The Huawei B593 LTE discussion thread

[jcheek]

Hi JCheek,
Thank you for the speedy reply!

No worries

I have a B593s-22.

There's your problem (sorry) :

HUAWEI B593s-22: FDD DD800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz & TDD 2600MHz (Cat4)

The B593s-22 can't do TDD LTE at 2300MHz, only 2600MHz.


The rest is academic (sorry again), but anyway ....

The two outdoor antennas I purchased are: http://www.otto.co.za/products/antennas/gsm-3g-4g-lte/lte-3g-4g-gsm-yagi-antenna-15db-with-bracket-and-7-meter-cable/

Those are actually Log-Periodic Dipole antennas (LPDAs), not Yagis.
But on paper at least, they should be okay - correct frequency band coverage and they have the required characteristic (DC short) to be detected by the modem. But as mentioned, the modem itself is the issue.

The modem has been set to use external antennas. I can confirm that they work; when I plug them out the signal drops and the red light flashes on the modem.

There should be a better way of checking this directly on the modem's 'Web UI.
I don't know the firmware on the 's-22, but on the s-601 there is a place to set the antenna usage (built-in or external) and a separate place to verify what setting is actually in use.

The antennas are pointing to where Telkom's website states the towers are located. I have direct LOS to a tower about 3 Km away.

Fair enough.
Just out of interest, be aware that the Telkom "Uncapped Broadband" map - which I presume is the one you're referring to - shows only those base-stations that are enabled for uncapped LTE. There are many more Telkom LTE stations that aren't part of the uncapped promotion. A different station might actually be closer and/or give you better results, with or without outdoor external antennas.
By reason of user contention, it may actually make some sense to stay away from LTE stations that have uncapped LTE users !

I even spent one afternoon slightly shifting the two antennas 360 degrees and manually searching after every shift. I did use the modem on the same locations within my house where my phone picks up an LTE signal without any luck.

Good techniques, but .. you need the right modem !

When doing a manual search I pick up every other service provider's 4G towers along with a 65514 4G (not sure whose tower this is). A manual search on my phone detects a Telkom Mobile 4G tower.

Well at least you know the modem works OK for 1800MHz FDD LTE.
PLMN code 65514 is Neotel LTE (also on 1800MHz)

Thanks again

Sure thing.
If you plan to stay with Telkom, check out the classifieds for a good deal on a B593s-601 ;-)
Alternatively, if you are in coverage of an Uncapped LTE station, consider the Telkom Uncapped R599/R699/R799 deal (for 2 years, admittedly) and get the modem and a dedicated 2300MHz antenna as part of the deal.

 

[Ozz_7]

No worries
There's your problem (sorry) :

The B593s-22 can't do TDD LTE at 2300MHz, only 2600MHz.

Ok I shouldn't have trusted MTN when I asked if this modem will work on Telkom's network. My own fault for not doing research and trusting sales-personnel.

Sure thing.
If you plan to stay with Telkom, check out the classifieds for a good deal on a B593s-601 ;-)
Alternatively, if you are in coverage of an Uncapped LTE station, consider the Telkom Uncapped R599/R699/R799 deal (for 2 years, admittedly) and get the modem and a dedicated 2300MHz antenna as part of the deal.

Luckily I am on a month-to-month contract so I can cancel this thing unless I can sell this modem and get another one.

Thanks so much for the assistance. I would've spent allot more hours trying to shift antennas around!

 

[jcheek]

Ok I shouldn't have trusted MTN when I asked if this modem will work on Telkom's network. My own fault for not doing research and trusting sales-personnel.

Bas***d(s) !

Luckily I am on a month-to-month contract so I can cancel this thing unless I can sell this modem and get another one.

Just a thought : you could also try forcing the modem to 3G mode and searching there ?
I would guess that the 's-22 might well be compatible with Telkom 3G.
It won't be as fast as LTE but it could be plenty fast enough, if it works.

Thanks so much for the assistance. I would've spent allot more hours trying to shift antennas around!

Pleasure.
Hope you manage to make a plan.
PS: You might also come across the new B315 LTE modem/router in your search. It's a minor facelift on the B593 with some pros and come cons.

 

[Ozz_7]

Bas***d(s) !
Just a thought : you could also try forcing the modem to 3G mode and searching there ?
I would guess that the 's-22 might well be compatible with Telkom 3G.
It won't be as fast as LTE but it could be plenty fast enough, if it works.

Jip they fooled me.

That is how I've been using it thus far, although its 3G performance at my house is rather mediocre (the OOKLA speed test results in about 8 Mb/s).

Pleasure.
Hope you manage to make a plan.
PS: You might also come across the new B315 LTE modem/router in your search. It's a minor facelift on the B593 with some pros and come cons.

I see a good B315 deal on Gumtree. I'm pursuing it now

Once again, thank you for taking the time to assist me!

I see Cell C offers the same LTE package as Telkom Mobile does. I'm rather going this route

 

[sajunky]

I see a good B315 deal on Gumtree. I'm pursuing it now

Also check Edgars/Jet/CNA stores in Telkom section for R999.
Cell C Giga200 (50+150) valid for one year was R999 on special. If you still get it for above price, check if it comes with blue SIM. There are still old sets selling with old SIM, you have to SIM-swap immediately to activate LTE.

 

[Ozz_7]

Also check Edgars/Jet/CNA stores in Telkom section for R999.
Cell C Giga200 (50+150) valid for one year was R999 on special. If you still get it for above price, check if it comes with blue SIM. There are still old sets selling with old SIM, you have to SIM-swap immediately to activate LTE.

Thanks sajunky, I'll have a look there.

 

[jcheek]

I see Cell C offers the same LTE package as Telkom Mobile does. I'm rather going this route

Well there's good news and bad news ....

As luck would have it, your B593s-22 should work fine with Cell C - it's compatible with FDD LTE @ 2100MHz, which is where Cell C is at. (The B315 is also fine in that band).

But ...

As yet there's no Cell C LTE coverage in Pretoria, at least not officially



It'll come, I guess.
Did you perhaps find some "unofficial" Cell C LTE signal (around Villeria, Pretoria) when you were searching with your B593s-22 ?

 

[sajunky]

Using Cell C LTE already for few months, there is still no official map coverage. Midrand near Diepsloot.

 

[Sneeky]

Are there other routers that can be looked at or bought instead of using this B593 for the Telkom LTE network?

 

[Ozz_7]

Are there other routers that can be looked at or bought instead of using this B593 for the Telkom LTE network?

In the B593 range, the B593u-91 and B593s-601 will work. The B315 seems legit as well.

 

[Ozz_7]

Well there's good news and bad news ....

As luck would have it, your B593s-22 should work fine with Cell C - it's compatible with FDD LTE @ 2100MHz, which is where Cell C is at. (The B315 is also fine in that band).

But ...

As yet there's no Cell C LTE coverage in Pretoria, at least not officially

View attachment 329673

It'll come, I guess.
Did you perhaps find some "unofficial" Cell C LTE signal (around Villeria, Pretoria) when you were searching with your B593s-22 ?

It definitely picked up Cell C 4G. Perhaps the coverage map is outdated. To be safe, I'll test before purchasing a contract.

 

[jcheek]

Are there other routers that can be looked at or bought instead of using this B593 for the Telkom LTE network?

In the B593 range, the B593u-91 and B593s-601 will work. The B315 seems legit as well.

There'a also the LTE-A enabled Huawei E5186, if you can find one.

 

[Sneeky]

Was kinda hoping to get away from Huawei, hate the user interface.

 

[sajunky]

In the B593 range, the B593u-91 and B593s-601 will work. The B315 seems legit as well.

B315s from Cell C or Telkom. It is current model and covers all SA LTE networks.

 

[Arzy]

So for you wonderful guru's here, I've had a WDTV Live for some time and could specify which DNS server to use which is great. The TV Live however is limited to Netflix and its time to branch out so I purchased a Roku 3 which unfotunately does not love having DNS messed with anymore. Further frustration is caused by the B593's lack of being able to specify a DNS server.

So my current home setup is:
1. I have ADSL which syncs at 5mb/s but is unusable due to exchange congestion, I connect to this using a Netgear DGN2200
2. Due to the congestion mentioned above I also have a B593 which runs stable on LTE

Now my question, based on the DMZ solution discussed in the last few pages, can I connect the Roku to the B593 with the Netgear managing the DNS? My intention is to stream on the LTE while still using the ADSL for the day to day stuff. Only the limitation on DNS is tossing a spanner in the works at this stage.

 

[jcheek]

... can I connect the Roku to the B593 with the Netgear managing the DNS?

Yes, provided your DGN2200 has a DNS override option and a separate WAN port in addition to the LAN ports. Some of the later model DGN2200's (from v4 I think?) have an arrangement whereby one port can be configured as either LAN or WAN:



Basically you want the DGN to act as a "dumb" router between the WAN port (which will be fed from the B593) and the remaining LAN ports.
Depending on how sophisticated your DGN's firmware is, you may also be able to specify that the "output" from the ADSL modem should be used in combination with the WAN input (B593). Typically you can designate one port as primary, with the other acting as failover backup, nothing much more sophisticated than that.

My intention is to stream on the LTE while still using the ADSL for the day to day stuff.

Provided you can configure one WAN source as primary with the other as failover backup, that should work, yes. If you then switch off the B593, the DGN should failover to ADSL, and vice-versa. It'll be a manual arrangement, but if you're happy with that, it should work OK.
It's worth mentioning that streaming services (like Netflix) typically don't like to see successive requests from the same subscriber coming from different networks, so stream with LTE or ADSL, but not both together.

Now my question, based on the DMZ solution discussed in the last few pages

It's worth mentioning that you don't have to configure the B593 in DMZ mode when using it in conjunction with a downstream router as has been described. That scheme will work, of course, but it's also possible to use the B593 in "normal" mode (firewall and DHCP server engaged). The latter scheme has the advantage that when you need to debug, you can plug a device straight into the B593 with no change to either device's configuration and with the protection of an active firewall.

 

[Arzy]

Yes, provided your DGN2200 has a DNS override option and a separate WAN port in addition to the LAN ports. Some of the later model DGN2200's (from v4 I think?) have an arrangement whereby one port can be configured as either LAN or WAN:

View attachment 332117

Basically you want the DGN to act as a "dumb" router between the WAN port (which will be fed from the B593) and the remaining LAN ports.
Depending on how sophisticated your DGN's firmware is, you may also be able to specify that the "output" from the ADSL modem should be used in combination with the WAN input (B593). Typically you can designate one port as primary, with the other acting as failover backup, nothing much more sophisticated than that.



Provided you can configure one WAN source as primary with the other as failover backup, that should work, yes. If you then switch off the B593, the DGN should failover to ADSL, and vice-versa. It'll be a manual arrangement, but if you're happy with that, it should work OK.
It's worth mentioning that streaming services (like Netflix) typically don't like to see successive requests from the same subscriber coming from different networks, so stream with LTE or ADSL, but not both together.



It's worth mentioning that you don't have to configure the B593 in DMZ mode when using it in conjunction with a downstream router as has been described. That scheme will work, of course, but it's also possible to use the B593 in "normal" mode (firewall and DHCP server engaged). The latter scheme has the advantage that when you need to debug, you can plug a device straight into the B593 with no change to either device's configuration and with the protection of an active firewall.

I assume I could just leave the DGN and ADSL as is and simply add another router between the B593 and Roku? Any suggestions on something basic that would allow me to control the DNS that way?

 

[jcheek]

I assume I could just leave the DGN and ADSL as is and simply add another router between the B593 and Roku?

Yes, although you're heading towards two separate networks now : one "ADSL" and one "LTE". Maybe you're OK with it that way ?
If you ever wanted to interconnect them to create one LAN with two internet gateways, you'd have to be very careful with the network setup, ie non-conflicting static IPs, only one DHCP server, very distinct gateway addresses for specific clients etc.

If your DGN has the WAN port option, I'd suggest to rather go that route - you have the device already and it's no extra cost. While you're at it, why not toss the ADSL completely ?!

 

[Arzy]

I'd can the adsl if someone we we would give me uncapped lte on a month to month basis, just haven't found that yet...

 

[kianm]

I'd can the adsl if someone we we would give me uncapped lte on a month to month basis, just haven't found that yet...

I used to feel that way until I came across the Telkom Mobile uncapped LTE & realised I'll still need Internet for the coming 2 years so I could as well just sign that 2 year contract considering how bad my ADSL had become, the lower R599/m cost (compared to my previous R940/m for 4meg uncapped Adsl) & a potential 90Mbps uncapped service