Mobiles Internet unstable (tethering)

    • Hello everyone,

    I would like to hear your experiences with the mobile Internet from Swisscom.

    This is if you do NOT use it with the device in which the SIM card is located, but rather via tethering or mobile router on other WLAN clients.

    I’m currently testing this constellation and so far I’m very disappointed with the instability of the data connection. As a rule, it works more poorly than well. With a bit of luck, you can surf for half an hour at a reasonable speed (of course depending on the subscription you have). Most of the time, DNS queries and page loading take many seconds to several minutes. Often the WLAN client (notebook, Android device) even aborts after a timeout, with the message that the connection cannot be established because it is taking too long. The notebook then often reports for a while that it is not connected to the Internet, even though that should be the case.

    Connections via VPN / remote desktop are actually not possible.

    What I find particularly interesting is the fact that the connection on the device in which the SIM card is inserted usually runs smoothly. The problems on the WLAN clients only begin when they are released or “shared” with other devices.

    So that I can rule out a device or subscription problem, I tested the following subscriptions and devices:

    Natel Business data L (tethering via Nexus 6)

    Natel infinity M (tethering via Nexus 5x)

    Natel Data M (via mobile router Huawei E5377)

    The result in all cases was an equally unstable and therefore practically unusable data connection.

    The reception was actually more than sufficient in all cases with at least 2 (out of 4) bars in the LTE range. And the data connection works fine as long as you use it on your smartphone without tethering.

    Does anyone use such a constellation and are satisfied with the data connection?

    Or can someone tell me where/how I can fix this problem? Maybe @Anonymous? (If not, thanks for reading anyway.)

    Thanks in advance.

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    • @spunkee wrote:

      As a rule, it works more poorly than well. With a bit of luck, you can surf for half an hour at a reasonable speed (of course depending on the subscription you have). Most of the time, DNS queries and page loading take many seconds to several minutes. Often the WLAN client (notebook, Android device) even aborts after a timeout, with the message that the connection cannot be established because it is taking too long.

      Completely normal behavior when using tethering on (current) Android devices.

      Tethering via WLAN in the 2.4 GHz frequency range should be avoided if possible, as in Swiss residential areas all WLAN channels in the 2.4 GHz frequency range are disturbed by neighboring WLAN access points. The same applies to use in railway carriages, where neighboring smartphones emit a WLAN signal in the 2.4 GHz frequency range.

      But tethering via USB (RNDIS) with Android devices also works poorly because of numerous software errors in the Android operating system. For business purposes, I use the UMTS card built into my laptop when I’m on the go. USB tethering with the LTE-capable Android smartphone would offer faster data transfer rates and shorter access times, but is unusable in practice due to the unstable data connection! That’s why I use the slower but more stable UMTS card when I’m on the go.

      For stationary use, I can recommend using a “semi-professional” LTE router from LANCOM. With a LANCOM 1781-4G I was able to achieve a stable LTE connection with continuous data transfer rates > 10 MBit/s on the Bern-Zurich railway line (exception: new Mattstetten-Rothrist line => travel speed > 160 km/h). For the measurements, a laptop was connected to the LTE router via Gigabit Ethernet.

      The LANCOM 1781-4G uses the LTE card AirPrime MC7710 from the manufacturer Sierra Wireless, which was “the reference card” in the LTE area for a long time.

      Important: The LTE router must be used with an external antenna (antenna mounted outside the building envelope). The latest firmware must be installed on the LTE/UMTS card.

    I actually only have good experiences. I use VPN and remote applications regularly. The only thing that is a bit annoying is the rather long response time, usually around 35ms. With Salt I get well under 20ms with the same devices.

    I suspect it’s the devices that are causing the problems for you and not the SC network.

    I mostly use a Lumia 950 and a Surface Pro 4. But also a few other devices.

    Show original language (German)

    Do I understand correctly that your WLAN client collapses due to the cellular connection?

    If you always access different tethering devices with the same device, the problem could also be with this device.

    If I were you, I would play around with the WLAN config. Alternatively, you can also check whether the Huawei shows the same behavior via USB3.

    Good luck

    Show original language (German)

    @Googlook

    Thanks, that gives me motivation to experiment a little more.

    Personally, I don’t use Microsoft or Apple, so I don’t have any quick devices to test, but let’s see what else I can find.

    However, my test devices so far are not cheap things but rather towards the high end.

    @Feuerlöschknecht

    I don’t think it’s the client itself that’s breaking down, just the data connection between the WLAN client and the WAN. I can’t yet determine whether this is the case on the (W)LAN or WAN side. The only fact is that the network connection is extremely slow.

    I have now tested this with 3 Android devices (all Android 6) and 2 notebooks (both Win10, one of which already had problems with Win7, but has now also been updated to Win10), so I have ruled out a client problem.

    I can’t do much with the WLAN settings, at least when it comes to tethering (WPA2-PSK or no security and the frequency band), but I still have to look at it in detail on the mobile router.

    I’ll be doing some more testing with Linux/Ubuntu in the next few days, but I would be very surprised if it were any different.

    In a “normal” network, i.e. if the Anschluss is via xDSL or cable and my devices are connected to the WLAN, everything works great, of course.

    Show original language (German)

    You might have success with Linux Ubuntu.
    My Eltern uses such a solution at the campsite and it works to my complete satisfaction.

    Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge with Swisscom Infinity 2.0 M
    Acer laptop with Ubuntu 12.04

    Even TV Air works perfectly. The laptop is connected to the Toshiba television using a DVI-HDMI cable. And the image quality is absolutely fine.

    But I had to try 3 laptops until it worked without any problems.

    Wish you much success.

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    Hello @@spunkee

    I use tethering on the go every now and then with an Android cell phone to connect my laptop to the Internet. Works OK so far.

    In general, cell phones are certainly not built for this purpose. Small design = little space for antennas and powerful WLAN electronics.

    I assume that a cell phone does not have a separate antenna for receiving the mobile signal and then sending it out as WLAN for the connected computer, tablet, laptop, etc.

    It certainly also depends on the other WLAN transmitters currently in the area, which may only transmit on the same channel and thus disrupt the WLAN connection. I can’t change the tethering WiFi channel on my Android phone either.

    All of the above can cause such connections to be unstable. It can work well, but it doesn’t have to. Depending on what devices are used.

    In my opinion, the small hotspots like your E5377 are better. These were built for this purpose. But these are also very small. So space problems like above.

    You can make various settings for the hotspot and also change the WiFi channel.

    We took such a hotspot with us during our last vacation so that everyone could connect to the Internet with their cell phones, even outside of the hotel.

    This has worked well so far.

    Greetings compa

    Show original language (German)

    @spunkee wrote:

    As a rule, it works more poorly than well. With a bit of luck, you can surf for half an hour at a reasonable speed (of course depending on the subscription you have). Most of the time, DNS queries and page loading take many seconds to several minutes. Often the WLAN client (notebook, Android device) even aborts after a timeout, with the message that the connection cannot be established because it is taking too long.

    Completely normal behavior when using tethering on (current) Android devices.

    Tethering via WLAN in the 2.4 GHz frequency range should be avoided if possible, as in Swiss residential areas all WLAN channels in the 2.4 GHz frequency range are disturbed by neighboring WLAN access points. The same applies to use in railway carriages, where neighboring smartphones emit a WLAN signal in the 2.4 GHz frequency range.

    But tethering via USB (RNDIS) with Android devices also works poorly because of numerous software errors in the Android operating system. For business purposes, I use the UMTS card built into my laptop when I’m on the go. USB tethering with the LTE-capable Android smartphone would offer faster data transfer rates and shorter access times, but is unusable in practice due to the unstable data connection! That’s why I use the slower but more stable UMTS card when I’m on the go.

    For stationary use, I can recommend using a “semi-professional” LTE router from LANCOM. With a LANCOM 1781-4G I was able to achieve a stable LTE connection with continuous data transfer rates > 10 MBit/s on the Bern-Zurich railway line (exception: new Mattstetten-Rothrist line => travel speed > 160 km/h). For the measurements, a laptop was connected to the LTE router via Gigabit Ethernet.

    The LANCOM 1781-4G uses the LTE card AirPrime MC7710 from the manufacturer Sierra Wireless, which was “the reference card” in the LTE area for a long time.

    Important: The LTE router must be used with an external antenna (antenna mounted outside the building envelope). The latest firmware must be installed on the LTE/UMTS card.

    Show original language (German)

    @compa wrote:

    Hello @@spunkee

    I assume that a cell phone does not have a separate antenna for receiving the mobile signal and then sending it out as WLAN for the connected computer, tablet, laptop, etc.

    Smartphones usually have at least 2 antennas for the cellular signal (800 - 2600 MHz => LTE MIMO) and only one antenna for WLAN (2.4 GHz, possibly 5 GHz => MISO/SIMO). See also:

    https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIMO_%28Nachrichtentechnik%29

    [http://ewh.ieee.org/r8/norway/ap-mtt/files/Vazquez\_small%20antennas.pdf](http://ewh.ieee.org/r8/norway/ap-mtt/files/ Vazquez_small%20antennas.pdf)

    Show original language (German)
    16 days later

    Thank you all for your help.

    I think problems with the antenna/reception are unlikely. According to the displays, this was never bad, which means that at least 50% reception was always displayed.

    In my opinion, the answer from @GrandDixence is most accurate. Android and tethering are more bad than good.

    Interestingly, it seems as if Linux (Ubuntu) has less trouble with this (okay, Android is Linux too, but that doesn’t mean anything). However, it wasn’t without problems either.

    The primary reason for my attempts was that someone did NOT want stationary internet because they live in several properties and would like to be able to surf anywhere, currently with just one notebook.

    The easiest thing for me to do was to get a mobile WiFi router like the Huawei E5377 mentioned at the beginning.

    This means you would be prepared for the future if another device (smartphone, tablet, another notebook) were added. That was also the reason why I preferred the mobile WiFi modem over the mobile USB stick.

    A mistake, as has now been shown. I know that the USB sticks for around 150.00 work reliably. To date, I have found mobile WiFi modems in this price segment to be expensive electronic waste.

    Show original language (German)
    5 months later

    Just for information, in case someone is faced with the same problem: I have now also tested a Huawei E5770s-320. This mobile router also offers an RJ45-Anschluss for a network cable. After a few gigabytes of test data, I can say that the problem actually lies in the WLAN of the respective mobile router. The WLAN connection with this device was also extremely unstable and not really usable. However, if you are connected to the mobile router via cable, then everything works as desired. No inexplicable interruptions during downloads and video streams run smoothly. I was also able to take full advantage of the subscription in terms of speed. Greetings, spunkee

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