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Feedback on 4G router setup

thelazer365

Member
Hi, first time posting here but have found the information here very helpful with a project I've been working on.

I live in a semi-rural area with very poor broadband speeds of circa 4 Mbps on a good day. In fairness, after upgrading my router to a Linksys MR7350 connected into a Draytek ADSL modem and siting the router in a dedicated cabinet in the the hallway, I’ve managed to get a good wireless network signal throughout the house and it does what I need it to do. The only real frustration comes with a large download or several members of the household all streaming.

I had been holding out for Gigaclear who have been working in the local area. In fact, some properties less that 100 metres away can actually get the service but the availability date for my property has been pushed and pushed and is now out to September of next year. As a result, I decided to take a serious look at alternative ways to improve my speeds.

Satellite is prohibitively expensive for the amount of data I use but I have noticed that mobile data speeds have got progressively better over the last few years and the costs of an unlimited data package is now comparable with that of fixed broadband, so I feel this is a viable alternative.

I should also note that I live in a square of 10 properties which are a mix of terraced, semi detaches and detached. If I tour around the area with my I can get speeds of 100Mbps on my iPhone 11 Pro Max connected to EE once I leave the development. Even in built up areas it’s possible to achieve good speeds and I’ve clocked 60Mbps in more built up areas, including the square. That said, speeds do appear to drop considerably once I enter the square and are consistently worse once indoors.

Found the two nearby mast locations. There is one slightly nearer to the south west and another north north west. Playing around, it looks like the south west face of the property has the best signal and consistently generates the best speeds, so I sited an external aerial (Poynting 4G-XPOL-A0001 Cross Polarised 4G Omni LTE Antenna) on the gutter of that side of the house and plugged it into a Netgear 4G modem (LB2120) which I’ve then connected into my WiFi router.

The aerial definitely improves things. Most apparent is that the bars on the router go from 2-3. I did achieve some good speeds with the router alone but this was with the window wide open which is hardly practical for a number of reasons.

Although the results have been encouraging I would say they were less than expected. It been disappointing that I’ve only been able to clock around 30Mbps max and 10Mbps most of the time. Although I had expected speeds to vary considerable, it’s not really going to be worth investing in a permanent setup if I can’t significantly improve download speeds. One point of interest is that upload speeds are consistently better, now around 8Mbps up from less that 1Mbps

I'd like to get people's views on how I might improve the setup. My current thinking is as follows.

1) Site the aerial a bit higher. The thinking being if I can get this above the roof top it should have a fairly clear path to both the nearby masts and be less prone to interference from other households.

2) Try a different 4G modem. I’ve seen various Huawei models cited on here as being good and the iPhone does seem to be able to clock better speeds that the modem. Accepted that this is a single device without the complication of a WiFi router in the way. 5G reception in my area is probably still quite a long way away but no objections to future proofing the setup.

3) Ditch the PAYG SIM I’m currently using in favour of a contract. I understand the speeds on this may be limited and therefore not as good.

I would also note that I’ve had to move my WiFi router to a windowsill in the corner of the property so the signal from that may not be as consistent as it was when in the hallway. I think the eventual plan would be to site the 4G router in the attic and then run an Ethernet cable down the side of the property back to the cabinet in the hallway.
 
I feel like the router is definitely your weakest point.
If you go with the iPhone in the loft what speeds do you get? If they are good then invest in a good router, such as Huawei B818 or B628, Netgear Nighthawk etc.
 
Hi, thanks for the response. When you say ‘router’ are you talking about the modem and router combination?

I’ve always been a fan of separating out these devices as I find it simpler for diagnostic purposes (hence the Draytek ADSL modem in the original setup). Plus easier to swap in and out if modem and router are separate.

This is more of a personal philosophy of mine so keen to see how a different setup performs.

Speeds in the attic are not inspiring to be honest. It’s a modern house so heavily insulated. Having had great success in a previous house with a Freeview aerial perched on some shoe boxes, I did spend a good bit of time up there with and without the external aerial before settling on the south west window sill as the optimum spot.

I kind of bought the Netgear as a bit of a knee jerk as didn’t really have an in depth knowledge of the kit. It seems like a decent device but very keen to try some more upmarket kit. Ultimately, I do plan to site the modem up there as can potentially cut down on the cable length on the aerial. Something I understand can impact signal quality.

Will let you know how I get on. Any other suggestions from anyone very welcome.
 
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@thelazer365 when I say router I mean the LTE router, which is LB2120 in this case.
This is a cat 4 device, meaning it cannot do any band aggregation to get better speeds etc. This is basically 10-15yo technology now..

It's worth trying a cat 12 or newer device, which is why I recommended the routers above. Something that is closer to the performances of a modern smartphone.

Also, do note this is some hard times we're living in, with the chipset shortage, brexit and so on, good lte routers are expensive and kind of rare.
 
Thanks, that’s really relevant as although I’d say the LB2120 ‘feels like’ a robust device, the objective here is to get the best speeds possible whilst still maintaining a reliable connection.

I’ve tried out the Nighthawk and speeds have been marginally better. Really like it, but it’s probably a bit overkill for my purposes through as I only really need the modem part, already having a decent router.

Tried a 3 SIM as well. Can’t quite get the speeds that EE has but it’s less prone to slowing down in the evening so IMO a better option.

There are some older threads on here as to what the best kit but would be interested to get some up to date opinions on

I think my next move would be to get the Nighthawk out in the open and compare speeds with the iPhone at the best spots. Would also be keen to mount the aerial up a little higher as above the roof it would have direct line of site to at least one of the towers.

That said, there is a good new story here that Gigaclear have turned up this morning and are running the fibre through the BT ducts. (Great news on 2 counts as they won’t be digging up the block paving after all.) Apparently I will then come up on the system and can book an appointment to get the fibre run into the property.

A very fun exercise, albeit a bit fiddly, that I would recommend for anyone who can’t attain download speeds of above 5Mbps from their fixed broadband.
 
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