IJD
Super Pro Member
I'm still trying to figure out what is actually needed to get the best data rates in a mobile application -- which in my case will be a narrowboat -- as opposed to headline "highest data rate" in towns and cities...
I'm not concerned about Gbps peak data rate bragging rights, my FTTC broadband at home is a solid 75/20Mbps and this is never an issue for anything I need. What I am concerned about is getting usable data rates over the largest possible area when moving around, so I can WFH and stream TV instead of using an aerial.
This could be over either 4G or 5G, and it looks as if a modem/router/external antenna which can do 4x4 MIMO on all the UK bands used by different carriers will give the highest data rates -- from another post where I asked this question, this probably means bands 1/3/7/8/20/28/32/40 for 4G and 1/3/7/8/28/78 for 5G.
Dual-SIM would be nice so I can have a backup network (e.g. three main, EE secondary) in signal blackspots without SIM swapping, as would a USB port to allow file sharing (e.g. music library to Sonos) without needing a NAS server.
The NR5103E covers all the bands and has 4 (fragile!) antenna connectors, but it seems (not certain...) that these are 2x2 MIMO 5G and 2x2 MIMO 4G, so I suspect that even if it's very good in high-signal 5G areas it won't be so good out in the sticks. It's out there in volume so should be well-supported/updated, is cheap from three, has USB (but can this share files?), but is single-SIM (boo).
The Proroute NR550 covers all the bands and is 4x4 MIMO (with SMA connectors) on both 5G and 4G, is dual-SIM (hooray!) but doesn't have USB (boo). It uses the Fibocom FG150-AE modem which seems respectable (BCOM SDX55) even if the peak data rates are lower than the NR5103E. I suspect this will give higher data rates in non-urban areas than the NR5103E because of the better antenna configuration, so I'm leaning towards it.
In either case external antenna would be a 4x4 MIMO intended for vehicle roof mounting, to avoid problems with ground plane/reflections with a pole mounting antenna -- probably the Panorama Sharkfin 4x4 MIMO which is the highest gain omni I can find.
Are my assumptions right or wrong, and does anyone have any other suggestions?
I'm not concerned about Gbps peak data rate bragging rights, my FTTC broadband at home is a solid 75/20Mbps and this is never an issue for anything I need. What I am concerned about is getting usable data rates over the largest possible area when moving around, so I can WFH and stream TV instead of using an aerial.
This could be over either 4G or 5G, and it looks as if a modem/router/external antenna which can do 4x4 MIMO on all the UK bands used by different carriers will give the highest data rates -- from another post where I asked this question, this probably means bands 1/3/7/8/20/28/32/40 for 4G and 1/3/7/8/28/78 for 5G.
Dual-SIM would be nice so I can have a backup network (e.g. three main, EE secondary) in signal blackspots without SIM swapping, as would a USB port to allow file sharing (e.g. music library to Sonos) without needing a NAS server.
The NR5103E covers all the bands and has 4 (fragile!) antenna connectors, but it seems (not certain...) that these are 2x2 MIMO 5G and 2x2 MIMO 4G, so I suspect that even if it's very good in high-signal 5G areas it won't be so good out in the sticks. It's out there in volume so should be well-supported/updated, is cheap from three, has USB (but can this share files?), but is single-SIM (boo).
The Proroute NR550 covers all the bands and is 4x4 MIMO (with SMA connectors) on both 5G and 4G, is dual-SIM (hooray!) but doesn't have USB (boo). It uses the Fibocom FG150-AE modem which seems respectable (BCOM SDX55) even if the peak data rates are lower than the NR5103E. I suspect this will give higher data rates in non-urban areas than the NR5103E because of the better antenna configuration, so I'm leaning towards it.
In either case external antenna would be a 4x4 MIMO intended for vehicle roof mounting, to avoid problems with ground plane/reflections with a pole mounting antenna -- probably the Panorama Sharkfin 4x4 MIMO which is the highest gain omni I can find.
Are my assumptions right or wrong, and does anyone have any other suggestions?























