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Kit recommendation for Rural East Yorkshire

Ah, I'll stop looking at the B535 then :)

I can't seem to find anything higher than Cat7 when browsing Amazon. And I can't find what the spec of the Zyxel NR5103E router is that was recommended earlier *mind, blown*
You won't find it on Amazon, but looks like CeX has it for nice price. It's a cat22 device, "light years" ahead of the B535 or TPLink Archer.

Don't get the NR5103 (ie without trailing "E") as it's a dumbed down version of the device sold by EE.


Also available on Ebay from Eternal Communications (good seller, grade C is usually perfectly fine):
 
You won't find it on Amazon, but looks like CeX has it for nice price. It's a cat22 device, "light years" ahead of the B535 or TPLink Archer.
Also check Ebay, who knows.
Don't get the NR5103 (ie without trailing "E") as it's a dumbed down version of the device sold by EE.

That's not a bad price. Might order one myself to test N78 with B32 + 3 + 1.
 
You really want a higher cat, say 18+, meaning it can aggregate more download bands, this can be crucial.
I would not get too excited about CAT numbers. I have a MF286D (CAT 12) which works reasonably well in a rural local (not quite as remote as yours). Then I bought a Huawei B818-263 (CAT19) and tried that in the same location in the attic. Performance was much better on the MF286D than on the B818-263, so that is now acting as a paperweight.
In a marginal location, I would rather spend money on a decent directional antenna (make sure it covers band 32, a lot of them don't) rather than CAT inflation. Whether Carrier Aggregation is supported is not only down to the router but the eNB as well.
The only disadvantage of the MF286D is the absence of proper external antenna connectors, so other routers may do better in that respect (including the B818-263).
 
You won't find it on Amazon, but looks like CeX has it for nice price. It's a cat22 device, "light years" ahead of the B535 or TPLink Archer.

Don't get the NR5103 (ie without trailing "E") as it's a dumbed down version of the device sold by EE.


Also available on Ebay from Eternal Communications (good seller, grade C is usually perfectly fine):
I’ve pulled the trigger on that NR5103E from eBay. Thanks!
 
I have a pair of Iskra P60 and P58. The P58 pair I'd be willing to part with but I'd need to find some cables for them (cabling was remade for lower loss cabling)

Are you near Suffolk at all, Bury st Edmunds direction?
Sadly not, I’m in Yorkshire
 
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I would not get too excited about CAT numbers. I have a MF286D (CAT 12) which works reasonably well in a rural local (not quite as remote as yours). Then I bought a Huawei B818-263 (CAT19) and tried that in the same location in the attic. Performance was much better on the MF286D than on the B818-263, so that is now acting as a paperweight.
In a marginal location, I would rather spend money on a decent directional antenna (make sure it covers band 32, a lot of them don't) rather than CAT inflation. Whether Carrier Aggregation is supported is not only down to the router but the eNB as well.
The only disadvantage of the MF286D is the absence of proper external antenna connectors, so other routers may do better in that respect (including the B818-263).

A directional antenna and pole is probably my next port of call now I’ve bought the NR5103E.

Any antenna recommendations from Amazon that (fingers crossed) might be on Prime?
 
I’ve pulled the trigger on that NR5103E from eBay. Thanks!
Bear in mind that (assuming it's originally a three one, like the Eternal ones) you need the Three app to control it easily from a phone, not the Zyxel one.

Also I hope it's not one of the batches that had bad hardware and wouldn't receive 5G, several people have been unlucky with these. As soon as you get it, I suggest you stick a SIM in for a network you know has 5G coverage where you are (check with a phone?) and confirm that 5G works.

The Eternal ones are tested as working on 5G (usually on the EE network), they're always unlocked so no need to pay extra for this -- £149 for Grade C here...

 
Bear in mind that (assuming it's originally a three one, like the Eternal ones) you need the Three app to control it easily from a phone, not the Zyxel one.
Just for very basic settings, the full nitty gritty is contained in the router GUI.:)
 
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Just for very basic settings, the full nitty gritty is contained in the router GUI.:)
True, but things like tracking/plotting signal strength and SNR are easier in the app. What I really meant was -- don't do what some people have done, download the Zyxel app and then complain it doesn't work... ;-)
 

Iskra P-60.

They're expensive, but you'll get before the weekend. 10 meters of cable too so there will be a little loss but not as bad as others - it's an LMR240 equivalent size. Most others use LMR200 or worse RG58 equivalent.
 
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I've set up a 4G connection to combine with an ADSL 8mbps service in a rural location. If buying things on Amazon might be worth experimenting with a omni-directional and a directional antenna. The omni directional might not "reach" as far, but it may mean you can connect to multiple antennas and (depending on the router) combine bands 4G+ (I think that's the right term carrier aggregation?) to get higher speeds.
I went for directional antenna. A lot less masts to choose from. Was a learning experience, not just going on the strongest signal as depends on bands. I ended up pointing the directional antenna at a mast that was further away, lower signal, but had higher bandwidth bands to lock onto. 4G+ on that is 20 to 30Mbps and same on download. The directional antenna cost £110? Poynting was the brand I chose. Been working well for over a year now.
 

Iskra P-60.

They're expensive, but you'll get before the weekend. 10 meters of cable too so there will be a little loss but not as bad as others - it's an LMR240 equivalent size. Most others use LMR200 or worse RG58 equivalent.
Lovely, thanks.

Do I need to be looking at a achieving good height when mounting this bad boy?
 
I've set up a 4G connection to combine with an ADSL 8mbps service in a rural location. If buying things on Amazon might be worth experimenting with a omni-directional and a directional antenna. The omni directional might not "reach" as far, but it may mean you can connect to multiple antennas and (depending on the router) combine bands 4G+ (I think that's the right term carrier aggregation?) to get higher speeds.
I went for directional antenna. A lot less masts to choose from. Was a learning experience, not just going on the strongest signal as depends on bands. I ended up pointing the directional antenna at a mast that was further away, lower signal, but had higher bandwidth bands to lock onto. 4G+ on that is 20 to 30Mbps and same on download. The directional antenna cost £110? Poynting was the brand I chose. Been working well for over a year now.

The issue with using an Omni directional is reliability. It will almost definitely change towers regularly and so you never know what performance your going to get.

I will always recommend, if you know where towers are and at a fixed location use directional antennas. Omni are ok for traveling and you can't be bothered with realignment reach time.

Also - the pointing LPDA 92 are ok antennas, but not particularly good with B32/1500Mhz region so they're not much use when using with Three networks as you will lose out on the SDL where it's transmitting - that's a full 20Mhz!
 
Lovely, thanks.

Do I need to be looking at a achieving good height when mounting this bad boy?
As with antennas, generally the higher the better to overcome obstacles. The only limitations are strength of fixings/poles/brackets etc.

Place 60cm apart on the pole further if possible, 30cm at an absolute minimum else you might not see any MIMO activity which is a definite nice to have and potentially drive one antenna with the other (weird coupling effect)

And while I remember, those Iskras are large, a full meter long so many sure you've got space (and permission from neighbours)
 
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True, but things like tracking/plotting signal strength and SNR are easier in the app. What I really meant was -- don't do what some people have done, download the Zyxel app and then complain it doesn't work... ;-)
TBF, That would probably be me...
 
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As with antennas, generally the higher the better to overcome obstacles. The only limitations are strength of fixings/poles/brackets etc.

Place 60cm apart on the pole further if possible, 30cm at an absolute minimum else you might not see any MIMO activity which is a definite nice to have and potentially drive one antenna with the other (weird coupling effect)

And while I remember, those Iskras are large, a full meter long so many sure you've got space (and permission from neighbours)
....And there's also the Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF) at the top of that list.
 
The issue with using an Omni directional is reliability. It will almost definitely change towers regularly and so you never know what performance your going to get.

I will always recommend, if you know where towers are and at a fixed location use directional antennas. Omni are ok for traveling and you can't be bothered with realignment reach time.
That's a fair point. Just thinking with a few masts near by, if a mast is offline for maintenance, no need to repoint antenna? Just a thought.
 
That's a fair point. Just thinking with a few masts near by, if a mast is offline for maintenance, no need to repoint antenna? Just a thought.
It's a valid worry no doubt.

I'm assuming the antenna is outside, at height here. Even with a directional antenna like the Iskra, the beam width is a measure of the gain less 3dB when plotted. However, it doesn't suddenly drop off at that point, it will still connect to other masts within it's general frontage area just with reducing gain the more you nice away from the centre line

In this case, probably only 140ish degrees of usable area infront of the property where there might be a mast - the rest is ocean behind so why waste gain and performance aiming for something that literally isn't there.

It's rare for masts to go down for extremely long periods - if it does go down, the router will connect to next best.

It is possible for backhaul to go down taking out several masts but also rare but once again, router will connect to next best effort.

Even with my parabolics and narrow beam width and rural nature, the are masts just behind the main one it will connect to if it drops. Kind of renders my backup pointless but I'd prefer to be comfortable.
 
I have a feeling that the antenna wires will introduce more interference at that length rather than helping anything. It may be worth just trying the Zyxel/Three router and seeing how it performs as is.

Most of the antennas seem to be snake oil and even at weak signal, 5G can perform very favourably. Of course the upload speeds will be a bit rubbish until 5G SA is fully rolled out.
 
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