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5g hub recommendation

paul44spade

Casual Member
Hi

I currently have a Huawei B818-263 with an EE unlimited sim (£200 for 18 months from Amazon). Obviously this is 4g only but as I live in a decent 5g EE area (400/500 mbps on phone), I'm looking to upgrade to a 5g router.

Would anyone be able to recommend any please? I'm quite a newbie it terms with messing with settings etc.

I've read various threads on ZTE MC801A, MC7010 and am aware of the Huawei 5g CPE PRO 2. It seems the more I read the more confused I get.

My EE 4g+ already seems to get roughly 250-300mbps so I'm slightly confused as the best way to go and I see various responses about cell locking etc and if I;m honest, find it a little daunting! Cost isn't necessarily the driving factor, but would like to ensure I get the best I can without too much messing!

Not sure if it's relevant but I also need to connect mesh wifi to get the signal round quite a big house with thick walls. Am looking to upgrade that too as I seem to struggle in my office as the opposite end of my router bedroom window. Powerlines don't seem to work well

Thanks in advance, happy to provide answers to questions as required
 
Hi

I currently have a Huawei B818-263 with an EE unlimited sim (£200 for 18 months from Amazon). Obviously this is 4g only but as I live in a decent 5g EE area (400/500 mbps on phone), I'm looking to upgrade to a 5g router.

Would anyone be able to recommend any please? I'm quite a newbie it terms with messing with settings etc.

I've read various threads on ZTE MC801A, MC7010 and am aware of the Huawei 5g CPE PRO 2. It seems the more I read the more confused I get.

My EE 4g+ already seems to get roughly 250-300mbps so I'm slightly confused as the best way to go and I see various responses about cell locking etc and if I;m honest, find it a little daunting! Cost isn't necessarily the driving factor, but would like to ensure I get the best I can without too much messing!

Not sure if it's relevant but I also need to connect mesh wifi to get the signal round quite a big house with thick walls. Am looking to upgrade that too as I seem to struggle in my office as the opposite end of my router bedroom window. Powerlines don't seem to work well

Thanks in advance, happy to provide answers to questions as required
Internal (inside router) or external (outside house) antenna?

An ex-Three (unlocked) NR5103E is a popular choice, currently starts at £149 on eBay:

 
Internal, nothing external thanks
As far as I can see the listing you've linked to is locked to three? Have found the unclocked one for £189. Weirdly it says opened never used but has grades A-C for condition???

 
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Internal, nothing external thanks
As far as I can see the listing you've linked to is locked to three? Have found the unclocked one for £189. Weirdly it says opened never used but has grades A-C for condition???

It's only branded 3 paul44spade, but they are actually unlocked for any of the networks. I have 4 of them, one on each network.
 
Thanks it's very confusing given that the pictures in both links have the branding. The more expensive one says unlocked and the cheaper one doesn't say that. Thanks for your help.

Do you use mesh wifi?
 
Thanks it's very confusing given that the pictures in both links have the branding. The more expensive one says unlocked and the cheaper one doesn't say that. Thanks for your help.

Do you use mesh wifi?
Yes it is a bit, I think it's just the sellers way of trying to get some extra dosh.

Unfortunately I don't paul44spade.
 
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I have a ZTE MC801A with German T-Mobile firmware supplied by a German company called Sotel. It allows band locking and cell locking. The Zyxel NR5103E is probably a better value device as the German ZTE is more expensive but the Zyxel doesn't support cell locking although I believe you can lock bands. Most people posting here don't appear to need cell-locking but in my case I am fortunate to be within range of two 5G masts. The one with the poorer download speed has a stronger 4G signal, and since 4G+5G are needed for the UK's current 5G rollout that is the one that my router selects by default. By locking to a cell on the faster mast I am forcing the router to use that mast. There are workarounds, in my case a piece of aluminium foil placed to one side of the router to block the unwanted signal mostly works without cell-locking although it's not 100%. If I had the Zyxel that's the method I'd use.

The Three version of the ZTE MC801A is firmware limited and I wouldn't recommend it over the Zyxel.
 
Thanks everyone.
IJD, like yourself, also have the Scancom sim. I don't understand why they aren't being used everywhere, £12 per month for unlimited data (and no price rise), covered by Amazon guarantee is ridiculous value IMO!

One last question for anyone who bought the 3 branded Zyxel from ebay at the first link above, did you go for grade A/B/C? Feedback seem to imply grade C is still pretty good condition?

Likewise, I was wondering if there was much experience of quality mesh in this discussion? I'm minded towards the google nest pro...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/28518510...rentrq:51cc09b01880a0ac23b6b035fffbbe66|iid:1
 
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Just as an update, I ordered the Zyxel this morning. Would anyone be able to point me towards a guide/hints or tips for setup etc please (in an attempt to stop me asking silly questions!) Thanks in advance
 
It's pretty straightforward paul44spade, the app above is available if you want to use it, it's pretty basic but just pointing it out for you as the Zyxel Air app doesn't work, don't want you wasting your time.

The full router settings can be accessed from http://192.168.1.1/login

Hope you get some good results when it arrives.

Oh and don't worry, no questions no matter what they may be are silly.
Everyone around here will be only too happy to try and help you out if they can.
 
Thanks everyone.
IJD, like yourself, also have the Scancom sim. I don't understand why they aren't being used everywhere, £12 per month for unlimited data (and no price rise), covered by Amazon guarantee is ridiculous value IMO!

One last question for anyone who bought the 3 branded Zyxel from ebay at the first link above, did you go for grade A/B/C? Feedback seem to imply grade C is still pretty good condition?

Likewise, I was wondering if there was much experience of quality mesh in this discussion? I'm minded towards the google nest pro...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285185107127?_trkparms=amclksrc=ITM&aid=777008&algo=PERSONAL.TOPIC&ao=1&asc=20220705100511&meid=fefe5d829f12446db69c562b05305bd3&pid=101524&rk=1&rkt=1&itm=285185107127&pmt=0&noa=1&pg=2380057&algv=RecentlyViewedItemsV2&brand=ZyXEL&_trksid=p2380057.c101524.m146925&_trkparms=pageci:45c87c98-facd-11ed-bb38-d256b5f17edd|parentrq:51cc09b01880a0ac23b6b035fffbbe66|iid:1

I got grade B because they'd sold out of grade C, but it looks like new. Make sure you specify that it has to be tested to work on EE 5G before despatch (some NR5103 had problems with 5G), they were happy to do this.

P.S. The Scancom EE SIM I have right now is a cheap short-term one which supports 5G (3GB/month until 31/01/2024 for £30+VAT) because I only need it for system setup and tests (on a narrowboat). If I needed data all the time I'd certainly go for the Scancom unlimited EE SIM via Amazon, but I only need big data for a few months per year so I'll probably use 1p mobile pay-monthly SIMs.
 
Thanks everyone.
IJD, like yourself, also have the Scancom sim. I don't understand why they aren't being used everywhere, £12 per month for unlimited data (and no price rise), covered by Amazon guarantee is ridiculous value IMO!

One last question for anyone who bought the 3 branded Zyxel from ebay at the first link above, did you go for grade A/B/C? Feedback seem to imply grade C is still pretty good condition?

Likewise, I was wondering if there was much experience of quality mesh in this discussion? I'm minded towards the google nest pro...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285185107127?_trkparms=amclksrc=ITM&aid=777008&algo=PERSONAL.TOPIC&ao=1&asc=20220705100511&meid=fefe5d829f12446db69c562b05305bd3&pid=101524&rk=1&rkt=1&itm=285185107127&pmt=0&noa=1&pg=2380057&algv=RecentlyViewedItemsV2&brand=ZyXEL&_trksid=p2380057.c101524.m146925&_trkparms=pageci:45c87c98-facd-11ed-bb38-d256b5f17edd|parentrq:51cc09b01880a0ac23b6b035fffbbe66|iid:1

I bought the Grade A from this seller a few months ago which was 229 at the time. Been pleased with it on the whole, however a 3rd party PSU was supplied and the Sim card slot can be a bit picky sometimes.

Regarding the sancom sims, I have read some people start to have reduced download speeds after a month or two which worries me a bit. Do the Vodafone Sancom sims also offer just as good value? I have the option of EE or Vodafone, but Vodafone gives a stronger signal.
 
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It's pretty straightforward paul44spade, the app above is available if you want to use it, it's pretty basic but just pointing it out for you as the Zyxel Air app doesn't work, don't want you wasting your time.

The full router settings can be accessed from http://192.168.1.1/login

Hope you get some good results when it arrives.

Oh and don't worry, no questions no matter what they may be are silly.
Everyone around here will be only too happy to try and help you out if they can.
Thanks so this will work even if I don't have a three sim and am using an EE sim?
 
Thanks so this will work even if I don't have a three sim and am using an EE sim?
Screenshot_20230526_085443_Three 5G Broadband.webp

Indeedy it will paul44spade. (y)
 
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