Slow Optus 4G Wireless Broadband

Lmasta187 on 29/04/2020 - 12:40
Last edited 29/04/2020 - 13:59 by 1 other user

I have optus wireless 4g broadband at the moment (it was the only option available when we moved house).
My speeds have dropped to an unusable level (0.5mps during peak hours). I have contacted Optus who have said there is a faulty tower which could be the cause, but this has been going on since the lockdown and I had already checked the network status on optus and there were no faults.

Is anyone else experiencing the same issue?

Also, NBN will be available in July, should I switch to NBN? Unfortunately, 5g is not available.

Thanks.

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Comments

  • WoodYouLikeSomeCash on 29/04/2020 - 13:08
    +5

    Issue is most likely caused by increased traffic to the network since more people are working from home now.

    • masta187 on 29/04/2020 - 13:28
      +1

      this is what i was thinking. thank you.

    • Mechz on 29/04/2020 - 13:49

      Except most people have NBN or ADSL at home so would be using wifi from those connections.

      • WoodYouLikeSomeCash on 29/04/2020 - 14:20
        +1

        But the NBN/ADSL availability may be limited in OP’s area thus more traffic on the network.

  • BLAIL on 29/04/2020 - 13:08
    +1

    I've got a similar problem, slow speeds but on off peak hours it's fast. NBN arrives in June, better switch to NBN when it arrives.
    The Telstra Mobile Broadband Plans $75/month now has 200GB data. Might be worth switching if on a Month to month plan with Optus.

    • masta187 on 29/04/2020 - 13:29

      yea I have been hot spotting to at night to compensate. i think your right, i will switch over to NBN when it arrives (getting FTTC).
      can't switch to telstra as I am on a 2 year contract, but thank you for your suggestion.

      • BLAIL on 29/04/2020 - 13:36

        Yeah the NBN website says my area is also getting FTTC. I have over a year left with Optus, but I'll cancel it
        if NBN works fine.

      • Twix on 29/04/2020 - 16:09

        FTTC can do close to 100Mbps download assuming you pay for that speed plan.

  • Gunther on 29/04/2020 - 13:18

    Speedtest the Optus SIM card in another device (ie mobile phone) to ensure its not the wireless router with issues.

    • masta187 on 29/04/2020 - 13:30

      Optus says the SIM can't be taken out. I think it is congestion, because my iphone xs max also slows down significantly at night.

  • hm on 29/04/2020 - 13:51
    +2

    Its Optus, nuff said

  • ESEMCE on 29/04/2020 - 14:05
    +1

    No issues noticed for me.
    Still getting 70-100mbps off peak and around 30mbps during peak just as always.

    Have you tried relocating your modem?
    Could be a new construction or even a tree that has grown to block your signal?
    Or congestion on the main tower you connect to but not so bad on an alternate.

    Assuming you're using a Huawei modem, try using LTE Inspecteur from your PC, or huaCtrl from your Android (dunno if there's an iOS option) to lock down the bands the modem is connecting to.
    Band 40 (2300 TDD) should see your fastest speeds provided you have decent signal on that band.
    Band 27 (700 FDD) should see the best overall signal strength.

    • CheapieChippie on 29/04/2020 - 14:21

      How does the band thing work in terms of bandwidth?

      I thought it is best to keep them all on as it will spread the bandwidth across the towers? Like if you set it to LTE, shouldn't it use all the LTE bands?

      • ESEMCE on 29/04/2020 - 15:37

        Depends on your modem and your tower.
        Band 40 has the most bandwidth available so if you can force that, with decent signal, it may be faster than something like Band 28 which is more likely to have a stronger signal strength, but has far lower bandwidth.

        For example my modem (Huawei 8156) can carrier aggregate on Band 40 only. As a result, I force my modem to Band 40 for speeds up to 100mbps. If I let it auto-select the strongest signal (band 28) I get 20mbps at best.
        Carrier aggregation uses multiple channels to transmit data instead of only 1 channel, essentially a "fatter pipe".

    • masta187 on 29/04/2020 - 20:51

      i locked it 2300 hz, no difference unfortunately. ive done factory reset etc.

    • Geoff-bargain on 30/04/2020 - 13:39

      I had Optus home 4g a while ago and it was terrible until i tweaked it with this program

  • barge-in hunter on 29/04/2020 - 14:54

    Yeah, that's a shame. Pre NBN, I had this but it was reasonably fast.

    I got a 30% bump in speed (peaking at ~120mbps)by adding an external 4g antenna… it still occassionally dropped as low as 30ish during peak times.

    Tried something like this?
    http://antennashop.com.au/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&vi…

    • okdan on 29/04/2020 - 15:35

      This looks like a good idea. How does it work? Do you just plug the device into the appropriate plug inside your property and it just immediately boosts the signal? Is that how it all works? I'm really curious as I've been looking at buying something to boost my own signal.

      • barge-in hunter on 29/04/2020 - 16:01

        Yeah, if you have the same Optus router (Huawei) as me, there's a cover that comes off the back to expose the sockets. Plug and play…

        You might need to play with position/direction of the antenna for the best tower near you.

        I actually still have mine in the cupboard

        • masta187 on 30/04/2020 - 09:40

          i have the B525. thanks i will look into this.

    • ESEMCE on 29/04/2020 - 15:38

      I have an external antenna too.

  • loke on 29/04/2020 - 16:44

    I get about ~300mbits on 4G Optus via speedtest.net this is with the huawei 4g modem and testing wifi to phone, waiting for 5g however.

    I'll try some speed tests through the arvo/early evening during peak times.

    Is it a possibility of distance from the router / modem too?

  • loke on 29/04/2020 - 18:12

    I've run 2 wifi tests so far and, (my computer is bottlenecked by a 6 or 7 year old cheap tplink wifi card and I get 97.4 mbits ~5:45pm, 138.58mbits 6:12pm):

    281mbits (5:47pm)

    258mbits (6:09pm)

    tests performed maybe ~4-5m away with a wall/bookshelf partially in the way

    • loke on 29/04/2020 - 20:13

      228mbits down; upload 30.5mbits 8:12pm; mobile

      140.94mbit down 29.47mbit 8:10pm; PC

      • masta187 on 29/04/2020 - 20:50

        wowez that is amazing speeds. better than NBN.

  • AndyC1 on 29/04/2020 - 19:38

    What is the modem. Check the tower it is connected to. If it's 19405105 then you need to power cycle and/or disconnect and or change APN's until you get another tower.
    Do speed tests when you connect to different towers to see if it's the tower. Spent 4 hrs getting Optopus support to admit that there was a download speed issue with the tower and found that the problem has been ther for the last three weeks (was living with it and finally got the S*&&ts as trying to get support is a night mare with Optus, even level 2 are not IMHO competent to be level 2 support).
    You can put the SIM in a "compatible" device, bu the other way of putting you phone SIM if it's an optus or re-seller SIM in the modem will work.
    Another option which I did today was pickup a $40 Optus Mobile sim starter pack for $15 at Woolies (it comes with 45Gb for the first three recharges).

    BUT be careful when swapping SIMS as I stuffed the Optus Wireless SIM tonight when testing the various SIMS in an AC800S and a old E5577 (Only the mobile SIMS work in it, NOT the wireless even though it is 4G!!!! So the wireless SIM uses a band for something that some of the modems do not support.

    You may want to look at telnetting into the modem to block bands if you figure out what the problem is. Info on this may be on whirlpool or yescrowd.optus.com.au

    • masta187 on 29/04/2020 - 20:50

      i have the huawei B525. ok will try that

      • AndyC1 on 12/05/2020 - 23:55

        I finally had it with Optus support or should that be script kiddies. The mobile broadband tech support did not even know what telnet was…..

        I bought a $40 Belong Starter Pack that was on special for $20 as it came with 40GB (also a special) and put it in the AC800S and I got a download speeds of between 40Mbps and 90Mbps, which is far greater than I ever got with optus.

        I put the Optus Sim in my old Huawei E5577 and it has been stable at about 3Mbps today when the AC800S slows down to 10 to 20K after a while on the bad tower.

        See if you can Telnet into the B525 and start blocking bands and see how you go.

        With Optus make sure you get a support ticket raised and always ask to speak to a level 2 person, even though they will still not be very good.
        After you get a support ticket at some stage make a formal complaint that the issue is still occurring and that Optus has not fixed it since you first contacted them on a particular date.

        Also ask point blank if anyone has had any issues with the cell you have the problem with and if they do not answer yes or no ask for this to be escalated for an answer.

        Lastly check out Wollies and Coles for SIM specials that use the Telstra network and purchase one for testing if you get to this stage. I tried vodafone and got 4 to 10 mbps, which was IMHO not very good.

  • masta187 on 29/04/2020 - 20:49

    wowez thank you for everyone for your advice. i will try and implement the recommendations.

  • trustnoone on 29/04/2020 - 21:46

    For me my speed is typically pretty alright (30mbps) but then drops to 16mbps like after a day, I have no idea why this is but if I reset my modemI'm back to 30mbps. I think part of the issue is I'm using an old vivid modem, so I think the firmware doesn't allow the 2300 range available.

    • ESEMCE on 30/04/2020 - 08:04
      +1

      The Vivid Modems were Cat 4 only, so 30mbps is topping out the max capability.
      If you're happy to go back on contract, the new B818 modem is a beast… I lust over it! (almost)

  • [Deactivated] on 30/04/2020 - 08:37

    My solution to this issue is to restart the modem daily. I use a plug in timer for convenience. This ensures I get a minimum download speed of 50mbps. Frequently tests at 100mbps+.

    • masta187 on 30/04/2020 - 09:39

      i think i shoudl do this also

  • masta187 on 30/04/2020 - 09:39

    I chatted to optus again online, they recommended another factory reset (i had already done), and the speeds actually went back to normal (20's in peak for me), i have locked the modem to 2300 mhz.

    Thanks everyone once again

    • MontyMacaw on 30/04/2020 - 14:36

      They are reading from a script. You need to escalate the issue AND get a credit for your troubles.

  • kale chips suck on 30/04/2020 - 11:01

    I use a circles.life 100Gb SIM that uses the Optus network for my data. I also have a personal SIM with catch connect, who coincidentally also use the Optus network.

    I have both SIMs in my phone and tether as needed.

    Twice now both SIMs have gone from 4 bars strength to 0 bars overnight. As in, literally get up in the morning and effectively no connectivity. In the first case it took some blunt emails to get Optus to eventually acknowledge that they would be doing some work on the tower I connect to. In the future. Which was interesting because I had already installed external antennas 4 meters up a tree, connected to an Optus 4g modem and carefully aligned to hit the tower whilst they claimed it was my device. The modem, with dual high gain yagi antennas, got one out of 5 bars. I went for a drive to physically check the tower - and got photos of the workmen who were clambering all over it and had cable disconnected, etc.

    It took 11+ days to fix. Optus didn't give a shit. I doubt they even knew there were people already on the tower and that it was already messed up.

    I bought a Kogan $4.95/40gb SIM to tide me over, hoping it would resolve itself. It did. When the Kogan card ran out I put the circles.life back in and now I'm getting around 25-30mbit regularly again.

    I'm definitely affected by congestion though as my speed can jump a lot when most people are asleep. But when it's impacting on actual signal strength, ie signal bars, I'd be inclined to think when the change is very fast that it is a network issue and not congestion.

  • OzHunterNSW on 30/04/2020 - 13:34

    You have your own phone's hot spot capabilities… use that

  • MontyMacaw on 30/04/2020 - 14:43

    Mobile in general,
    including internet is always a local problem if there are too many users in one place. Ever tried to use your phone at big events? Sometimes it’s just not available because the infrastructure is not there for large numbers of users at the same time. The current shift in where people are at certain times of the day will not be factored into the infrastructure algorithms. That is why Netflix has dropped the quality of some of its streaming in some places. But don’t accept this as the reason unless other people around are having the same problem. It’s just another “get rid of you” answer on call centre’s scripts. They have scripts with the expectation that you are a moron.

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