MR3420, MR3020 etc support for 4G modems and slow 4G speed?

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MR3420, MR3020 etc support for 4G modems and slow 4G speed?

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
MR3420, MR3020 etc support for 4G modems and slow 4G speed?
MR3420, MR3020 etc support for 4G modems and slow 4G speed?
2013-02-09 14:38:56
Region : Australia

Model : TL-MR3420

Hardware Version : V2

ISP : Optus, Telstra


Hi,

Whilst the MR3420 V2 is sold as a 4G usb router, it appears that it does not support many usb 4G devices.

In Australia we currently have the Seirra 320u, ZTE MF821 (100Mbps Cat 3) and Huawei E3276 (150Mbps Cat 4).

Whilst the V2 supports the first two (not the E3276), it has one major failure!.

It does not work at full 4G speeds.

The V2 does not appear to allow download speeds in excess of 25Mbps or uploads much greater than 2Mbps. This occurs on fast 3G and 4G networks.

The throttled speed is apparently due to slow modem protocols deployed in the router. High protocol overheads mean it cannot 'shuffle data' very fast.

We have developed working solutions using the OpenWrt platform that overcome these issues and provides speeds in excess of 70mbps.

You might like to have a read here for details on our solution and progress

Any question. I'll try to answer.

Cheers

John k
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10 Reply
Re:MR3420, MR3020 etc support for 4G modems and slow 4G speed?
2013-02-09 17:00:00
John, you're right. Here is compatibility list. http://www.tp-link.com/en/support/3g-comp-list/?model=TL-MR3420
I think you can try to upgrade the firmware to be latest first, reset it and reconfigure it to see what happens.
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Re:MR3420, MR3020 etc support for 4G modems and slow 4G speed?
2013-02-09 17:17:11
Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

My MR3420 V2 is using the latest V2 firmware 121206.

The problem I have illustrated with protocol speed is a fundamental one and I'm hopeful that when the Engineers return from New Years holiday, they can address the issues.

Best Regards

John k
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Re:MR3420, MR3020 etc support for 4G modems and slow 4G speed?
2013-02-14 06:52:20
Hi,

Any reply from TPLINK engineers on the serious speed/ throughput protocol issue with 4G modems?

Cheers
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Beta TPLINK TL-MR3240 V2 firmware
2013-03-10 05:17:45
Here is a Beta MR3420 V2 firmware from TPLINK, which I have just received after months of nagging TPLINK for a solution to the 25Mbps limit problem.

mr3420v2_en_3_13_30_up_boot(130227)Beta.rar

I cannot test it at my current location; so any Beta testers out there that can put it through the hoops?

My latest message read:

Hi,

I have reported this problem (which is the same for all TPlink usb modem routers), a number of times, with no resolution.

Is there a Beta software version available that fixes the speed problem?

25Mbps is the maximum download speed in the TP-LINK routers, despite the same usb modem in a laptop doing 60 – 70Mbps download.

Also support for the Huawei E3276.
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Re:MR3420, MR3020 etc support for 4G modems and slow 4G speed?
2013-03-10 05:32:58
Thanks for firmware. I'll uploading for my polish tp-link forum. ;)

http://forum.jimasek.elektroda.eu/smf
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Re:MR3420, MR3020 etc support for 4G modems and slow 4G speed?
2013-03-10 05:45:31
Thanks,

Any feed-back appreciated.

Cheers

John k
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Re:MR3420, MR3020 etc support for 4G modems and slow 4G speed?
2013-03-10 06:03:38
PS. I have no idea what this Beta release fixes.

This was the accompanying message:

Dear Customer,

Thank you very much for your email requesting information about our product.

Please download the Beta software from the attachment.

If you need any further help, please feel free to let me know.
To get technical support more quickly, please go to http://www.tp-link.com/en/support/faq/
Best Regards
----------------------------------------------
Allan.Liu
Technical Support Engineer
TP-LINK TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.


Cheers

John k
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Re:MR3420, MR3020 etc support for 4G modems and slow 4G speed?
2013-03-10 16:57:55
Hi John

It doesn't fix the E3276 problem anyway.

It also wipes out your configs, so back up first.

Regards
Graham
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#9
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Re:MR3420, MR3020 etc support for 4G modems and slow 4G speed?
2013-03-10 17:24:40
Hi Graham,

Thanks.

And it does not fix the speed problem either. :(

Cheers

John K
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Re:MR3420, MR3020 etc support for 4G modems and slow 4G speed?
2013-03-27 14:27:03
Hi,

Good news.

We now have a BlackWidow release that fully supports the MR3420 V2 and the E3276 and ZTE MF821 and others late model modems.

Follow the links from the Whirlpool WIKI.

A couple of words of warning for users with the E3276 (other late model 3G/ 4G modems), that we have found along the way:

1. The E3276 may under some conditions (generally low signal levels), draw more power than the router can provide. This may lead to unstable performance and connection. The solution is a USB Y - Cable and an additional USB 5v supply.

2. The E3276 may under certain conditions require a USB cable with ferrite bead 'interference isolation' to ensure stable operation.

Cheers

John k

PS Please report back with your performance results and please drop into the BlackWidow support thread HERE as there are many exciting developments on the way. We know there are many downloads of this software from all over the world, so we would love to hear the feed-back.
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#11
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