It sounds like the Draytek is just using the 3/4G connection as a failover for when the ADSL service is not available.

So, it'll only connect using that after it's attempted to connect on the ADSL service first (which would explain why it appears to take 20 seconds or so to connect, but once it's connected, it appears fine).

In the Draytek I assume you've set the WAN connection for the mobile service on the router. I would make sure that the other WAN interfaces are disabled as well.

Hello, dronkula,
Thanks for your interest. I have made sure I have configured the router such that ADSL (WAN 1) is disabled and USB/4G is enabled and set to 'always on'. I have also physically disconnected the adsl line. I also have tried making the USB/4G the 'back-up' and disabling/disconnecting the ADSL (WAN 1) to trigger 'backup'. No change in the outcome. It's as though there is some sort of throttling after a number of page hits or a specific time. I have cleared my browser history and tried obscure URL's. What's VERY interesting is that tonight I have tried the tests using a Voda 4G sim in the Draytek and it's consistently fast. Also remember that when the EE sim is in my MacBook, this situation of slow-down does not occur. I still think it's a router config issue unless EE can detect something they don't allow?

Are you using the same APN details for the Mac and your router?

I've been forced to use EE as a temporary replacement for fixed broadband, waiting for a fixed line installation that will accept fibre (Openreach records show the wrong cabinet, so can't get fibre until they are corrected).

I have the following setup:
- EE 4G PAYG Mobile Broadband SIM
- Huawei E5372 MiFi router, Cat4 LTE device
- External Antenna
- TP-Link WDR3600 router, flashed with "ROOter" variant of OpenWRT

The ROOter firmware connects with the E5372 over USB, giving WWAN access to all of our devices connecting over the LAN & WLAN.

It also gives access to better signal strength data - the E5372 shows 5 bars, while the signal strength reported over USB is still only around 60-65%. With the better stats, I found a much better location for the antenna giving 90% signal strength.

However, I find EE 4G sloooowwwwww.

I can certainly see speed spikes as high as 40/8 (40Mbps down, 8Mbps up), but the best tests tend to average out around 30/5. During daytime, the speeds become more like 15/2. Then anytime after 3PM, the cell can easily be congested - particularly upstream - giving results more like 5/0.01. At this point, all manner of things fail, but especially DNS and VoIP calls.

Sometimes the system acts like the 4G part is working, but EE has lost connectivity to the internet. At other times, the 4G cell disappears, and you revert to 3G ... until you notice, and try to manually switch back again. One memorable occasion, EE was unusable all day long.

I have found it to be acceptable for 90% of the day, and unreliable for 10%. I can't wait to get a fixed line back.

The one problem I don't have is a long delay before speed tests run, or before a page returns to a browser: Page response would be immediate; speedtests would start slow for at most a couple of seconds (slow, but not zero) before ramping to full speed (though I use the word "full" advisedly; I don't ever see anything I'd consider decent 4G here)

Perhaps the difference is that I am using a "proper" mobile broadband SIM, whereas the "Dan & Phil" SIM is really meant for use in a mobile phone. Perhaps it is set to use a different APN.

Network providers can detect if a sim is in a phone or modem, but if it was the case you would still have the lag on the MacBook.

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

Perhaps the difference is that I am using a "proper" mobile broadband SIM, whereas the "Dan & Phil" SIM is really meant for use in a mobile phone. Perhaps it is set to use a different APN.

Both EE's data and phone SIMs use the same APN, simply the word: everywhere even works on older T-Mobile and Orange plans.

However that doesn't mean they can't do something different with the traffic from a phone or data SIM. But I've not seen a difference, although I've just closed my data SIM account.

Hello, Wombat, thanks for replying. You raise some interesting points in particular when you say that the system acts as if part of 4G is working without connectivity to the internet. .
I have figured out that the 'delay' when using the EE Sim in the dongle plugged into the router is because there is no connection to the internet. I discovered this when testing with Spotify. I clicked to play and saw a 'no connection' message then it kicked in and streamed perfectly. As I have said in previous posts, with a Voda SIM, this does not happen, and when the EE Sim is in my MacBook, it doesn't happen either, so I'm convinced it's the router when paired with the EE Sim. I don't think the EE network can detect device type beyond the dongle, and if it's a data Sim only, it would only be in a dongle/mifi. I might try a similar setup to you using MacBook + dongle to feed the router! As regards performance, when I have been playing with the EE Sim, I have never seen speed below 23mb and have achieved 64mb, but I need to test it over aa period of time before any next steps. Thanks again for your interest.

Hi, Kev,
Yes I am:
APN = everywhere
Username: tried eesecure, ee secure or null
Password: secure or null

Searched for alternatives but these seem to be the ones.

Thanks for getting back on this!

Hi,

The EE dongle will not 'see' anything further the router it's plugged in to.
Does the router support any AT commands?
The 4G stack does have a time out for data sessions but if you are in a service area (coverage) the LTE network will push a PDP context to your device and provide a IP address. The data session is now in-place and you should not have any delay.

Hi, Paul, yes the router supports AT commands.......what do I need to do?