Questions about Noikia Fastmile 5G Gateway 12: Radio Signal Strength

[Ou81]

I moved into a new apartment in downtown Ottawa (800 metres south-west from Parliament Hill) in early December. I had arranged for a self-install of the basic Rogers Xfinity Internet service as the building is pre-wired for Rogers. Unfortunately, the hardware got stuck in limbo with Purolator durning the postal strike so I had to use my iPhone's hotspot feature for internet access (web, email and TV streaming). This worked as well as could be expected, but I was worried about running out of data after about a week, as I only have 100 GB / month on my Rogers phone plan. 

When I got down to 20 GB of data remaining, I panicked and called a local Rogers retail outlet asking them if they could suggest a temporary solution. They suggested I come in and pick up a Noikia Fastmile 5G Gateway 12. $40 / month with 500GB of data (if I go over I'm throttled to 10Mbps down so it's essentially unlimited) and no contract. Two hours later I had it up and running in the apartment. I have been consistently getting 100-110 Mbps down and 10-10.7 Mbps up according to the Rogers basic internet speed test and which I am very happy with.

The gateway has an admin control panel accessible at 192.168.1.1 and provides a lot of useful information. I have the gateway pluged into a D-Link Gigabit switch with a number of devices, including my main work computer, HP Laserjet, NAS, and VOIP phone plugged into it. I also have numerous devices connected to it via WiFi.

I would like to understand the numbers I am seeing in the "Radio access" section of the admin control panel. It's splt into two sections; 5G and 4G. Specifically I'd like to understand if higher or lower values represents "better" performance.

I have attached screen shots of the 5G and 4G "Radio access" sections below but will enter the values here just in case the attachments are not embedded into the messsage and appear as links (I have never attached an image to a post so don't know what to expect).

Radio Access - 5G:

- Connected, 4 out of 5 bars

- RSRP: -83 dBm

- SNR: 1dB

- RSRQ: 13 dB

Radio Access - 4G:

- Connected, 4 out of 5 bars

- RSRP: -84 dBm

- SNR: 0 dB

- RSRQ: -15 dB

- RSSI: -51dBm

The Rogers basic internet speed tests are pretty consistent and show:

- Ping: 18-19 ms

- Jitter: 6-12 ms

- Download: 104.6 - 107.1 Mbps

- Upload: 10.1 - 10.7 Mbps

I ran the speed tests this morning while trying slightly different positions of the gateway which is on a small desk with wheels and 1 - 3 feet from the window. I tried positions that varied by 2 feet left to right and 18 inches up and down. The best jitter reading (6ms) was when it was elevated about 18 inches above the desk. Elevating it did not seem to affect the ping, download and upload speeds significantly. I believe I have a direct line of sight to the nearest Rogers antenna, which a tech support person suggested to me earlier today, was likely located near Laurier and Kent, about 200 metres from my window. There's another tower at Laurier and Bay which is behind me (and all of the concrete and apartments across the hall) and about 200 metres away.

I was hoping that someone might be able to explain what the radio access numbers mean and if higher or lower values indicate "better" performance.

Thanks in advance!

**Labels Updated**

[RogersMaude]

Good day @Ou81,

Thank you for posting to the Rogers Community! We appreciate you reaching out with regards to your Nokia FastMile connection.

It appears that you are connected to 4G and 5G. Have you tried rebooting the Nokia Fastmile 5G Gateway 3.2?

You may locate the reset button on the bottom of the Gateway next to the Nano SIM tray.

1. Press the button for less than 5 seconds.
2. The unit will reboot and all current configured settings will be preserved.

If you have difficulties connecting, you can verify the LED signal test.

LED signal test results and actions:

• If the 5G LED is lit and all three-signal strength LEDs are lit, it means you have a good 5G connection.
• If the 5G LED isn't lit but all three signal strength LEDs are lit, it means you have a good 4G/LTE connection.
• IF the 5G LED is lit with any other pattern, you'll need to reposition the unit for a better connection.

Repositioning the Gateway

1. Power off the Nokia FastMIle 5G Gateway and disconnect it from the electrical outlet.
2. Move the gateway to a different location.
3. Connect the gateway to an electrical outlet at the new location and power it on.
4. Check the LEDs as described in the LED signal test results, and follow the instructions indicated.

You may need to repeat the steps in this procedure several times before finding the final location for the gateway.

Let us know if you've performed additional troubleshooting, uncovered other findings or if you have any questions!

RogersMaude

[Ou81]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm not having problems with the device. I was just looking for more information so I could understand the numbers being reported in relation to the radio signals.

The device is a Noikia Fastmile 5G Gateway 12 and not a Noikia Fastmile 5G Gateway 3.x. I believe that it is the latest version of the gateway offered by Rogers (here in Ontario) as of December 2024.

[RogersMaude · Accepted solution]

Hello again @Ou81,

Thanks for your reply!

RSRP stands for Reference Signal Received Power. It's a measurement of the power of a cell tower's signal and is used to determine which cell tower a device connects to. Its values are always negative, and Higher RSRP values indicate stronger signals.

The factors that affect RSRP are the distance from cell tower (closer to a cell tower, stronger the RSRP) and obstructions (physical obstructions like buildings, trees, and hills can weaken the RSRP).

RSSI stands for Received Signal Strength Indicator and is a measurement of how well a device can receive signals. A higher RSSI value indicates a stronger signal, while a lower value indicates a weaker signal.

Environmental factors can affect RSSI signal strength, including:

• Physical obstructions: Walls, floors, and furniture can absorb or reflect signals.
• Materials: Metal, concrete, and thick wood can disrupt signal flow.
• Electronic devices: Microwaves and cordless phones can emit frequencies that interfere with Wi-Fi signals.
• Large bodies of water: Fish tanks and other large bodies of water can absorb signals.
• Weather conditions: Rain or fog can impact outdoor wireless signals.

Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) measures the quality of a radio access signal and is calculated by dividing the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) by the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI).

RSRQ values range from -19.5 dB (poor quality) to -3 dB (excellent quality) and is often used in conjunction with RSRP to assess the overall quality of a connection. To improve RSRQ, reduce sources of interference, such as nearby electronic devices or other radio signals and optimize the antenna's position to minimize multi-path interference

SNR stands for signal-to-noise ratio. It's a ratio that measures how much signal there is compared to how much noise there is.

To assess these measurements you can move your Nokia Fastmile 5G Gateway 12 to a different location to see how it impacts the radio access signals.

However, if you're not experiencing any technical issues, I would not necessarily recommend that you tamper with your current set up.

Hope this helps!

RogersMaude

[Ou81]

Thanks!