The Huawei B593 LTE discussion thread

Luf said:
Hi All,
Does this router work for LTE-Advanced? Telkom is saying the LTE-A contract comes with this router which is weird because the max speed is 100 Mbit / s ? Am I correct?
Thanks!
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You're correct, Luf - Telkom's current advertising material, T's & C's and contracts as regards LTE/LTE-A are a confusing mess at the moment.

This router (the B593) only works for "plain" LTE (100Mbps max). For LTE-A, you'll want the E5186, which is still backward-compatible with plain LTE.

In theory you should always be offered the E5186 with an LTE-A contract, and a B593 with an LTE contract. However in practise what you get offered depends a lot on stock levels at the time and the knowledge of operator you deal with.

Bear in mind that there is still very, very little LTE-A coverage so the actual benefit of the E5186 is limited at the moment.
 
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jcheek said:
You're correct, Luf - Telkom's current advertising material, T's & C's and contracts as regards LTE/LTE-A are a confusing mess at the moment.

This router (the B593) only works for "plain" LTE (100Mbps max). For LTE-A, you'll want the E5186, which is still backward-compatible with plain LTE.

In theory you should always be offered the E5186 with an LTE-A contract, and a B593 with an LTE contract. However in practise what you get offered depends a lot on stock levels at the time and the knowledge of operator you deal with.

Bear in mind that there is still very, very little LTE-A coverage so the actual benefit of the E5186 is limited at the moment.
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Thanks @Jcheek

I am in an LTE-A area (Illovo). Telkom is very confusing at the moment. The call centre operator says they only supply the B593 with LTE-A contracts. I will go into a store to chat to them.

I know this is off-topic but what you think is the best option, LTE or LTE-A (refering to another question I posed: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/764756-LTE-A-or-LTE-Uncapped-(Help)

Thanks again!
 
Hey guys. I'm considering signing up for a Telkom LTE package and they include this router. Was just curious if the router has gigabit (1000Mb/s) ethernet ports or only 100 Mb/s ports at the back?
 
Luf said:
I am in an LTE-A area (Illovo). Telkom is very confusing at the moment. The call centre operator says they only supply the B593 with LTE-A contracts. I will go into a store to chat to them.
Click to expand...
That can only be as a result of the operator being misinformed, or low stock levels on the E5186; as on a purely technical level, it makes little sense to supply an LTE router on an LTE-A contract, especially if the client is in an LTE-A area!
If you are very insistent, you will probably be able to get the E5186 instead as the option does exist - see below:

20150812 Telkom 24-100GB-R999 LTE deal.JPG


Luf said:
I know this is off-topic but what you think is the best option, LTE or LTE-A (refering to another question I posed: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/764756-LTE-A-or-LTE-Uncapped-(Help)
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Luf said:
The area I am moving to (in Johannesburg) has both LTE-A and telkom is offering LTE Uncapped. The LTE-A option I would consider is the 50gig + 50gig option.
My question: Is it better to rather go the LTE-A route or the LTE route? Do you think benefits of LTE-A outweigh the uncapped benefits of LTE Uncapped? I normally do around 80gigs a month currently. I am not a heavy downloader but I do stream alot. I do not game online (but its nice to know that option is available).
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It depends on what is going to be more important to you over the 2 years after you sign up : more speed, or more data ?
Provided you are getting at least 50Mbps, then I would guess that most people's answer will be "more data".
Given your stated usage profile, and once you are over about the 50Mbps level, then I'm not sure that more speed will add much more to your internet experience. With a decent antenna setup, and provided there are no other constraints, both the B593 and the E5186 are easily capable of that speed.

On paper, LTE-A (and hence the E5186) do give some "future-proofing" as regards the move to higher speeds. However that move seems to be happening quite slowly. Apart from the problem of limited LTE-A coverage, I've not yet seen anyone on the forum post a SpeedTest result above about 90Mbps with either LTE or LTE-A, and I think I'm correct in saying that all of the peak speeds reported on the forum to date have been achieved with the B593 on "plain" LTE.

Personally, I think you'd get more benefit from one of the promotional uncapped LTE deals with a B593 (either device, for that matter). That's provided it operates as Telkom promises and your station isn't overrun with bandwidth-hogs who game 24/7!
Also be aware that the "uncapped" LTE deal comes with some fine print, eg max 50GB of data via "abusive" protocols. But from your current usage profile, it doesn't sound to me like you'd have much trouble staying on the right side of Telkom's uncapped Fair Usage Policy.
 
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jcheek said:
That can only be as a result of the operator being misinformed, or low stock levels on the E5186; as on a purely technical level, it makes little sense to supply an LTE router on an LTE-A contract, especially if the client is in an LTE-A area!
If you are very insistent, you will probably be able to get the E5186 instead as the option does exist - see below:

It depends on what is going to be more important to you over the 2 years after you sign up : more speed, or more data ?
Provided you are getting at least 50Mbps, then I would guess that most people's answer will be "more data".
Given your stated usage profile, and once you are over about the 50Mbps level, then I'm not sure that more speed will add much more to your internet experience. With a decent antenna setup, and provided there are no other constraints, both the B593 and the E5186 are easily capable of that speed.

On paper, LTE-A (and hence the E5186) do give some "future-proofing" as regards the move to higher speeds. However that move seems to be happening quite slowly. Apart from the problem of limited LTE-A coverage, I've not yet seen anyone on the forum post a SpeedTest result above about 90Mbps with either LTE or LTE-A, and I think I'm correct in saying that all of the peak speeds reported on the forum to date have been achieved with the B593 on "plain" LTE.

Personally, I think you'd get more benefit from one of the promotional uncapped LTE deals with a B593 (either device, for that matter). That's provided it operates as Telkom promises and your station isn't overrun with bandwidth-hogs who game 24/7!
Also be aware, that the "uncapped" LTE comes with some fine print, eg max 50GB of data "abusive" protocols. But from your current usage profile, it doesn't sound to me like you'd have much trouble staying on the right side of Telkom's uncapped Fair Usage Policy.
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Thank you mate, appreciate your feedback. I was leaning towards your recommendation: The uncapped LTE offer. This is also because of the speeds i see being achieved on this forum. Very few are close the 90Mbs limits. My luck, I wouldnt be close to that either.

I do download on Bittorrent buts is never more than 20gigs a month max. I also really like that the deal includes an antenna.

Thanks again!
 
jcheek said:
The 4-port switch on the B593 is only 100Mbps (Fast Ethernet).
If you have a GbE network, you'll want to use a different switch or router to do the heavy lifting.
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Thanks. Seems a bit silly having a 802.11n wireless switch, but only 100Mbps LAN. Anyway, I'll hook the Huawei up to my existing gigabit switch.
 
Hi,

Searched the thread and just need clarity on one thing...

I have a Vodafone B2000 router (sourced from Vodacom) , works flawlessly with a Vodacom LTE sim for 2 years now

I know these are the bands that Vodacom & Telkom run in...
Vodacom LTE Band 3 (1800MHz) FDD
Telkom LTE Band 40 (2300MHz) TDD

I would like to try one of Telkom's prepaid data bundles and from what I have read this router supports TE Band 7/20 (800/2600**z)

Am I correct that even though it supports up to 2600 because it only support TE band 20 and Telkom is Band 40 it will not work?

Thanks in advance.
 
iEverything said:
Hi,

Searched the thread and just need clarity on one thing...

I have a Vodafone B2000 router (sourced from Vodacom) , works flawlessly with a Vodacom LTE sim for 2 years now

I know these are the bands that Vodacom & Telkom run in...
Vodacom LTE Band 3 (1800MHz) FDD
Telkom LTE Band 40 (2300MHz) TDD

I would like to try one of Telkom's prepaid data bundles and from what I have read this router supports TE Band 7/20 (800/2600**z)

Am I correct that even though it supports up to 2600 because it only support TE band 20 and Telkom is Band 40 it will not work?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Correct. To operate in TDD mode at 2300MHz, you will need either the B593s-601 (the "multi-purpose" model), or the B593u-91 - see Azimuth's model summary in the OP of this thread. Sorry mate!
 
thanks....

If only Vodacom offered similar big data prepaid bundles like Telkom & Cell C wouldn't be in this situation
 
jcheek said:
Correct. To operate in TDD mode at 2300MHz, you will need either the B593s-601 (the "multi-purpose" model), or the B593u-91 - see Azimuth's model summary in the OP of this thread. Sorry mate!
Click to expand...

Last question....

See Telkom on their website offer a B593 router (no model number) with their R699 / 50GB bundle, does anyone know what model of the router is and would my Vodacom LTE work in it if I capped the Telkom monthly bundle out?
 
iEverything said:
thanks....

If only Vodacom offered similar big data prepaid bundles like Telkom & Cell C wouldn't be in this situation
Click to expand...

Just a thought : Telkom's current prepaid LTE deals (like the 50GB/R1799 one) include the ability to roam on MTN's network at the same rate (data price), albeit only in 3G mode (not LTE). I have tested this on a B593s-601 with a Telkom SIMcard and it does work on MTN 3G. It may just work on your B593u-12 too. That probably doesn't help you in the medium term (too slow ?), but it's one to watch in case the deal is ever extended to LTE.
In the longer term you should maybe look at changing to the B593s-601, as that model gives you complete freedom of LTE networks in SA.


iEverything said:
Last question....

See Telkom on their website offer a B593 router (no model number) with their R699 / 50GB bundle, does anyone know what model of the router is and would my Vodacom LTE work in it if I capped the Telkom monthly bundle out?
Click to expand...

If it's a B593, then it's 99% certain that'll be the B593s-601, however Telkom have in the past also sometimes supplied the TDD-only B593u-91 (which effectively locks you to Telkom in SA), so you need to make sure what you'll get. They are also starting to supply the B593's LTE-A-capable brother, the Huawei E5186, in a rather confused way, so you could be offered that, too.
The B593s-601 is capable of running FDD1800 too, so your Vodacom SIM (or an MTN one) will work fine, yes.
 
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Good suggestion but I have unfortunately already had the experience of MTN data coverage in my area, when I got the router used Afrihost / MTN data sim and was getting around 25 Mps then one day it dropped to around 2/3 and was very inconsistent. Then moved to Vodacom but data pricing is madness even on their big bundles but @ least getting 15 Mps now
 
Emailed takealot, they said no antennas included. Sigh. Would prefer to buy it with ebucks..
 
Strange said:
Does anyone know if http://www.takealot.com/huawei-b593lte-wifi-router/PLID32842051 comes with the two external white antennas?
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You would probably do well to double-check which model of B593 takealot is supplying, both by reason of the antennas, and much more important stuff!
If it's the B593s-601, then it's pretty certain that it will come with the two flat whip antennas, as deweyzeph says.
Some of the other B593 variants didn't come with the whip antennas, but you want to avoid those if possible.

By the way, not getting the flat whip antennas is no biggie anyway. Most of the time the built-in patch antennas out-perform them.
 
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The picture seems not to be the 601, blue and not grey band, but the model number states 601 and the correct FDD and TDD frequency bands.
 
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