Slow 4G connection only, but only sometimes -- SOLVED

Yet another datapoint for those who may be testing.

(BTW, iTinkeralot, I am definitely going to look into the external antenna - but quite busy at the moment, it may be 2-3 months).

I have continued monitoring my unit and doing speed test BECAUSE it switches among cell tower bands.

I have traced them ALL to the same tower I mentioned above - hidden by LOTS of trees but theoretically near line of site 0.7+ miles away.

What I have found is very interesting:

Speed measured with browser on laptop connected via ethernet cable:

Primary  Secondary  Down   Up

b2          n71             112.3    14.6
                                 177.2    20.2
                                 171.0    17.8
                                 126.6    18.7
                                 174.5    23.1
                                 143.0    15.0
                                 147.7    19.6

                                 124.5    19.5
b2          n41             165.9     7.4
                                 265.3     6.5

                                 170.3     4.64
b66        n41             186.5     9.13
 

As you can see the download speed increases, but the upload speed to to poor whenever n41 is in use,

whether b66 is primary or b2.

My guess is the n41 (2.5GHz) is scattered more by the trees and the n71 (600MHz) can make it through even though theoretically it is slower speed - but only, of course, given equal signal strengths.

It could also be that the n41 power of the T-Mobile CAN is insufficient to make it through the trees, for upload, but the cell tower has sufficient power to make it through the trees for reception by the CAN.

So you might keep that in mind - that the n71 will both go farther and through more obstacles than n41.

(And forget n260 or n261 - unless you live next to them with line of sight! - I think they are for mounting on buildings only.)

Another thing to consider - I think the cell towers are never omni-directional.  I.E. they have beam antennas that cover various beams depending on the need.

For example, one near me is pointing AWAY from me and is a VERY narrow beam designed to go straight down an incredibly heavy traffic road.

So even if you have 5 bands on a tower (I have at least that many on the one mentioned), They may or may not be pointing in your direction.

So it could be that n71 is more in my direction than the n41 one.

one thing you learn as an amateur radio operator - radio wave propagation is extremely complicated when you through in all the variables.

itinkeralot, from that photo, has a near perfect line of sight - assuming that antenna has a beam pointing in his direction.