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Very slow and unreliable Gigacube service

joewithajay
2: Seeker
2: Seeker

Hi there. After speaking with a Videophone salesperson I purchased a 12 month unlimited data plan for the Gigacube. I knew I was moving to a rural location and I work online holding virtual meetings so a strong and consistent connection is absolutely vital.

 

I was assured on the phone that my location (GL19 9NR) would be covered by 4G and the device would work well for delivering a good speed.

 

Despite moving it to multiple areas of the house, resetting it, removing my SIM card and putting it back, the Gigacube is either crawling slow (0.3meg and lower) or completely non servicing. Weirdly, there are very brief patches in the day where suddenly there will be at 25MG/second connection, but the longest this has lasted is about 45 minutes. 

 

Any help would be urgently appreciated. Out of panic for my job I've already ordered a new internet plan from PlusNet that will at least assure a (very slow but consistent) connection, but I would much rather get the Gigacube working as originally sold to me so I can cancel the other plan and have the speed and reliability I thought I was getting for a fairly hefty price.

 

Many thanks in advance.

3 REPLIES 3

Bravo
4: Newbie

Gigacube is a poor choice if your out in the sticks. Despite my protestations elsewhere, it is a much better 5G device than 4G. If you’ve no hope of 5G then two choices.

 

1. simply send it back in the cool off period and can the contract.

 

2. keep it and hang an external directional cross-polarised LTE antenna outside the house and connect up to the external antenna ports on the GC. External antennas are rubbish for 5G before you ask. 

Thanks for the reply. If I went for an LTE antenna, do you know if I would still get an improvement if I set it up behind my window aimed at the signal, rather than on the roof? I'm renting the house and they're very resistant to anything being installed externally.

Unfortunately there is as much a black art as science to getting a good radio connection, with local conditions being so variable - distance to mast, line of site, heights, obstructions etc etc.

 

I could write chapter and verse, but the only way you will know for certain is to try it out.

 

The general perceived wisdom with these things is to use an omni-directional style antenna in a “dense” (from the perspective of many nearby masts) environment, allowing the router to select the strongest mast signal. In the sticks, where mast distance is generally further away and fewer, you are (in my opinion) better of researching the precise mast location (there are many resources for doing this) and choosing to go for a “directional” higher gain antenna that is aimed at said mast.

 

Caveats: always maintain the very minimum coax length from antenna to router to minimise losses. Ensure the antenna is cross-polarised for 4G reception.