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New to 4G home broadband

JamesT

Casual Member
Hi all.
I have just had an offer accepted on a property in a rural area which has very poor broadband through the traditional means so I am looking at a 4G router. I have no knowledge at all about 4G routers or where to start. I have looked at Cellmapper but really don't understand the information given. Can anybody point me in the right direction please... The postcode is LL219SF
 
try this website and pop your postcode in, it would seem that EE/O2/Voda offer 4g in that area and Three not so good, no idea what real-world speeds would be like though, you'd have to test that with each sim.
 
try this website and pop your postcode in, it would seem that EE/O2/Voda offer 4g in that area and Three not so good, no idea what real-world speeds would be like though, you'd have to test that with each sim.
That's great thanks. Is there any way of knowing potential speeds from that data?
 
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That's great thanks. Is there any way of knowing potential speeds from that data?
Try pay as you go in a phone at the location. I would say skip Three tbh as the signal doesn't seem great. Try Lebara (Vodafone), 1p (EE) and then giffgaff (O2). In the eventuality none of those three are decent, then try smarty (Three). Wouldn't hold out much hope for three though given the spotty signal.

Order free Lebara SIM

Order free giffgaff SIM

Order 1p SIM (£10 topup to order required)

Order SMARTY 4GB SIM
 
Try pay as you go in a phone at the location. I would say skip Three tbh as the signal doesn't seem great. Try Lebara (Vodafone), 1p (EE) and then giffgaff (O2). In the eventuality none of those three are decent, then try smarty (Three). Wouldn't hold out much hope for three though given the spotty signal.

Order free Lebara SIM

Order free giffgaff SIM

Order 1p SIM (£10 topup to order required)

Order SMARTY 4GB SIM
So I try these in a phone to check speeds? My next question is gonna be router reccomendations :giggle:
 
So I try these in a phone to check speeds? My next question is gonna be router reccomendations :giggle:
20220802_115620.jpg

Hi JamesT, you could always get the three branded ZTE MC801A from CEX, it's only £120 and would future proof you for 5G too when it becomes available in your locale. (It's not locked to three)

Here's mine on the right seperated by a Hue play bar to stop any fights with the Huawei CPE Pro 2. 😁 ( Huawei = EE / ZTE = 3)

You can have a lengthy read up on it on the thread started by @dabigm on the link below.

dabigm's thread

Hope that's of some interest to you. :)
 
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Hi JamesT, you could always get the three branded ZTE MC801A from CEX, it's only £120 and would future proof you for 5G when it becomes available in your locale.
Are the ZTE devices unlocked?
 
View attachment 2979
Hi JamesT, you could always get the three branded ZTE MC801A from CEX, it's only £120 and would future proof you for 5G too when it becomes available in your locale. (It's not locked to three)

Here's mine on the right seperated by a Hue play bar to stop any fights with the Huawei CPE Pro 2. 😁 ( Huawei = EE / ZTE = 3)

You can have a lengthy read up on it on the thread started by @dabigm on the link below.

dabigm's thread

Hope that's of some interest to you. :)
Cheers. Sadly no stock at £120 but the none 3 type in stock at £145.
Any other recomendations? Not sure how important 5G is to me as the router will be antique by the time 5G is available here :)
 
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Cheers. Sadly no stock at £120 but the none 3 type in stock at £145.
Any other recomendations? Not sure how important 5G is to me as the router will be antique by the time 5G is available here :)
Aw that's a shame, there were loads when I bought mine, everyone must have spotted it was a great wee bargain.

Theres the Huawei B818, but not too cheap, or you can get a lower CAT router like the Archer.

Huawei B818

Archer

The higer the CAT specs the router is, it may perform faster, but it all depends on how your mast performs of course.

There's quite a few older Huawei's you can get too if you search for them, they are quite cheap, all depends on your budget too of course.

Just do a wee Google search for 4G routers and the world's your oyster. :giggle:
 
Aw that's a shame, there were loads when I bought mine, everyone must have spotted it was a great wee bargain.

Theres the Huawei B818, but not too cheap, or you can get a lower CAT router like the Archer.

Huawei B818

Archer

The higer the CAT specs the router is, it may perform faster, but it all depends on how your mast performs of course.

There's quite a few older Huawei's you can get too if you search for them, they are quite cheap, all depends on your budget too of course.

Just do a wee Google search for 4G routers and the world's your oyster. :giggle:
More likely CEX noticed the three branded ones are actually unlocked, and are making £25 extra.

ZLT X21 looks good on Aliexpress for £135.
 
More likely CEX noticed the three branded ones are actually unlocked, and are making £25 extra.

ZLT X21 looks good on Aliexpress for £135.
Yeah probably meritez, haven't heard of ZLT before, but price is OK, maybe another VN007 type of router, who knows. :giggle:
 
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Just wanted to come back and thank you guys - I had a fruitful conversation with an Openreach engineer working near to the property who told me that I will have Gigabit broadband withing the next 4 weeks, the system is already upgraded and just finalising connections!!
Cheers.
 
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