London UK Wireless Broadband ISP Relish Adopts New VH510B 4G LTE Router
Fixed Wireless ISP Relish Wireless, which is owned by UK Broadband Ltd (acquired by Three UK) and runs an ‘up to’ 40Mbps broadband network for homes in Swindon and central London, has partnered up with Verve Connect to launch a new wireless router (Relish Hub) for their service.
The new device is based on Verve’s VH510B wireless indoor hub, which is another plug-and-play device like their own kit that operates within Relish’s chosen 4G bands (3.4GHz to 3.8GHz). The hub converts Relish’s signal into a home broadband service, which is then distributed via WiFi.
Nigel Whitehead, Head of Sales at Verve Connect, said:
“We are very proud to be partnering with Relish, and to be launching our VH510B indoor hub in Central London with one of the market’s most innovative and customer friendly broadband providers.
We look forward to supplying other operators in Europe and globally with similar product and support levels, enabling them to manage seamless 3G to 4G, 4G to 4G+ customer Internet experiences whilst delivering cutting edge data performance to end users.”
Unfortunately the new router isn’t likely to be much of a speed demon in the WiFi department (it supports up to 802.11n spec), although this may only be an issue for those who need faster WiFi for their Home Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) because the Relish service itself isn’t really fast enough to max out the hub.
Sadly we couldn’t find any higher resolution pictures of the new kit and Verve Connect’s website is somewhat sparse on detail, although the router itself only appears to be a small step-up from Relish Wireless’s previously bog standard Gemtek WLTFSR-115GN router (the new one supports more WiFi connections and is a little faster). In fairness there aren’t a lot of hardware options for Relish to adopt in their chosen LTE bands.
The new kit will be deployed across the network this year, although we assume that it will initially only be available to new subscribers. In any case we can’t see a compelling reason for existing customers to “upgrade” unless it’s offered to them for free. Customers typically pay from £20 per month for Relish’s up to 40Mbps service, which includes unlimited usage and a 1 or 12 month contract term (the router is free on the 12 month term and costs £50 for the 1 month option).
VH510B Specifications
Chipset
SQN3120 + RTL8685SFLTE Cat4
150Mbps DL/50Mbps ULBand
TDD-LTE B42/B43Internal LTE Antenna
2, LTE Main Antenna, LTE Auxiliary antenna; 5dbi gainWLAN:
* IEEE 802.11b/g/n
* 32 users
* Multi SSID, separated encryption
* WPS
* Internal AntennaInterface
4*RJ45, 1*RJ11Size
190*178*80mm (appx.)Software
Web UI, Super Admin, TR069
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on Twitter, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.
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Think Broadband suggests a medium download of 9.4Mbps and upload of 1Mbps for Relish, so it’s really an equivalent to a reasonable ADSL line and a long way short of FTTC or FTTP broadband. Line quality compares poorly too.
It depends what you are coming from.
Living in an area where 2-4mbit is the norm, Relish is an improvemnt that is for sure, i can get 30mbit and i’m not even in the offical coverage area.
As for “customer friendly broadband providers” i see todays date ia the 1st of April and that makes alot of sense they are crap on CS and hopefully they will sort that soon like they have with this new router.
I use my own hardware NOT the Gemtek rubbish and people complain about it all the time, so hopefully this will help with up time
Alloneword, how have you acheived the use of one router, please? Currently I have the Gemtek rubbish (as you so accurately put it) providing an Ethernet feed into my Draytek Vigor 2860Ln. I’ve tried taking the SIM out of the Gemtek and using it in the Vigor’s SIM slot, but am unable to second guess the network settings. Any help you can offer would be gratefully received…
Peter Clifford
I’m a customer in Swindon and use the Huawei hardware for my router and antenna.
Looking at the Vigor 2860Ln that you have mentioned, it does not seem to use the correct frequency or 4g bands that relish’s network use. I think you are out of luck.
I have an Ethernet feed DMZ from the Huawai into an Asus RT-AC68U.
Peter, I am also a relish customer in Swindon (churchyard near outlet)and have been for about 5 years using their Huawei router into a netgear ac6200. Apart from a major outage 3 Christmas’s ago ( mast problem at the link centre) it’s been reasonably consistent at around 30mbps ( sometimes upto 50mbps during quiet times). My issue is that about once per week the Huawei loses contact with the outside world ( internal networks remain ok e.g. Webcams) The only solution appears to be a switch on/off. Do you suffer the same dropouts? Obviously the Huawei is quite old technology so was wondering if to pressurise Relish for a replacement.
I just spoke to Relish, who advised that the Verve router has replaced the Gemtek.
The Verve router is no good for businesses (Relish Business @ £25 per month), for the following three reasons:
1. There is no possibilty to change the routers administrator user name and password, which are not secure:
User name: user
Password: user
2. There is no option to change DHCP settings
3. There is no option to remote manage the router
Point 1 alone is a show stopper.
Additions:
1) The Verbe BH510B does not allow you to change the network name, only its password, so you either hide it or let everyone know you have Relish service.
I am puzzled as to why they have created such a security risk in the router. They have literally left it at the mercy of anyone who fancies playing you a good joke by hijacking your internet as many times as they want.
General question – do I need to worry about security? is the data encrypted from their router to the mobile towers?
Is anybody aware whether this new router (or any other router compatible with Relish) has a socket to plug an external 4g aerial. I am interested in the service but would like to maximise the connectivity as I live in a basement flat and would be dependent on Relish’s signal making it to the router through the windows in the property’s lightwell. Ideally, I would mount an external 4g receiver higher up on the building and cable to the router.
Would be much obliged for any insights.
There is a bloke on eBay that sells a square thing intended for caravans. A directional antenna will give far better results than an omni of course.
I am in central London with a relish router and get quite a nice 7mb on the upper floor of my office. It’s waaaay faster than the corporate network and i am very happy with it. Ditto at my previous location in Holborn.
Unfortunately we are moving to floor 1 where the signal is weask on one side of the building.
I am going to attempt to fit an external Omni antenna which should give a 3-5db boost, if I can find one that works in Band 42/43.(3400 m hz to 3800 mhz)