I have 3 bands (B1, B3, B20) available from one station, but the router refuses to make full use of them for CA.
If I leave LTE bands on auto/unset, the router never uses CA and usually settles on the B3 band.
If I manually set LTE bands to either just 1, just 3 or just 20, it will use that specific band without much of an issue. So they definitely exist and work on their own.
If I manually set LTE bands to 1, 3 and 20 at once, it will usually engage 2CA with bands B3+B1 or B3+B20, but it never tries to 3CA all three bands. Also it eventually drops the CA band and doesn’t use it anymore unless I disable and re-enable the LTE interface.
What should I do to make CA work fully? LTE firmware is on latest version (EG12EAPAR01A12M4G) and so is the router (ROS 7.5).
Maybe your network operator does not allow carrier aggregation for those 3 bands. I also read that some network operator disable CA when there is no traffic, and only reactivates it when they detect traffic again.
I have Movistar in Spain, with firmware: EG12EAPAR01A12M4G and routeros 7.6 and is working:
I have LTE bands on auto.
With EG12EAPAR01A12M4G firmware is the first time since i bought Chateau LTE12, that i have stable connections without drops, etc. for weeks.
Carrier is PLAY/P4.
Right now I’m using an internal antenna. I also have an external one already mounted, but not plugged in yet (Signaflex DUAL X-CROSS, I think it’s 2x2 MIMO?). Haven’t tested CA with it yet, just the signal strength.
Thanks for confirmation that it should be doing 3CA on these bands. I haven’t noticed it picking up the third frequency when under stress. I’ll verify with my ISP whether or not they actually support it.
I’m looking up 4x4 MIMO LTE antennas and from what I can tell, they all come with 4 cables. Chateau LTE12 has just two external antenna connectors. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if your statement is true, then what sense does a device with LTE cat 12 and only two external antenna connectors make?
I see, thanks for the explanation. So basically hardware modification would be required to make full use of this cat. 12 modem. Weird design choice IMO. @josepc, do you have 3CA thanks to a 4x4 MIMO antenna as well?
In this case, considering the fact I’m not using an external antenna right now, I should be getting 3CA - unless my ISP is in fact not supporting it/blocking it, I have asked them about it yesterday and I’m waiting for an answer.
On one side, I wish I had learned sooner that MIMO impacts carrier aggregation directly, before I decided to mount the antenna I purchased… On the other hand, considering the prices of 4x4 MIMO antennas and the fact that messing with the internals of the router would be required, I’m thinking I’d give it a pass anyway, and settle on 2xCA with an external antenna instead.
If you have a Android phone with Qualcomm/MTK (root required)/ HiSilicon 990 chipset you can try Cellular Pro or Network Signal Guru…
to see more detailed network information and CA in action
