The Huawei B593 LTE discussion thread

I received my xpol-0006 LTE antenna yesterday. This was recommended by Poynting for Telkom Mobile.

Plugging it in and using it indoors just to test, performed worse than the internal antenna. Signal was between 1 bar and nothing. I had 10mins to poke at this last night so perhaps it was just not physically connected. Will mount over the weekend and post some results. Really hoping I go from 2 signal bars to a solid 4.
 
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; does does support Telkom Mobile LTE
XPOL-0002-v2: for all networks
XPOL-0006: for Telkom Mobile LTE ONLY
LPDA-0020: for all networks
LPDA-0092: for all networks

Edit: antenna information updated 07 July 2014.
 
Last edited:
saliehendricks said:
I received my xpol-0006 LTE antenna yesterday. This was recommended by Poynting for Telkom Mobile.

Plugging it in and using it indoors just to test, performed worse than the internal antenna. Signal was between 1 bar and nothing. I had 10mins to poke at this last night so perhaps it was just not physically connected. Will mount over the weekend and post some results. Really hoping I go from 2 signal bars to a solid 4.
Click to expand...

That is completely normal. It won't give you full deflection until it has direct line of sight to the tower. I had the exact same experience when testing out my LPDA-0092's for the first time. Remember the B593 internal antennas are omni and what you bought is directional. It'll perform worse if not set up correctly.

So have no fear, you will get your 4 bars. :)

For installation ideas, go here. ;)
 
Last edited:
Hi Azimuth, I think you should quit your job and start consulting on LTE networks and the B593! I have really appreciated all your posts.

I am going through similar problems at the moment and am in the process of trying every option available. I am based in Sandton and my work involves international video conferencing as well as screen sharing. Speed, consistency and latency are critical. I live in Sandton but in a dip which has no 4G unless i go on the roof with an additional 2 meter pole and my phone taped to it (yes I have tried this). I started on iburst as that is what was in the house when I got there.. lets just say they were sub 1 Mb/s. Where I am the Phone line have a maximum 4 Mb/s, I tried Afrihost business account but in reality maximum speeds are 3.2 Mb/s down and 0.72 Mb/s up.

For my phone I have got Cell C, MTN, and Vodacom SIM cards. I don’t get any 4G in the house but I do get signal on top of the roof. Vodacom seems to outperform all the rest with 4.9 Mb/s down and 5.2 Mb/s up.

Based on your blog I have now got a Telkom B593 router, its excellent… wish I had one before. However inside the house I have 2 bar signal and get 2 Mb/s down and 0.8 Mb/s up. If I go sit on top of the roof I get 11.54 Mb/s down and 3.7 Mb/s up.

My plan now:
1) Get an external antenna/antennas from Poynting
2) Get a second B593 the B593s-22 and test out the other 3 service providers.

Questions I have for you if you have time (feel free to skip any questions):
1) Which should I get from Poynting?
I don’t want to buy two sets of antennas to test out the 4 service providers.. but buying the LPDA-0092 which will work with all 4 seems over kill (all towers are maximum 1.5km from me). The XPOL-0001 just does not seem like it’s got enough behind it (could be my ignorance to antenna’s though  )… and buying one XPOL-0002 and XPOL-0006 just seems like I’m taking the experiment too far. I do also want to have redundancy for if one of the service providers go down.
1) Where did you find the B593s-22 in South Africa – everywhere is out of stock.
2) Will the B593u-12 work with Cell C, MTN, and Vodacom - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HUAWEI-B5...omputing_Wireless_Routers&hash=item1c3bfcb0ff
3) From what I can tell and all my speed tests it seems that Telkoms up speed is not as good as the other service providers but their data is cheaper which is a plus… but im more interested in speed. Have you found this?
4) Have you seen a reduction in speed with the Telkom package becoming more popular?

Thanks for all your posts.
 
It's really a pleasure. At one point I thought I might stop posting because it seems on mybb tech is secondary to all the lifestyle threads. I'm thrilled I've assisted you in some way. Turning my passion into a career change job is something I'm working on...

I will reply to your questions tonight.
 
Last edited:
Rustything said:
I live in Sandton but in a dip which has no 4G unless i go on the roof with an additional 2 meter pole and my phone taped to it (yes I have tried this). I started on iburst as that is what was in the house when I got there.. lets just say they were sub 1 Mb/s. Where I am the Phone line have a maximum 4 Mb/s,
Click to expand...
As you get LTE on the pole, I would go with XPOL cross polarized antenna. I don't know which network currently supports MIMO, if it doesn't, it will support soon as it is part of LTE standard. Looking forward for any feedback on this antenna (LTE in particular).
 
Rustything said:
My plan now:
1)Get an external antenna/antennas from Poynting
2)Get a second B593 the B593s-22 and test out the other 3 service providers.

Questions I have for you if you have time (feel free to skip any questions):
1)Which should I get from Poynting?
I don’t want to buy two sets of antennas to test out the 4 service providers.. but buying the LPDA-0092 which will work with all 4 seems over kill (all towers are maximum 1.5km from me). The XPOL-0001 just does not seem like it’s got enough behind it (could be my ignorance to antenna’s though  )… and buying one XPOL-0002 and XPOL-0006 just seems like I’m taking the experiment too far. I do also want to have redundancy for if one of the service providers go down.
1)Where did you find the B593s-22 in South Africa – everywhere is out of stock.
2)Will the B593u-12 work with Cell C, MTN, and Vodacom - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HUAWEI-B5...omputing_Wireless_Routers&hash=item1c3bfcb0ff
3)From what I can tell and all my speed tests it seems that Telkoms up speed is not as good as the other service providers but their data is cheaper which is a plus… but im more interested in speed. Have you found this?
4)Have you seen a reduction in speed with the Telkom package becoming more popular?

Thanks for all your posts.
Click to expand...

Poynting have purpose-specific antennas from omni to directional, from 3G to LTE. For LTE one must look at the supported frequencies which align to the LTE bands:

Band 1 = FDD 2100MHz (Cell C)
Band 3 = FDD 1800MHz (MTN and Vodacom)
Band 40 = TDD 2300MHz (Telkom Mobile)

pe2ajy9u.jpg


I've found that the XPOL-0002, which covers bands 1 and 3 above, works just fine on Telkom Mobile too. I posted about this here.

Edit: the first version of the XPOL-0002 does *not* support Telkom Mobile LTE.

If you're a purist I suppose you'll really want the XPOL-0006 for band 40. However, note that this product has no gain in the frequencies used by LTE bands 1 and 3.

Edit: info updated.

So, if you want just one (directional) antenna then get the XPOL-0002-v2, or the LPDA-0020, or the LPDA-0092. The LPDA-0092 is the King Kong of LTE antennas and also comes with 7m cable as opposed to 5m for the XPOL range. (I believe you can order these products with 10m integrated cable from Poynting)

Edit: corrected my information.

The LPDA is really nice high up on a mast but requires extra precaution for wind and lightning. This is the ultimate no doubt. The XPOL-0002 and -0006 have the advantage of being mountable under an eve. They can of course be pole mounted as well. The signal cable is only 5m though. One sometimes needs to be creative to make the link between antenna and LTE router. Else get extension cables from Poynting, I found the loss to only be 0.8dBm per metre. Hardly made a difference. On my 7m LPDA signal cable, an additional 5m dropped the signal from -69dBM to -73dBm.

Note the XPOLs have two signal cables coming out of the antenna housing for MIMO. The B593 of course supports two antenna feeds. With the LPDA, you need to get two to get MIMO. The installation is also more technical and frustrating.

I don't have a B593-22 but a Vodafone B593, basically a rebranded B593-12. MTN have the Sharelink branded B593. These two are equivalent and interchangeable but won't work with a Telkom Mobile SIM. You can use it for MTN, Vodacom and Cell C. You'll just need to create multiple APN profiles and switch them as you switch SIM cards.

The latest MTN Yello Trader has the Sharelink B593 on p13 for as little as R169pm. Quite frankly I'd take the bundled SIM and put it away, especially if it's an open contract. Get an Afrihost SIM in its stead. I can't find the Vodafone B593 any more. It seems Vodacom has switched to ZTE instead of using Huawei LTE routers.

Telkom Mobile's upload speed is very good but doesn't really go higher than 7Mbps. It seems to be limited most of the time. MTN has triple the upload speed. I've found Telkom Mobile to be far faster on downloads though. So it's six of one and half a dozen of the other. For everyday use the higher upload is academic. I'm sure it benefits my iCloud and Dropbox but that is a small benefit. For an initial sync it would be really fast of course. For my VoIP service it didn't help though. More on this just now.

Telkom Mobile's PSB Data Promo has excellent value with the 25GB+25GB and 60GB+60GB prepaid packages. No contracts and the data is valid for a year. Afrihost comes very close with their 10GB+10GB double-up special. There isn't rollover though. Vodacom data is completely unfeasible (until MyGig 20 makes a return) and there also isn't a reliable way to monitor data usage. Cell C's Giga packages offer the best value of all. I just can't vouch for their LTE, yet.

As for speed reduction on the LTE network, I haven't witnessed this yet. I've had some ups and downs on my tower but things have really smoothed out over time. My speeds are really consistent. I'm not seeing my record 73Mbps I saw with my LPDAs. However I am happier overall with my XPOL though due to a neater installation and protection from the weather. I don't get much higher than 50Mbps.

Edit: done right now -

772302462.png


I normally get higher speeds on a laptop or desktop.

Azimuth said:
For my VoIP service it didn't help though. More on this just now.
Click to expand...

Oddly for my VoIP service my LTE doesn't provide as good an experience as expected. The pings reported to me by my service provider don't match my Speedtest pings at all and this is the issue. Supposedly this is due to UDP traffic which LTE doesn't seem to be optimised for. I'd be interested to hear how your video conferencing fares. You must let us know when you're up and running.
 
Last edited:
Just a quick update/question I got the XPOL-0002, struggling with the cable being too short but the only extension they had was 5m. Will look for a 3m cable tomorrow I have the router plugged in on the roof... How do I find out my signal strength i.e -69dBM cant find it anywhere in the Huawie interface?
 
Go to System > Diagnosis > Wireless Status.

Check values 4-7.
 
Azimuth said:
Correct, the first model you listed is the Vodafone /MTN Sh@relink version of the B593. The last model is Telkom Mobile's. The second model is not available locally that I know of...

MTN and VC LTE uses FDD 1800MHz and hence the first model.
Telkom Mobile LTE uses TDD 2300MHz.
Click to expand...

Thanks Man
Just got one over the weekend - incidentally it is the HUAWEI B593s-82.
Awesome device. Havent had a chance to play around with everything yet.
At least the downloads are quick.
Cost me R2649 - TM special - with a prepaid sim loaded with 5GB data valid for 2months.
 
Hmm, that's odd. I'm on my second TM-issued B593 and both are B593u-91 models. Regardless, both the -91 and -82 do TDD bands 38/40. There must be another difference though - would be interesting to know.
 
RichardG said:
Folks the Huawei B593 is on promotion for R1999 includes 25gig once-off data. Going to phone around to see if anyone has stock
Click to expand...
Hi RichardG

Please note this special only include 2.5GB data once-off and not 25GB.

This special is only available at Edgars.

Thank you
Telkom Mobile Social Media Team
 
Hello Guys, I got my B593 recently and noticed it is a B593-601 :wtf: anyone knows what the 601 is all about? cannot get any info on the net.
 
The B593s-601 does exist and I'm assuming it's yet another TDD 2300/2600MHz model like the B593u-91 and B593s-82.

Kinda boggling why they'd have three models for the same thing.

I'm afraid only the Telkom Mobile rep will be able to answer.
 
Singhms said:
Hello Guys, I got my B593 recently and noticed it is a B593-601 :wtf: anyone knows what the 601 is all about? cannot get any info on the net.
Click to expand...

Received the same router as you. I tried to google information on the router but no information available in English. They should have brought the new version that supports all mobile networks.

The firmware version shipped: July 2013 .

This router won't work on the following networks for LTE: MTN,VODACOM,CELL C - works for 3G/2G services only.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X