In Keenetic Hero 4G+ (KN-2311), Skipper 4G (KN-2910), Runner 4G (KN-2211) and previous generation models Hero 4G (KN-2310) and Runner 4G (KN-2210), you can select or disable certain frequency bands for 3G UMTS-FDD, 4G LTE-FDD and 4G LTE-TDD.
Each band (frequency range or, for short, frequency) can be enabled or disabled. From the pool of enabled frequencies, the router will automatically select the best frequency at a given time to connect. Depending on changes in received signal strength, ambient noise and base station load, the router can automatically switch to a different frequency.
In the web interface, go to the 'Mobile' page and click 'Show frequency band selector' under 'Connection Settings'.
In the list of bands that appears, tick the desired ones.
Table of frequency bands:
|
Band |
Duplex mode |
Uplink (MHz) |
Downlink (MHz) |
|
1 |
FDD |
1920 – 1980 |
2110 – 2170 |
|
3 |
FDD |
1710 – 1785 |
1805 – 1880 |
|
7 |
FDD |
2500 – 2570 |
2620 – 2690 |
|
8 |
FDD |
880 – 915 |
925 – 960 |
|
20 |
FDD |
832 – 862 |
791 – 821 |
|
38 |
TDD |
2570 – 2620 |
|
|
39 |
TDD |
1880 – 1920 |
|
|
40 |
TDD |
2300 – 2400 |
|
|
41 |
TDD |
2496 – 2690 |
|
FDD and TDD are abbreviations for channel separation methods. FDD (Frequency-Division Duplex) - uses frequency division of channels, and TDD (Time-Division Duplex ) - uses time division of channels. More information at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTE_(telecommunication).
For a complete table of all LTE frequency bands, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTE_frequency_bands.
TIP: Help: the higher the frequency, the higher the data rate but the lower the signal transmission range.
The frequency selection mechanism gives the possibility to connect to another sector of a base station.
Examples of when this might be useful:
- When the router is on the border of two sectors and the connection is constantly switching from one sector to another (from one frequency to another). There is no Internet access at the time of reconnection.
- The connection can be with excellent signal strength, but the channel width (e.g. 5 MHz) may be narrow on a given frequency. Forcing a connection on another frequency to a base station with a worse signal strength but a wider channel (e.g. 20 MHz) may result in higher data rates.
- Base stations can be overloaded with traffic and the number of subscribers connected, and connecting to a more distant base station on a different frequency with a worse signal can eventually give a speed increase. It is also worth paying attention separately to both the receive speed and the transmit speed.
Note:
In the command-line interface (CLI) of the router, there is a command to scan neighbouring base stations, and by turning the antenna, you can try to connect to them.
The show interface cells command will show a list of mobile network base stations.
The syntax of the command is:
(show)> interface <name> cells
<name> is the full interface name or alias; the list of available interfaces can be seen with the interface [Tab] command. For instance, the built-in 4G/3G modem in Hero 4G (KN-2310) and Runner 4G (KN-2210) models has the default interface name UsbQmi0.
An example output of the command:
(show)> interface UsbQmi0 cells
cells:
phy-id: 6f
rssi: -64
cells:
phy-id: 66
rssi: -76
TIP: Note: For the Hero 4G+ (KN-2311) model, the interface UsbQmi0 cells command does not work and interface UsbLte0 tty send AT+QENG="neighbourcell" OK 8 should be used instead.