Mobile network home router recommendations

[slowworm]

Does anyone use a mains powered router that uses a mobile network rather than a land line? We need good internet access to work from home but our land line isn't that great and is likely to fail in the next year or two so are looking at a mobile phone router as a possible alternative.

However, we don't have great mobile coverage so would need a router that can handle an antennae, does anyone use one?

We do have a battery powered mobile router and can hotspot our mobiles but we want something more permanent. Also, to get good reception they need to be held aloft, hence the need for a more permanent antennae.

One concern is that most of the routers I've seen say 5g and 4g, we often only have 3g so would need something would also connect to 3g.

 

[Decacraft]

I'm not sure if the 3g network will still be supported by the mobile networks- I know Vodafone and EE are turning it off soon.

Personally speaking EE gives me the better coverage when out in my area, but it seems to be a more premium costing network.

There's a few mobile routers that you can keep powered on with a USB charge lead connected, and they also have the antenna connection, but you will need to source your own antennas.

Which network are you using for the sim card? Have you done a coverage check to see what performs best in your postcode?

 

[slowworm]

I currently have three different mobile SIMs as I get different reception in different places.

At home O2 and EE work, 3's reception is too poor to bother with.

With O2 and EE they can be variable, sometimes working in the house, sometimes not. Sometimes O2 works better than EE, sometimes the other way around. If hoisted up high enough you get a good connection - hence wanting something that will handle a good antennae.

I'm after a recommendation for a router and antennae as there seems a vast array on offer
I don't know where to start. I could just plump for a cheap package for around £250ish but would rather spend a bit more if I can get something more useful.

 

[Decacraft]

The EE home router is decent, and allows an antenna to be fitted externally, im unsure of the brand of the antenna because they are normally fitted by an engineer(similar to a sky dish), or at least mine was. I had it on a contract with EE and paid around £100 for the antenna fitted.

I have also used the tplink mr6400 with a pair of generic omni directional antennas which was replaced by the home router.

I'm currently using the netgear nighthawk m5( it's a 5g- but can get the m1 for 4g) but due to it being 5g and my signal I havent found the need for antennas for it yet.

Hope that helps

 

[Jared]

Your mobile phone can probably make and receive calls over wifi. Known as wifi calling.

Might need to talk to your ISP to enable it.

Virgin Media

Set up WiFi and 4G Calling | Virgin Media Help

Receiving calls and texts has never been easier with Virgin WiFi Calling and 4G Calling. Learn how to set them up on your virgin mobile here.

www.virginmedia.com

 

[Buckshot]

Sounds like some of the campervan MIFI options might work for you. they are often poered by mains or low voltage (generally USB)
Or starlink, very pricey though.
we're just looking at MIFI in our van at the moment so will be interested to see how this goes...

 

[slowworm]

I currently have a router that connects over the old fashioned copper phone cable. This provides our internet and I do use that to connect my EE phone over the WiFi.

However, copper land line is being phased out and I gather may not be repaired if there's a problem. Our alternative is an expensive fibre connection but due to a dodgy deal by our council we would be forced to use a single supplier and their support is terrible. We'd still be at risk of long term outage due to the routing of the cable on poles through trees.

Hence wanting a mains powered router that uses 4g or even 3g (5g is not likely to be around here for years, if at all).

My problem is there's a large amount of 4g mains powered routers available and also a large amount of antenna that can be used. I was hoping someone knew about them to help narrow the options down.

 

[Great egret]

We use this as a backup for when fiber is down:
Nokia router

You can also look at a satellite receiver/router, but upload speeds are not great.

 

[British Red]

Purely throwing it out there but have you looked into Starlink?

Starlink

High-speed internet. Available almost anywhere on Earth.

www.starlink.com

It's not particularly cheap but should be much better than a 3G router!

 

[brambles]

I use a TPLink 4G router

Amazon.co.uk

with an external aerial on the roof

Amazon.co.uk

Where I live we are reliant on Vodafone and can get dowload of up to 45Mbps and upload of 20Mbps - far better than the phone line broadband it replaced but have found it is very weather dependent

 

[slowworm]

Purely throwing it out there but have you looked into Starlink?

Starlink

High-speed internet. Available almost anywhere on Earth.

www.starlink.com

It's not particularly cheap but should be much better than a 3G router!

Interesting point about 3G, at it's fastest it would be twice as fast as our land line. In my experience our mobile router can drop to 3G and go to 4G buy holding it aloft.

I did look at satellite internet a while back and just looking at starlink it's far too pricy for us. A mobile SIM router would also be more flexible for us.

 

[slowworm]

Where I live we are reliant on Vodafone and can get dowload of up to 45Mbps and upload of 20Mbps - far better than the phone line broadband it replaced but have found it is very weather dependent

Thanks for the links and comments. What sort of weather causes problems and does it just reduce the speed or fail to connect?

Have you or @Great egret or anyone else with a similar router, ever compared the router connection to a mobile phone at all? I assume the router would pick up a signal better than a phone but that's just a guess.

 

[brambles]

Heavy rain or snow affects phone signal - usually negatively although weirdly sometimes it improves it! We sit between two phone masts and strength depends on which one we are picking up, I think weather affects that too. The external aerial is the main factor in getting a better connection, particularly as our house is made of thick granite. Not only does the router get a better signal with the aerial but it lets us use network cabling for direct PC connections. If you just use a mobile as a hotspot you obviously lose that option and your wireless range is much less, and your phone will overheat and battery drain very quickly.
There are other routers and aerials available - your budget and building will be the most important factor in deciding what is best for you. I have an unlimited data Vodafone SIM for around £30 a month.

 

[Nice65]

We lived in the van for a few months and used a 4G signal booster. You need a little bit of 4G obviously, it wont create it, but the boost even one bar on the phone gave the iPad via hotspot was brilliant. Ours was just in the front window facing down the valley where there was always a bit of 4G, but pole mounting the small aerial would probably have made it 100% consistent. I very nearly bought another one for the house now we’ve moved, but found we have a cable connection offering high speeds and got a good deal from EE who I’ve been with for years.

GoBoost store on AliExpress were really helpful via WhatsApp, even after sales, making sure we had the correct kit etc for our needs and helping us getting it all connected. Not many sellers would take the time to contact asking if we had a 12v lighter socket to run off and then including the plug. Much easier than plumbing it into the electrics or running another cable.

 

[slowworm]

We lived in the van for a few months and used a 4G signal booster.

Do you have a link to the one you used? It might not help with a router but my Mum also has poor mobile signals so it might be worth trying something like that to start with.

Also, thanks to everyone for their comments and if anyone else uses something similar it would be good to hear your experience, both good or bad.

 

[Nice65]

Do you have a link to the one you used? It might not help with a router but my Mum also has poor mobile signals so it might be worth trying something like that to start with.

Also, thanks to everyone for their comments and if anyone else uses something similar it would be good to hear your experience, both good or bad.

GoBoost store on Aliexpress. The one I had was 12v car use, no good to your mum.

Also, you need to know the frequency of your mobile provider signal. They will help you with this, it’s a button press on the phone, a bit like how you find your IMEI number by button combo. O2 and EE are Freq 20, which is 800. They recommended this for home use for the 800 band.


￡59.98 40％ Off | GOBOOST 70dB Signal Booster 2G 3G 4G Cellular Amplifier LTE 700 800 850 900 1800 2100 MHz Network Repeater With 360° Antenna Kit

Signal Booster 2g 3g 4g Lte Cellular Repeater Gsm - 70db Signal Booster 2g 3g 4g - Aliexpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

a.aliexpress.com

 

[kard133]

GoBoost store on Aliexpress. The one I had was 12v car use, no good to your mum.

Also, you need to know the frequency of your mobile provider signal. They will help you with this, it’s a button press on the phone, a bit like how you find your IMEI number by button combo. O2 and EE are Freq 20, which is 800. They recommended this for home use for the 800 band.


￡59.98 40％ Off | GOBOOST 70dB Signal Booster 2G 3G 4G Cellular Amplifier LTE 700 800 850 900 1800 2100 MHz Network Repeater With 360° Antenna Kit

Signal Booster 2g 3g 4g Lte Cellular Repeater Gsm - 70db Signal Booster 2g 3g 4g - Aliexpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

a.aliexpress.com

Also may be illegal in the Uk, they are essentially rebroadcasting the signal and as such may require licensing unless on the approved list of equipment. My former employer had one installed at his house and was paid a visit by OFCOM because it was interfering with the masts in the area. OFCOM link

 

[Nice65]

Also may be illegal in the Uk, they are essentially rebroadcasting the signal and as such may require licensing unless on the approved list of equipment. My former employer had one installed at his house and was paid a visit by OFCOM because it was interfering with the masts in the area. OFCOM link

Technically they’re not legal, because OFCOM want you to buy the ones they recommend. There’s a bit of a monopoly thing going on I think.

 

[slowworm]

Well, time for a little update. I decided on a basic TP link router and Poynting antenna package to see if it would work here. Ordered from here: https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/44228-tp-link-tl-mr6400-5g-xpol-1-v2-21-mnt/

With a bit of experimentation using a mobile phone it seems we get about 1 Mbps speed in our kitchen and outside it, but 4 Mbps if the phone is held against the kitchen window.

Router connected up with the antenna it comes with and we get the 4 Mbps. Using the Poynting antenna in the loft we can get upto about 9 Mbps which is about the same as our land line. Further experimentation may speed this up.

We are currently using a EE payg card, which is apparently limited to 25 Mbps, does anyone know if that's a simple limit is it possible that our 9 Mbps is deliberately throttled back and could that increase if we went on contract?

I also need to decide if a better router would help as I may leave this one with my Mum if it helps with her internet.

 

[Decacraft]

Well, time for a little update. I decided on a basic TP link router and Poynting antenna package to see if it would work here. Ordered from here: https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/44228-tp-link-tl-mr6400-5g-xpol-1-v2-21-mnt/

With a bit of experimentation using a mobile phone it seems we get about 1 Mbps speed in our kitchen and outside it, but 4 Mbps if the phone is held against the kitchen window.

Router connected up with the antenna it comes with and we get the 4 Mbps. Using the Poynting antenna in the loft we can get upto about 9 Mbps which is about the same as our land line. Further experimentation may speed this up.

We are currently using a EE payg card, which is apparently limited to 25 Mbps, does anyone know if that's a simple limit is it possible that our 9 Mbps is deliberately throttled back and could that increase if we went on contract?

I also need to decide if a better router would help as I may leave this one with my Mum if it helps with her internet.

EE do throttle the payg speeds in comparison to the contracts, and there are tiers on the speeds. From looking at the website it's currently upto 100mbps on the regular ones, and unlimited on others. It all comes down to how much you want to pay.

If you have an ee payg sim card you might be able to get a better upgrade deal converting the payg into a paym plan as you would be classed as an existing customer. I would do it over the phone, as that gives you a 14 day cooling off period to test it and see what works for you. If you go into a store your committed to it for the duration of the contract.

I know from experience if you go through to the payg team to top up then the offers they have are usually better to convert you into a paym customer