The Huawei B593 LTE discussion thread

[jcheek]

4.4 RSSI (dBm): -78.0
4.5 RSRP (dBm): -104.0
4.6 RSRQ (dB): -6.0

Yeah seems like RSRP is 104 and above 100 what could this be... Reception ? also its cover cast right now... so could potentially play a role...

With LTE, RSSI indicates something like the total signal power incident your antennas (including non-relevant portions); whereas RSRP is the signal power of just the relevant portions after some de-scrambling. RSRP is the more relevant measure.

All of the basic checks look good. Your RSSI figure indicates that you have a reasonably strong incident signal (actually a mix of signals), but your RSRP is quite poor. Remember that the scale works "backwards", ie -90 is better than -100 and the scale is also logarithmic, so -93 is roughly twice as bad as -90. For comparison, my RSRP is in the range -96 to -99, and RichardG's is -91.
So I would say the problem is likely with your antenna arrangement / orientation : in a nutshell, you have a strong mix of signals arriving but the right parts of those signals are not very strong with your present antenna location/orientation/arrangement.

Try different arrangements of the two ice-cream sticks : V-shaped, quarter-to-12, quarter-past-12 etc. I find quarter-to-12 works about the best for me, but it depends entirely on your location and situation.
Also experiment with different router heights and different azimuth angles, ie imagine the base of your router is lying on a horizontal clock face and rotate the base to different positions (hours) on the dial to see if you get better results. The ice-cream sticks are slightly directional so this will have an effect.

For the best results of course, you need to know where your nearest TM masts are, and you probably need to invest in a decent antenna - one of the Poynting XPOL semi-outdoor or LPDA outdoor antennas.

Good luck mate!

Edit : Just for interest, also try switching your B593 into 3G-only mode (under Internet / Network Connection / Network Mode / 3G) and check what speeds you get by comparison (green light mode)

 

[Wifikid]

Awesome bud, I will certainly try that at the moment the antennas are upright like the Number 11.... so I will try V shaped option...

yes I do want to get an external antenna will help me in the longer run... thanks for the assistance appreciate it..

reverted to 3G to test

and my speeds now are way better LOL..

Last Result:
Download Speed: 5676 kbps (709.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 2718 kbps (339.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 50 ms
‎6‎/‎27‎/‎2014‎ ‎5‎:‎06‎:‎56‎ ‎PM

And Signals now..

RSSI (dBm): -80.0
RSCP (dBm): -80.0
ECIO (dB): -8.0

 

[sajunky]

RSSI (dBm): -80.0
RSCP (dBm): -80.0
ECIO (dB): -8.0

Hey, guys something is wrong:
For LTE you have 26dB difference between signal strenght and useful level. It raises question whether it can be trusted.

For 3G: It had been discussed many times that RSCP=ECIO+RSSI. Right or wrong?

 

[jcheek]

Hey, guys something is wrong:
For LTE you have 26dB difference between signal strength and useful level.

I can't comment with any authority on the RSCP/ECIO/RSSI maths for 3G, but I have gathered that for "good" LTE, it is usual to see RSRP being about 26dB lower than RSSI - just a consequence of how LTE works. A quick look at most users' RSSI/RSRP figures will show what I mean, or see the link below for more technical discussion :

http://communicationanddsp.blogspot.in/2013/04/rssi-rsrp-in-lte.html

But Wifikid's 3G signals and speeds look dead normal. Almost suggests that something is broken on the LTE kit of whatever tower he's connecting to .. ?
Anyone got other theories ?

 

[RichardG]

Still deosn't make a difference in my area - strong/perfect/excellent/good/average RSRP signal for LTE, download speeds have deteriorated over the months(congested) or possibly throttled. Hopefully the rep can advice what is going on.

3 RSSI (dBm): -51
4 RSRP (dBm): -72
5 RSRQ (dB): -6

 

[jcheek]

RSSI (dBm): -78.0
RSRP (dBm): -104.0
RSRQ (dB): -6.0
3.846 Mbps download speed

Just out of interest : this morning (overcast), my B593 - which hasn't moved a millimetre since last night, when it showed 3 bars - now shows only 1 bar. And the stats are :

RSSI (dBm): -85.0
RSRP (dBm): -114.0
RSRQ (dB): -9.0
Speedtest result : 12.004 Mbps (down from 30-odd last night)

So even with an RSRP *much* worse then Wifikid's -104dB, the download speed is still quite decent. Again this seems to point to something amiss with your LTE tower or the LTE hardware in your B593, Wifikid.

But it also serves to illustrate (again) how much of an influence signal strength/quality has on achievable download speed. Must get my externals up!

 

[Azimuth]

My signal strength is exactly the same as before - and I've been measuring for 9 months. I now get half the speed I used to, day or night, with full signal strength. It's definitely the towers themselves.

I used to get 40-50Mbps at -78dBm. Now I get 20Mbps, if I'm lucky. Will hopefully improve soon else I'll need to switch to Afrihost LTE.

Edit: back on 50Mbps all of a sudden. Let's see if it lasts. Over 9 months my speeds have been super stable, it's just the last few weeks of this half speed nonsense.

Edit_2: Seems my last result was a lucky strike. 20Mbps is here to stay. Oh well.

 

[aandrei]

Hi guys, been reading The Huawei B593 LTE discussion thread since i got mine from TM (B593s-601)... wasn't supposed to get LTE reception in my area according to Telkom's coverage map AND their rep in the store... but wanted LTE capable device nevertheless for perhaps sometime in future.... after having gotten a E355 dongle and TM SIM to confirm Telkom signal in the specific area of Somerset West. So, fantastic surprise when my modem at startup connects LTE with the standard bunny ear antennas - 2 to 3 bars signal and speed i've never experienced... varies between 9 - 13 Mbps..... no problem whatsoever there - just curious as to what is achievable with real external antenna though (i followed your experiences Azimuth), since i have access to 2 old Poynting LPDA's, BUT..... and please bear with me here :
after extensive research and googling why Telkom doesn't offer Samsung's Note3 LTE version, i managed to figure out that Telkom's LTE offering operates on the TDD (time division duplex) mode - i think the providers offering Samsung Note3 LTE version operates on the FDD (frequency division duplex) mode... and since the Note3 LTE version is only FDD enabled it makes sense, as far as i could gather Samsung Galaxy S5 is enabled for both FDD and TDD. This brings me to the question of whether 2 antennas is REALLY necessary for Telkom's LTE, since it operates on a single frequency (alternating between up & down links by means of "time"/frame splits) whereas FDD networks operates on 2 frequencies (and thus makes sense to receive [downlink] via 1 antenna and send [uplink] via a 2nd antenna)
I just thought you experienced guys would be able to comment on this, i will also try getting info from Poynting's Andre Fourie.

 

[1geoff99]

Link: Why you must have two antennas.

Edit: Two antennas are for MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output). This article says says that in fact MIMO is more difficult to implement with FDD. TDD is better for MIMO because it uses a single frequency.

 

[Azimuth]

Interesting to note that under diagnostics it always states that only one antenna is external, the other is internal. I'm a bit dumbfounded by this.

 

[jcheek]

Interesting to note that under diagnostics it always states that only one antenna is external, the other is internal. I'm a bit dumbfounded by this.

Yes, my B593s-601 does the same, at least when System / Antenna Settings is set to "Auto" and I have the ice-cream stick (ICS) antennas connected. If I set the option manually to "Built-in" or "External", then the antenna status (as seen under the "Home") tab faithfully follows suit. Almost like it doesn't correctly detect an ICS antenna on one SMA port.

If I disconnect both ICS antennas and leave it on "Auto", then it reports correctly as "Internal" on both antenna ports - and presumably uses a set of internal antennas. Interestingly, I see virtually zero difference in performance between the internal antennas and the ICS antennas.

Edit: Correction - if anything, it actually seems to work better with the internals : RSSI/RSRP = -66/-92 with internals, versus -77/-102 for the stick antennas!

 

[jcheek]

B593s-601 : LAN port speeds ?

Question: Do I gather correctly that the 4 LAN ports on the B593s-601 are 10/100Mbps ports, and not Gigabit ports ?

Interestingly, I'm testing my B593 in conjunction (sometimes) with a Linksys LRT224 dual-WAN router, and the LRT refuses to auto-negotiate a 100Mbps connection with the B593 - it comes up as 10Mbps. Disabling auto-negotiation on the LRT224 allows the port to come up as 100Mbps (100-Base TX). The LRT224 auto-negotiates 10, 100 and 1000Mbps connections fine with other devices.
The problem could be on the LRT224, or some quirk of the B593. Anyone else ever seen this behaviour on a B593 ?

I suppose 100Mbps ports isn't really a limitation at real-world LTE speeds; but still it does seem a bit silly to promote the B593 as a "Cat 4" (150Mbps) device and then bottleneck it - in single LAN-port mode, anyway - with a 100Mbps port.

 

[sajunky]

Yes, my B593s-601 does the same, at least when System / Antenna Settings is set to "Auto"

It seems to be similiar problem previously found in B683. In 'Auto' mode connection is already established and router will ignore changes. You have to switch to manual, it will bring down connection and accept different antenna source.

BTW, Internal antenna is considered very good in these routers.

 

[sajunky]

The problem could be on the LRT224, or some quirk of the B593.

It was a typical problem in the past, with new devices not so frequent. Other cause: one of the device might have deteriorated tranceivers, due to the lightning stike in the past, poor cable quality or a fault in one pair. 100Mbps use only two pairs, while Gigabit all 4 pairs.

 

[Azimuth]

It seems to be similiar problem previously found in B683. In 'Auto' mode connection is already established and router will ignore changes. You have to switch to manual, it will bring down connection and accept different antenna source.

BTW, Internal antenna is considered very good in these routers.

Removed the paddle antennas and connected my XPOL-02 in preparation for the delivery of my Afrihost SIM. Antenna settings still on Auto but now both show as external. Perhaps the DC-short that Poynting employ?

 

[sajunky]

Removed the paddle antennas and connected my XPOL-02 in preparation for the delivery of my Afrihost SIM. Antenna settings still on Auto but now both show as external. Perhaps the DC short that Poynting employ?

I don't know, could be impedance checking.
BTW, all folded dipole and many derivatives: YAGI, LPDA antennas have DC short, unless additional citcuit is demployed. Just checking LPDA-A0021 ... DC-short as well.
[edited]

 

[Azimuth]

Ugh. I've just realised I'm using the wrong frequency antenna. OMG. What a dufus. I completely misread the specs on my XPOL-0002 or perhaps I never checked them to begin with and had the all-band LPDA-0092 in my mind.

Please note the difference in antennas for those buying them for the B593:

XPOL-0001: for all networks
XPOL-0002 : for MTN, Vodacom and Cell C LTE/4G
XPOL-0006: for Telkom Mobile ONLY
LPDA-0092: for all networks

This has long bugged me and I never bothered to dig up more info. Tonight I got hold of the frequency gain graph and there is ~ 6dBi gain over 2300MHz compared ~ 6.5dBi over 1800MHz. So the XPOL-0002 will work just fine on a Telkom Mobile LTE install. Mine is back in action since 2 days ago but sadly, speeds for Telkom Mobile have not changed.

View attachment 130815

Source: http://www.poyntingcommercial.com/upload/brochure_files/20140401032217_A-XPOL-0002-V2_BROC-V1.pdf

Edit: the above info isn't correct. There is a new XPOL-0002-v2 coming which supports all the frequency bands. The XPOL-0001 "v1" doesn't support a bunch of bands, including TM 2300MHz.

 

[jcheek]

It's the old engineering chestnut about all designs being a compromise : Easy to make a compact antenna perform brilliantly (high gain, low VSWR) in a relatively narrow frequency band; but not so easy to make one that gives the same performance over a wide frequency range in the same form factor.

The XPOL-A0006 is a brilliant antenna in a very narrow frequency range : compact design, and a massive 11dBi gain over the range of 2300-2500MHz. Perfect for Telkom Mobile which uses TDD in the 2300-2400MHz range. Virtually useless outside that range, eg in the FDD 1800 band used by MTN and Vodacom.

By contrast, the XPOL-A0002 tries to cover a comparatively massive range of 650-2700MHz, in the process sacrificing gain : it only achieves between 6 and 8 dBi gain. Also a great antenna, just in a different way - an all-rounder.

So the XPOL-A0002 will work with pretty much any current SA LTE network operator and still give reasonable gain in a compact form factor. But if you're willing to limit yourself to just one operator (Telkom) and you want (or need) the ultimate performance, the XPOL-A0006 is your guy.

Of course, if you want wideband performance AND gain, then you get a pair of LPDA-A0092's. But then you have to give up something else : compactness.

Poynting produce quite a decent chart that might help other folks mulling over antenna choices : see here

PS: I am in no way affiliated to Poynting! Just a fan of their stuff

 

[jcheek]

I have the b593s-601, and for the life of me, I can't get it to work with unotelly, the DNS service, I tried changing the DNS settings in windows, but no luck, and nowhere on the router to change it either, has anyone else managed to find a work around?

I use the UnoTelly DNS service with MWeb/Telkom ADSL and with the B593 on Telkom LTE.
As you rightly point out, there's no easy way on the B593 to override the DNS server addresses provided by the network operator; but it should work fine if you enter the UnoTelly DNS server addresses directly into the TCP/IPv4 properties on the client machine(s) you're using. I do this and it does work, no problem.

In my case I have a dual-WAN router downstream of the B593 (and the ADSL modem/router) where I can directly enter UnoTelly DNS addresses to be provided to downstream machines using DHCP. But the direct method (specify UnoTelly DNS on client PC) should also work fine ?

 

[Azimuth]

This has long bugged me and I never bothered to dig up more info. Tonight I got hold of the frequent gain graph and there is ~ 6dBi gain over 2300MHz compared ~ 6.5dBi over 1800MHz. So the XPOL-0002 will work just fine on a Telkom Mobile LTE install. Mine is back in action since 2 days ago but sadly, speeds for Telkom Mobile have not changed.

View attachment 130815

Source: http://www.poyntingcommercial.com/upload/brochure_files/20140401032217_A-XPOL-0002-V2_BROC-V1.pdf

I had this all wrong - I didn't know an XPOL-0002-v2 was in the works.

The old XPOL-0002, what we all currently have, is this one: