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by anonymous

Hi, I have the RUTX50 and a QuPanel 5G LTE MIMO 4x4. 

Setup was straightforward and I immediately got reasonable data speed with an EE Unlimited data-only SIM 70Mb down / 27Mb up. I purchased the directional antenna as the weather is frequently quite poor so I'm expecting a significant drop signal quality at times. Tests with my iPhone generally yield 20% faster results.

Observations. 

On the RUTX50 with no antennas attached, the status overview page the mobile signal strength shows around three bars and strength -80 to -70 db. Using the included antennas the signal increased a couple of db, oddly with the directional antenna I got very similar results no matter which way I pointed it!! 

I did some more testing today and came across the real time status page, which shows the signal broken down into different classes: https://wiki.teltonika-networks.com/view/Mobile_Signal_Strength_Recommendations#4G_.28LTE.29. Here is a screen grab showing the strength with the built in antennas on the left and the on right with the external directional antenna pointing (I hope to the distant mast).

Honestly I was expecting a clearer difference, between the internal and external antenna. 

Very roughly the values are: 

RSRP -90db

RSSI -55db

SINR -12db

RSRQ -8db

I'll be repeating the tests when the weather is poor, but would appreciate yny advice on how to go about getting better results particularly as my iPhone is outperforming this setup. 

regards

Steve

 

 

1 Answer

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by anonymous

Hello,

In regards to mobile signal metrics, currently, RUTX50 has several issues. In particular:

Signal strength value will probably always be around -51 dBm, SINR value will be shown as negative and carrier aggregation will not be represented at all. If, for testing speeds, you have used router's internal speed test application, results may also be inconsistent and unreliable, thus it is suggested to test using some LAN device connected to RUTX50. These are known issues, which will be resolved with 7.3 firmware version release. 

At the moment, I would suggest to verify the mobile signal indicators by logging to the device via SSH, and entering the following command:

  • gsmctl -A AT+QCAINFO

The last four numbers of the output display signal metrics in the following order: RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, SINR.

Since you are using directional antenna, it is very important to align it to the base tower. 

Best regards,

by anonymous

Hi, 

thank you, this is very useful. Today (fine clear weather) I was getting figures like 

gsmctl -A AT+QCAINFO

+QCAINFO: "PCC",1617,100,"LTE BAND 3",1,195,-87,-6,-60,30

with results up to 135Mbps down and 50Mbps up, which is way better than my ISP's DSL. 

Tuning the direction of the antenna is a bit tricky single handed, so I'm going to get my MacBook to read out the results as I make small adjustments - i.e. something like this:

while true ; do; sleep 3s; ssh root@192.168.1.1 -p myadminpassword gsmctl -A AT+QCAINFO | cut -d "," -f7 | say; done

Then I'll be able to hear it speaking one of the signal strength values. 

Which of RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, SINR (fields 7 to 10) from the AT command output is going to give the best indication as I repoint the antenna? Fortunately the antenna is indoors by a window, so I'll not be too troubled when I need to review in bad weather.

You might wonder why I don't just use a map and compass - the LTE masts I know about are just over the brow of a hill so I'm getting some kind of reflection.

best 

Steve

by anonymous

For reference values you check this link. As for what to keep an eye on, SINR values approaching 0 will seriously cripple the quality of connection, you will probably experience disconnects, RSSI nearing -90 dBm will also significantly degrade speeds and impact latency. Otherwise, if RSRP drops a few dBm below -100, but other parameters are within fair to good range, you should still be able to attain decent speeds.