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jainge
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LHG-LTE6 CA of AT&T B2+B12 -or- AT&T B2+B17 not working

Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:06 am

LHG-LTE6 Running OS 6.47.3. - - The R11e-LTE6 firmware has been updated to latest v025. - - APN: broadband

So after a bit of experimentation in several different locations oriented towards different known AT&T tower sites, it seems that while I can connect to each of these three bands (B2, B12, B17) separately (by selecting the individual Band within the LTE Interface).

When I do not select a specific LTE Band in the LTE Interface, it immediately locks onto B2... which may or may not be the best performing band in the area.

And then it does nothing more than stay on B2.... Once in awhile, it tries to select B17 or B12 as the CA Band, albeit momentarily.

After a minute or less it simply disconnects from the chosen CA Band and never tries to connect a CA again, however, B2 stays connected.

I'm guessing that I'm not setting this up properly or I'm not selecting something properly...?

I have tried different variations of selecting all GSM, 3G and LTE, selecting 3G and LTE, and I have tried just selecting LTE.

As for the LTE Bands, am I supposed to tick off (select) ALL of the LTE Bands that I wish to possibly connect to (in this case B2, B12 and B17)?

Or, am I only supposed to select the Primary CA LTE B2 and let the R11e-LTE6 modem negotiate the CA with another channel on it's own?

OR... Do I simply NOT select any of the LTE Bands and let it do everything on it's own?

Doesn't seem to matter what I do, I cannot get CA to operate when I know that the other Bands are present and can be connected to individually.

ANY Insight, Direction and Guidance would be appreciated!

Thank You!
 
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Re: LHG-LTE6 CA of AT&T B2+B12 -or- AT&T B2+B17 not working

Mon Sep 21, 2020 12:18 pm

In LTE mobility is supposed to be driven by network ... based on terminal's measurement feedback. The same goes for CA component carrier selection. Client device can not force any of them. If device's feedback (e.g. measurements) indicate that, according to network settings, some channel on certain cell is not feasible for use, then network will not order terminal to use it. If device's feedback (e.g. capability report or measurements) omit certain stuff, then network will not instruct device to do it (e.g. certain CA combination or use of certain frequency band).

Now, how channel locking works? It instructs terminal not to report support or measurements for certain channels. Thus steering network into wanted direction. But steering only works if network is willing to do it anyway. So if you enable cell lock and only include certain frequency bands, then device won't report measurements on the rest of channels, leading network to think device doesn't receive signal on those channels. However, if network is configured to favour certain channel over the rest of channels, it will instruct devices to use that channel if device reports to be receiving that channel. If network settings are not properly tuned, then it might end up instructing all devices to use some frequency band (thus causing congestion of that channel) and leaving the rest of channels underused - in which case it is beneficial to use channel lock to steer device to use other channels. OTOH forcing device to use channel, which is less used most of time, but is received by device at lower signal strength, can hurt performance during some time periods while leaving settings alone might be better at those times.

So in short: tuning LTE performance from client device is a tedious process, recipes working for some users might not work for the rest and can be counter-productive, specially so in decently optimized LTE network. Theoretically MNO engineers know their job better than average end-user, so the safest bet for most users is to leave settings at their defaults.
 
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Re: LHG-LTE6 CA of AT&T B2+B12 -or- AT&T B2+B17 not working

Mon Sep 21, 2020 3:03 pm

jainge
it seems that while I can connect to each of these three bands (B2, B12, B17) separately (by selecting the individual Band within the LTE Interface).
Big question is that all connection give you the same eNB=Tower what is a confimation that Tower used all that bands.
You can run a cell-monitor from CLI or run from CLI at-chat 0 input="at+eemginfo\?" to see what are Intra and Inter from your Tower to be sure.

When I do not select a specific LTE Band in the LTE Interface, it immediately locks onto B2... which may or may not be the best performing band in the area.
Mostly the connection is base at signal, when you want to force connection to specific tower then Cell Lock is your friend.

And then it does nothing more than stay on B2.... Once in awhile, it tries to select B17 or B12 as the CA Band, albeit momentarily.
After a minute or less it simply disconnects from the chosen CA Band and never tries to connect a CA again, however, B2 stays connected.
Good way is enable a monitoring of change at not only bands but sector antenna you are connected to be aware of that changes, check
Watch LTE parameters: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=153622&hilit=watchdog#p768105

I'm guessing that I'm not setting this up properly or I'm not selecting something properly...?
Rather that, module just be hop between bands and antennas to found most stable connection.

I have tried different variations of selecting all GSM, 3G and LTE, selecting 3G and LTE, and I have tried just selecting LTE.
As for the LTE Bands, am I supposed to tick off (select) ALL of the LTE Bands that I wish to possibly connect to (in this case B2, B12 and B17)?
Or, am I only supposed to select the Primary CA LTE B2 and let the R11e-LTE6 modem negotiate the CA with another channel on it's own?
Always the scanning using cell-monitor to detect all earfcn & phy-cell-id and do at+eemginfo and CellLock to test all them, that way you discover what specific tower give band/speed.
CA is automatically assigned.
 
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Re: LHG-LTE6 CA of AT&T B2+B12 -or- AT&T B2+B17 not working

Mon Sep 21, 2020 11:18 pm

Big question is that all connection give you the same eNB
Just for the record: 3GPP Rel. 11 brings CoMP (Coordinated MultiPoint) which enables CA between different eNBs (read: different towers).
The feature has to be supported both by network and user's device ... I'm not sure if any of current Mikrotik LTE modems supports it. I'm sure quite a few networks support it.
 
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Re: LHG-LTE6 CA of AT&T B2+B12 -or- AT&T B2+B17 not working

Tue Sep 22, 2020 12:44 am

mkx
Just for the record: 3GPP Rel. 11 brings CoMP (Coordinated MultiPoint) which enables CA between different eNBs (read: different towers).
The feature has to be supported both by network and user's device ... I'm not sure if any of current Mikrotik LTE modems supports it. I'm sure quite a few networks support it.
Hello my guru :)
This is like Dual Connectivity.. and I ask a Quectel about support that technology in a new branch of devices (RM160R who replace EM16/20) and they say that are more focus with merge 4G&5G then that feature and they send me http://www.techplayon.com/dual-connecti ... omparison/ :). Quectel base at Qualcomm SoC in 5G themself and this field is the same, they say.
I hope that info is some new for you.
BR
Marcin (SiB) Przysowa
 
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Re: LHG-LTE6 CA of AT&T B2+B12 -or- AT&T B2+B17 not working

Tue Sep 22, 2020 8:08 am

Just for the record: 3GPP Rel. 11 brings CoMP (Coordinated MultiPoint) which enables CA between different eNBs (read: different towers).
This is like Dual Connectivity..

DC is next step from CoMP ... in CoMP there's only one scheduler involved (running in eNB serving PCC (primary carrier component) and controlling eNBs providing all SCCs (secondary CCs)), while in Dual Connectivity both eNBs don't coordinate much and it seems more like dual PtP WAN links with load-balancing enabled. I don't have in-depth knowledge of DC, so I can't say how good it performs compared to CA (and inter-eNB CA) given same amount of RRC resources.
 
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Re: LHG-LTE6 CA of AT&T B2+B12 -or- AT&T B2+B17 not working

Tue Sep 22, 2020 3:53 pm

I've never got more than 3mbps on AT&T with a LtAP and a LHG LTE.
 
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Re: LHG-LTE6 CA of AT&T B2+B12 -or- AT&T B2+B17 not working

Tue Sep 22, 2020 4:10 pm

I've never got more than 3mbps on AT&T with a LtAP and a LHG LTE.
AT&T is very strange, have many plans and profile of device like mifi | hotspot | phone | ... and all that is differ at prepaid vs postpaid service. Spoofing imei is not solution when you try start bigger project and this is good only for one unit to testing.

We at start receive the:
AT&T Free Msg: It looks like you want to use data but have none available. You may need to add a data package, refill to use pay-per-use data or change to a plan that supports data. To check your plan and manage your account, start at att.com/myprepaid. If you just made a payment for your monthly plan with data, power your device off and back on, then try again.”

Next we receive limitation like 8/6Mbps whatever modem hardware and eNB will be connected...

Next we found a business contact who change our SIM Plans for that without limitation... and now we can use and receive even 85/30 (our record for now)
.. so this is very strange ISP.
 
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Re: LHG-LTE6 CA of AT&T B2+B12 -or- AT&T B2+B17 not working

Sun Dec 13, 2020 7:27 pm

Next we found a business contact who change our SIM Plans for that without limitation... and now we can use and receive even 85/30 (
@SiB, this is very interesting. Can you expand on your conversation with ATT business to get this limit removed? Did you basically request they upgrade the SIM to a business-class speed? Was there a change in price for this plan vs the previous? Im paying $25/m for this SIM card and only getting max 6-10Mb, whereas my iPhone can pull 50Mb or more easily in the same location. Can you remember if there was a specific department you called into, or what menu options did you pick in the ATT call center nightmare? ;-)
 
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Re: LHG-LTE6 CA of AT&T B2+B12 -or- AT&T B2+B17 not working

Sun Dec 13, 2020 9:06 pm

jonmansey
@SiB, this is very interesting. Can you expand on your conversation with ATT business to get this limit removed? Did you basically request they upgrade the SIM to a business-class speed? Was there a change in price for this plan vs the previous?... Can you remember if there was a specific department you called into, or what menu options did you pick in the ATT call center nightmare? ;-)
I am in Europe\Poland and help with many LTE related projects.. and in this example the bussines is like be LTE-Reseler-ISP.. :) And owner buy >50sim and that way he reach some contacts. You should always contact with Bussines Dep. and try reach boss :) or say you wand do custom offer in specific criteria ...

About AT&T policy... yes. Phone can have better speed at phone plan then any mifi router ... and sorry, this is AT&T. More, other Plans use other Bands :).
 
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Re: LHG-LTE6 CA of AT&T B2+B12 -or- AT&T B2+B17 not working

Wed Dec 30, 2020 1:45 am

Today AT&T band all our sim cards... with R11e-LTE6 we cannot change IMEI . With Quectel we can and this we do via incoming SMS who run script...

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