Spitz AX GL-X3000 5g Speeds Verizon

Technical Support for Routers
1

I have a Spitz AX GL-X3000 with the 5g modem. The Spitz reports the modem as RM520NGLAAR01A06M4G.

I have it working on Verizon, and can connect to the internet. For comparison, I have a Netgear Nighthawk M5 5g hotspot device model. I was expecing the Spitz AX to deliver connection speeds at least as fast as the M5, but that is not the case.

I live in a large city, Houston where 5g is well built out in my area.

Same sim card, same Verizon plan, each device placed on the same kitchen counter. using speedtest.net:
Spitz AX averages 75Mbps download
Netgear M5 averages 106Mbps

These are the averages over 5 tests for each device. The download speed numbers were pretty consistent for each device.

Granted speedtest.net is not the be-all/end-all of speed testing, but it was a way to take a look.

In both cases, the devices reports being 5g connected. In both cases, the device is using the same APN - vzwinternet

Both devices have been updated to the most recent firmware.

I was not expecting the Spitz AX to be significantly slower than the M5.

Am I missing something?

2

You have missed the most important comparison: the bands to which every modem was connected to?

In spitz, it can be viewed under cell info.

3

Fair enough. I’ll rerun my test and check the bands.

Is there some reason why the Spitz AX would connect to a cell site with a worse signal than the one the M5 would connect to? Wouldn’t the Spitz look for the 5g connection with the best signal quality?

Does the Spitz AX periodically reasses its connection and consider whether to switch bands or cell-sites?

4

Does the Spitz AX periodically reasses its connection and consider whether to switch bands or cell-sites?

The tower decides what bands the user device will use. The user device will let the tower know what bands it supports and then the tower will determine which bands will be connected based on number of variables. For example, a device that is close to the tower and has a good signal strength will typically be placed on a higher frequency band (shorter range) leaving the lower frequency (larger range) bands to connect to devices farther away (lower signal strength).

As far as which tower the user device connects to I’m not certain but I think that is also determined by the carrier/tower(s).

5

That’s exactly what it does.

No. Once it is connected it won’t rescan again till rebooting or getting disconnected.

6

Two things play a role here: the preferences saved on the SIM by your ISP and the modem configurations by the vendor. Some vendors do their tweaks differently than others and that’s why you see sometimes the same SIM used in two different modems in the same location connect to different bands.

I am on my phone but later I will send you the AT manual to check your your modem and sim settings.

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