Simple network connectivity for village hall

[stricko]

Hi all. I'm looking for a solution to providing a very simple, limited and cheap nternet connection for a local hall. It's needed only to allow a heating controller (Hive, Nest or something similar) to be monitored and controlled remotely. The hall has no phone line or broadband connection, but does have reasonable 4g coverage. 5g won't reach us for a long while. Unfortunately there is no friendly local WiFi that I can borrow.

So (I think) I'm after a mains powered 4g wifi hotspot, that'll be powered on 24/7 with a cheap data only SIM card. I can find loads of portable travel WiFi (Mifi?) devices but they are all battery powered, and I'm wary of having them hooked up to a charger 24/7.

Any suggestions, either for a device or an alternative approach.

 

[Rroff]

How much are you looking to spend? Something like the TP-Link MR6400 is relatively cheap and easy/no frills way to get a 4G connection but may be a bit more than you are looking to spend.

 

[stricko]

Cheap is good, but that looks ok

 

[Caged]

Get whatever Teltonika router has the features you need, and an RMS license if you need to manage it remotely.

 

[Steveocee]

This is worth considering. I’ve got one in my build bench at work on test.
Cheap and backed by a very big UK disti, free cloud access for life so you will always have a way of getting back into it and it doesn’t look outrageous either.

RG-EW300T N300 Wireless 4G LTE Router - Ruijie Reyee

Cloud-managed Plug and Play 4 External Antennas Up to 150Mbps Download Speed Three-year Warranty ......

reyee.ruijie.com

I obviously can’t link on here to retailers but if you message I can put you in touch with one.

 

[K.C. Leblanc]

Just a word of advice, make sure you use a discreet ssid and hide the AP. Otherwise someone will notice, and get grumpy when you won't let them use the hall wifi.