Question\Issue Background
I have a Netgear Nighthawk M6 model MR6150 on the T-Mobile network using a Calyx BYOD Sprout SIM card.
I have found that in general the carrier aggregation provided by the MR6150 causes it to slightly outperform the Inseego M3000B, which I was thrilled about at first. However, I have noticed some inconsistent behavior. Sometimes, the hotspot shows the LTE band as B2, and in those cases my performance is great, but sometimes it shows B66, during which time my speed can drop to less than 100Mbps.
I know for sure this is not a signal strength problem, because I have two devices, and one of them can be on B2 sitting right next to the other one when it's on B66 with wildly different performance between the two devices, despite them both being Calyx SIM's on the T-Mobile network. I am line of sight from my T-Mobile cell tower which is very close to my house.
What I've tried so far
I went down the rabbit hole of learning about AT commands, but it seems that this model of hotspot doesn't allow "full" AT commands. I tried to use an AT command to block the B66 band, and I tried creating one that only allows LTE B2, and both profiles seem to put the modem into 4G mode. I was able to successfully band lock, but at the expense of losing n41 5G, which isn't what I want.
For now, using information I learned on this forum, I downgraded the firmware to 10.04.22, which allows me to put the hotspot into 5G Standalone mode, which seems to work around my problem because it no longer connects to any LTE band. But, the optimal situation for me would be to allow LTE carrier aggregation on B2 if available, and just block B66.
What I would like to do
I would like to create an AT profile that just blocks this one single poor performing LTE band but still allows for 5G bands to function.
I'm also interested in creating an AT band on the latest firmware that only allows 5G bands, effectively creating a 5G Standalone profile to replace the functionality that Netgear apparently removed from the firmware.
Does anyone know a way to achieve this? Is there perhaps a third party firmware (dd-wrt style) that this router could be flashed with, or a modified Netgear firmware that accepts the full AT commands or offers band selection on the GUI by checkboxes? Or maybe I am just crafting the AT commands incorrectly, as I never did this before yesterday?
AT Band Selection Command Speculation
Maybe I'm doing something wrong with my AT commands?
Here are a few AT commands I tried that didn't work and resulted in errors. I did put the device into "engineering mode" first.
Code: Select all
AT!BAND=02,"TMO HIGH B2/4/66 n41/77",0,1000300000A,2,10001000000,1002,0
AT!BAND=03,"TMO NRSA n41/71/77",0,0,0,0000010001000000,1042,0Code: Select all
AT!BAND=02,"SA_n41_only",0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000001000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000,4
AT!BAND=03,"SA_no_n66",0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000,<mask_without_n66>,0000000000000000,0000000000000000,4
This AT commands apparently did work, but forced the device into 4G LTE mode only and disabled 5G, although I did seem to get the desired LTE band of B2.
Code: Select all
AT!BAND=02,"LTE_B2_only",0000000000000000,0000000000000002