Cell locking on Zyxel 5103e

[nsmhd]

Hi all,

I’ve been using Three’s 5G Home Broadband service for a few weeks now with the provider Zyxel NR5103e.

Using an external antenna (XPOL-V2 4x4 5G) I can pick up an excellent 4&5G signal.

The issue is I’m in the middle of two masts that both do 5G and the one I’m connecting to and is slightly closer (1.13 kM vs 1.41KM) only has ~300mbps backhaul via Microwave link so not only can you not get the full 5G speeds but in the evenings it gets congested which causes latency to go from 30-50ms to 400ms + and the usual issues that come from that.

I tried moving my external antenna in the opposite direction facing the other mast which I know is fibre fed and can support the max 5G speeds but the router won’t lock onto it and just connected to the other mast still.

it would be great to get cell locking which would enable us to choose which mast to connect to for situations like this.

Anyone know of another way to get the router to prefer a different mast?

Fingers crossed Three upgrade the backhaul of the mast I’m connecting to as I do get an excellent signal from it and it has the two n78 carries and B1+3+20+28+32 LTE bands.

Many thanks,

Nathan

[usernamefor3]

Started running into an issue where my NR5103e is connecting to a different mast which has a worse signal and much worse speed. Unfortunately both masts use the same bands so band locking provides no help. Very strange for Three to enable band locking but not cell locking.

[I realise this could be because the good mast is down for some reason but it would be nice to be able to check rather than just waiting in hope]

Can this please be passed on again @JonathanB, if I can't connect to the good mast again I'm going to have to cancel as it's just not usable.

[JonathanB]

Hi @usernamefor3,

I'm sorry to hear about this. Happy to pass the feedback on, unfortunately I don't think this is going to be added in the immediate future though. Does our Network Status Checker show that we're aware of local issues?

Thanks,
Jonathan

[djones230]

I would also love this feature to become available. I sit between 3 different masts and it continues to select the one furthest away. 

[crypt0ninja]

Yup I'm in a similar position with several masts in range, and whilst band locking helps it still cell switches and doesn't connect me to the mast with best signal stats and speeds...

[Dazzar]

Mine has N78 N78 and B1 and B3 shown as my connection I know others are available which ones should it be set to for best signed download is sometimes 400mb but upload is poor 

[crypt0ninja]

Usually a case of trial an error 😅

What bands are available via that mast when checking Cell Mapper?

I literally went down the route of band locking each single band with N78 and speed testing each one and noting down the DL/UL figures lol

At the end it gave me an idea on how each band performs and which ones to try and aggregate for best speeds.

Personally I ended up with a B28+N78 combo as anything else would connect me to masts that have pants connection stats and upload speeds lol

There's 1 local mast with B28 in close range so band locking to that always ensures I connect to that one, however results can differ in your area though depending on available bands and congestion etc.

[nsmhd]

@JonathanB  have Three got any plans to enable this? It would be very useful to many people.

in my particular situation Three have confirmed a backhaul issue with the mast I’m connected to and no timeframe as to when it will be fixed.

having cell locking would provide a short term fix to this issue by allowing me to connect to another mast. 

[JonathanB]

Hey @nsmhd,

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner on this. Unfortunately no current plans, but I know there's a lot of community users that want us to enable these settings. Rest assured, I'm passing the feedback on.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[UnrealMachine35]

Cell locking would be a most welcome feature to have.this is a feature already available on the nr5103e in some other countries and networks..be great if three enabled this