I just got the BR1 mini lte in the mail, did I make a mistake my speeds are lower than when I use my phone as a hotspot. Is there a way to tell cell reception on the device. Maybe I need to change the setting in the modem. I’m using A&T cell in a rural area but I’m about a mile from the tower considering an antenna.
If fastest speed is what your after, then you want a CAT18 or 5G device.
Odds are your cell phone has a cat18 or better modem.
No amount of fiddling around with settings will solve this.
If you have the cat4 br1 mini then your limited to 1 band at a time. If you have the cat6 br1 mini then your getting 2 bands. A cat18 modem will access 4 bands simultaneously from the same att tower! Think of each band as an independent connection to the tower. Cat18 device can make 4x connections to the same tower over 4 independent frequencies. More simultaneous bands = more bandwidth = faster
To build on this: One thing you can do is to experiment with which band you connect with. The tower may no necessarily pick the band that works the best for your device. I don’t have a BR1 Mini handy, but I expect it’ll be similar to a “regular” BR1 .
Click on details, and then select “Band Selection” and remove bands until you find the best one (that connects). (In this case we have a limited LTE modem, with only a few bands to play with):
1 Like
to echo what others said, you are not comparing apples to apples. what are the modem specs on your peplink? throughput limits? what about your cell phone?
what plan is your cell phone on? peplink? what priority is the data on each? is it deprioritized?
are you connecting to the same tower?
same band?
many variables but you can definitely narrow down.
Thank you for all the info, had no idea about the cat18, time to find a better device, in the meantime I will try to find the better bands as it will only help. I’m sure I can google this but is cat18 the highest out there?
Using AT&T Prepaid for both phone and hotspot Cell phone is a note 10+ with max ram.
Yes, Peplink’s 5G devices are CAT20/5G. The Max Transit 5G is a good option. There is also something new BR1 Pro 5G.
Your Galaxy Note 10+ has a CAT20 modem.
prepaid data plans have the absolute lowest priority on the network. typically phone plans can be a notch up. are you subject to depioritization?
just remember, peplink devices are enterprise devices. enterprise data plans can cost a pretty penny. some get by using other plans but there are trade-offs, in most cases.
I was kinda thinking that I might be better off buying an old phone. Especially seeing the price of the Max Transit. I use it for PC gaming and work, really gaming requires the highest demand. I am finding it hard to find the CAT on these devices. I probably need to try manufacturer websites for specs
My wife is post-paid i have noticed this for sure