.

- 3 Network are mainly : 3G HSPA radio standard

- your nearest base station may not be the best one.

- The best basestation to use is the one with the direct fiber connection which is also the hub cell tower

- Normally in a cell coverage area 6 to 10 cell towers will link by microwave link to hub

cell tower

- high gain antenna ie > 20 db will give very good directivity

- Buy 2 antenna which have N connectors on the back

- With the above identified LTE routers you must have 2 Panel or Log periodical or Yagi Antennas

- If you can place the 2 Antennas at least 2 meters apart you will get the best MIMO & radio performance

- Buy expensive low loss RF cable which is >10 mm in diameter and then place an N to SMA convert on the back of the router

- Keep the length of low loss RF cable between the antenna and the router to a minimum as this will help to keep

router running at its maximum data speed

- Use a service provider who operates at 1800MHz & 2600MHz

- You need a good signal strength ie 5 bars to get a full high speed system

- Summary of UK service providers radio allocation

EE : (800 MHz) FDD 5 MHz ; (1800 MHz) FDD 45 MHz ; (2600 MHz) FDD 35 MHz

Three : (800 MHz) FDD 5 MHz ; (1800 MHz) FDD 15 MHz ; (2600 MHz) FDD 35 MHz

O2 : (800 MHz) FDD 10 MHz

Vodafone : (800 MHz) 10 MHz ; (2600 MHz) FDD 2 x 20 MHz , TDD 1 x 25 MHz (unpaired)

- 2600 MHz is mainly used in Dense living city areas Normally

- To get really well working system expect to spend min 600 UK pounds.

ebay.co.uk or dba.dk is a good place to look for cheap used LTE router.

Notes on EE

EE use four different frequency bands within the UK, which covers their entire network from 2G to 4G.

EE use:

800MHz(band 26) for 4G

1800MHz(band 3) for 2G and 4G

2100MHz(band 1) for 3G only

2600MHz(band 7) for 4G

EE have built their core 4G network on the 1800MHz spectrum.

EE additional use 2600MHz to provide additional capacity in built up areas(mainly cities)

and providing 4G+ in double speed areas.

EE additional use 800MHz to help cover rural areas and will be used to launch VoLTE(Voice over LTE).

Examples of good companies to buy antennas from

http://www.wimo.de/panel-antennas_e.html

http://www.euroantenna.eu/index.php?e=2&p=g9

Remember you yourself are responsible for complying with UK Law