Midband speedtest Megaathread

Dord · 07-09-2014 6:35pm

Three 4G in Dublin 7 with 3 bars. I'm surrounded by buildings in close proximity so I don't know if/how that would impact. I was getting around 10/2.5 earlier today.

warlikedave · 07-09-2014 8:15pm

-=al=- wrote: »

Trying out tesco mobile on a HSPA+ dongle

Not the worst I guess

15GB for 15 quid ain't terrible either for PAYG.

Really want access to a Meteor and Three 4g sim and dongle but no one I know has em!... Three get's the worst reception here, followed by Tesco/o2 and the winner is Meteor... Shame the meteor huawei b593s-22's are not in stock, I'd probably get one if the signal was good

I get 2 bars of 3g indoors with Three, 3/4 bars of HSPA+ with a Meteor/Tesco dongle... All that gives me slight hope for 4g access

EDIT:

Here is the speed of Tesco BB from a b260a (only 3g) router with 1 bar of signal...

Also, the ping command never works in the windows cmd line... weird...

Excuse the question but are you using the following in command prompt:

ping google.ie -t

or

ping google.ie -n 20 (number can be any millisecond value)

Also certain APNs dependent on network make that command no matter what site it is unreliable at best. Also some sites can block such requests so it can be site dependant

Dord · 07-09-2014 9:31pm

Same as earlier, 3 bars on Three 4G in Dublin 7.

-=al=- · 07-09-2014 11:56pm

Every ping request times out... After some googling it appears Tesco block ICMP or something like that

Also on xbox live I couldn't download certain apps... Either giving me an error or saying I'm in the wrong locale when clearly I am not

It seems Tesco mobile block or change something I'm not aware of... I downloaded the app no problem on a three connection on the xbox... Weird that no pings work at all

Dord · 13-09-2014 7:42pm

-=al=- wrote: »

Every ping request times out... After some googling it appears Tesco block ICMP or something like that

Also on xbox live I couldn't download certain apps... Either giving me an error or saying I'm in the wrong locale when clearly I am not

It seems Tesco mobile block or change something I'm not aware of... I downloaded the app no problem on a three connection on the xbox... Weird that no pings work at all

Have you tried pinging an IP address rather than domain name? Could be a DNS issue with Tesco.

Ok, now in my new location and on midband.

4/5 bars reception on Three 4G with the Huawei B593. Higher speeds but worse ping...
Still tweaking it, and it's also kinda around peak time now.

-=al=- · 14-09-2014 5:18am

Yep, nada... no ping requests in any way shape or form!

Ordered a b593 on amazon it arrived Friday without a bloody Power supply unit.... So a new one is on the way, due Tuesday so I'll get a meteor and three 4g sim and see how it works 8)

yuloni · 14-09-2014 9:17am

This post has been deleted.

Dord · 14-09-2014 10:35pm

-=al=- wrote: »

Yep, nada... no ping requests in any way shape or form!

Ordered a b593 on amazon it arrived Friday without a bloody Power supply unit.... So a new one is on the way, due Tuesday so I'll get a meteor and three 4g sim and see how it works 8)

Very strange. Have you asked them?

I ordered a pair of original antenna for the B593 just now. Hopefully will get them within the next week. I'm interested to see if they help.

Dord · 14-09-2014 10:37pm

Latest speedtest. Getting there!

-=al=- · 15-09-2014 2:16am

Yeah it is strange, it's to do with them blocking certain packets for security reasons I think but I'm not too sure what I'm talking about.. It's not that much of a big deal but if I can't download location based stuff it's not great really.

I guess having a few payg sims handy would be good. Meteor and Tesco have decent signal here, I'm just yet to try 4g... Hopefully it all works out

And yeah do update on the antennas to see if they make a big difference. It seems the external antennas make a huge difference but if the small ones do the trick, it's probably a good investment

FanadMan · 15-09-2014 2:41am

From North Donegal - about 2.5Km from the nearest mast. Still using Huawei B260a. On (extended) NBS contract because there is nobody else that can provide the same download at as cheap a price (and don't have the money to pay for NWEN install)

-=al=- · 15-09-2014 3:11pm

Wow, got the b593s-22 today and it's almost tripled the speed with 1 bar of 3g signal!

Haven't configured it or worked out what's best yet but first test and impression is pretty good! A big step up from the b260a and the options and choice in the router homepage is very extensive and good.. I don't even know what half of it does but yeah, so far, impressed. Thought I'd get slightly more signal but I have to sort that myself

Got some 4g sim cards... Here's meteor... 15eu for 6GB on a month contract is the best I could get out of them for a sim only plan... They wouldn't give me the student offer and have no payg 4g plans

:pac: It's so fast I don't even know what to do with it.. Can ping addresses with it, so whatever three and tesco block, meteor don't

Here's three

Not as good and 1 bar less signal and can't ping either!

Meteor works best but unless I could get a student plan It's not worth the hassle I don't think 30GB/22€ 18 month contract compared to three's 60GB 35€ for 12 months....

Dord · 17-09-2014 7:13am

No aerials yet but they've been shipped. Just broke the 20down barrier on my latest test.

-=al=- · 17-09-2014 7:16pm

Ordered a poynting MiMo arial from ebay myself.. only get 1 bar in the house

Went on the roof for the laugh to see how much better it was and it went up to 3 bars of 4g on Meteor and Three

Meteor still wins hands down... far superior and prompt

Meteor

Three

Meteor iPhone speedtest

Hopefully once I get this antenna it will be the internwebs sorted forever and you won't see me around here again :pac: Pretty happy with them speeds so far

FanadMan · 18-09-2014 1:46am

-=al=- wrote: »

Ordered a poynting MiMo arial from ebay myself.. only get 1 bar in the house

Hopefully once I get this antenna it will be the internwebs sorted forever and you won't see me around here again :pac: Pretty happy with them speeds so far

Do you have a linky for the right antenna? Can't find a decent one that doesn't cost as much as a new car

Stokolan · 18-09-2014 8:13am

Just ran a test on meteor this morning

Quiet happy with that.

Scruff · 18-09-2014 11:21am

Meteor 4g using a Huawei e3272, only 2 bars, out in the sticks.

Download is 1-4mb faster than what i'm getting on Tesco 3g with 5bars but upload is a lot better and more importantly much lower and more stable ping.
Looks like i'll stick with Meteor and look into an external aerial and the Huawei b593s-22 router to get better speeds but perfectly fine as it is for my needs at the moment.

ouch. its more than halved dl speed at the moment (time 14:40 - 15:00) . This is the lowest 4g speed i'v measured so far but stll 50% faster than the lowest tesco 3g

THE ALM · 18-09-2014 12:14pm

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/969638865

Meteor 4G through TL-MR3420 router with E3272 and MIMO antenna on roof. Not in a meteor 4G area but manage to pick up 2 bars using the antenna. Hoping coverage increases over time with upgraded masts but happy enough at the moment.

Previously running about 5mb download oN 3g

Scruff · 18-09-2014 12:45pm

THE ALM wrote: »

Meteor 4G through TL-MR3420 router with E3272 and MIMO antenna on roof. Not in a meteor 4G area but manage to pick up 2 bars using the antenna.

what aerial did ye get? do you get any 4g signal at all without it?

bijou · 18-09-2014 12:54pm

Not posted on here for a while as I'm feeling a little insignificant seeing all these fab speeds. My bucket on the roof is still holding out though and keeping the consistant speeds:

[URL="[URL=http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3769007295][IMG]http://www.speedtest.net/result/3769007295.png[/IMG][/URL]"][/url]

=al= is this the antenna you referred to??
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/MIMO-Mobile-Broadband-Antenna-Huawei-Aerial-Booster-20dBi-B593-SMA-1800-2600Mhz-/271369977003?pt=UK_Computing_Mobile_Broadband_Devices&hash=item3f2ee93cab

THE ALM · 18-09-2014 1:54pm

Scruff wrote: »

what aerial did ye get? do you get any 4g signal at all without it?

using this antenna and got a couple of sma to ts9 pigtails for the dongle. Don't get a 4g signal without it and had to rely on 3g.

Will probably spend a bit more time on the roof seeing if I can improve the signal although, as said, happy for now.

Dord · 18-09-2014 4:41pm

I found the position really did have a big impact on speed. In other news, my aerials are waiting in parcelmotel for me. Watch this space!

-=al=- · 18-09-2014 5:54pm

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Omni-Directional-4G-3G-LTE-MIMO-External-Antenna-for-Huawei-B593-E5172-B880-/231284385944?pt=UK_Computing_Boosters_Extenders_Antennas&hash=item35d99fa898

There's the one I got off of ebay and it's also shipped!

That one above for 40€ looks great! Wish I saw that before I opted for the other one!

Dord · 18-09-2014 10:07pm

with antennas, 3/5 bars reception.

without antennas, 4 bars reception.

Something isn't right...

:(

EDIT: I should mention, they're still plugged in. I've just changed the settings in the software from external to internal.

-=al=- · 18-09-2014 11:29pm

Yeah that's not right.

I find the position very important too as it seems with 4g that extra bar really goes a long way! I was reading that sometimes it has trouble detecting the external antennas but I'm sure you've changed the settings again and again so maybe have a google to see what the story is. I almost got the normal antennas myself but figured is go all out on a proper external one!

Dord · 19-09-2014 7:24am

-=al=- wrote: »

Yeah that's not right. I find the position very important too as it seems with 4g that extra bar really goes a long way! I was reading that sometimes it has trouble detecting the external antennas but I'm sure you've changed the settings again and again so maybe have a google to see what the story is. I almost got the normal antennas myself but figured is go all out on a proper external one!

It detecting the external antennae and seems to be using them... Just not very well. I tweaked it a bit last night and got 4/5 with the external ones. Still I was kinda expecting a solid 5.

Scruff · 19-09-2014 5:27pm

hmm... these daytime speeds are pretty brutal

jay93 · 19-09-2014 7:58pm

Fine for me on Meteor.

jay93 · 19-09-2014 11:12pm

3G Meteor

jay93 · 19-09-2014 11:18pm

3G On 3

warlikedave · 20-09-2014 3:45am

jay93 wrote: »

3G On 3

Sums Three up really

-=al=- · 22-09-2014 7:39pm

Got an external antenna today so mounted it to the roof, fed the wires inside along with a cat5 ethernet and set it all up in the attic...

Meteor

2-3 bars of signal at the minute haven't messed with antenna position yet since it got dark pretty quick but so far, pretty good!

pajor · 29-09-2014 8:03pm

Cork City on 3. Blegh.

JN9gaBP.png?1

Automan · 30-09-2014 4:40pm

Meteor broadband 3G:

Meteor mobile 3G:

Been like this for about 2 months all across Dublin for me with many people giving out about it on boards talk to meteor.
Does not seem to affect iphone users apparently.

-=al=- · 01-10-2014 4:53am

No problems here... Just breaking records!

warlikedave · 01-10-2014 5:19am

-=al=- wrote: »

No problems here... Just breaking records!

Am so tempted to get 4g broadband from a provider but the data caps are just so restrictive - even with three :mad:

-=al=- · 01-10-2014 5:35am

Yeah, definitely... That's the major problem really, the data caps. I've used about 12GB in a few days for just normal simple stuff and if there is a few users or devices, it adds up very fast.

You just download so much data because it's so fast... videos, images and music it all loads before you have a chance to stop the page from loading... not something I've been used to really!

I have to say the b593s' software is pretty good you get a lot of control over the network if you do make the move... PAYG sims can be used if you need more data if you run out. Even the 3g signal almost tripled the speed with the device

Automan · 01-10-2014 4:42pm

-=al=- wrote: »

No problems here... Just breaking records!

Yep good speeds on 4G and for some crap speeds on 3G, possible throttling :mad:.

http://www.boards.ie/ttfthread/2057277702

Automan · 01-10-2014 5:03pm

warlikedave wrote: »

Am so tempted to get 4g broadband from a provider but the data caps are just so restrictive - even with three :mad:

Im currently looking at getting threes all you can eat data on 4G payg with 20 euro topup, looking around boards people are claiming there is no cap some claiming downloads in the 100s of Gbs per month, do you have a different experiance? Or are you talking about mobile broadband only?

warlikedave · 01-10-2014 8:41pm

Automan wrote: »

Im currently looking at getting threes all you can eat data on 4G payg with 20 euro topup, looking around boards people are claiming there is no cap some claiming downloads in the 100s of Gbs per month, do you have a different experiance? Or are you talking about mobile broadband only?

Mobile broadband only - three dont allow the use of phone sims for broadband although you can but you run the risk of the service being barred.

The limit on three in terms of their phone data is 2TB :eek::D

Automan · 01-10-2014 9:01pm

warlikedave wrote: »

Mobile broadband only - three dont allow the use of phone sims for broadband although you can but you run the risk of the service being barred.

The limit on three in terms of their phone data is 2TB :eek::D

Cheers for the info, will be tethering my phone to the laptop, I know they dont allow this but again reading through the forums plenty of people doing it with some claiming that three cant tell if your tethering or not.

warlikedave · 01-10-2014 9:04pm

Automan wrote: »

Cheers for the info, will be tethering my phone to the laptop, I know they dont allow this but again reading through the forums plenty of people doing it with some claiming that three cant tell if your tethering or not.

Had a long call with their tech support - they can tell the exact device that it has been in and the period of time the session has been active. As for restricting service, he stated that it is entirely possible and it it at their discretion.

So it is use at your own risk so to speak. Still if you are just tethering instead of using a modem then they will still detect the phone as the usable device so you should be ok

-=al=- · 14-10-2014 6:24pm

Signal dropped slightly from constant 3 bars to 2 bars so I moved the antenna about a foot and 3 bars has come back.

I gotta say the extra bar made A LOT of difference! So if you're getting an external antenna or placing a device anywhere for 4g, make sure the cable is long enough for the antenna or the device and that is in the best possible position to give you the best chance of a decent signal.

I know it's probably very very basic simple stuff here but there really was a dip in performance a lot more noticeable than the same scenario happening on a 3G connection.

Scruff · 15-10-2014 1:49pm

bizarrely i have seen the converse to be true in my situation. Signal dropped to 1 bar and i started getting 17mbps down and 4mbps up. Then when i put the dongle outside the window where it gets 4 bars it dropped down to about 4mbps down. Now its back to 3 bars and is 7-10mbps down. Odd as fook.
I have the speedtests i took somewhere to post up.

jay93 · 16-10-2014 1:44am

Havnt done any recent tests on 4G with Meteor but this was my last one .. Quite good havnt seen it below 40 in most areas

warlikedave · 25-10-2014 2:22am

Meteor 4g - 3 bars - I need to test out more locations throughout the house but not bad for it being set up for 20 minutes

Has anyone tested the antennas that were designed to be attached to these devices (b593s-22)

-=al=- · 25-10-2014 4:09pm

Haven't moved the antenna and it has gone down to 1-2 bars now!

I get a consistant 16Mb down and 8Mb up.. Ping of less than 40ms.. Not terrible but not quite the speeds I got initially. Still perfectly fine though anything over 10Mb down is quite decent imo

As for antennas, there was one mentioned a few pages back from an irish company in Carlow selling directional MiMi antennas for 40€ that looked very decent and 9db gain I think... Worth a look

I use this one - http://www.ebay.com/itm/331263189598 (can't find an auction with just the antenna) and it works great. There isn't that much gain but place it anywhere outside and it worked good... I don't know if the meteor signal deteriorated on my end or theirs but it had connection issues that was totally on the network and not my setup so it hasn't been as good since... But still works aok

That one is quite expensive for what it is but it's very decent quality and cable and works great. Expected a bar or two more but it makes having a solid connection with an external antenna very easy

Heraldoffreeent · 25-10-2014 4:23pm

-=al=- wrote: »

Haven't moved the antenna and it has gone down to 1-2 bars now!

I get a consistant 16Mb down and 8Mb up.. Ping of less than 40ms.. Not terrible but not quite the speeds I got initially. Still perfectly fine though anything over 10Mb down is quite decent imo

As for antennas, there was one mentioned a few pages back from an irish company in Carlow selling directional MiMi antennas for 40€ that looked very decent and 9db gain I think... Worth a look

I use this one - http://www.ebay.com/itm/331263189598 (can't find an auction with just the antenna) and it works great. There isn't that much gain but place it anywhere outside and it worked good... I don't know if the meteor signal deteriorated on my end or theirs but it had connection issues that was totally on the network and not my setup so it hasn't been as good since... But still works aok

That one is quite expensive for what it is but it's very decent quality and cable and works great. Expected a bar or two more but it makes having a solid connection with an external antenna very easy

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Omni-antenna-GSM-3G-4G/dp/B00C1DGFPS

warlikedave · 25-10-2014 4:28pm

-=al=- wrote: »

Haven't moved the antenna and it has gone down to 1-2 bars now!

I get a consistant 16Mb down and 8Mb up.. Ping of less than 40ms.. Not terrible but not quite the speeds I got initially. Still perfectly fine though anything over 10Mb down is quite decent imo

As for antennas, there was one mentioned a few pages back from an irish company in Carlow selling directional MiMi antennas for 40€ that looked very decent and 9db gain I think... Worth a look

I use this one - http://www.ebay.com/itm/331263189598 (can't find an auction with just the antenna) and it works great. There isn't that much gain but place it anywhere outside and it worked good... I don't know if the meteor signal deteriorated on my end or theirs but it had connection issues that was totally on the network and not my setup so it hasn't been as good since... But still works aok

That one is quite expensive for what it is but it's very decent quality and cable and works great. Expected a bar or two more but it makes having a solid connection with an external antenna very easy

Could be contention mate - the more users they sign up the more it will effect - 4g is still suseptable to contention unfortunatly

-=al=- · 25-10-2014 5:14pm

Yup could very well be but the connection dropped for about an hour or so then when it returned the signal was weaker... Even with contention the signal should be similar right?

If I saw this antenna before the other one I definitely would have opted for this

http://www.dipol.ie/cellular-systems/gsm-3g-lte-antennas/lte/lte-mimo-antenna-atk-log-lte-800-2170mhz-5m-cable-sma-plug.html

10m and 5m cable length for about 40-50€ Reasonable price, directional and better gain

Midband speedtest Megaathread

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