Sponsored Links

Mikrotik Chateau vs SXT?

chrisgla

Member
Need a router for caravan in rural Scotland while we restore a cottage- only need around 20 - 30Mbps for home working and VPN back to HAP AC2 at main home.

Coverage is 4G, good on EE or VF, Three poor.

Choice seems to be between:-
- Second User SXT LTE6 @ £80 or so
- Chateau LTE12 @ £200
- Chateau LTE18 @ £250

SXT has benefit of outdoor although I actually get not a bad signal indoor.
Have line of site to mast, Cellmapper info for Vodafone attached.

Chateau has advantage I can use if later for site to site VPN over FTTC- this is available at almost full rate of about 70/ 20Mbps.

Chateau 5G would be nice but pushes budget too much and I'm not up to date with LTE enough to know if LTE12 or 18

Any thoughts on best option- or other option giving site to site VPN over mobile I might not have thought of?
 

Attachments

  • VF1.webp
    VF1.webp
    26.9 KB · Views: 74
Thanks, good price! Think I'll stick to the SXT as a minimum, the screenshot I attached has RSRQ @-13dB and SNR at only 2dB (used Pixel 7 for test). That's on band 20, I think band 3 is also on mast but not getting enough signal strength.

What I'm not sure of is if the fancy tricks around CA, etc in the Chateau/ LTE12 and 18 are worth it for rural use vs the gain of the SXT.

This stuff's easy at work where I'd just buy one of each to compare- harder to just pick one!
 
Sponsored Links
The SXT LTE6 modem is dire, known as the r11e-LTE6 it's carrier aggregation is shown on the second page of this PDF:

On the other hand the Chateau LTE12 has a Quectel EG12-EA:

Quectel does not only have more bands and the chance of 3CA, it also gets better reception than Tik's r11e-lte modems, Tik have changed to Quectel Modems in America.

If only they would do that this side of the pond...

Anyway, the SXT is nice, but you may end up wanting to swap the modem to something that actually holds the signal and gives decent throughput.

The wAP ac LTE6 is a hAP ac2 with a LTE modem, but it's got the same quality modem as the SXT.
 
I’m happy with my SXT with the Quectel EP06 modem. I may swap the modem to my LHGG to see if it improves the dismal performance I experienced with it at the weekend.
 
Reading more it seems the Chateau LTE 18 needs rewired for external antennas on 4G whereas the Chateau LTE 12 has software switched.

So it seems a toss up between the better modem in the Chateau 12 which will be Band 3/ 7/ 20 carrier aggregation and I can add an antenna if needed.

The WAP AC is an import- losing gain and import hastle not worth it for me...

I am also having moments of insanity and thinking Chateau 5G might be worth it long term as it’s one of the areas BT/ EE May roll out rural 5G. Not sure I like the messing about with external antennas though- but I do like having IKEv2 and the other options a good routerboard gives in case I move to FTTC.
 
Chateau 5G would probably need rewiring if you look at

Chateau LTE12 teardown over here:

In the LTE12 default state all four antenna are internal, and the two external antenna ports are okay, although you can open the case wire all four antenna to be external and use whatever you want on the end.
 
Sponsored Links
Top
Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £22.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
Vodafone UK ISP Logo
Vodafone £24.00 - 26.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
NOW UK ISP Logo
NOW £24.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £25.99
145Mbps
Gift: £50 Reward Card
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £17.00
200Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £22.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Youfibre UK ISP Logo
Youfibre £23.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Sponsored Links
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (6027)
  2. BT (3639)
  3. Politics (2721)
  4. Business (2440)
  5. Openreach (2405)
  6. Building Digital UK (2330)
  7. Mobile Broadband (2146)
  8. FTTC (2083)
  9. Statistics (1901)
  10. 4G (1816)
  11. Virgin Media (1764)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1582)
  13. Fibre Optic (1467)
  14. Wireless Internet (1462)
  15. 5G (1407)
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms  ,  Privacy and Cookie Policy  ,  Links  ,  Website Rules