Telstra Mobile Options
Hi All, I know this has been talked about before and I have been playing around with some options but I was hoping I could draw on some real life experiences from others. I am trying to get a decent Telstra Mobile signal in a rural area, doing my research I can see that there is a Telstra Mobile site 31 km's away which supports 3G 850Mhz and 4G 700Mhz. There is another site which is 24km away which has 3G 850Mhz and 4G 1800Mhz on it, I think the first site would be a better line of sight then the closer one. My iPhone 6 drifts between 2-3 bars of 3G and sometimes 1 bar of 4G at the location, however data speed is pretty sad at around 1.5-2Mbit/s when it actually works. Currently I am using a Routerboard 411U with a Sierra Wireless MC8705 PCIe modem and a 7dbi omni antenna which is external, I figure it's only connecting to the 850Mhz 3G as it only supports that band out of the bands available at the towers. I have thought about using the SXTLTE model as it supports 1800Mhz but would that do the job as only one site supports 1800Mhz and I am not 100% sure which site I am actually reaching at the moment ? What would people suggest in this case ? Should I upgrade to a newer modem and stick with the existing setup and if so which one ? Should I use a better antenna ? I would appreciate any suggestions as I need to get some reliable data there and am hoping to get around 5-10Mbit/s if at all possible. Thanks Paul
I'd suggest finding the location of both towers (ACMA radcomms database), and go for a drive, and see what speed you get while within a KM of each tower.. Otherwise you're likely to go to all this work, and then find there's only 8mbps available at the tower you're working off, or something similarly silly.. (Don't laugh, there's a place we like to visit with the kids up near Nabiac where we're less than a KM from the closest tower, but max out at 8mbps on 3g..) On 9 January 2017 at 14:27, Paul Julian <paul@oxygennetworks.com.au> wrote:
Hi All, I know this has been talked about before and I have been playing around with some options but I was hoping I could draw on some real life experiences from others.
I am trying to get a decent Telstra Mobile signal in a rural area, doing my research I can see that there is a Telstra Mobile site 31 km's away which supports 3G 850Mhz and 4G 700Mhz. There is another site which is 24km away which has 3G 850Mhz and 4G 1800Mhz on it, I think the first site would be a better line of sight then the closer one.
My iPhone 6 drifts between 2-3 bars of 3G and sometimes 1 bar of 4G at the location, however data speed is pretty sad at around 1.5-2Mbit/s when it actually works.
Currently I am using a Routerboard 411U with a Sierra Wireless MC8705 PCIe modem and a 7dbi omni antenna which is external, I figure it's only connecting to the 850Mhz 3G as it only supports that band out of the bands available at the towers. I have thought about using the SXTLTE model as it supports 1800Mhz but would that do the job as only one site supports 1800Mhz and I am not 100% sure which site I am actually reaching at the moment ?
What would people suggest in this case ? Should I upgrade to a newer modem and stick with the existing setup and if so which one ? Should I use a better antenna ?
I would appreciate any suggestions as I need to get some reliable data there and am hoping to get around 5-10Mbit/s if at all possible.
Thanks Paul _______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com.au
-- Damien Gardner Jnr VK2TDG. Dip EE. GradIEAust rendrag@rendrag.net - http://www.rendrag.net/ -- We rode on the winds of the rising storm, We ran to the sounds of thunder. We danced among the lightning bolts, and tore the world asunder
That's not a bad idea Damien, I have already eyeballed both of them and confirmed with the ACMA database to get frequencies etc but not done a speed test near them. Regards Paul -----Original Message----- From: Public [mailto:public-bounces@talk.mikrotik.com.au] On Behalf Of Damien Gardner Jnr Sent: Monday, 9 January 2017 2:33 PM To: MikroTik Australia Public List Subject: Re: [MT-AU Public] Telstra Mobile Options I'd suggest finding the location of both towers (ACMA radcomms database), and go for a drive, and see what speed you get while within a KM of each tower.. Otherwise you're likely to go to all this work, and then find there's only 8mbps available at the tower you're working off, or something similarly silly.. (Don't laugh, there's a place we like to visit with the kids up near Nabiac where we're less than a KM from the closest tower, but max out at 8mbps on 3g..) On 9 January 2017 at 14:27, Paul Julian <paul@oxygennetworks.com.au> wrote:
Hi All, I know this has been talked about before and I have been playing around with some options but I was hoping I could draw on some real life experiences from others.
I am trying to get a decent Telstra Mobile signal in a rural area, doing my research I can see that there is a Telstra Mobile site 31 km's away which supports 3G 850Mhz and 4G 700Mhz. There is another site which is 24km away which has 3G 850Mhz and 4G 1800Mhz on it, I think the first site would be a better line of sight then the closer one.
My iPhone 6 drifts between 2-3 bars of 3G and sometimes 1 bar of 4G at the location, however data speed is pretty sad at around 1.5-2Mbit/s when it actually works.
Currently I am using a Routerboard 411U with a Sierra Wireless MC8705 PCIe modem and a 7dbi omni antenna which is external, I figure it's only connecting to the 850Mhz 3G as it only supports that band out of the bands available at the towers. I have thought about using the SXTLTE model as it supports 1800Mhz but would that do the job as only one site supports 1800Mhz and I am not 100% sure which site I am actually reaching at the moment ?
What would people suggest in this case ? Should I upgrade to a newer modem and stick with the existing setup and if so which one ? Should I use a better antenna ?
I would appreciate any suggestions as I need to get some reliable data there and am hoping to get around 5-10Mbit/s if at all possible.
Thanks Paul _______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com. au
-- Damien Gardner Jnr VK2TDG. Dip EE. GradIEAust rendrag@rendrag.net - http://www.rendrag.net/ -- We rode on the winds of the rising storm, We ran to the sounds of thunder. We danced among the lightning bolts, and tore the world asunder _______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com.au
I tested this LE910 module as an engineering prototype on an RB411 about 12 months ago. I got it working on 700MHz (B28) in 3G/PPP mode at 6Mbit per second to my tower about 1.5km away. Not great. I couldn't get it working in 4G/Eth. I have no idea how it goes now with ROS. A year is a long time for updates. http://www.glynstore.com/glyn-mini-pcie-xe910/ http://www.glynstore.com/content/docs/glyn/MiniPCI-E%20xE910%20Brochure%20r5... Dean at Glyn in Sydney loaned me the sample and I think he pushed the development of this module. On 9 January 2017 at 14:27, Paul Julian <paul@oxygennetworks.com.au> wrote:
Hi All, I know this has been talked about before and I have been playing around with some options but I was hoping I could draw on some real life experiences from others.
I am trying to get a decent Telstra Mobile signal in a rural area, doing my research I can see that there is a Telstra Mobile site 31 km's away which supports 3G 850Mhz and 4G 700Mhz. There is another site which is 24km away which has 3G 850Mhz and 4G 1800Mhz on it, I think the first site would be a better line of sight then the closer one.
My iPhone 6 drifts between 2-3 bars of 3G and sometimes 1 bar of 4G at the location, however data speed is pretty sad at around 1.5-2Mbit/s when it actually works.
Currently I am using a Routerboard 411U with a Sierra Wireless MC8705 PCIe modem and a 7dbi omni antenna which is external, I figure it's only connecting to the 850Mhz 3G as it only supports that band out of the bands available at the towers. I have thought about using the SXTLTE model as it supports 1800Mhz but would that do the job as only one site supports 1800Mhz and I am not 100% sure which site I am actually reaching at the moment ?
What would people suggest in this case ? Should I upgrade to a newer modem and stick with the existing setup and if so which one ? Should I use a better antenna ?
I would appreciate any suggestions as I need to get some reliable data there and am hoping to get around 5-10Mbit/s if at all possible.
Thanks Paul _______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com.au
Unless something has changed in the last 6 months or so since I last installed one - the Sierra Wireless PCIe modems are still stuck using the serial PPP interface in ROS which limits the speeds. If you want to check out the line-of-sight, the Ubiquiti Airlink tool is very handy - https://airlink.ubnt.com/#/ - of course it doesn't natively support the Mikrotik range, but can serve as a good enough tool to figure out if you have a clear LOS. I am a big fan of the SXTLTE, if you have any chance of hitting the 1800MHz 4G tower, I would suggest giving that a go. -----Original Message----- From: Public [mailto:public-bounces@talk.mikrotik.com.au] On Behalf Of Paul Julian Sent: Monday, 9 January 2017 2:28 PM To: public@talk.mikrotik.com.au Subject: [MT-AU Public] Telstra Mobile Options Hi All, I know this has been talked about before and I have been playing around with some options but I was hoping I could draw on some real life experiences from others. I am trying to get a decent Telstra Mobile signal in a rural area, doing my research I can see that there is a Telstra Mobile site 31 km's away which supports 3G 850Mhz and 4G 700Mhz. There is another site which is 24km away which has 3G 850Mhz and 4G 1800Mhz on it, I think the first site would be a better line of sight then the closer one. My iPhone 6 drifts between 2-3 bars of 3G and sometimes 1 bar of 4G at the location, however data speed is pretty sad at around 1.5-2Mbit/s when it actually works. Currently I am using a Routerboard 411U with a Sierra Wireless MC8705 PCIe modem and a 7dbi omni antenna which is external, I figure it's only connecting to the 850Mhz 3G as it only supports that band out of the bands available at the towers. I have thought about using the SXTLTE model as it supports 1800Mhz but would that do the job as only one site supports 1800Mhz and I am not 100% sure which site I am actually reaching at the moment ? What would people suggest in this case ? Should I upgrade to a newer modem and stick with the existing setup and if so which one ? Should I use a better antenna ? I would appreciate any suggestions as I need to get some reliable data there and am hoping to get around 5-10Mbit/s if at all possible. Thanks Paul _______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com.au
-----Original Message----- From: Public [mailto:public-bounces@talk.mikrotik.com.au] On Behalf Of Thomas Jackson Sent: Monday, 9 January 2017 3:49 PM To: MikroTik Australia Public List <public@talk.mikrotik.com.au> Subject: Re: [MT-AU Public] Telstra Mobile Options
Unless something has changed in the last 6 months or so since I last installed one - the Sierra Wireless PCIe modems are still stuck using the serial PPP interface in ROS which limits the speeds.
If you want to check out the line-of-sight, the Ubiquiti Airlink tool is very handy - https://airlink.ubnt.com/#/ - of course it doesn't natively support the Mikrotik range, but can serve as a good enough tool to figure out if you have a clear LOS.
I am a big fan of the SXTLTE, if you have any chance of hitting the 1800MHz 4G tower, I would suggest giving that a go.
-----Original Message----- From: Public [mailto:public-bounces@talk.mikrotik.com.au] On Behalf Of Paul Julian Sent: Monday, 9 January 2017 2:28 PM To: public@talk.mikrotik.com.au Subject: [MT-AU Public] Telstra Mobile Options
Hi All, I know this has been talked about before and I have been playing around with some options but I was hoping I could draw on some real life experiences from others.
I am trying to get a decent Telstra Mobile signal in a rural area, doing my research I can see that there is a Telstra Mobile site 31 km's away which supports 3G 850Mhz and 4G 700Mhz. There is another site which is 24km away which has 3G 850Mhz and 4G 1800Mhz on it, I think the first site would be a better line of sight then
one.
My iPhone 6 drifts between 2-3 bars of 3G and sometimes 1 bar of 4G at the location, however data speed is pretty sad at around 1.5-2Mbit/s when it actually works.
Currently I am using a Routerboard 411U with a Sierra Wireless MC8705 PCIe modem and a 7dbi omni antenna which is external, I figure it's only connecting to the 850Mhz 3G as it only supports that band out of the bands available at the towers. I have thought about using the SXTLTE model as it supports 1800Mhz but would that do the job as only one site supports 1800Mhz and I am not 100% sure which site I am actually reaching at the moment ?
What would people suggest in this case ? Should I upgrade to a newer modem and stick with the existing setup and if so which one ? Should I use a better antenna ?
I would appreciate any suggestions as I need to get some reliable data
True - Sierra 7305 is still limited to ppp mode (apparently can be overcome with routerOS v7 ;) but --- mode limits data rate to around 28mbps anyhow, so even in ppp mode it could potentially deliver the '5-10 mbps if possible' rate! :-) Cheers! Mike. the closer there and
am hoping to get around 5-10Mbit/s if at all possible.
Thanks Paul _______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com.au
_______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com.au
-----Original Message----- From: Public [mailto:public-bounces@talk.mikrotik.com.au] On Behalf Of Paul Julian Sent: Monday, 9 January 2017 2:28 PM To: public@talk.mikrotik.com.au Subject: [MT-AU Public] Telstra Mobile Options
Hi All, I know this has been talked about before and I have been playing around with some options but I was hoping I could draw on some real life experiences from others.
I am trying to get a decent Telstra Mobile signal in a rural area, doing my research I can see that there is a Telstra Mobile site 31 km's away which supports 3G 850Mhz and 4G 700Mhz. There is another site which is 24km away which has 3G 850Mhz and 4G 1800Mhz on it, I think the first site would be a better line of sight then
one.
My iPhone 6 drifts between 2-3 bars of 3G and sometimes 1 bar of 4G at the location, however data speed is pretty sad at around 1.5-2Mbit/s when it actually works.
Currently I am using a Routerboard 411U with a Sierra Wireless MC8705 PCIe modem and a 7dbi omni antenna which is external, I figure it's only connecting to the 850Mhz 3G as it only supports that band out of the bands available at the towers. I have thought about using the SXTLTE model as it supports 1800Mhz but would that do the job as only one site supports 1800Mhz and I am not 100% sure which site I am actually reaching at the moment ?
What would people suggest in this case ? Should I upgrade to a newer modem and stick with the existing setup and if so which one ? Should I use a better antenna ?
I would appreciate any suggestions as I need to get some reliable data
Hi Paul, Probably a good idea to avoid using omnidirectional antenna if you can avoid it - directional will be better, higher gain and easier to aim ;) Cheers! Mike. the closer there and
am hoping to get around 5-10Mbit/s if at all possible.
Thanks Paul _______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com.au
-----Original Message----- From: Public [mailto:public-bounces@talk.mikrotik.com.au] On Behalf Of Paul Julian Sent: Monday, 9 January 2017 2:28 PM To: public@talk.mikrotik.com.au Subject: [MT-AU Public] Telstra Mobile Options
Hi All, I know this has been talked about before and I have been playing around with some options but I was hoping I could draw on some real life experiences from others.
I am trying to get a decent Telstra Mobile signal in a rural area, doing my research I can see that there is a Telstra Mobile site 31 km's away which supports 3G 850Mhz and 4G 700Mhz. There is another site which is 24km away which has 3G 850Mhz and 4G 1800Mhz on it, I think the first site would be a better line of sight then
one.
My iPhone 6 drifts between 2-3 bars of 3G and sometimes 1 bar of 4G at the location, however data speed is pretty sad at around 1.5-2Mbit/s when it actually works.
Currently I am using a Routerboard 411U with a Sierra Wireless MC8705 PCIe modem and a 7dbi omni antenna which is external, I figure it's only connecting to the 850Mhz 3G as it only supports that band out of the bands available at the towers. I have thought about using the SXTLTE model as it supports 1800Mhz but would that do the job as only one site supports 1800Mhz and I am not 100% sure which site I am actually reaching at the moment ?
What would people suggest in this case ? Should I upgrade to a newer modem and stick with the existing setup and if so which one ? Should I use a better antenna ?
I would appreciate any suggestions as I need to get some reliable data
Thanks Mike, yes I agree, unfortunately it was all I could get over Christmas and thought it would surely work better than my iPhone. What do you think about the SXTLTE as an option ? Regards Paul -----Original Message----- From: Public [mailto:public-bounces@talk.mikrotik.com.au] On Behalf Of Mike Everest Sent: Monday, 9 January 2017 11:40 PM To: 'MikroTik Australia Public List' Subject: Re: [MT-AU Public] Telstra Mobile Options Hi Paul, Probably a good idea to avoid using omnidirectional antenna if you can avoid it - directional will be better, higher gain and easier to aim ;) Cheers! Mike. the closer there and
am hoping to get around 5-10Mbit/s if at all possible.
Thanks Paul _______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com. au
_______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com.au
Hi Paul, We have LOTS of very good reports regarding SXT-LTE, but also one report of significant problems. We don't have a lot of info about that poor report, but we suspect that it might be signal level issue at that location else 3G fallback issue (not supported with SXT) Cheers, Mike.
-----Original Message----- From: Public [mailto:public-bounces@talk.mikrotik.com.au] On Behalf Of Paul Julian Sent: Tuesday, 10 January 2017 12:56 PM To: 'MikroTik Australia Public List' <public@talk.mikrotik.com.au> Subject: Re: [MT-AU Public] Telstra Mobile Options
Thanks Mike, yes I agree, unfortunately it was all I could get over Christmas and thought it would surely work better than my iPhone.
What do you think about the SXTLTE as an option ?
Regards Paul
-----Original Message----- From: Public [mailto:public-bounces@talk.mikrotik.com.au] On Behalf Of Mike Everest Sent: Monday, 9 January 2017 11:40 PM To: 'MikroTik Australia Public List' Subject: Re: [MT-AU Public] Telstra Mobile Options
Hi Paul,
Probably a good idea to avoid using omnidirectional antenna if you can avoid it - directional will be better, higher gain and easier to aim ;)
Cheers!
Mike.
-----Original Message----- From: Public [mailto:public-bounces@talk.mikrotik.com.au] On Behalf Of Paul Julian Sent: Monday, 9 January 2017 2:28 PM To: public@talk.mikrotik.com.au Subject: [MT-AU Public] Telstra Mobile Options
Hi All, I know this has been talked about before and I have been playing around with some options but I was hoping I could draw on some real life experiences from others.
I am trying to get a decent Telstra Mobile signal in a rural area, doing my research I can see that there is a Telstra Mobile site 31 km's away which supports 3G 850Mhz and 4G 700Mhz. There is another site which is 24km away which has 3G 850Mhz and 4G 1800Mhz on it, I think the first site would be a better line of sight then the closer one.
My iPhone 6 drifts between 2-3 bars of 3G and sometimes 1 bar of 4G at the location, however data speed is pretty sad at around 1.5-2Mbit/s when it actually works.
Currently I am using a Routerboard 411U with a Sierra Wireless MC8705 PCIe modem and a 7dbi omni antenna which is external, I figure it's only connecting to the 850Mhz 3G as it only supports that band out of the bands available at the towers. I have thought about using the SXTLTE model as it supports 1800Mhz but would that do the job as only one site supports 1800Mhz and I am not 100% sure which site I am actually reaching at the moment ?
What would people suggest in this case ? Should I upgrade to a newer modem and stick with the existing setup and if so which one ? Should I use a better antenna ?
I would appreciate any suggestions as I need to get some reliable data there and am hoping to get around 5-10Mbit/s if at all possible.
Thanks Paul _______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com. au
_______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com.au
_______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com.au
Well I bit the bullet and got the SXT-LTE, aimed at the tower 24km away and after a while it connected up, signal was average but pretty stable. On speedtest.net I was seeing a pretty constant 50M down and 40M up, nothing to be complaining about considering it's 10 times faster download than home ! One thing though, even though signal seems reasonable and noise is ok the link seems to drop every 10-30 mins and come back up a couple of minutes after, any suggestions or tweaks to address this or is it just my signal moving around ? Logs just say lte1 link down, then lte1 link up, nothing else except the IP and DNS parameters. Signal is -74 and SNR is 17, so not too bad I would have thought, maybe 4G isn't as tolerant as 5.8ghz ? Regards Paul
Try adjusting the positioning of the SXT - I've found the antennas to be quite directional and had similar issues on one of my units until I took the time to get the positioning 100% right. -----Original Message----- From: Public [mailto:public-bounces@talk.mikrotik.com.au] On Behalf Of Paul Julian Sent: Monday, 23 January 2017 8:37 PM To: 'MikroTik Australia Public List' <public@talk.mikrotik.com.au> Subject: Re: [MT-AU Public] Telstra Mobile Options Well I bit the bullet and got the SXT-LTE, aimed at the tower 24km away and after a while it connected up, signal was average but pretty stable. On speedtest.net I was seeing a pretty constant 50M down and 40M up, nothing to be complaining about considering it's 10 times faster download than home ! One thing though, even though signal seems reasonable and noise is ok the link seems to drop every 10-30 mins and come back up a couple of minutes after, any suggestions or tweaks to address this or is it just my signal moving around ? Logs just say lte1 link down, then lte1 link up, nothing else except the IP and DNS parameters. Signal is -74 and SNR is 17, so not too bad I would have thought, maybe 4G isn't as tolerant as 5.8ghz ? Regards Paul _______________________________________________ Public mailing list Public@talk.mikrotik.com.au http://talk.mikrotik.com.au/mailman/listinfo/public_talk.mikrotik.com.au
participants (5)
-
Damien Gardner Jnr -
Jason Hecker (Up & Running Tech) -
Mike Everest -
Paul Julian -
Thomas Jackson