Wireless Joint

Hello guys. I am a newbie here. I have tried searching for my specific problem and could not find it. So, at the risk of some serious flaming, I am choosing to post my problem here. I now have a Mofi4500 on a verizon sim. I use this for my home internet. I finally got it all set up and running. My question is how do i get my speeds faster? I have the "combo" edition of the mofi with the two different type antennas. Basically, All I have done is plug it up and put it inside my entertainment center. Then I scanned what bands were available and I "think" i have the CA setup. My problem is download speed. The best I can get on average is between 10-12mbps. I have read about people moving the router or adding external antennas in order to get better speeds. I would like to be able to maintain at least 20mbps download if possible. upload isnt important to me. And if that isnt possible, someone just tell me. I live way out in the country but have a tower less than a mile from me. I am attaching screen shots of what I believe you guys would need to help me and send me in the right direction. Again, I am totally new at this and would love any feedback/direction. Thanks again for the help. I am a member of several other forums for different things (mainly SXS stuff) and know just how valuable these forums are.


Danny

Have you tested the speeds late at night or early in the morning to see if there were any differences there from daytime speeds?

The speeds seem to be a little better in the early mornings. I suspect this is normal at most towers… how do my settings look?

Danny

I ask because this will typically tell you about what to expect for best case scenario. Do you have a phone on the same network that you have done comparable tests with?

Yes I have a phone on the same network. Phone is always at least twice as fast. Sometimes more.
What do I need to do or am I stuck at that speed?

Danny

What type of phone??

iPhone 12 Pro Max. Recently updated from an iPhone 8 Plus. The speed were the same with the 8 plus.

Danny

Two things.

1. The phone SIMs get higher network priority.

2. Your mofi is the equivalent of an iphone 6 at best. The 4500 SIM4 is at least, the SIM 7 is an even lesser cat 4 modem. The iphone 6 had a 150Mbps max theoretical speeds, 2x2 mimo category 6 modem.

Not a fair comparison to the iphone 8 with its category 16 modem chip and 4x4 mimo antenna set. First phone to do so, with theoretical 1 Gbps speed capability.
No less your latest phone.

That and the phones are well designed and optimized, overpowered, comms devices.


That said. It's likely number 1, unless youre actually using a post paid phone SIM and not a tablet sim.

It looks like your notes show upload as well as download, and both are nearly the same each time? Upload sometimes better?

I have not seen upload speeds better than download. I just see some people talking about getting 30-60kbps speeds and didn’t know if there was something I could do to do that.

Danny

Tough call. Signal strength and quality is top priority. Your signal seems good.

You might be about maxxed for that SIM plan.

Thanks for answering my questions. Maybe I am getting all I can get…. I just don’t want to buy external antennas and such if it isn’t going to help me.

Danny

dbrown850 wrote: ↑Wed May 05, 2021 10:19 pm I now have a Mofi4500 on a verizon sim.

Fellow Mofi owner here. Did you buy the Sim 7 or the Sim 4 version?

I have the newer one. Had it about two weeks.

Are you band locking? On the Sim 7 you would generally want to band lock. It looks like B66 is going to be your best bet, but the only way to know for sure is to band lock each one and run speed tests until you figure out which band gives the most consistent and highest speeds.

If you have the Sim 4, it allows 2x Carrier Aggregation. From what I understand, if you band lock on the Sim 4, you are disabling CA, which may or may not hurt your speeds. So if its the Sim 4, you should also try not band locking and just let the modem do its thing.

The best I did with the Mofi (Sim 7) was 20-30 Mbps DL. I eventually built my own and on the same plan, in the same location, my speeds can be as high as 135 Mbps, but are usually 40-60 Mbps. So if speed is what you're after, the Mofi is not a good choice. Although I understand the new Mofi 5500 is going to be a big upgrade.

Ok so you said you built your own. How detailed of a process is that? Price? What would you do if it was you?

Danny

Looking more closely at your pics, I see you are running the Sim 8, which has a Sierra Wireless EM7411. Its a Cat 7 modem and is def an upgrade over the Sim 4 and Sim 7 units. However, as Didney said, its no where close to the modem in your latest and greatest iPhone.

Is there a lot of congestion on your tower?
Have you seen the mofi engaged in CA?

In the pic you posted, it shows B66 as the primary and B13 as the secondary (CA), but B13 says inactive. If the tower is not allowing CA, then I'm not sure upgrading the modem would help.

Also as Didney said, your tablet plan may be deprioritized and other traffic on the tower is getting all the bandwidth.

Thanks again for answering. The CA does work. I have tested it. I get 10-12 without CA and around 20-24 with CA working. Just seen where people are getting 40-65 on here and wondered if I could do any better. Any more suggestions?

Danny

Space magic signal teleportation?

A parabolic attenna would help out. And using CA. Also make sure you're using a good 3rd party router other then the mofi.

dbrown850 wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 2:34 pm Thanks again for answering. The CA does work. I have tested it. I get 10-12 without CA and around 20-24 with CA working. Just seen where people are getting 40-65 on here and wondered if I could do any better. Any more suggestions?

Danny

CA is controlled by the tower. It will be based on the amount of congestion on the tower, as well as the technology on the tower (there may be other factors too). You said you are way out in the country. So there may not be a lot of traffic on the tower. But it may also be that your tower only allows 2x CA and they don't have a very good back haul in place. On top of that, they are going to deprioritize your tablet plan behind the phone plans with "premium" data allotments.

You would likely see a speed increase by investing in a Cat 16 or higher modem. I say Cat 16 because to my knowledge, that is where you get into 4x4 MIMO. For me (on AT&T), even when CA is not being allowed by the tower, I still receive 4x4 on B66. All other things being equal (which they rarely are in real life), you would be twice as fast going from your current 2x2 modem to a 4x4.

I purchased the Quectel EM160 from the The Wireless Haven store. I put it in a USB 3.0 box, and connected it to a Raspberry Pi 3B+ running Goldenorb. I then use the wifi router I already owned as an access point and use powerline ethernet adapters to run ethernet lines around the house.

https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/modems/quectel- ... m-2-modem/

I can't link the USB box because it looks like they are currently out of stock.

Alternatively, you could buy a high cat 5G Android phone and tether it using Bill A's tether guide (which will allow you to use phone data rather than hotspot data). You could use the mofi as the router, thereby saving you from buying a new router. I have successfully done this with my Verizon phone on my Sim7 Mofi 4500, but never could get it to work on AT&T.

https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/pcie-m-2/m-2-ng ... card-slot/

Should be back in stock later this week, or early next. Shipping is slooooooow right now.

Thanks guys for responding and trying to help me. Honestly, I thought I was a smart guy… until I read the last couple post. I have no idea what any of that is. Does anyone sell all of that you described already assembled and ready to go for my Verizon sim?

Danny

dbrown850 wrote: ↑Wed May 12, 2021 1:21 pm Thanks guys for responding and trying to help me. Honestly, I thought I was a smart guy… until I read the last couple post. I have no idea what any of that is. Does anyone sell all of that you described already assembled and ready to go for my Verizon sim?

Danny

email thewirelesshaven.com, they can help you.

dbrown850 wrote: ↑Wed May 12, 2021 1:21 pm Thanks guys for responding and trying to help me. Honestly, I thought I was a smart guy… until I read the last couple post. I have no idea what any of that is. Does anyone sell all of that you described already assembled and ready to go for my Verizon sim?

Danny

No doubt, its a lot to take in. A year ago, when we first moved to the country, I didn't know a thing about cellular internet. I'm no expert by any means, but I've learned so much over the last year. When I realized I had no other viable options, I decided to put the time in researching and reading many nights for several months. This forum has been a great resource. I do not come from an IT background, so my learning curve has been steep. But this is the type of forum where people help you and explain things, rather than flaming you for asking a question.

Like you, I started with a Mofi 4500, thinking it was a really advanced device. Only to learn I could have built it myself for 1/3 of the price and run it on Goldenorb, which is a great firmware created by some really awesome people on the whirlpool forum.

With that said, it looks like the Mofi 5500 (the version with the EM7690) will be a great all in one option. If they really are selling them for $500, that will be a good deal. Of course, it will be a brand new, untested and unproven product. I would expect to deal with some glitches along the way.

If you want to be a bit more adventurous, email the The Wireless Haven store and consider creating your own solution. They will help you and you'll find that its not as daunting as it initially seemed. They got me going, and I'm very happy with how my project turned out. In terms of performance, it blows the Mofi Sim 7 out of the water, and is equally reliable, if not more so. They are a great small business with reasonable prices and excellent support. I'm willing to help too, to the extent that I'm able to.

Thanks everyone for the input. I am going to send an email today and see what I can get going!

Thanks again. I will be in touch.

Danny

HELP Please
What are the SIM card options for the MOFI 5500-EM7411 of the Verizon network?

Where do you find the The Wireless Haven store

aceman wrote: ↑Tue Jun 29, 2021 9:05 am HELP Please
What are the SIM card options for the MOFI 5500-EM7411 of the Verizon network?

I would ask MOFI, but they haven't been awesome with full truth and much support in the past. Its why people come here.


I would say, officially Verizon would support the MOFI on hotspot plans only. The same with all cellular routers.

We have workarounds for the devices like those sold on https://thewirelesshaven.com, which is what this entire forum is about.

lol ..... @Didneywhorl fake imei test?

@dbrown850 Does the Verizon iPad sim still work for you? I just got a sim activated in an iPad but no Internet on the mofi. May I ask what TTL setting you are using on the MoFi?

dbrown850 wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 7:26 am Thanks for answering my questions. Maybe I am getting all I can get…. I just don’t want to buy external antennas and such if it isn’t going to help me.

Danny

Not all cell towers have the same speed!!
The towers out in the sticks can be much slower.

A good test before you get crazy with antennas or new hardware is bring your modem to different towers and do speed test. I have seen DL speed of 60 with a MOFI 4500 BUT I have also seen DL of 10.

Location…Location…Location

See link for car power for modem
https://www.amazon.com/MoFi-MOFI4500-Ro ... 106&sr=8-1

Dr-BroadBand wrote: ↑Sun Feb 06, 2022 6:55 am
See link for car power for modem
https://www.amazon.com/MoFi-MOFI4500-Ro ... 106&sr=8-1

These power adapters work really well for testing this application.

JimHelms wrote: ↑Sun Feb 06, 2022 7:48 am
These power adapters work really well for testing this application.

Thanks for the info, The pawer adapter in the LTE Fix store looks much better. Longer, LED, fused, and looks like a larger wire AWG!