I’m helping a client out, and what they are looking for is to force a GX450 connecting to Verizon’s network to only communicate on LTE Band 4 (i.e. it doesn’t ever attempt to communicate on LTE Band 13). Is this possible given the current settings and AT commands? If not, let this post serve as a feature request to Sierra Wireless for a firmware update.
This is requested as the speeds they are getting on LTE Band 13 as per fast.com (and other speed testing websites) are, at best, 2-4 Mbps (worst is 400 Kbps). However, with LTE Band 4 they get, at best, 5-12 Mbps (worst is 2-4 Mbps where various web pages won’t load). With a midrange cell phone they get as a best case 23 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up but that’s because Verizon lets cell phones burst, while non-phone devices are throttled as per:
verizonwireless.com/news/LTE/Overview.html
Also, when connecting to LTE Band 13 the signal isn’t as good:
Signal Strength (RSSI) -98
LTE Signal Strength (RSRP) -112
LTE Signal Quality (RSRQ) -20
LTE Signal Interference (SINR) -6.6
But with LTE Band 4:
Signal Strength (RSSI) -77
LTE Signal Strength (RSRP) -112
LTE Signal Quality (RSRQ) -17
LTE Signal Interference (SINR) -3.4
The device connects to LTE Band 4 less than 20% of the time (based on tens of times the device is restarted and the LTE Band it is found to communicate on).
GUI Settings
In WAN/Cellular settings:
- RX Diversity Enable
- Network Roaming Preference Home Only
- Current Radio Module Band North America 4G
- Setting for Band North America 4G
- Bandwidth Throttle Disable
- NOTE: a potential bug in ALEOS 4.7.0 has been identified where even though Bandwidth Throttle is disabled in the GUI, the settings queried via AT commands still affected speeds. Hence, one would want to set the following in addition via SSH:
ATDOWNBAND=0
ATDOWNBURST=512000
ATUPBAND=0
ATUPBURST=512000
In LAN > DHCP/Addressing settings:
- MTU Source Auto (This is because when manually set, the device would have frequent difficulties obtaining an IP address. Instead, they would just set the MTU to 1326 on an ethernet connected router as they would get 2-3 times better speed test results then either the default 1500, or Verizon’s DHCP set 1428).
In Services > Low Power:
- Low Power Mode Disabled
In Location > Global Settings:
- Location Service Disabled
No other exotic, or esoteric configurations set (RSR, DMNR, Dynamic DNS, VLANs, VRRP, VPN, port forwarding, port filtering, etc).
As a side note, SSH via GNOME 3.18.3 Terminal in Ubuntu 16.04 worked a handful occasions consecutively. However, every time after logging in, it just sits at OK as per below and doesn’t register inputs. I’ve tried other terminals in Ubuntu, and same problem. GNOME Terminal wasn’t updated immediately prior, during, or after it was working. I’m not ready to call this a potential bug with Sierra Wireless, but given the potential bandwidth bug noted above, I’m leaning that way:
ssh USERNAME@X.X.X.X -p X
USERNAME@X.X.X.X’s password:
OK
Antennas:
- Cellular: Superbat 5dbi 700-2600Mhz 4G LTE Omni Directional Antenna with SMA Male Connector
- Rx Diversity: One shipped by default
ALEOS Software Version: 4.7.0
ALEOS Build number: 027
Radio Module Type: MC7354
Radio Module Identifier: VZW
Radio Firmware Version: SWI9X15C_05.05.58.01 r27044 carmd-fwbuild1 2015/03/05 00:02:40
Please note, if you are considering replying to this post with any of the following suggestions, please don’t waste either of our time doing so:
- Contact Sierra Wireless Technical Support, a Channel Partner, or an ISP.
- Buy a different device model or another manufacturer’s device. If you know for a fact that another device/manufacturer does this precisely (not guessing, “I think so…”, “I believe…”, etc.) then please go ahead and name it, along with documentation that precisely specifies how to do it.
- Buy new antennas. This is already happening.
- Move it next to a window or different window. Already done.