MikroTik SXT-LTE6 kit vs TP-Link MR600

Fuser

A neighbour is living in an area with poor broadband coverage - currently on satellite broadband with 40 Gb monthly cap.
I borrowed a TP-Link MR600 and there is very poor connection speeds with Three mobile (slightly better on GoMo). Will the SXT give a much better signal. I don't want to purchase one only to find that it is no better than a 3g router. Has anyone had any experience with the MikroTik?

ED E

Bring the borrowed unit outside the house. Similar speed? Then changing device will have no impact.

Marlow

The SXT one is quite poor.

If you have to order one in, get the LHG variant (approx 2ft dish) and make sure, that you get the LTE one and not the 4G one. The LTE one works better in Ireland.

Either way what ED_E said ... but do not buy the SXT LTE unit. It's rubbish.

/M

Marlow

This one instead of the SXT6.

https://www.irishwireless.net/metrolinq-60-outdoor-unit-60ghz-ptmp-18dbi-bracket-not-included-3533

Product code: RBLHGR&R11e-LTE6

/M

Fuser

Thanks, its a good price on that site. I'll give that a go. I have to wait a while though as my neighbour lives more that 2Km away :rolleyes:

johnytwentyten

Fuser wrote: »

Thanks, its a good price on that site. I'll give that a go. I have to wait a while though as my neighbour lives more that 2Km away :rolleyes:

Hi just wondering if you bought this dish and how you got on with it?

Dero

Marlow wrote: »

The SXT one is quite poor.

If you have to order one in, get the LHG variant (approx 2ft dish) and make sure, that you get the LTE one and not the 4G one. The LTE one works better in Ireland.

Either way what ED_E said ... but do not buy the SXT LTE unit. It's rubbish.

/M

As a matter of interest, is the SXT one rubbish in general, or just rubbish for fringe reception areas?

I presume in configuration terms it's just RouterOS, so bridging should provide a public IP on the Ethernet (assuming the network/APN provides a public address)?

Fuser

I ordered the "RouterBOARD RBLHGR&R11e-LTE6, LHG LTE6 kit" from the above link. I got a 3.ie SIM. The unit worked straight away, I didn't have to enter apn details. I was getting 10 MB/s straight away, with the unit in the house facing out the window. I am having an issue with the mobile network disconnecting and I have to reboot it periodically. It usually disconnects when there is little broadband use in the house. I have opened a ticket with irishwireless and am waiting to see if there is a simple solution.
My brother in law picked up one too. The latest firmware give you a signal strength meter, so you can see the best way to point it when setting up. Funnily enough, the strongest signal gave him a speed of 2MB/s, (about -75 Db) whereas a slightly weaker signal of a different mast (-83Db) gave downloads of 20MB/s. He hasn't fixed his antenna yet as he is ordering a 3.ie SIM too. I can't say yet if he is getting the network drop issues/

Marlow

Dero wrote: »

As a matter of interest, is the SXT one rubbish in general, or just rubbish for fringe reception areas?

The SXT LTE one is just rubbish full stop. And that's based on my own testing. (and I do this kind of stuff for a living) All I'd use it for is a doorstop.

/M

Marlow

Fuser wrote: »

Funnily enough, the strongest signal gave him a speed of 2MB/s, (about -75 Db) whereas a slightly weaker signal of a different mast (-83Db) gave downloads of 20MB/s.

That could be different cells and the one with the better signal is just loaded already.

The handy bit of it being directional so you can aim it into a cell, that has less users, hence more bandwidth available.

/M

shaveAbullock

Fuser wrote: »

Thanks, its a good price on that site. I'll give that a go. I have to wait a while though as my neighbour lives more that 2Km away :rolleyes:

Even if the limit for exercise was extended to 100km you still could not visit them under current restrictions.

Fuser

I had the opportunity to mount the antenna outdoors (while maintaining social distancing) and downloaded the mikrotik mobile app. It gives the signal strength of about -93db. I unchecked the box for 4g, as the network kept disconnecting and the router had to be restarted. On 3g, the connection stays up - no disconnects at all. The download speeds are between 12-14MB/s.

johnytwentyten

Fuser wrote: »

I had the opportunity to mount the antenna outdoors (while maintaining social distancing) and downloaded the mikrotik mobile app. It gives the signal strength of about -93db. I unchecked the box for 4g, as the network kept disconnecting and the router had to be restarted. On 3g, the connection stays up - no disconnects at all. The download speeds are between 12-14MB/s.

What speeds were you getting before? And I was wondering are the speeds consistent throughout the day?

Fuser

Previous to this broadband was via satellite. I borrowed a "3" Huawei router and a TP-Link MR600 and tried both with a "3" SIM. I was getting speeds of up to 3 Mb/s. My neighbour says that the speed on the Mikrotik is fairly consistent, enough that they can now watch netflix.

johnytwentyten

Bought that dish and tried with a 3 SIM, only getting about 3 down and 3 up at best, this was at eight in the evening when the speed seems to slow anyway, but tried the SIM in my phone at the same location as the dish and was getting 14 up and 1 down?!
Anyone know why this is, or any tweaks I can make to the settings on the dish?

Fuser

Did you download the app for the dish. It will give you a graph for signal strength so you can fine tune where you are pointing it.

johnytwentyten

Fuser wrote: »

Did you download the app for the dish. It will give you a graph for signal strength so you can fine tune where you are pointing it.

I don't understand how the app connects to the dish if the dish has no WiFi? Is the app just the same as logging in with a PC?
Thanks

Fuser

You can plug the ethernet cable into the wan port of a router and connect your phone to the same router, is you have a spare router around.
If not, jut plug the ethernet cable into a laptop/pc and browse to 192.168.88.1, and you can see the signal strengths on the web interface of the router.

johnytwentyten

Fuser wrote: »

You can plug the ethernet cable into the wan port of a router and connect your phone to the same router, is you have a spare router around.
If not, jut plug the ethernet cable into a laptop/pc and browse to 192.168.88.1, and you can see the signal strengths on the web interface of the router.

Got set up last night, tried a Gomo SIM, even with full bars the data was non existent, tried a 3 SIM and lot better, 16 up and 4 down, having the app to pinpoint signal was a major help, thanks

barrysmyth81

Hi lads just trying to set up an mikrotik lhg LTE6 kit I'm using a 3 mobile sim card can see the unit via Web browser and app but can't seem to access the Internet what settings are needed to be setup on the router TIA?

Fuser

Once you plug in your SIM, it should work. Do you have a PIN on your SIM? You should be able to put in your PIN on the web interface somewhere, or you could pop you SIM into a phone and disable the PIN.

barrysmyth81

No just checked on my hauawei router settings it's off at the minute

Fuser

Can you click on lte and see if there is a connection established?

barrysmyth81

Access technology says evolved 3g lte
Registration status is registered

Fuser

It should be working - can you ping 8.8.8.8

barrysmyth81

No just timing out

Fuser

Did you try uncheck the box for 4g?
I did a factory reset when I had a situation like yours, can be done from web interface, or hold power button while plugging unit in.

johnytwentyten

Fuser wrote: »

Did you try uncheck the box for 4g?
I did a factory reset when I had a situation like yours, can be done from web interface, or hold power button while plugging unit in.

Also had to uncheck 4g to get a signal for internet, worked well on 3g

barrysmyth81

Yes on the lte I've selected lte and 3g

johnytwentyten

barrysmyth81 wrote: »

Yes on the lte I've selected lte and 3g

Have you selected bands 3 and 20? Don't think I had to do anything else, there were times I wasn't getting internet but once 4g was unchecked and I was getting a few bars it seemed to work

Fuser

Are you plugging the LTE6 straight into the LAN port of a laptop or the WAN port of a router?

barrysmyth81

Is the 4g option in lte I've not seen it anywhere

barrysmyth81

Plugged straight in to laptop

barrysmyth81

And there's no need to enter apn details anywhere or set Netmask or dhcp range etc?

johnytwentyten

barrysmyth81 wrote: »

And there's no need to enter apn details anywhere or set Netmask or dhcp range etc?

I used a 3 SIM and didn't change the apn settings, still worked, you can enter 3internet for the apn though and see,

Are you using winbox to set it up?

barrysmyth81

Finally got the microtik working 😁 but only thing is the speed can be up to 40 down and roughly the same up and then drop to about 5 download and 14 up have linked the app for the dish what should I look in the graphs to stabilise speeds?

Fuser

Just sweep the dish around and look for the strongest signal. You should be able to find any mobile masts near you on the comreg site and then you have a rough idea where to point the antenna

johnytwentyten

I've looked at the info in the mikrotik app to see which mast I'm hitting, but the number of the cell info doesn't match up with any info on the comreg site viewer, anyone know where I can work out which mast I'm using,?

johnytwentyten

Can someone with a bit of know how tell me why I'm not getting a steady reading when I look at the internet on the app? It doesn't matter if I'm getting full bars or not, the reading constantly jumps, almost like it's following a pattern, is there something I can change to make it more steady?

The bars also jump in the same way no matter how I position the dish, from full bars to none,

Also, originally I was getting speeds of 15-20 mb/s, now I'm lucky to get past 8-9 mb/s

http://imgur.com/a/hUsKLQw

Marlow

Marlow wrote: »

This one instead of the SXT6.

https://www.irishwireless.net/metrolinq-60-outdoor-unit-60ghz-ptmp-18dbi-bracket-not-included-3533

Product code: RBLHGR&R11e-LTE6

/M

For the few that got this ,
how are ye getting on with it after having it installed for a bit now?

I'm 3km from mast and i can see it from where the mikrotik would be installed so i'm thinking of going this route.
i currently have a VF huawei b528, the speed can be ok most of the day, except peak, so im wondering could congestion be my problem rather than signal.

Anyhoo, just seeing how ye are getting on with it,
thanks.

johnytwentyten

[Deleted User] wrote: »

For the few that got this ,
how are ye getting on with it after having it installed for a bit now?

I'm 3km from mast and i can see it from where the mikrotik would be installed so i'm thinking of going this route.
i currently have a VF huawei b528, the speed can be ok most of the day, except peak, so im wondering could congestion be my problem rather than signal.

Anyhoo, just seeing how ye are getting on with it,
thanks.

Been very hit and miss for me, was getting speeds up to 25 mb at the beginning, dropped to 3mb after a while, gone up a little since, the readings seem to spike a lot, I've seen other people reporting this issue, they were also working on the mast I'm aimed at so could have had something to do with it, the dish is discussed a lot In this thread

https://confusedbird.com/thread-16.html

johnytwentyten

johnytwentyten wrote: »

Been very hit and miss for me, was getting speeds up to 25 mb at the beginning, dropped to 3mb after a while, gone up a little since, the readings seem to spike a lot, I've seen other people reporting this issue, they were also working on the mast I'm aimed at so could have had something to do with it, the dish is discussed a lot In this thread

https://confusedbird.com/thread-16.html

Haven’t come across this site before. Thanks for that, more reading to do.
I see the admin in that thread left a review of the MikroTik on amazon which made me question the thing in the first place.

Thanks

DeconSheridan

In our network there are two routers one TP-LinkMR6400 the other is a Huawei B525 both 3/4G LTE. I find that the Huawei is far better at holding the 4G signal and reaches further for wifi and has more and better features that the TP-Link don't have. I see Three signal and speed quality ranges from 50% to 90% from 0.1 Mbps up to 7.5Mbps each day up down.