Can you force LTE connection with ASK-NCQ1338FA

southerndoc
Enthusiast - Level 3

According to the config webpage status page, my LTE signal is -114 and my 5G signal is -115.

Since 5G was rolled out in my area, I've had decreased speeds.  I suspect my router is trying to connect via 5G instead of LTE.  Upload speeds are now 1M up.  Download varies between 10M to 120M.

Curious if there is a way to force LTE to see if it helps the speeds.

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smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

How recently was 5G deployed? To the best of my knowledge, the Home Internet modems don't provide a way in the web interface to lock the modem to the 4G network or vice versa. Hopefully whether upgrade happened in your area occurred very recently, and VZ still has some fine tuning to do before the bandwidth starts flowing. I know it can take them a few weeks to finish upgrades on towers, during which times speeds are absolutely terrible despite the 5G indicator showing.

When the towers get upgraded to 5G, different antennas often get installed along with different angles and tilts, which means the signal can propagate differently. If you haven't tried already, try to move the modem around a bit to see if there is a possibility of getting a better connection. Windows may also not be the most ideal due to reflections that can occur with some glass materials. So think outside the box a little with the placement, as long as it still provides you with the WiFi and Ethernet connectivity you need. -115dB isn't a strong signal, but it is serviceable. If you find a spot which scores values of -95dB and lower, that's the spot to target.

Also, I may be wrong here. The LTE will be speed limited to about 50Mbps down, 10Mbps up, with a 10Mbps video (content) throttle applied to some destinations. The 5G will not have such limits and instead be limited to 300Mbps down, 20Mbps up.

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smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

How recently was 5G deployed? To the best of my knowledge, the Home Internet modems don't provide a way in the web interface to lock the modem to the 4G network or vice versa. Hopefully whether upgrade happened in your area occurred very recently, and VZ still has some fine tuning to do before the bandwidth starts flowing. I know it can take them a few weeks to finish upgrades on towers, during which times speeds are absolutely terrible despite the 5G indicator showing.

When the towers get upgraded to 5G, different antennas often get installed along with different angles and tilts, which means the signal can propagate differently. If you haven't tried already, try to move the modem around a bit to see if there is a possibility of getting a better connection. Windows may also not be the most ideal due to reflections that can occur with some glass materials. So think outside the box a little with the placement, as long as it still provides you with the WiFi and Ethernet connectivity you need. -115dB isn't a strong signal, but it is serviceable. If you find a spot which scores values of -95dB and lower, that's the spot to target.

Also, I may be wrong here. The LTE will be speed limited to about 50Mbps down, 10Mbps up, with a 10Mbps video (content) throttle applied to some destinations. The 5G will not have such limits and instead be limited to 300Mbps down, 20Mbps up.