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Mikrotik Cat12 router

Thanks @cytec for the help! Setting APN via terminal worked immediately :)

Have discovered you can enter APN details for multiple neworks the same way, it will remember them all, and automatically use the correct one as you switch between sim cards. The webUI will show the incorrect one but it doesn't matter.

Re @mobilebroadband21 question about the UI. Yes it is just broken. However it's the only area of the UI I've found that doesn't work, everything else seems fine, it's snappy to use and changes are applied very quickly.

I've only had it up for 4 days now but it's not fallen over and I've been using it heavily.

You can limit which bands it uses, which is handy, but unfortunately I don't think you can specifiy CA bands. I'm quite new to the world of LTE so I may missunderstand whats possilbe, but for example on O2, by restricting bands I have discovered:

Primary and CA bands both B20
15 down / 25 up

Primary and CA bands both B40
65 down / 6 up

So obviously I'd like it to be using a combination of those, but if I tick 20 and 40, it only ever connects primary and CA to the same bands, never mixed, which honestly I thought was the whole point of CA.

All in all, still happy with it, excellent performance for it's price.

Some speed comparisons for anyone interested:

EE
CAT 4 (MR6400) 18 / 24
CAT 12 (mikrotik) 45 / 30
CAT 16 (phone) 65 / 15
CAT 19 CPE pro 100 / 45

Voxi (Vodafone)
CAT 4 (MR6400) 8 / 3
CAT 12 (mikrotik) 14 / 7
CAT 16 (phone) 14 / 7
CAT 19 CPE pro 14 / 6

Giffgaff (O2)
CAT 4 (MR6400) 9 / 3
CAT 12 (mikrotik) 65 / 6
CAT 16 (phone) 45 / 7 (no idea why slow)
CAT 19 CPE pro 65 / 19

Three's 4G is too useless here to bother testing.
 
Interesting comparison between routers. So the Huawei CPE Pro is on average a bit quicker, which is what I found, though I was comparing the Huawei B618 with the MikroTik SXT LTE6 kit, RBSXTR&R11E-LTE6
 
While the mikrotik can aggregate B20+B40 I don't believe it's a combination that O2 have deployed so you'll not see those aggregate together. I think that's mainly because of the difficulties in aggregating a FDD band with a TDD band.
 
Hi! I'm looking at getting the Chateau LTE12 and was wondering about the product, and a more general thing. I understand this is a UK-based forum, but maybe someone knows.

First off, do I correctly understand that the SMA antennas that can be added are for improving LTE reach, rather than WiFi?

I want to set up a remote/rural network in Spain. Where I plan to install, a smartphone gets a lucky 1 bar on the connection. Will this product get a good connection, perhaps with the antennas, or do I need to invest in something that ups the reach? It would be great to have stable, immobile, high speed connection.

I know Vodafone, Orange, and Movi have coverage where I'll be. Can I simply take one of their SIM-only unlimited data SIMs and stick it in the Chateau, to achieve a fixed network connection to this place (for months/years)?

In other words: Can I use a normal phone SIM, or do I need to use a special SIM / contract to be able to use this setup for a longer period of time?

PS: I know all bands used by (at least) Vodafone ES are supported.
 
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If you are very remote, then maybe look at other products, such as mikrotik lhg_lte6_kit or sxt_lte6_kit that are optimised for low signal areas.

And yes, in theory any normal sim card should work.
 
Thanks for getting back to me! What puts me off about lhg_lte6_kit and sxt_lte6_kit is the lack of a 1Gbit RJ45; I don't understand why you would get a 300Mbit 4G LTE modem when you can only output 100Mbit in the end. Their lack of WiFi or multiple RJ45's isn't a dealbreaker, but the output just seems too low.

The Chateau seems to have it all, 600Mbit LTE, WiFi-ac, and Gbit LAN.

If the added SMA antennas on the Chateau actually significantly improve reach, then I believe it would be good for what I'm looking at, since we're getting 1-3 bars reach when moving higher on the mountainside (rather than the ~1 bar in the valley).
 
Well, their reasoning might be that in such remote areas you are unlikely to reach more than 100 mbps anyway. What speed do you get on your phone?
 
I've got one of their dedicated LTE routers, the older one called " MIKROTIK SXT LTE kit". Having a dedicated LTE device means it can be located to get the best signal independent of any other network devices. It's powered by PoE from my main router so there's just the one Ethernet cable to the SXT. It's outdoor rated but I have ours in the loft at the moment.

Their current SXT is Cat 6 but since I can't receive anything except Band 20 I wouldn't see any benefit.

Using a "Smarty" SIM on the Three network, and it's been our main Internet connection for around 18 months now.
 
Hi! I'm looking at getting the Chateau LTE12 and was wondering about the product, and a more general thing. I understand this is a UK-based forum, but maybe someone knows.

First off, do I correctly understand that the SMA antennas that can be added are for improving LTE reach, rather than WiFi?

I want to set up a remote/rural network in Spain. Where I plan to install, a smartphone gets a lucky 1 bar on the connection. Will this product get a good connection, perhaps with the antennas, or do I need to invest in something that ups the reach? It would be great to have stable, immobile, high speed connection.

I know Vodafone, Orange, and Movi have coverage where I'll be. Can I simply take one of their SIM-only unlimited data SIMs and stick it in the Chateau, to achieve a fixed network connection to this place (for months/years)?

In other words: Can I use a normal phone SIM, or do I need to use a special SIM / contract to be able to use this setup for a longer period of time?

PS: I know all bands used by (at least) Vodafone ES are supported.
Dozens of photos of the interior of the Chateau LTE12 are here:


Of note is that while on internal antennae you can use four, if you wire up external, mimo1 and mimo2 are still on internal unless you rewire them to take advantage of the spare external sma holes.

It may be worth rewiring the internals and externals, you can also use the spare sma holes for WiFi if required.

There's a 55 page thread over on ixbt of issues with the modem firmware of the LTE12:

 
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