4G / 5G - Huawei CPE Pro Vs B618

[WiFiSeeder]

Hi guys,

I'm not sure if that's the right place to post (feel free to move the post if necessary).

Here's my current situation: I will soon be moving to Central London and, unlucky, the fatest broadband available at my new place is around 11 MBps.

5G signal is still very weak, but EE has amazing 4G signal (5 bars inside the house and average speeds of 100+Mbps Down / 50 Mbps Up on my mobile - upload speed may be capped by my mobile).

I guess that despite higher ping and jitter, 4G is currently my best option.

Now I need a great router to go with it. Although I could probably plug a cheap LTE modem to my ASUS, as far as I can tell, such a setup is suboptimal. I'm looking for the fastest / most stable setup possible.

I did a little bit of research and it looks like Huawei currently providers the best LTE + router combo for home users (correct me if I'm wrong). The following routers are their current top tier offers:

B618: It's a CAT11 LTE (600 Mbps Down / 50 MBps Up) + WiFi 5 (ac) Router. Goes for around £200.

5G CPE PRO: It's a 5G ready ( 2.33 GBps Down / 1.25 GBps Up), LTE Compatible ( 1.6 GBps Up / 150 Mbps Up) + WiFi 6 (ax) Router. Currently costing around £400.

Now, the B618 will more than handle EE download speeds, although 50 MBps can potentially cap EE's upload speeds. It's WiFi signal is strong enough for my shoebox sized flat.

The CPE Pro would be all about future proofing my network with 5G capabilities and WiFi 6. It can also potentially boost upload speeds during off-peak hours. 5G may realistically become available soon (my flat is close to Shoreditch that already has 5G coverage) and I already have a WiFi 6 phone. However CPE Pro's price is eye-watering and "future-proofing" with Gen1 equipment may prove to be a bad decision, even more given current uncertainties about Huawei's presence in the UK.

Can anyone recommend one router over the other? Options about alternative equipments are also very welcome.

Thanks

 

[WiFiSeeder]

So, I've pulled the trigger on a Huawei 5G CPE Pro. So far so good. A few points worth mentioning.

* The best speed test that my router managed was 237 Mbps Down / 105 Mbps Up. https://www.speedtest.net/result/a/5472197593 (That was in Glasgow, not in London). Average speeds are around 110 MBps Down / 70 Mbps Up. It occasionally slows down to 60 Mbps Down / 20 MBps Up. Keep in mind that I'm on LTE (4G). 5G speeds are supposed to be much faster.

* Latency is generally around 40 ms. As expected, services like GeForce NOW are a mixed bag with Huawei's router. Having said that, it can stream 4k Videos (YouTube / Netflix / Plex) without issues.

* My connection is also surprisingly stable. I've some Docker containers programmed to shutdown / alert me and try to restart themselves if connection is lost. So far they have managed 18 days of uptime with zero incidents.

* WiFi signal is good enough to cover my entire Flat, although I've noticed some extra latency on the 5Ghz band. My only "WiFi 6" client did manage speeds of 100+ MBps while downloading from my NAS. I couldn't find a way to use the "extra wide" 160 MHz channel, even 80 MHz channels are somewhat unstable where I live. Setting max channel width to 40 MHz and carefully selecting channels did improve latency quite a bit.

* Only two Ethernet ports are available, I bought a switch and connected 8 clients with no issues. The router is able to handle 15+ connected clients without breaking a sweat.

* The Router's Mobile Admin App is crap, plus it asks for so many permissions that I would certainly stay away from it.

* This may be EE specific, but by default only IPv6 addresses where assigned to my devices, breaking a pleura of services. I had to change APN settings, force IPv4 only and use custom DNS services to "fix" the issue.

* By the way, with EE I couldn't really expose internal ports to the Internet, even using IPv6 addresses and fully disabling the router's firewall.

Overall I'm very satisfied with the CPE Pro, it's certainly better than expected and about as good as it gets if you are stuck with LTE / waiting for 5G availability.

 

[coxhaus]

Not going to happen in the US.

 

[Prasanna Ariyanayagam]

I am have very low internet speed on the CPE Pro on EE 4G+. Any tips? How did you set up custom DNS?

 

[WiFiSeeder]

Hi Prasanna, other than optimising router position and maybe investing in external TS9 antennas to boost 4g signal (assuming that you don't have 5 bars), unfortunately there isn't much that can be done. Speed is dependent on signal strength as well as the amount of users connecting to the nearest node.
Custom DNS can be set in the APN modal, just scroll down to the bottom:

 

[WiFiSeeder]

Looks like there are two versions of the 5G CPE Pro:
https://consumer.huawei.com/uk/smart-home/5g-cpe-pro/specs/

H112-372 works in more 5G bands but is limited to WiFi 5
H112-370 is limited to 5G band n78 but it is WiFi 6.

AFAIK, n78 is the only 5G band in use commercially in the UK (at least for now), so, for people in the UK H112-370 is probably a better deal.

 

[Prasanna Ariyanayagam]

Thanks! I have the m2 router too and run tests using their wifi. I switched the 372 apn to ivp4 and the internet stops working on mobile devices. I then use custom dns and that stops the internet too.

The 372 is meant to be a better device than the m2 but it's much worse!

The m2 is faster. Much faster most of the time. I am going to keep trying with the 372 and then I will send it back. Maybe the 370 is better?

 

[WiFiSeeder]

Thanks! I have the m2 router too and run tests using their wifi. I switched the 372 apn to ivp4 and the internet stops working on mobile devices. I then use custom dns and that stops the internet too.

The 372 is meant to be a better device than the m2 but it's much worse!

The m2 is faster. Much faster most of the time. I am going to keep trying with the 372 and then I will send it back. Maybe the 370 is better?

Sorry that I can't help you further with your problem. IPv4 + Custom DNS fixed things for me, including mobile devices (I have a Galaxy Note 10+, a iPhone and a Galaxy S7 Edge at home, all working fine over WiFi). If I'm not mistaken I also had to delete the default APN, create a new one and restart the router after modifying the APN as mobile devices were still being assigned IPv6 address.

I really have no idea about m2, HTC 5G or 372 as I only own a 370. While my experience overall has been positive, and in terms of specs it should be a good router, I really can't say how the 370 is going to perform comparatively to other hardware (well, other than the fact that it is definitely better than thetering with a mobile phone and that it can deliver upload speeds over 50 Mbps unlike EE's default hotspot ).

However, if I were you I would definitely return the 372. A £400 router should get the job done.

If the m2 is working well for you, maybe the best course of action is to wait a little bit more before upgrading, I'm sure that soon better 5G options will hit the market. Otherwise, as long as you can easily obtain and return the 370 it may be worth a try.

 

[Prasanna Ariyanayagam]

I bought the 372 dirt cheap and I am so hoping that it will work. Deleting the apn and creating a new one with custom dns didnt work.

The m2 is blistering fast at up to 236mbps download (depending on time of day) and that speed is on ee 4g+ with only 3 bar signal strength too! Amazing. Ee have recently switched on 5g in my area but my s10 5g or the 372 cant detect it.