What equipment are you using, if you don't mind me asking?
4G Router Recommendations...
- Thread starter Davehuge
- Start date
No chance of 5g speeds sadly so I might check out the B818. I only really need it to cover a ~6 month period.
My personal setup is a TP-Link MR6400, those working from home also have a Mikrotik LHG setup as a supplemental connection. We've tried a bunch of gear here and at least here nothing does enough better over the MR6400 to be worth the extra money - even messing about with external antennas I can't really beat it on stock antennas. (That would likely change in well provisioned areas and better line of sight).
Soldato
I found same. Work leant me a MR6400 for a few months while I tested out LTE as I was ditching twisted copper wire dire BT speeds (<6MB/s). I then got a Mikrotik SXT which is better advanced than the TP-link, but overall the speeds arent really better than the 6400. This is largely down to being so rural, and the masts catering for other dwellings that are probably hammering the network too.
I think the best speeds would be one of these mikrotiks that can utilise two separate networks and merge the speeds doing the load balancing. If I had one SIM on o2 and another on 3 the average would come up. There's the off chance one of the networks upgrade their gear and I hit it lucky on that provider. I would be happy with 4G above 50Mbps constant, so it may happen one day.
The MR6400 seems unusually good for its bracket if you are in a so-so area - it doesn't hold up so well against more expensive routers if you have a decent range of features/frequencies, etc. supported in the area but in areas with mixed conditions and limited support I've found most stuff, even other similar TP-Link routers, worse and only the top end stuff marginally better. I can't really beat the stock antennas either - upgraded 3rd party external ones can do a little better in best case situations but in some circumstances don't do as well.
Soldato
^ just make sure you don't lose the press out adapter thingies and dont drop the sim in the gaps! 
Oh, so I just go for a bog standard 4g "phone" sim?
That is what I've done - as things stand none of the networks block tethering type use on standard sims* - that isn't to say it will always be like that.
* There are some exceptions on smaller providers where it is an additional monthly amount and/or more limited data amount.
Soldato
Just double check the small print on the SIM only deals, they usually state on the cheaper tariffs if there is a fair use policy or capping garbage. Go for the full fat unlimited plan if your like me and have a family gobbling up data doing things like streaming. As per Rroff - they seem to be able to tell if your tethering so check for that too. The more expensive the plan the less they seem to police it.
I find mobile signal so odd though - I found an approx 18 inch area of my bedroom, not where you'd expect to find good signal either as it is inside the corner of 2 walls, the SNR basically doubles compared to anywhere else on the property I've found so far with a big uplift in speeds and even just moving my 43" screen which is nearby between the front and back of the unit it is on makes a reproducible difference between an RSRP range of nominally -95 to -97dBm to -91 to -93dBm.
Results in a speed difference of:
Which is pretty decent seeing the distance to the mast is ~2.61km and there is a huge hill with a wood on it blocking line of sight.
Results in a speed difference of:
Which is pretty decent seeing the distance to the mast is ~2.61km and there is a huge hill with a wood on it blocking line of sight.
Teltonika have a CAT12 version of their RUTX series routers coming out, in case people were interested.
https://teltonika-networks.com/product/rutx14/
Yes there are likely quicker and cheaper Huawei boxes that you can tweak with an Android app but if you need something that you can deploy remotely and manage through their RMS (which is great) then they're a really good option. They run OpenWrt and are pretty powerful.
https://teltonika-networks.com/product/rutx14/
Yes there are likely quicker and cheaper Huawei boxes that you can tweak with an Android app but if you need something that you can deploy remotely and manage through their RMS (which is great) then they're a really good option. They run OpenWrt and are pretty powerful.
.
Soldato
Agreed. We have a location where 4G is marginal and we tried various Mikrotik devices with little success so we swapped in a Teltonika RUTX09 with the QuWireless QuMax antenna set for the RUTX09 and it was extremely good, well over 90Mbps where a Mikrotik LHG was struggling to hit 50Mbps. It wasn’t cheap though at ~£300+VAT.
Associate
- Joined
- 10 Nov 2006
- Posts
- 1,261
Another happy MR6400 user here.
I have a static caravan near the east coast. All our phones are with EE, and coverage is non existent in the area.
Stuck a Vodafone PAYG sim in, and now wife and child can stream/browse whatever they wish.
Do NOT get a data only sim. They are a rip off.
Put phones in Wi-Fi calling mode, job sorted.
Router has never missed a beat. I even bought an external Poynting antenna to make sure.
I have a static caravan near the east coast. All our phones are with EE, and coverage is non existent in the area.
Stuck a Vodafone PAYG sim in, and now wife and child can stream/browse whatever they wish.
Do NOT get a data only sim. They are a rip off.
Put phones in Wi-Fi calling mode, job sorted.
Router has never missed a beat. I even bought an external Poynting antenna to make sure.
How do you get on with the Poynting antenna? I found the stock antennas on the MR6400 hard to beat - the external ones I've tried have been the same or worse.
Associate
- Joined
- 10 Nov 2006
- Posts
- 1,261
The router was OK on its own. Whether its placebo or not, I seemed to get better results with the antenna. I had to fit a new TV Arial anyway, so while replacing the pole I put the antenna on top.
I would say the antenna helps when conditions are less than ideal for an already poor signal. Weather etc.
There are also times when 3G is far better than 4G. The router switches almost seamlessly.
Most I have seen on 4g is around 6Mb. On 3G I can hit 12+
Not fast by todays standards, but more than enough for a holiday home.
PS4 is there now, and the wife has been using that to stream Sky to the TV without issue.
My MR6400 arrived last night. How are the stock antennas on this thing so good? They just look like cheap flakes of plastic!
I'm also considering getting a 4g antenna installed because I tested an EE/O2 sim card last night and the results were not promising, but I was not right at the location of our new house (can't really get to it to park on the drive and test things until we own it). I expect an external antenna on the chimney pot would be pretty good for it, but I've no way of installing it myself. Is it worth the few hundred it would cost for this?
This sort of thing: https://newsroom.ee.co.uk/ee-launch...connect-more-than-580000-homes-across-the-uk/ (I think an EE link is ok?)