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jdinalt
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Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2023 6:46 am

R11e-LTE6 Connection Issues

Sun Feb 26, 2023 11:54 pm

I have a R11e-LTE6 in a LGH dish which is used as a backup Internet connection, when the primary (an AirFiber LR 60) goes down (rain can take it out, on account of the 60 GHz band). I live out in the boonies, at the bottom of a narrow canyon. This makes for very limited internet connectivity options.

In the case of the LGH, it is mounted up on the hillside (200 meters up from the house) at the only location I have ever found to have even the slightest hint of cell signal on the property. There's no line-of-sight to any cell towers from that location (or any location on the property), thus I can only assume that the signal originates from reflections in the canyon. To say the least, this does not make for very good signal.

Still, I would like to make the most of what I have and I'm puzzled over what I'm seeing and was hoping that someone can explain it?

First, I using AT&T as the provider and this at least minimally works. In the past, I have tried SIMs from the other two providers in the area, Verizon and T-Mobile, and have not been able to connect to these.

When connecting to AT&T, there is only a single cell which I have been able to connect to, although when using "cell-monitor," I can see many other cells, some of which have better signal strength and I'm trying to understand why the device will not connect to these?

I have used the cell-lock functionality to lock onto the one which works, but it does not work for any other cell.

Here is the connection status: Yes, the signal is terrible. The RSRP can be improve to -118dB, with proper alignment, but that's it.
           pin-status: ok
  registration-status: registered
        functionality: full
         manufacturer: "MikroTik"
                model: "R11e-LTE6"
             revision: R11e-LTE6_V034
     current-operator: AT&T
                  lac: 35614
       current-cellid: 169850120
               enb-id: 663477
            sector-id: 8
           phy-cellid: 389
    access-technology: LTE
       session-uptime: 3m8s
                 imei: ---------------
                 imsi: ---------------
                 uicc: ----------------
    subscriber-number: ----------------
         primary-band: B2@20Mhz earfcn: 800 phy-cellid: 389
                  cqi: 2
                   ri: 1
                 rssi: -80dBm
                 rsrp: -124dBm
                 rsrq: -19.5dB
                 sinr: -11dB
When using the "scan" feature, these are the reported values:
Columns: OPERATOR, MCC-MNC, ACCESS-TECHNOLOGY, RSSI, RSRP, RSRQ
OPERATOR  MCC-MNC  ACCESS-TECHNOLOGY  RSSI    RSRP     RSRQ
AT&T       310410  LTE                -82dBm  -120dBm  -17dB
AT&T       313100  LTE
AT&T       311480  LTE
I believe 311480 belongs to Verizon and I'm pretty sure 313100 is also not AT&T. While not a major issue, any idea as to why the "operator" is wrong?

When running the "cell-monitor" tool, what is listed is highly variable. Sometimes it shows nothing. Once, I have seen over 100 unique cells. Here are a few sample scans:
Columns: PHY-CELLID, BAND, EARFCN, RSRP, RSRQ, AGE
PHY-CELLID  BAND  EARFCN  RSRP     RSRQ     AGE
       270  B17     5780  -115dBm  -17.5dB  6s
       273  B2       800  -125dBm  -19.5dB  9s
       316  B2       800  -125dBm  -19.5dB  2s
       270  B12     5110  -130dBm  -19.5dB  2s
       ...
       
Columns: PHY-CELLID, BAND, EARFCN, RSRP, RSRQ, AGE
PHY-CELLID  BAND  EARFCN  RSRP     RSRQ     AGE
       415  B12     5110  -117dBm  -19.5dB  41s
       270  B12     5110  -118dBm  -19.5dB  1s
       348  B12     5110  -120dBm  -19.5dB  4s
       102  B2       800  -121dBm  -18.5dB  14s
       380  B2       800  -121dBm  -19.5dB  4s
       461  B12     5110  -121dBm  -19.5dB  53s
        67  B2       800  -122dBm  -19.5dB  8s
        ...
        
 Columns: PHY-CELLID, BAND, EARFCN, RSRP, RSRQ, AGE
PHY-CELLID  BAND  EARFCN  RSRP     RSRQ     AGE
       270  B12     5110  -114dBm  -19.5dB  2s
       437  B12     5110  -118dBm  -19.5dB  8s
       209  B2       800  -120dBm  -18.5dB  29s
       273  B2       800  -121dBm  -19.5dB  2s
       291  B12     5110  -122dBm  -19.5dB  2s
       ...
       
[admin@MikroTik] /interface/lte> cell-monitor lte1 max-age=10:00
Columns: PHY-CELLID, BAND, EARFCN, RSRP, RSRQ, AGE
PHY-CELLID  BAND  EARFCN  RSRP     RSRQ     AGE
       467  B2       800  -120dBm  -19.5dB  1m45s
       188  B2       800  -122dBm  -19.5dB  1m51s
        47  B2       800  -123dBm  -19.5dB  1m45s
        48  B2       800  -123dBm  -19dB    1m42s
       470  B2       800  -124dBm  -19.5dB  1s
        ...
        
Columns: PHY-CELLID, BAND, EARFCN, RSRP, RSRQ, AGE
PHY-CELLID  BAND  EARFCN  RSRP     RSRQ     AGE
       249  B2      1150  -122dBm  -17.5dB  1s
       470  B2       800  -124dBm  -19.5dB  1m56s
       261  B2       800  -125dBm  -19.5dB  1m56s
       273  B2       800  -126dBm  -19.5dB  1m56s
First, I would like to know which of these belong to my carrier? If I cell lock one which does not belong to AT&T, it would explain why it does not connect. Does anyone know if setting "allow-roaming=no" will restrict the list to only those which are belong to your carrier? If not, is there a good way to determine which belong do?

Oddly, the one I can connect to has never been listed by cell-monitor. Nor can I find that one listed on https://cellidfinder.com/ or https://www.cellmapper.net

Of these cells, CA-2 is always this one: "270 B12 5110 -114dBm -19.5dB 2s." For reasons I am unable to explain, I can't cell lock this as the primary via "at-chat lte1 input="AT*Cell=2,3,,5110,270" When I do this, it just sits there in this state:
13:09:47 lte,async lte1: sent AT*Cell=2,3,,5110,270
13:09:47 lte,async,event lte1: +CGEV: ME DETACH
13:09:47 lte,async lte1: rcvd +CGEV: ME DETACH
// No further output.

[admin@MikroTik] /interface/lte> monitor lte1
           pin-status: ok
  registration-status: unknown
        functionality: full
         manufacturer: "MikroTik"
                model: "R11e-LTE6"
             revision: R11e-LTE6_V034
             ...

[admin@MikroTik] /interface/lte> at-chat lte1 input="AT+CREG?"
  output: +CREG: 2,0
          OK
// +CEREG: <n>,<stat>... - The read command reads current network registration status.
// <n> 2 – Subscribe unsolicited result codes +CEREG:<stat>[,<tac>,<ci>,<AcT>]
// <stat> 0 – Not registered. User Equipment (UE) is not currently searching for an operator to register to.
There are no errors reported. It just sits there like this. If I switch it back, it will reconnect immediately.
13:20:45 lte,async lte1: sent AT*Cell=2,3,,800,389
13:20:45 lte,async,event lte1: +CGEV: ME DETACH
13:20:45 lte,async lte1: rcvd +CGEV: ME DETACH
13:20:45 lte,async,event lte1: +CPAS: 0
13:20:47 lte,async,raw lte1: +CEREG: 1,"8b1e","0a1fb508",9
13:20:47 lte,info lte1: registered home
// Leads to connection.
Occasionally, the registration status will be reported as "11," which is an undefined value. Does anyone know what this means? e.g. "+CEREG: 2,11,"8b1e","0a1fb508",7"

Anyhow, attempting to cell lock anything other than "800,389" results in the above, where it just sits there, and not attempting to connect. I'm trying to understand why this is? If these belong to another carrier, the explanation is straight forward, but in the case of the one used for CA-2 (5110,270), which presumably belongs to AT&T, that explanation does not suffice.

The other configuration info, which may be pertinent is:
[admin@MikroTik] /interface/lte> export verbose
# feb/26/2023 13:36:56 by RouterOS 7.7
# software id = AUNQ-LRS1
#
# model = RBLHGR
# serial number = D6B90CE1E63F
/interface lte apn
set [ find default=yes ] add-default-route=yes apn=Broadband authentication=none default-route-distance=2 ip-type=ipv4 name=ATT use-network-apn=no use-peer-dns=yes
add add-default-route=yes apn=Broadband authentication=none default-route-distance=2 ip-type=ipv4 name=ATT-Broadband use-network-apn=no use-peer-dns=yes
/interface lte
set [ find default-name=lte1 ] allow-roaming=no apn-profiles=ATT-Broadband band="" disabled=no !modem-init mtu=1500 name=lte1 network-mode=lte
/interface lte settings
set firmware-path=firmware mode=auto
Wondering if it could have something to with the IMEI used to register the device, from an old iPad, I have tried changing the IMEI of the radio to match. This does not change anything.

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