The Huawei B593 LTE discussion thread

[Azimuth]

Seeing as though more and more people are going to start buying these, and since some information is lacking on the net, I thought we could have our very own mybb resource.



This thread is for all sub models of the B593. On that note, let's intro the B593 family:

The Huawei B593 4G LTE CPE Router. There are many sub models such as the HUAWEI B593U-12, B593s-82, B593s-42, B593u-501, B593u-513, B593u-91. They are designed to meet the 4G LTE Band requirements for different markets. They incorporate similar configuration and even have the same functions.

Source: http://www.3g-solution.com/sdp/95544...ay_router.html

Confirmed sub-model listing *updated 29 April 2014*:

HUAWEI B593u-12: FDD DD800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz (Cat3)
HUAWEI B593s-22: FDD DD800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz & TDD 2600MHz (Cat4)
HUAWEI B593s-82: FDD DD800/1800/2600MHz & TDD 2300/2600MHz (Cat3)*
HUAWEI B593u-91: TDD 2300/2600MHz (Cat4?)
HUAWEI B593s-601: FDD 1800/2600MHz & TDD 2300MHz (Cat4?)

*This model does not support 3g


And maybe these models also exist:

HUAWEI B593s-58: TDD 1900/2300/2600MHz (End of Life Announcement)
HUAWEI B593s-58b: TDD 1900/2300MHz
HUAWEI B593s-42: TDD 3500MHz (End of Life Announcement)
HUAWEI B593s-850

EDIT: This document seems to list all/most possible B593 models:
B593u-12
B593s-12
B593s-22
B593s-31A
B593s-42 (End of Life Announcement)
B593s-82
B593u-91
B593u-501
B593u-513
B593s-516
B593s-601
B593s-931

Marketing blurb:

The HUAWEI B593 Router is the first LTE TDD wireless broadband router in the world, supporting LTE TDD/FDD 800/1800/2300/2600MHz up to 100Mbps download speed. Access for up to 32 WIFI devices marks as an ideal home entertainment and information exchange hub. It supports multiple devices and provides simultaneous high speed access, perfect for SOHO's and small businesses with its connectivity options.

Features:

PORTS:
* 4 x LAN
* 2 x USB

Transmission speed 4G (MAX)

* Download 100 Mbit / s
* upload 50 Mbit / s

Transmission Speed 3G (MAX)
* download 42.2 Mbit / s
* upload 5.76 Mbit / s

WI-FI: 802.11 b / g / n

Additional antenna location: two antenna ports

SIZE: 190 mm x 35 mm x 176 mm
WEIGHT: 500g

Operating systems it's compatible with:

* Windows 2000/ Windows XP/ Windows Vista/ Windows 7
* Mac OS 10.5/ Mac OS 10.6/ Mac OS 10.7
* Linux

[Azimuth]

One word of warning right up front - don't eject or insert the SIM card while the unit is on!

The unit is a breeze to setup with all vital info provided on a large label on the port side of the unit. WiFi security and SSID are predefined and okay to use. For the sake of amusing your neighbours, might I suggest: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/co...me_youve_seen/

While WPS is supported, it is turned off by default so a quick visit to the router's config page is required. Both WLAN and WPS have dedicated buttons on the one side of the unit - very handy indeed. The WLAN button activates/deactivates the wireless broadcast while the WPS button controls the WPS broadcast for devices that support it.

On that note, wireless on the unit is not particularly strong. I found in the config that the output power is set by default to 90%. Upping this to 100% hardly improved matters so I personally resorted to a repeating strategy. Hello WPS!

An absolute brilliant range of little devices are the Huawei WS3xx line-up. While other functions are supported, I picked up a few WS322 with the sole intention of repeating my wireless signal.

Key to a good repeating strategy is the central location of the base unit ie. the B593 LTE CPE. The repeaters are then placed at the peripheral of the WiFi range and configured to repeat the WiFi signal. This is quite a simple thing to do, of anyone needs help, just shout.

Since I have quite a large residence, I opted to deploy 3 * WS322 in Repeater Mode. This worked brilliantly but I did notice a few quirks I'm still unsure of. For instance, occasionally I'll get no traffic on the network. Through trial and error I found that by unplugging one or two repeaters, and later plugging them back in, solved the problem. It seems to me that too many WS322 units screws up routing in the network but this is only a hunch. I had an idea that my B593 LTE CPE may be faulty so it has actually been returned and I've got a new one now. I'll report back if this phenomenon persists.

Another oddity I've discovered is that speeds are bets when right up close, or directly connected, to the B593. For instance, my gaming PC is only 1.5 metres away and, while still on wireless, obtains much much better speeds than my phone or tablet. Speedtest have always maintained *not* to test speeds over wireless and I guess this is one of the reasons why.

One major gripe, and Huawei are not alone in this, is that there is no app for controlling the B593. Configuring the unit over a phone is a chore in microfiche efficiency. PLEASE HUAWEI BRING US AN APP FOR THE B593!

[Azimuth]

Here's the so-called online manual that not everyone seems to have:

Huawei B593 Manual, 61 pages [475KB]

[Azimuth]

What's in the box?







I quite like the little USB 'fly lead'. Makes for coupling an external hard drive that much easier.

I don't think the little LTE antennas are always included so I'm glad to have got them this time around. While I won't use them right now, they will be useful when I fall back onto Vodacom 3G since my external antennas are pointed at an MTN tower, yielding 1 bar Vodacom signal.

[Azimuth]

The external antenna dilemma

I won't lie, my *sole* reason for getting the B593 was for it's multiple external antenna support. That and, um, it's one of the only full-sized LTE routers around.

Second warning. You need steel fingers for working with the cursed SMA barrel connectors!! It would've been a sterling touch for Huawei to include a small plastic tool for this, or even little SMA female extenders.

So to save you from the hassle of validating that your external antennas are active, there is no antenna menu! Don't go looking for firmware to unlock this! One need simply go to the Diagnostics menu and select the "System check". The default value is "Build-in" (sic) and it will change to "External" with external antennas installed.



Signal strength and all that jazz

Same place - go to the Diagnosis menu and select "Wireless Status".



Resources:

The Poynting antenna discussion thread

Antenna installation and alignment

[Jab]

Do you use two external antennas?

[Azimuth]

Current issue list:

1. Repeating with the Huawei WS3xx does some funny stuff to the routing (not all the time)
2. Antenna status only changes to External with both SMA ports used. Therefore if one uses a Poynting XPOL-A0001 or LPDA-A0020, the antenna status will still show "Build-in".

[Azimuth]

Do you use two external antennas?

Yip, I use two of these.

I wrote about my installation here.

Edit: updated broken product links.

[Hosehead]

I've been using one for a month and a half and I am on the edge of Telkom Mobile /8ta coverage of 3G and this device by nature cannot piggy back off MTN which I have set my cell to as a default carrier because the Telkom mobile/8ta signal comes and goes and speaking of the device I get speeds 10 times faster than my hard wired Adsl. Very impressive product and because it's portable, when I take in into LTE coverage it is just great.
I am anticipating a slowdown as this catches on and this will all be a dream from which one is rudely awakened...
Have I had any problems - Not under normal conditions. None . Zip. Plug and Play.
BUT from thurs night thru the early hours of monday during the heavy rains The modem was "restricted" and normal services removed. Intermittently, I would be able to connect to gmail by Chrome but the modem was running like a drunken snail at a demented light and laser disco..The lights were going rabid. Sometimes I could log on to certain websites after a long wait eg. news 24 but on the whole Chrome delivered only the sad face for the entire weekend . Sometimes wi fi kicked in to deliver a whats app message. Maybe it was storm (water)related, or tower issues. On the Atlantic seaboard many people had problems, maybe the techs went home who knows? But just as I was about to hurl the modem into the pool of floodwater winding its way down to the sea, it just started working again all by itself , slowly, but surely the pipeline opened like a tap was turned on, and by start of Monday business it was back to normal. More or less. By later Monday it was 100%.
Apart from that one stormy weekend I have no issues to report. The nice part is you can use the wi-fi function on your cell when your cell contract bundle is all used up and take some of the many gigs the modem offers (I took the 20 GB package)
But comparing the rate of GB consumption-- Vodacom seems slower to deplete and Telkom mobile just chews through GB's
Something is not right and it's not the extra usage - its the speed at which Telkom's Pacman gobbles up Gigs. As the French would say Porquoi?

[Azimuth]

I could improve and stabilise your service IF I was in the business. Bad weather does not effect LTE like it does 3G. I can have the mother of all storms outside and my LTE service carries on like a sunny day. Probably the external antennas.

[Hosehead]

I could improve and stabilise your service IF I was in the business. Bad weather does not effect LTE like it does 3G. I can have the mother of all storms outside and my LTE service carries on like a sunny day. Probably the external antennas.

The only problem is you assume I have LTE service in the above post which I don't. When LTE is unavailable the router will switch to 3g and that's pretty much what I've been living on... HPDSA ...sometimes a little EDGE...all 3G and mind you it is superfast 3G like 3G on steroids but definitely no LTE which is only in the City Center so unfortunately it stands to reason that inclement weather DOES have some effect on the service. The only time I experience LTE is when I use my satellite office which is hardly ever.

[Azimuth]

Hmm, that is rather unfortunate then. You would be better served by a B683 but then again, I suppose a B593 is better for future proofing. Again note that the main selling points of the B593 are (a) LTE support, and (b) support for MIMO external antennas.

With the current special running, the B593 price has been halved. Previously it was priced around R5k new online. The B683 in comparison goes for around R1.5k.

Do you get *some* LTE at home? If so, you will get LTE 100% of the time if you mount external antenna. Even your 3G can be improved this way. If you have such an awesome piece of hardware, at least consider unlocking it's full capability with external antennas.

[Hosehead]

Hmm, that is rather unfortunate then. You would be better served by a B683 but then again, I suppose a B593 is better for future proofing. Again note that the main selling points of the B593 are (a) LTE support, and (b) support for MIMO external antennas.

With the current special running, the B593 price has been halved. Previously it was priced around R5k new online. The B683 in comparison goes for around R1.5k.

Do you get *some* LTE at home? If so, you will get LTE 100% of the time if you mount external antenna. Even your 3G can be improved this way. If you have such an awesome piece of hardware, at least consider unlocking it's full capability with external antennas.

No in My area we do not get LTE None Nada Nil. Further Telkom only offers the B593 with either 10,15, 20 or 60 GB, so I buy for the GB not the thing itself. At 400 or 500 for 20GB I couldn't care less about the device costs because it's better than waiting for Vodacom's onece a year Xmas special 20GB for 499 special that Vodacom thinks we should get all excited about.
The coverage of LTE is limited to Major metropole areas only. But in Cape Town that does not include Camps Bay and only a big Rock seperates us from the Metropole proper hence the LTE device the B 593 will aquire a 3G signal but (and I don't know how it works but it takes this 3G signal and pumps it full of steroids so it ends up being 10 times faster than ADSL)

[Azimuth]

Telkom only offers the B593 with either 10,15, 20 or 60 GB, so I buy for the GB not the thing itself. At 400 or 500 for 20GB I couldn't care less about the device costs because it's better than waiting for Vodacom's onece a year Xmas special 20GB for 499 special that Vodacom thinks we should get all excited about.

Agreed 100%. It is a stupid good deal.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=575525

[Hosehead]

TM apparently in some stores are not selling LTE contracts if you are not in an LTE coverage area (WW says the maps are outdated) and that could be so because I am on the borders of 3g coverage, never mind LTE and I get blazing 3g one of the reasons I got the LTE even though I dont get LTE speeds.(for now anyway and when I move Nelspruit waysthere's no TM LTE there either) 3g on LTE is so good that no buffering is required on Youtube watching. However I have noted that the tower where I am located is getting a bit congested of late and 3 g speeds have dropped as TM had all these summer specials.