Log of mobile connection, traffic strenght

[niko123]

Hi guys,

it seems my second data sim (Vodafone DE) is pretty useless… I dont know which device should possibly have a stronger connection, my phone (Samsung S10) or my router (RUT 950, with standard antennas), but I assume it the RUT950 over the phone.

It happens VERY often, that the mobile data connection through the RUT950 is very slow, laggy, poor ping / response time. I THINK its on the provider side - those 2nd data sims seem to be a limited contract, they have a covered internal number and it kind of feels like they are registered poorly in networks, especially in roaming networks.

To keep the story short, is there a way to proper track the connection so I have something to discuss about with the provider. I use the RUT interface to check things when I once again have a poor connection, but this does sometimes not work as the connection is too poor - and I would like to have it running internally in the background to have a more complete insight, not only while being on the laptop. Actually I have to uncheck the RUTs WIFI while it has a bad connection, otherwise it will always re-sign-in into the slow network (while my phone having a speedy hotspot… )

Any tips are very welcome

Might a firmware thing be an issue as well?
(As I remember I have not updated to the very last firmware…)

Thanks, Niko

[niko123]

No idea anyone? Maybe official Teltonika staff?

Still getting only 0.5Mbits via RUT950 vs 15Mbits via Smartphone…

[AndzejJ]

Hello,

Apologies for a late response.

The first thing that I would like to mention is that your Samsung S10 phone should be able to achieve much higher speeds than RUT950. This is because of the LTE module used in the device - I believe the Samsung S10 has an LTE CAT 20 modem, while RUT950 has an LTE CAT 4 modem. The difference in those technologies is quite substantial. For example, CAT 4 modems are not capable of carrier aggregation, which means that they are unable to utilize multiple frequency bands. For more information, you can take a look at our wiki article here.

However, the 0.5 Mbps speed is also very low and RUT950 should be able to achieve higher speeds. Even though there are many other factors that affect LTE speeds, 0.5 Mbps is basically unusable nowadays.

Firstly, could you please update your device to the latest firmware version with the 'keep settings ’ option disabled ? This will erase your current configurations but will ensure proper migration. Firmware for RUT950 can be downloaded from here and uploaded via WebUI in System → Firmware .

Secondly, make sure that you are using the correct (mobile) antennas and that they are properly attached to the mobile MAIN and AUX SMA connectors.

Thirdly, please share a screenshot of your Mobile signal parameters that can be found in Status → Network → Mobile . Make sure to hide sensitive information such as IMSI, ICCID, EARFCN, etc, before sharing the screenshot.

Next, navigate to Network → Firewall and make sure that 'Software flow offloading ’ is enabled.

Also, if the speeds are still low, try changing MTU on the mobile interface. This can be done by navigating to Network → WAN → Edit mob1s1a1 (if SIM1 is used) → Advanced settings . MTU values to try are 1460 , 1360 , and 1260 .

Lastly, for the testing purposes, try using a different SIM card from another operator.

Let me know how it goes.

Kind Regards,

[niko123]

Hi Andzej,

thanks for your reply. I wasnt aware of that, of the CAT 4 / 20 difference. Both devices are not 2023 but I was assuming a mobile router of a certain form factor with two comparably large mobile antennes would perform higher than a small mobile phone. One reason why I own the RUT, as I was hoping / expecting to gain better network coverage compared to the smartphone in more remote areas (for remote mobile working). This probably can be improved by external antennas - but IF it was still less effective (plus quite some extra 100 euros…) I would better rely on an old smartphone as a mobile router.

Probably that wasnt what you were intending to say and maybe there are some more modern routers (maybe alongside external antennas) that would outperform the smartphone (gain better network connection in remote areas). If so, please tell me which device would make real difference.

Still, as you said, it SHOULD be more than the very little data as it is most of the time and today as well. So lets get started with sorting things out:

First, I did contact the provider (again, as often) and once again got another different explanation: that a second (kind of partner-) card, used as mobile data only in a router MIGHT get a hickup as in several countries (like Spain, where Im at right now) do not support VoLTE with my provider. My phone does switch to 3G during a call (causing the internet to stop for sure…) and switches back to 4G after. The second card however MIGHT be bound to the first card in some way which MIGHT cause it to get stuck in another network. Those are a lot of MIGHTs and I have heard so many different explanations, all making sense to me, not solving the problem though. I was asked to try changing the mobile provider by hand in the router UI, which I would try anyways, still does not look like a very practical and reliable solution…

I will, after sending this post, go through your proposed settings and post the screenshots.

Before I do an firmware upgrade, one question: will I be able to access the router after upgrading with “keep settings OFF”? I do not have a LAN port on my laptop and therefor would not be able to access the router from scratch… Will it erase my login data as well? I do not have stored any other login data, and being locked out would be … bad.

Kind regards,
Niko

[niko123]

Antennas are fine and correctly installed.

Unfortunately there is no Network → Firewall ->Software flow offloading option. My UI is in german and I dont know where to change it…

[niko123]

This one?

[niko123]

Checked the various MTU settings (was 1500) with no success. Some seem to not work at all (restared connection / re-registered each time). Did check the Force LTE and Re-Register every 5 Min now.

The speed is still around 1 / 2 Mbit, with additionally a long delay before the speed test starts (ping?).

As I asked in the first post, is there a way to permanently track mobile data (maybe dBm, speed, provider and others) so I have something to inspect and maybe tell the provider?

[AndzejJ]

Hello,

The Teltonika Networks devices are designed with a focus on industrial applications, rather than consumers who usually are interested in high speeds and not other functionalities. The router from our portfolio that offers highest LTE category is RUTX50, which supports 5G + LTE CAT 20. However, as I mentioned, these are industrial devices, and their value lies in the wide array of functionalities they offer. So the recommendation depends on your requirements.

From the screenshots you shared, it seems that you have a very old firmware. If possible, I would recommend updating the firmware with ‘keep settings’ disabled. Yes, the current configurations will be lost. The passwords will be reset to their defaults. The default WiFi SSID and password should be printed on the device itself. From the firmware, I would guess that you have an older device, so the default WebUI password should be ‘admin01’. If it is a newer device, the default password will be on the device itself.

Software Flow Offloading will be available in Network → Firewall once you update the device.

From your screenshots, it seems that the device is roaming and, while the signal strength is more or less fine, the RSRP and SINR parameters of the signal are quite poor. In particular, the SINR parameter is of concern, as poor SINR values typically indicate a high level of signal interference. So in this specific case, it is not surprising that the speed is poor. Not sure about the speeds speed you get in other locations where the signal is better. For signal recommendations, please take a look here.

Regarding monitoring, there are no specific logs for that. You can monitor the signal in real-time on the Status → Realtime data → Mobile Signal page once you update the device. However, if you have added the device to RMS (each device comes with 30 days free trial), you can see the mobile metrics like these:

RMS information is available here.

Kind Regards,

[niko123]

Hi,

thanks again for your support.

I wasnt aware that my device was that old
I did update the firmware several times, now I am at RUT9XX_R_00.06.09.5 from 2023-05-19.
I am presented a 07 firmware which fails the validation test.
It says legacy models of the RUT950, like mine, will only support 07.00, not above.
The build date (on Teltonika firmware download page) of that particular FW is from 2021.
Should I stick with the more recent 06 FW or manually update to the older 07 FW?

I will wait for your response before updating to 07 FW

Second and probably last question, what would make more sense in getting a better mobile connection:

• adding proper external antennas to the - in this case - roof of the camper (which one would work fine with this router and would still be advised for a later RUT model, eg X50 (Mimo 4x4 5G antenna compatible?) → as those antenna first cost quite a few bucks and second, the installation on a car roof is a bit of a work…

• or getting a router eg X50 without external antennas, making a big difference to the actual setup already (maybe adding external antennas later)

Thanks and best,
Niko