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DNA branded B818

Martin.S

Pro Member
Is this good value or will it be as useful as a chocolate teapot here in the UK?!
DNA is a Finnish telco and I vaguely remember reading somewhere (possibly this forum?) that it might be crippled in some way/ have features disabled?
Screenshot_20210911-002403_eBay.jpg
 
There's always a risk. I'd stick to stock variants..
 
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Do they specify which bands it supports? Just going by Mikrotik LTE products where they do one version for the US and another for everywhere else, I'd expect it to be OK.
 
I have a DNA branded Huawei B818.
Easy to change and assign bands on it - very good internal antennae - but only one set is exposed to the external sockets (you can get it modded but it's not cheap). The external antenna are TS9 - so you might need an adapter, if like me, your antenna has sma - cheap to buy and again works flawlessly, but I do prefer the security of a screw fit to a push adapter.
Recentlly my EE supplied router started playing up (requiring frequent reboots) - placed this instead - working a dream on EE (using either a phone sim or data only sim).
Also used it with Three sim cards (phone and data only) - easy to adjust the APN values - it will probably come pre-installed with both public and DNA related APNs - easy to adjust - just enter the details you need and set as default APN. I have tried it with EE everywhere, three.co.uk and 3internet - worked well.
Single bands can be selected as well as double and triple bands and carrier aggregation seems to work well.
The phone socket also works (as long as you use the correct connector). I don't think any routers are VOLTE enabled by any ISPs here, so Three calls drop to 3G, but calls using 4G on EE are good to go.
As with any Huawei Router you can also play around with this using LTE-Monitor but it's just as easy to do band changing/assignment on the routers webpage. Have to say I was very pleased with it - been using it on either Three or EE for about 6 months now.
 
@aesmith
There is no specific mention on this ebay listing of the bands used, although I believe the B818-263 is the same globally and not region specific but I stand to be corrected!

@oriodec
Sounds good, I'm very tempted to buy it!
The box looks heavily customised, I'm guessing the firmware is too, is anything obvious missing like bridge mode?
Presumably the mains adapter is the euro type, I'm wondering if the B525 adapter will fit?
 
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When you can buy a 4x4 mimo 4G capable 5G mobile for circa £100 and usb slot it into a router as ‘tethered’ why waste money on old tech.

It’s a good price but it’s not future proof.

Mediatek 5G in Android is much more stable than Qualcomm 5G, it’s also a lot cheaper, the Mediatek speed tests don’t bob up and down anywhere like Qualcomm.
 
When you can buy a 4x4 mimo 4G capable 5G mobile for circa £100 and usb slot it into a router as ‘tethered’ why waste money on old tech.

It’s a good price but it’s not future proof.

Mediatek 5G in Android is much more stable than Qualcomm 5G, it’s also a lot cheaper, the Mediatek speed tests don’t bob up and down anywhere like Qualcomm.
MediaTek has worse band support. Im sticking with qualcomm as @JitteryPinger is.
 
When you can buy a 4x4 mimo 4G capable 5G mobile for circa £100 and usb slot it into a router as ‘tethered’ why waste money on old tech.
That's an interesting idea, is that what you use? I've always wondered how stable it would be long term, whether you'd have to keep resetting the phone.
 
When you can buy a 4x4 mimo 4G capable 5G mobile for circa £100 and usb slot it into a router as ‘tethered’ why waste money on old tech.

It’s a good price but it’s not future proof.

Mediatek 5G in Android is much more stable than Qualcomm 5G, it’s also a lot cheaper, the Mediatek speed tests don’t bob up and down anywhere like Qualcomm.
What device is that for £100?
 
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When you can buy a 4x4 mimo 4G capable 5G mobile for circa £100 and usb slot it into a router as ‘tethered’ why waste money on old tech.

It’s a good price but it’s not future proof.

Mediatek 5G in Android is much more stable than Qualcomm 5G, it’s also a lot cheaper, the Mediatek speed tests don’t bob up and down anywhere like Qualcomm.
This may well work for you and others in a strong 4g signal area however where I live (very rural) then an antenna or at least the mounting of the router in a high spot such as a loft is the only thing that works.
Routers generally have far better built in antennas than any mobile phone.
I have always seen better download speeds on my cat6 router than on my cat12 phone!
 
@aesmith
There is no specific mention on this ebay listing of the bands used, although I believe the B818-263 is the same globally and not region specific but I stand to be corrected!

@oriodec
Sounds good, I'm very tempted to buy it!
The box looks heavily customised, I'm guessing the firmware is too, is anything obvious missing like bridge mode?
Presumably the mains adapter is the euro type, I'm wondering if the B525 adapter will fit?
Bridge mode enable is present, though I've never found much use for it - and as it is a Huawei then all the Huawei plugs will fit this - I've used it with the plug from a B310, B525 & B535. I just turn the wifi off and plug it into my mesh network. In addition, I've tried out some scripts on the webpage console to show up alternative DHCP settings - worked a treat - but since I started using a vpn, it served no useful purpose for me.
External antennae tend to be a necessity for me - as I live in a mountainous/hilly rural area.
 
This may well work for you and others in a strong 4g signal area however where I live (very rural) then an antenna or at least the mounting of the router in a high spot such as a loft is the only thing that works.
Routers generally have far better built in antennas than any mobile phone.
I have always seen better download speeds on my cat6 router than on my cat12 phone!
I’m on 5G, 4G isn’t one to invest in really, 4G saturates like hell. It may seem 5G is one generation ahead but even Non Stand Alone 5G (it’s really 4.5G) is a massive leap of several generations.

4G LTE here is pants in the city, so saturated, max best 40-50, upto 300+ on o2/Voda 5G so it’s a no brainier. There’s a guy who will mod 4x4 mimo modems on eBay to take 4 external connections rather than the usual 2, he also sells them, if you are rural then it’s defo worth it.
Some 5G routers modems have 4x4 mimo on 4G & 2x2 on 5G... for the few quid more it would cost, 5G in rural will probably need 4x4 5G.

A phone OS will conserve battery even plugged in, that’s one of the problems. I’ve found Android 10/11 to be much better at this than previous Android and giving more throttle, Andy need to start allowing users to select a option where it really allows the phone to perform as a MiFi unit on battery or wired and only slows down where it is excessively hot that it could be a danger.

I wouldn’t ever put a 3/4/5G router in the loft, it should be room temp, as not to cause any cold damage (esp U.K. winter). I’ve also seen people put it at the ceiling height on a shelf which again is wrong as room heat rises. A shelf a third down the wall and antenna cable running up to the loft/outside I s perfect to prolong life of the (sometimes very expensive) LTE router.
 
Any investment depends on whether its short term or long term and whether your trying to get the most out of cheapest available kit or simply purchasing the best available.

I am personally hoping going forward that the 5G ODU units do become more widely available in the UK (not locked or constrained) and their costs come down.

I can't agree that the loft is not the place for kit. Personally I have found an external antenna not always to be successful with modest cost 4G kit working well without. Yes there are environmental considerations, equipment needs to breath and be within parameters but there are simple solutions you can apply as you would do with boilers, tanks etc.

I am also a proponent of down is better than up WIFI.

As an example the environmental specs for Zyxel 5G Routers are:

Outdoor
  • IP56 enclosures
  • Temperature: -20°C to 60°C (-4°F to 140°F)
  • Humidity: 5% to 95% (Non-condensing)
Indoor
  • Temperature: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F)
  • Humidity: 10% to 90% (Non-condensing)
So all I want for Christmas is a reasonably priced 5G ODU (Bridge Mode, CAT20, NSA/SA. 4x4). In or out of the loft.
 
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So all I want for Christmas is a reasonably priced 5G ODU (Bridge Mode, CAT20, NSA/SA. 4x4). In or out of the loft.
All I want for Christmas is my 3 pole of wonder Meatball. 🎅:love:🤞
 
Any investment depends on whether its short term or long term and whether your trying to get the most out of cheapest available kit or simply purchasing the best available.

I am personally hoping going forward that the 5G ODU units do become more widely available in the UK (not locked or constrained) and their costs come down.

I can't agree that the loft is not the place for kit. Personally I have found an external antenna not always to be successful with modest cost 4G kit working well without. Yes there are environmental considerations, equipment needs to breath and be within parameters but there are simple solutions you can apply as you would do with boilers, tanks etc.

I am also a proponent of down is better than up WIFI.

As an example the environmental specs for Zyxel 5G Routers are:

Outdoor
  • IP56 enclosures
  • Temperature: -20°C to 60°C (-4°F to 140°F)
  • Humidity: 5% to 95% (Non-condensing)
Indoor
  • Temperature: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F)
  • Humidity: 10% to 90% (Non-condensing)
So all I want for Christmas is a reasonably priced 5G ODU (Bridge Mode, CAT20, NSA/SA. 4x4). In or out of the loft.
True but most don’t cover -20.

ODU great kit, I really do think where Openreach fail Broadband speeds it should be supplied at near cost to consumers as part of Ofcom Universal Obligations, mobile network has a data issue then you fall back to slowband broadband until you (& network) can fault diagnose or you grab a unlimited payg sim if its prudent of importance.

it’s 2021 kit like ODU should be forced on BT to be bought at volume price & sold on to consumers, its BTs failure after all Openreach. 2021 still dial up and slowband, its not like we have a landmass like India/AU/USA.
 
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