The Beam X71 performs best when it has the best signal strength from the cellular tower.
The Received Signal Strength and the Signal Quality are two indicators of the quality of the connection to the tower.
1. Good signal strength is typically better than -100 dBm (RSRP), e.g. -90dBm or -95dBm.
2. Good signal quality is a more positive number, like +5 or 0 and indicates the amount of distortion or noise in the received signal.
If you have a poor signal strength (like -104 or -110), you typically have worse transmission speeds. But you can have good signal strength (like -90) and poor signal quality (like -14) and you still have poor speeds because the received signal, although strong, is noisy. So it is harder for the LTE modem to pull the data signal out of the received signal.
Do the following to find the best of both:
Put the Beam X71 router on an extension cord so you can move it around your home. Make sure the antennas are in a upright/ vertical position
Using your smartphone's browser, bring up the Beam X71's signal strength page. Enter 192.168.188.1 in the address bar (URL bar), the place where you would typically type www.oliveip.com
Enter admin for both the Username and Password sections as that is the default router log-in information
When the Beam X71 dashboard/ homepage loads, Click on the "Basic Info" tab on the left-hand menu pane and then click on "Network Info". This screen will show ya everything that's relevant to your LTE connection (signal readings (RSSI/ RSRP), installed ICCID (sim#), Network operator (carrier network), Frequency (LTE radio band your device is using) and dial status (connected to network - DIALED; Not connected to network - Nothing/ N/A).
Slowly walk around your home holding your router and watching the signal strength screen (you may need to refresh/ re-load that network info screen every time you move and want to get an accurate reading from the current location). You'll see the green cell signal bars (top right corner) and Signal Strength (RSRP) numbers change as you move around. The change isn't instantaneous, so pause after each move to give the numbers a chance to be refreshed. You want the RSRP reading to be as positive a number as you can get; e.g. a Signal Strength of -90 dBm is better than -100 dBm.
Keep the router near the outside walls of your home as you walk around. You'll probably find the signal strongest when it is near or infront of a window. The signal is also typically strongest the higher you are above ground (due to line of signt considerations between the device and the cell tower). Basements, closets, media cabinet, behind TVs, on top of electronics are NOT good locations for your Router
Once find the location with the strongest signal, leave the router in that spot and proceed to the next setup steps (Setup Wizard and Bandlocking)
If you don't find a strong enough signal, or the Beam X71 isn't connecting well to the tower, please repeat the above procedure but do it outside, walking around the exterior of your home. If you get a better signal strength outside of your home, then it may be worth getting a signal booster installed OR consider moving service to a different LTE carrier.