[Closed] 4g broadband and router help

It could be switching between frequencies on the router. If it drops to 800Mhz it will still show a good signal but will be really slow.

A different router, an external antenna or locking
it to a higher frequency could all help.

The forums on ispreview.Co.uk are worth a quick check - there have been a couple of posts there on the three 4g routers.

I’ve been a long time 3 customer (for my phone), but have recently changed to EE as my wife and I have found the 3 service in London has gone to total crap in the last few months. I get the feeling the network is just totally oversubscribed in London now - probably due to such cheap deals on 3 and all the virtual networks that use their network.

I wouldn't assume the signal is good.

I’m in a 3rd floor flat in London so signal shouldn’t be a problem

4G/5G broadband is entirely dependent on signal, so don't assume anything. The router should be able to give you your signal strength, chances are if it's really slow it's either poor and/or over subscribed.

Where's your nearest mast?

Also, being in London, have you looked into 5G?

I live not in London, but in a smallish town in Kent, and we have pretty much town-wide 5G coverage. My speed:
[IMG] [/IMG]

Also, being in London, have you looked into 5G?

How will the OP access it with a 4G router?

I have found the 3 service in London has gone to total crap in the last few months

I am quoting myself as I reliase that wasn't that helpful. I was finding that I still had decent reception, as indicated by bars on the phone, but somewhere between 'none' and 'very little' actual connectivity most of the time.

Strangely i had to travel down to Camden Town from my tiny Norfolk village last week, wherever i went in London, my 3 Mobile was next to useless, i get better reception in Norfolk, which surprised me, although was a pain in posterior when trying to use my mobile to navigate around the "big village.."

There are phone apps to check signal strength. I'd try that to check you do get a decent 4g signal. Might help you find a better location for the router too.

There are phone apps to check signal strength. I’d try that to check you do get a decent 4g signal. Might help you find a better location for the router too.

I know my phone + my wife's phone is only n=2, but my experience is the issue with Three's network performance in London is nothing to do with reception between phone/router and mast, but something wonky between the mast and the "internet" - be that a long term fault of massive over-subscription.

Signal might not be a problem. Congestion might. When we put ours in (rural Herefordshire) congestion not a problem because you know cows don't have phones 😉 Signal strength does vary tho. Depends on where your local cell tower is.

Things we've learned

1) internal antennas are rubbish

2) carrier supplied routers also a bit pony

3) whatever you do it'll not be as stable as a landline

It depends what you can fit in/outside your flat. We have a proper dome antenna now but we started with a pair of external ariels sunctioned onto outside of the highest window with a cable back into the house.

Solwise (UK company very helpful and knowledgeable).

I know my phone + my wife’s phone is only n=2, but my experience is the issue with Three’s network performance in London is nothing to do with reception between phone/router and mast, but something wonky between the mast and the “internet” – be that a long term fault of massive over-subscription.

Absolutely. 3 performance in London is useless. WE'd switch to another carrier here but 3 are the only one that really covers the house. If you want to get super geeky I can represent cell mapper.id website.

I’m in a 3rd floor flat in London so signal shouldn’t be a problem

Interference from your neighbours' routers might, as it could be affecting the wifi signal too.

I have the 4g hub router ( Three) located in the garage.
I get a very good signal in my office at the bottom of the garden ( 25 metres away).
Its in the garage as it is also connected to the cams on the house which is 10 metres in the other direction.
Never had any signal drops .
I should be getting the later version which is supposed to be "better in every way" today.
For £23 a month ( £11.50 for first 6 months ) and a free LG 32 " smart tv whats not to sniff at.

5g not available here yet , if that works as well as the 4g when it does arrive, then I would consider dumping my fibre connection and going with that

Thanks for the feedback. Seems the network themselves are the biggest issue, from what I’ve read here and on others websites. Might try a better router with external antennas and see what difference it makes, if not amazon are usually willing to take back my bad purchases.
Would have gone with 5G but for some reason when I did the postcode checker at the time it said unavailable, and more or less immediately after I took out the contract a month ago it was available. Their helpline is pretty dire to deal with, there’s only so many times I can hear someone tell me to reset the router.

To revisit this thread title, rather than open a new one.

I need to buy a new 4G router as one of ours has become too temperamental to be relied upon.

The Huawei one (that I'm borrowing from the holiday let short term until I buy a new one for us) is cat 4 and speed tests show figures that are fine but when our phones are getting 40mbs will only be getting 30mbs. That's using the exact same sim in the exact same location.

Is there any point in paying out twice the cash for a cat 6 router? Is there any likelihood of seeing better performance would you say?

For ref - no 5G here for the foreseeable and this is on Vodafone (EE performance about the same, O2 patching, Three not a thing here). Also, the router's wifi is actually turned off and the house is served by a tenda mesh plugged into it. Speed performance seems to be identical with the router's wifi if you switch to that and are close enough to get good reception.

Ta.

Convert - you’ll have more luck just relocating the router and / or adding an external antenna.

Speed tests can also be a bit misleading - for example the Fast.com speed test app can massively over read upload and download speed. Testing on a laptop connected by Ethernet to the router is the most reliable way of determining the router connection speed.

It’s also worth having a look at resources like cellmapper or searching local planning applications to see where the local masts are - masts often have different services (backhaul and frequencies) so it could be that by moving the router you’ll get a mast with a faster speed even if that’s further away.

When searching planning applications look for Vodafone applications or joint ones submitted on behalf of Cornerstone / CTIL. Most of them can be found doing an advanced search for “telecoms applications 28 day / 56 day - prior approval” or “mobile networks” depending what software your local authority is running.

You can also search for “network status” on the Vodafone website and by selecting the 2g / 3G / 4g / 5G filters work out where the masts are from that - often if there’s planned maintenance the map shows the locations of the masts.

If you add the first couple of characters from your postcode to this thread I’ll see what I can dig up for you.

Great - thanks so much. I'm in IV12.

Convert: have a play around with this:

https://www.cellmapper.net/map?MCC=234&MNC=15&type=LTE&latitude=57.47336908986384&longitude=-4.250717093533626&zoom=11.465549134634855&showTowers=true&showTowerLabels=true&clusterEnabled=true&tilesEnabled=true&showOrphans=false&showNoFrequencyOnly=false&showFrequencyOnly=false&showBandwidthOnly=false&DateFilterType=Last&showHex=false&showVerifiedOnly=false&showUnverifiedOnly=false&showLTECAOnly=false&showENDCOnly=false&showBand=0&showSectorColours=true&mapType=roadmap

What you're looking for is the masts that have Band 1,3, 7, 32 or 38. Masts with Band 8 will be slow as there's typically limited bandwidth on that frequency.

When you've found your local masts have a play around with the router location - even getting it in your loft (if you have one) may help because modern double glazing impacts radio signal reception.

Also have a think about an external antenna or better still an external router - something attached to a TV arial / Chimney will make a big difference.