Sponsored Links

New 4g mast - go-live & router ecommendations

JTScotland

Regular Member
There is a new mast being built close to me within 1km and line-of-sight
It will be handed over to ee mid-August with tower, power and fibre connectivity all completed
Any ideas on how I can find out the go-live date once they start the commissioning process and complete any testing? Is this a 1 month or 3 month task? (assuming no issues with requesting the circuit is switched on)

The community is getting ready to join the 21st century having had no mobile signal and only 0.5mb BT broadband
What recommendations would you make for router? Go with the ee router or just get a sim and get another one?
What do we need to check before deciding on the best router? (something about bands? If so, how do we check that before buying a router?)
 
Look for one that works on bands 1, 3, 7, 8 & 20. EE don’t use band 8, but O2 and Vodafone do. The bands define the frequencies 4G operates on.
 
Your best bet for an answer to the "when will it go live?" question is really to just try asking EE directly. Only they will know for sure.
 
Sponsored Links
I don't know anything about the EE router I am afraid - but I 'suspect' it would be rather basic. That might be OK depending on your requirements - so I guess you would need to work out what those are.

As you mast is quite close then you might get away with internal antennas. If you do buy a router here are some things to consider?

1) Can I add an external LTE antenna if I need to? You want 2 antenna connections - some LTE routers just have one.
2) Do you want to rely on the LTE router's other capabilities like WIFI, VPN support, dual WAN support etc? Many of the low price LTE capable routers are quite basic in terms of functionality. If you just need better WIFI then you can just add mesh WIFI. If you want advanced router capabilities then putting a more configurable 'Ethernet/cable' router behind the LTE router might be a good way to go (using the LTE router just as a modem) but if you do this then ideally the LTE router needs to support 'bridge' mode which many don't.

On Vfe I use a phone voice and data SIM with a router I supplied. Its is £20 a month for the unlimited phone SIM and £50 a month for the mobile broadband SIM..... On cost alone it was a no-brainer to go with SIM only.

I plumped for a cheap Huawei LTE router bought on eBay (which annoying does not support bridge mode) and use a decent router behind it to do the other functions. I also have a cheap WIFI mesh system connected to that.

My setup is actually quite complex with multiple VPN clients and a VPN server running on the router. I also use dual WAN with failover and split tunneling that domestic grade LTE routers just don't come close to supporting. If you are the sort of geek who is going to use that sort of stuff then you probably already know all about it. But obviously if your needs are more modest (and typical) then the EE router might suffice.
 
Top
Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £24.00
132Mbps
Gift: None
Shell Energy UK ISP Logo
Shell Energy £26.99
109Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £27.99
145Mbps
Gift: None
Zen Internet UK ISP Logo
Zen Internet £28.00 - 35.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £15.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
YouFibre UK ISP Logo
YouFibre £19.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
BeFibre UK ISP Logo
BeFibre £21.00
150Mbps
Gift: £25 Love2Shop Card
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Sponsored Links
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (5472)
  2. BT (3505)
  3. Politics (2524)
  4. Openreach (2291)
  5. Business (2251)
  6. Building Digital UK (2234)
  7. FTTC (2041)
  8. Mobile Broadband (1961)
  9. Statistics (1778)
  10. 4G (1654)
  11. Virgin Media (1608)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1451)
  13. Fibre Optic (1392)
  14. Wireless Internet (1386)
  15. FTTH (1381)
Sponsored

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