Peplink Status Question

["EZ"]

When I go to the STATUS page while using my Peplink Max Transit 5G I click on WAN QUALITY and choose CELLULAR. I see a couple graphs for the cellular signal I'm getting. Can someone tell me what I'm looking at? Not sure if the higher numbers are a good signal or the lower numbers? What about the LATENCY? See attachment below.

FYI this is my AT&T sim card. It has worked very well on this trip to Daytona FL. Last time we could only use the T-Mobile sim card. This time we are in the back of the campground though rather than in the front

. This is with paddle antennas only.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[lemondrop9344]

EZ,
As you have indicated this is a graphical representation (an hour's worth I think) of the data you will see in the details tab of the Dashboard. I've attached an image of what the various range of numbers represent below.
As for latency, the smaller the value, the quicker the response time.
By placing your cursor over specific locations of the graph, one is able to obtain more detailed information. If you go down to the bottom of the graph you can select by category graphed.
I think I know what it is, I'm not sure it's telling me anything I can't discern from using the equipment. I've looked to see if there might be some logging detail with more granular information without success. I've also looked to see if I could figure out how to change the grid values without success. It (logging detail) may be available with InControl, but, I've chosen not to participate in that sandbox.
Information I've provided was provided by sources found by searching the internet.

 

["EZ"]

Thanks for the response. Your chart is not labeled the same way my graph is but from looking at it I think I have an OK connection and OK signal strength. and Good latency. When I do speed test I get about 10 up and 3-4 down. If I were trying to stream TV I think I'd be disappointed but my wife has been able to work all week with no issues. She has only complained one time about the connection moving slower than at home. So I guess we're OK. I still haven't mounted the Poyntang antenna outside so I'm sure it will improve when I do. We'll see.

 

[lemondrop9344]

Yep, I noticed the chart is not labeled the same way as the graph when I was looking at this information. On the dashboard of the UI, have you looked at the detail screen of the cellular connection to see if you are getting any signal aggregation from the carrier?
You should see something like this which shows the Peplink device is utilizing 3 cellular signals. Typically this is what I see on Verizon whereas I typically see 4 signals with AT&T. I'm getting around 38Mbps down & about 2Mbps up with Verizon right now. Are you sure you have your upload & download speeds stated correctly? I normally see faster download speeds vs upload speeds.
My speeds are all over the place, so unless I'm having issues with response time, I don't worry about them much.

 

["EZ"]

You are correct. I wrote my speeds wrong. It's been about 10 download and 3-4 upload speeds.

I have seen the chart above but wasn't sure how to read it either. Here's what mine says right now..............

 

[lemondrop9344]

You may find the following information interesting, maybe beneficial. I'm still trying to understand what, if anything, I can do to manipulate the Peplink to improve performance on my device by playing with the cellular settings. Below the AT&T cut & paste you will find some information I retrieved from the Peplink forum on these values.
Based on what I've read, the Peplink devices do a pretty good job of grabbing the best signals to generate your internet connection. Have you used cell mapper to locate the towers nearest you?

AT&T

The company has rolled out a massive 4G LTE network in the United States with support for bands 2, 4, 5 and 17, but the backbone of it remains band 17 in the 700MHz range, the company's primary band. From 2017, AT&T towers also support band 12 as per FCC requirements. Since band 12 is a superset of band 17, these are now commonly referred to as one entity (band 12), and again, are the backbone of the LTE network. These are the AT&T LTE bands used in 2019.

The remaining bands 2, 4 and 5 are mostly used in areas where AT&T does not have band 12/17, while in the densely populated metros, AT&T combines spectrum from multiple bands for better coverage. This is the reason why it is important that your phone supports all and not just one of these bands, in order for you to make maximum use of 4G LTE speeds.

Here is a breakdown of all the individual bands LTE bands that AT&T uses in 2019 and their role:

• Band 2 (1900MHz frequency range): a core AT&T LTE band with 20x20MHz blocks in most markets.
• Band 4 (AWS-1700/2100MHz): this AT&T LTE band is used as a supplement for improved capacity and is usually deployed in small, 5x5MHz blocks.
• Band 66 (AWS-3-1700/2100MHz): AT&T LTE band 66 is a superset of band 4, meaning that it includes all of the band 4 blocks plus adds a few more. AT&T usually deploys this in 10x10 chunks, and you could commonly see it in the New York and New Jersey areas. It is actively being deployed.
• Band 5 (850MHz): this AT&T LTE band is used most commonly 3G (HSPA+ ) connectivity, but some of it also goes toward LTE. AT&T owns a lot in this frequency range throughout the nation, and band 5 is sometimes used in areas where there is no band 12/17 coverage.
• Band 12/17 (700MHz): the backbone of AT&T's LTE network and it provides practically a nation-wide coverage.
• Band 14 (700MHz): AT&T has a nationwide license for band 14. The carrier acquired these bands from FirstNet and they will be used for a federally-funded public safety channel. These will only be deployed in states that opt in the FirstNet service.
• Band 29 (700MHz): this is a supplementary channel. AT&T purchased this from Qualcomm and it is mostly deployed in a 5x0 configuration, meaning that you get one small 5MHz block for download (in some limited places like the California coast and northeast you have 10x0 blocks). This band cannot be used for upload.
• Band 30 (WCS 2300MHz): another supplementary band for 4G LTE. AT&T has deployed chunks of 10x10 across the nation.

Information from Peplink forum follows:

RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power)
This is the power of the LTE Reference signals measured across the full channel width and individual carriers within the channel. Ideally should be looking for something in the range from -85 or better (closer to zero is better).

RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality)
This is an indication of the received quality of the reference signals measured across the full channel width and individual carriers within the channel. Ideally should be looking for something in the range from -15 or better (closer to zero is better).

SINR (Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio)
A minimum of -20dB SINR is required to decode RSRP & RSRQ. It is an indication of the potential data throughput capacity of the channel. Ideally should be looking for something higher than 15dB or better (bigger number is better).

RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator)
RSSI Is a negative value, the closer the reading is to zero the stronger the signal. This value is calculated by taking into account several other values including those listed above, it is entirely possible that a relatively strong RSSI is reported but performance is still poor. Ideally should be looking for something in the range from -75 or better (closer to zero is better)

 

["EZ"]

Looking at the definitions of the readings above RSSI, SINR, RSRQ, etc. it appears that we were receiving a fairly low quality signal. It worked just fine to browse the 'net and read email and for my wife to do her job. But I had trouble getting it to stream a video at times so I used the campgrounds cable to watch TV. This was using the paddle antennas only. I still have the Poyntang exterior antenna in the box. I haven't installed it yet. I'm sure this will help or at least it had better! Otherwise I'm not too sure this Pepwave thing is all it's cracked up to be. On this trip we were at the back of the campground this time so the AT&T card linked up. We never did get the T-Mobile sim to link up. Last trip we were at the front of the campground and it was just the other way around. We used T-mobile the whole time. The camp ground is about a quarter mile deep and looking at the website for the cell towers we are on the edge of AT&T and T-mobile coverage both. Like I said I'm sure the exterior antenna will help a lot.

 

[lemondrop9344]

EZ, Have you tried looking at a website entitled cellmapper.net? It will display the various cell towers, along with bands & provider, when you drill down to where you are camped. It's not going to improve your signal, but, should provide some insight as to what is available & you may be able to select specific bands to improve your reception.
Does the RV park have WIFI in addition to cable? If so you can establish a WIFI as WAN connection with your Peplink & move it to Priority 1 along with your cellular connection. I'm pretty sure if you do that you will get some aggregation of the signals. That may improve your media streaming. If I remember correctly you have a 5G Peplink device. If you don't have a 5G signal, have you considered deselecting those bands to see if that improves your m edia streaming. I'm close to two years into this cellular modem/router stuff & it seems like there is so much to learn. Of course if you read it on the internet....IT MUST BE TRUE! Ha Ha!
I too have the same antenna & I've yet to install mine as the paddle antennas are working just fine.