netgear 6100D performs badly

[happyGuy]

Ultimately I wonder if anyone might have suggestions on how to make this device perform better/faster. 

 

I don't like how for a sprint spark device, this thing is pretty mediocre. For example i have an old 803s hotspot (which wasn't even sprint spark capable) and would typically on average get 5Mbs up/down, yet with the 6100D I would get under 1Mbs literally right next to the 803s.

I have a sprint tower about a mile or a mile and a half away... so the distance shouldn't be a problem, also since the 6100D has external antennas, it should get better reception compared to my 803s (yet the 6100D would only get 1 bar)

 

I did some investigating, and some people were claiming that you could get better speeds by disabling certain bands with the 6100D. I managed to get my MSL and did some testing by changing the priority between bands 41/25/26. ultimately I got the best speeds by completely disabling bands 26/41 and only allowing 25. However, even after doing this it still only performs on average with my old 803s

 

I don't know what is up with this 6100D but I am quite disappointed in how this supposed sprint spark device performs.

 

here are some test numbers:

 

test #1. 1 bar
band 25 (priority 1)
band 41 (priority 2)
band 26 (priority 3)
upload: 2.08Mbs, 4.84Mbs down

test #2. fluctuated between 2-3 bars
band 41 (priority 1)
band 25 (priority 2)
band 26 (priority 3)
up: 0.92Mbs/ 2.12Mbs down

test #3. fluctuated between 2-3 bars
band 26 (priority 1)
band 41 (priority 2)
band 25 (priority 3)
up: 0.50Mbs/ 0.50Mbs down

test #4. 1 bar
band 25 only (others disabled)
up: 4.34/ 5.75 down

test #5
band 25 (priority 1)
band 41 (priority 2)
(26 disabled)
up: 3.4/ 4.42 down

test #6 1 bar
band 25 only (others disabled)
up: 8.68/ 5.56 down

 

 

 

[happyGuy]

months later and happyguy still isn't very happy with this thing. here is the most recent development

 

location 1: I have a very old 803s device up and running

location 2: 6100d up and running (albeit slowly for a supposed sprint spark device)

yesterday I decide to move the 6100d to the 803s location... no service. In the router settings the status shows: "Data disconnected." Pressing "Connect" does nothing.

 

took the 6100d back to original location and it works.

 

  conclusion: this thing is just a piece of junk

Edited October 15, 2016 by happyGuy

[belusnecropolis]

months later and happyguy still isn't very happy with this thing. here is the most recent development

 

location 1: I have a very old 803s device up and running

location 2: 6100d up and running (albeit slowly for a supposed sprint spark device)

yesterday I decide to move the 6100d to the 803s location... no service. In the router settings the status shows: "Data disconnected." Pressing "Connect" does nothing.

 

took the 6100d back to original location and it works.

 

conclusion: this thing is just a piece of junk

I built an antenna system in my attic that I attached to this puppy. It is very functional if able to get a decent signal. I live in semi rural South Carolina, which has a fairly bare network. I have comparable pings and throughput to having an 'outdoors' signal.

 

I have a pretty rough site local to me. It is single band LTE, and evdo is no better than before NV. I just had to get creative against adverse signal fade conditions; coming from a single input site, a light forest in between us, and what I suspect is sector overlap. Sorry it is not working out for you.

 

I was hoping a predecessor or refresh would come along that had improvements. It does have some faults. Try band selection and make sure to use the debug screen to read signal levels. I did this from a mobile device while tuning the antennas I built. It is much more accurate then signal bars. Hope this helps.

[happyGuy]

I built an antenna system in my attic that I attached to this puppy. It is very functional if able to get a decent signal. I live in semi rural South Carolina, which has a fairly bare network. I have comparable pings and throughput to having an 'outdoors' signal.

 

I have a pretty rough site local to me. It is single band LTE, and evdo is no better than before NV. I just had to get creative against adverse signal fade conditions; coming from a single input site, a light forest in between us, and what I suspect is sector overlap. Sorry it is not working out for you.

 

I was hoping a predecessor or refresh would come along that had improvements. It does have some faults. Try band selection and make sure to use the debug screen to read signal levels. I did this from a mobile device while tuning the antennas I built. It is much more accurate then signal bars. Hope this helps.

 

this is the thing though, the 803s only has internal antennas, the 6100d has 2 external (although I think only one is used for cell reception). In theory it *should* get a stronger signal compared to the old 803s... but it doesn't. In fact, it can't get any signal. Both were set to LTE only, and I placed the 6100D in the same location as the 803s... well as close as I could, since the 6100d is so massive compared to the 803s.  I'm at a loss how or why the 6100D can't get -any- connection at all. I even unscrewed the plastic enclosure and looked inside to make sure the antenna wires were connected (which they were).

[belusnecropolis]

this is the thing though, the 803s only has internal antennas, the 6100d has 2 external (although I think only one is used for cell reception). In theory it *should* get a stronger signal compared to the old 803s... but it doesn't. In fact, it can't get any signal. Both were set to LTE only, and I placed the 6100D in the same location as the 803s... well as close as I could, since the 6100d is so massive compared to the 803s. I'm at a loss how or why the 6100D can't get -any- connection at all. I even unscrewed the plastic enclosure and looked inside to make sure the antenna wires were connected (which they were).

That may be a nod to the 803s reception I suppose. I did not get the best reception either, stock. What is signal like on a handset? Are you line of sight from your macro? It seems this thing just has rough stock antennae.

 

I ran two separate antennae, one to each input over about 50 feet of LMR 400. The antennas have about a -10dBm gain. I stand at about -102 rsrp on average. Pings are about 60ms, I get 5 down during the day, up to 12 at night. 2 up 24/7. I ordered some cheap amps from Hong Kong to tinker with, it is passive now and does ok. This was the only A/C option so I had to go with it for fail over.

[happyGuy]

That may be a nod to the 803s reception I suppose. I did not get the best reception either, stock. What is signal like on a handset? Are you line of sight from your macro? It seems this thing just has rough stock antennae.

 

I ran two separate antennae, one to each input over about 50 feet of LMR 400. The antennas have about a -10dBm gain. I stand at about -102 rsrp on average. Pings are about 60ms, I get 5 down during the day, up to 12 at night. 2 up 24/7. I ordered some cheap amps from Hong Kong to tinker with, it is passive now and does ok. This was the only A/C option so I had to go with it for fail over.

 

unfortunately I won't be back to the other location for a while, so I'm unable to check for another week or so. In the meantime I was trying to locate the sprint towers in the area. I'm 99% positive they're south of the location (probably at least a couple miles and with lots of trees between it). I can't seem to find a site that can tell me the locations of the cell towers though. I tried rootmetrics, opensignal, sensorly, cellreception, antennasearch etc.  The best result I had was with antennasearch, but all the towers in the surrounding area had "tower not registered" messages, so they could be anything..

[travismheim]

unfortunately I won't be back to the other location for a while, so I'm unable to check for another week or so. In the meantime I was trying to locate the sprint towers in the area. I'm 99% positive they're south of the location (probably at least a couple miles and with lots of trees between it). I can't seem to find a site that can tell me the locations of the cell towers though. I tried rootmetrics, opensignal, sensorly, cellreception, antennasearch etc. The best result I had was with antennasearch, but all the towers in the surrounding area had "tower not registered" messages, so they could be anything..

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