Hi,

We have also this red light issue with Deco X50-5G(1.0) running firmware 1.1.3 Build 20240109 Rel. 73423. The router is in 4G mode with fixed operator and fixed frequency (B3), the operator is Elisa in Finland.

Tested things without success:

- Fall back to firmware 1.2 and full system reset. Reverted back to 1.3.

- Fixed bands to B3 and 4G only. Seems to get better signal than with auto (B3+B20).

- Once there was briefly "No SIM card" or something like that message in the web control panel so I changed the SIM card to a new one.

- Debugging with the operator. From their data they can see that the Deco changes base station briefly to a distant one.

- Using external antenna towards to closest mast (500m).

- Disabled internal wifi, beam steering etc extra options that could cause system loading or heating.

RF status is good:

RSRP:-76dBm
RSRQ:-7dB
SNR:24.6dB

The system log is full of errors, these are repeating now (listed only errors):

Tue Apr 16 08:05:39 2024 user.err : [simplecom_helper][qeng_servingcell_cmd_handle]:+QENG: NR5G-NSA or NR5G-SA not found.
Tue Apr 16 08:05:44 2024 user.err : [fan-control]:at_cmd = :simplecom -c at+qtemp
Tue Apr 16 08:05:44 2024 user.err : [fan-control]:atResp = :at+qtemp
+QTEMP:"modem-lte-sub6-pa1","50"
+QTEMP:"modem-sdr0-pa0","0"
+QTEMP:"modem-sdr0-pa1","0"
+QTEMP:"modem-sdr0-pa2","0"
+QTEMP:"modem-sdr1-pa0","0"
+QTEMP:"modem-sdr1-pa1","0"
+QTEMP:"modem-sdr1-pa2","0"
+QTEMP:"modem-mmw0","0"
+QTEMP:"aoss-0-usr","49"
+QTEMP:"cpuss-0-usr","49"
+QTEMP:"mdmq6-0-usr","49"
+QTEMP:"mdmss-0-usr","49"
+QTEMP:"mdmss-1-usr","48"
+QTEMP:"mdmss-2-usr","49"
+QTEMP:"mdmss-3-usr","48"
+QTEMP:"modem-lte-sTue Apr 16 08:05:44 2024 user.err : [fan-control]:paMaxTemp = :50
Tue Apr 16 08:05:44 2024 user.err : [fan-control]:mdmMaxTemp = :49
Tue Apr 16 08:05:44 2024 user.err : [fan-control]:wifi0Temp = :67
Tue Apr 16 08:05:44 2024 user.err : [fan-control]:wifi1Temp = :56
Tue Apr 16 08:05:44 2024 user.err : [fan-control]:fan_status = :0
Tue Apr 16 08:05:44 2024 user.err : [fan-control]:closed->closed
Tue Apr 16 08:05:44 2024 user.err : [fan-control]:fan zero
Tue Apr 16 08:05:44 2024 user.err : [simplecom_helper][qeng_servingcell_cmd_handle]:+QENG: NR5G-NSA or NR5G-SA not found.
Tue Apr 16 08:05:49 2024 user.err : [simplecom_helper][qeng_servingcell_cmd_handle]:+QENG: NR5G-NSA or NR5G-SA not found.
Tue Apr 16 08:05:54 2024 user.err : [simplecom_helper][qeng_servingcell_cmd_handle]:+QENG: NR5G-NSA or NR5G-SA not found.
Tue Apr 16 08:05:55 2024 daemon.err uhttpd[5479]: ath02     no frequency information.
Tue Apr 16 08:05:55 2024 daemon.err uhttpd[5479]:
Tue Apr 16 08:05:55 2024 daemon.err uhttpd[5479]: ath12     no frequency information.
Tue Apr 16 08:05:55 2024 daemon.err uhttpd[5479]:
Tue Apr 16 08:05:55 2024 daemon.err uhttpd[5479]: ath02     no frequency information.
Tue Apr 16 08:05:55 2024 daemon.err uhttpd[5479]:
Tue Apr 16 08:05:55 2024 daemon.err uhttpd[5479]: ath12     no frequency information.
Tue Apr 16 08:05:55 2024 daemon.err uhttpd[5479]:
Tue Apr 16 08:05:56 2024 daemon.err bandwidth_contr: Sending TIPC data. Total 20 bytes.
Tue Apr 16 08:06:00 2024 user.err : [simplecom_helper][qeng_servingcell_cmd_handle]:+QENG: NR5G-NSA or NR5G-SA not found.
Tue Apr 16 08:06:04 2024 user.err : [fan-control]:at_cmd = :simplecom -c at+qtemp
Tue Apr 16 08:06:04 2024 user.err : [fan-control]:atResp = :at+qtemp

Previously there was also this:

Wed Apr 10 18:59:39 2024 daemon.err nrd[10749]: wlanifMapToBandwidth: Invalid bandwidth from driver: 3

But that wlanifMapToBandwidth hasn't been seen now after all these fixes. Also the red light problem is shorter (maybe ~1min) but happens several times an hour rendering the network unusable. Previously the system had to be rebooted to get network back.

The internal fan seems to work as it spools up during power up. And the NR5G-NSA error seems odd as this is running in 4G mode. We had plans to go to 5G later on but currently running with 4G.

But now I've ran out of ideas, probably this needs some firmware fix.

  @Juska 

Hi - my "silence" is due to:

1) I exchange my unit under warranty (as recommneded by the TP link team)

2) I tested it on 5G two weeks on a new SIM card provided by Elisa in Helsinki dowtown in a dense 5G areas

* The unit was showing all the time white LED and no RED light appeared

* However, I did not really used the unit (traffic) as it was just sitting on my living room as a secondary internet

* Significant difference was that this new trial was:

a) Very limited in time & traffic

b) All basically exchanged (unit & SIM card & carrier)

c) Probably the most important thing is that the unit now was on strong 5G and I believe it did not have any reason switch back 4G and 5G - that may have been the case when the unit was at my summer cottage there signal strengths were not that good

My testing continues at summer time, when I move the unit back to "in the middle of nowhere".

I believe Juska, the only practical thing you to do is, as these issues seems to be rare, I'm sensing TP link team may not prioritize this high enough - exchange your Deco router under warranty. That was recommendation to me and refer at the time of doign the warranty claim - refer to this long "red light issue". Likely there is no repair service for yoru Deco, they just excange the unit. Just do it, then you have been able to "eliminate" at least any HW related issue.

  @HenrikEkman 

Hi,

I think I found a solution for my use, got a prepaid Telia SIM card yesterday and with this no red lights in ~20 hours. Probably the problem is that we live between two masts (~0.5km and ~1km away) and the Deco likes to change to another base station. I tried to fix that with directional antenna, but that didn't help. However, changing the operator seems to help so I'll go with this now.

As an improvement, it would be great if we could fix the base station from the settings to avoid this kind of switching.

Errors that I reported in my previous message still exist but it seems that these had no effect. It would be great if that logging could be reduced as it's quite unusable now (40 pages just errors in less than 24h period).

  @Juska 

Kiitos tiedoista - tämä saattaa hyvinkin johtaa oikealle polulle vianselvityksessä!

Thank you for this information - I believe this may indeed direct investigations towards the right path!

In my case - at my summer cottage - 5G masts are indeed at locations that neither of those are "in a perfect location" when using DECO's built in omnidirectional antennas. Your observation can be a source of what is going on. 

I do have a direct contact to one of TP Link engineers, and I will ask them to review this hint - if that could be the reason.

Stress test DECO at circumstances:

• There are two "almost equal" base stations to connect to
• Operation on 5G (with possibility DECO to fall back to 4G based on it's own logic)
• Neither of those base stations are "strong enough" to "stop searching better connection" functionality

  @Bee_24 

Hi,
I have been using x50-5G in Orange PL for 6 months and it has worked properly so far. It has been showing me a red LED several times a day for a week.
The application claims that it can see the range, but unfortunately there is no connection. WAN IP 0.0.0.0
After turning mobile data on and off, the connection is reestablished or after a restart.
Please help.

Hello All, is anyone able to share beta 1.1.5 firmware for Deco X50-5g V1.0, tired of drop off every day, and showing deco x50 is unstable, before I had wifi speed 300+ now only 150 if lucky !!! Really not great support from Deco, spend £400 on main router plus another £600 for mesh system which constantly freezing and not working as should..., slowly coming to the end of time I can any longer accept this problems.., sorry Deco, you need to fix your issues with Deco 5g router and fast, this is not good...

  @Juska 

Dear Juska - my story continues with the Red light issue with Deco X50 on 5G in a location there is:

* Low signal strength on 5G and likely two equal base stations

* 4G works perfectly

Now I have replaced my X50 under warranty, new SIM card, Directional Antenna - but stil using Telia. As I can hear you're likely more expert than me, would you mind contacting you privately.

Moi Juska - koska satut olemaan Suomessa ja sinulla oli kiinnostavia havaintoja ja kokemusta - muistaakseni myös ottaen yhteyttä operaattoriin (joka voi jotakin säätää myös), niin olisi hienoa jos saisin vaihtaa ajatuksia privana sinun kanssa - OK?

Henrik

  @David-TP 

Dear David  as you can see, I've been contributing to this during winter time, and now I am back to the "remote location" shortly and after 3 weeks, I will be in here few weeks.

Let's continue, please where did we end last time, what has happened so far:

* The red light issues continues, but the following things has been "excluded"

1) I have exchange the Deco X50-5G (the whole unit under warranty) -> No help, Red light issues continues with the "5G preferred mode" in a context there is in fact good 4G and likely two base stations nearby (but not close) being more or less equal signal strength

2) SIM card exchange -> No help

3) During last 12 hours, several Red Light lock ups with the 5G preferred mode. If switching to 4G only mode - system is far more stable. Currently I am running X50-5G, Unit version 1.1.3 Build 20240109 Rel 73423. The good thing is that within 12 hours, no "No Sim Card detected" issues anymore, but several red light issues

4) Still using the same carrier (Telia in Finland) - I have not yet changed the carrier. For the next visit I will do it, but not sure if the others have 5G on the air

5) I have bought a directional mimo antenna 

Brand Poynting

Manufacturer code XPOL-2-5G-01

and I can see it having an effect to signal strength, but does not solve the issue (I have tried to compare the internal and by disabling the internal antenna). It 's somewhat difficult to run tests, as I cannot really see in Deco App clearly with what channels it is toggling (5G or 4G as there is no "5G only" mode) and DECO X50-toggling between stations (that all may or may not have 5G).

6) I have not yet contacted to the carrier (Telia) to see/analyze my unit's signal strength based on the SIM/IMEI or to do their tricks to lock my system to their base stations more effectively. I will do that in short future. So now DECO X50-5G is toggling between channels and base stations is it likes and I can see in the Deco App such things happening as it may take a while before the Deco wants to stick to base station the directional antenna is headed to. There is delay when to switch to a stronger station I believe.

7) I have not tried to separate DECO X5-5G 4G/5G and to use another X50 for Wifi only (but I do have at hone one extra X50 that I could bring next time in here to test whether too co-located WIFI/5G antennas has any impact

8) At home - in Helsinki downtown in high signal strength / in dense 5G area - the unit has worked few weeks with "White LED on / 5G" without any Red light issues. So this is now clearly "not unit independent, but related to 5G and multi base station & lower 5G signal strength circumstances"

The story continues - sorry... 

@David-TP 

Hi David in TP-Link, now comes some hard facts. I can confirm, with help of Telia experts, my position is indeed in the middle of 4G/5G Base Stations.

MY TAKEWAYS ARE

* Indeed I'm in the middle of three 4G/5G stations in which the station bottom right is the strongest (5 green bars on 4G only mode). The second one is upper left being 3 yellow signal bars in 4G only mode.

* Your team released in a week or two ago a new SW 1.1.5 Build 20240419 Rel 73943 that is now in use

* With help of the previous SW I was able to detect that 5G in my position is so weak, that I lock in now in 4G mode only for time being

* With the latest SW  SW 1.1.5 Build 20240419 Rel 73943 and lock in 4G only, 3 days operating time and no "Red Light Issue"

* I can see that you have released a new SW that has feature to see more information to which station I am connected to (even thought Telia technical support did not really understand the coding/naming) but anyways you have released a new feature that I can "lock in frequency with help of new settings 4G (EARFCN and PCI) and 5G  (N channels)

* By using the 4G EARFCN and PCI settings I can lock in to the base station in bottom right in the picture. That made - I believe - Deco X50-5G preferring the one and strongest base station in my "network position/location"

HOWEVER - PLEASE REVIEW

* I can see that without locking frequency EARFCN 9460, PCI 360 - the automatic mode - the Deco X50-5G sometimes jumping to the lower signal strength 4G base station (yellow 3 bars) instead of the strongest base station (5 green bars). So I believe in this kind of "in the middle of three base stations" Deco X50-5G can quite easily shift using lower signal strength base station without actively scanning the best and automatically locking in to the strongest one. This I believe now proven even with the latest SW with daily reboot feature "on". As well as the red light issue being likley related to "in the middle of base station" context

* Unfortunately the new features EARFCN and PCI are introduced without a real explanation and I'm dependent on Google and AI to find out what do they mean. By trial and error I've found the settings tha I'm now locking in. It would be very helpful if your could write a short "white paper" that would explain Manual Frequency Locking for Dummies how to try to find the best settings. This white paper would help a lot as standard Telia customer service cannot really understand these features

* Interestingly still with my SIM card the local phone number is not seen in the Deco App

GOOD

* With the latest SW, locking in 4G only, and ~50% time of using/testing automatic or EARFCN&PCI modes - no red light issue :-)

* With the directional antenna and locking in to the strongest base station (trial and error method) I can keep 4G in strong signal strength (5 green bars) that is great, so I can keep my network more stable (no switch between base stations) and avoiding in my location 5G seems to help a lot.

In meantime, while waiting some "EARFCN for dummies" white paper, I played with AI and found this. Please note that this is not Deco X50-5G specific and AI generated text (with my notes in brackets).

@David-TP Dear David - may I ask your team to

* To find if this inspire your team to write the white paper

* This may sparkle some ideas

What is EARFCN in mobile network technology - what does it mean?

EARFCN stands for E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number. In mobile network technology, particularly in LTE (Long Term Evolution), EARFCN is used to represent a carrier frequency. It's a unique number that is assigned to each frequency in the LTE band, which helps in identifying the frequency of the band on which the network is operating.

The EARFCN can be calculated using the following formula:

$$ EARFCN = F_{DL} - F_{DL\_Offset} $$

Where:

- `F_{DL}` is the downlink frequency in MHz.

- `F_{DL\_Offset}` is the offset frequency in MHz, which is specific to each frequency band.

This system allows for more efficient management and allocation of frequencies, helping to optimize network performance and interoperability. It's an essential part of how mobile networks function.

How does this relate to the PCI number?

The PCI (Physical Cell Identity) and EARFCN (E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number) are both important parameters in mobile network technology, particularly in LTE (Long Term Evolution). However, they serve different purposes:

1. **EARFCN**: As we discussed earlier, EARFCN is used to represent a carrier frequency. It's a unique number that is assigned to each frequency in the LTE band, which helps in identifying the frequency of the band on which the network is operating.

2. **PCI**: On the other hand, the PCI is used to identify cells within a network. In an LTE network, each cell is given a unique PCI, which is used by the mobile device to identify and differentiate between different cells. The PCI is crucial for handovers between cells - when a mobile device moves from the coverage area of one cell to another, the PCI helps the device identify the new cell and establish a connection with it.

So, while EARFCN is related to the frequency and bandwidth aspects of the network, PCI is related to the identification and management of individual cells within the network. Both are critical for the operation and performance of mobile networks. They work together to ensure that mobile devices can connect to the network, move seamlessly between cells, and communicate effectively over the network.

How EARFCN and PCI can be used with a 4G router to lock connection to a preferred 4G base station?

EARFCN and PCI can be used to lock a 4G router to a specific cell of a preferred 4G base station. This can be useful in situations where you want to ensure your router always connects to a specific cell for optimal signal strength and data speed (This is what I try to do while being in the middle of three base stations). Here's a general process on how you can do this:

1. **Identify the EARFCN and PCI**: First, you need to identify the EARFCN (E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number) and PCI (Physical Cell Identity) of the preferred cell. These values can usually be found in the network settings or status page of your router's interface, or by using network diagnostic tools.

2. **Access the Router's Settings**: Log into your router's interface. This is usually done by entering the router's IP address into a web browser and logging in with your username and password. (This information - EARFCN and PIC are now seen in the Deco App with the latest firmware for Deco X50-5G)

3. **Navigate to the Network or Cellular Settings**: Look for a setting related to "Cellular" or "Network". The exact name and location of this setting can vary depending on the router model and firmware.

4. **Enter the EARFCN and PCI**: There should be an option to manually set the EARFCN and PCI. Enter the values you identified earlier. This will lock the router to the specific cell⁴. (With Deco X50-5G this means to wait several minutes, reboot the device, possibly moving it to another location, in case use of a directional antenna to orient it to different directions if you know the locations of the base stations).

5. **Save and Apply Changes**: After entering the EARFCN and PCI, save and apply the changes. The router should now be locked to the specified cell. (In Deco X50-5G enable Frec´quency locking, type the EARFN and PCI numbers as you saw them in the Deco app when you think it had the strongest signal strength - more green bars, the better)

Please note that the exact steps can vary depending on the make and model of your router. Always refer to your router's manual or contact the manufacturer's customer support for model-specific instructions.

Also, keep in mind that locking your router to a specific cell can have drawbacks. If the signal from the locked cell becomes weak or if the cell goes offline, your router will not be able to automatically switch to a different cell with a stronger signal. Therefore, use this feature wisely and monitor your network performance regularly⁴. (This can be the case with Deco X50-5G, if the locking is on and you loose the "base station", I do not know if Deco has any fallback logic to start scanning other base station in that case. Of course, by going in the Deco app, just disable frequency locking on 4G and Deco starts scanning the base stations and uses it's own logic again).

(Unfortunately this bulleting board prevented me adding all references to source data that Bing AI created... sorry)