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Router Requirements for Three 5g

Will_K0

Member
Hi all,

I am contemplating having a trial of Three's 5g deal that's £30 a month for unlimited data.

My current setup uses Virgin Media's wired fibre with the modem just in modem mode and then wired into a Linksys Cisco EA6700 that I use for wireless and wired internet in our house.

We mainly use the internet for video streaming either from a connected USB drive to the router or various streaming services.

I'm wondering if my router might be a potential bottleneck if I just swap out the Virgin Media modem for the Three 5g modem? Would welcome thoughts?

Also if anyone has any recommendations for routers that will support current 5g speeds with a bit of room for future improvements that would be good.

Thanks in advance!

Will
 
Hi,

So what is your current problem with Virgin?
 
Are you getting a 5g router included in that package at £30 a month?.

I currently use the 112-372 unlocked 5g modem, its situated upstairs to get a good signal from the 5g tower, to improve downstairs wifi coverage have an Honor X3 router downstairs in Link+ mode,

The downstairs router is hidden behind the TV and the TV Soundbar and Nvidia shield are all connected to it via Ethernet. That works really well in Link+ mode getting the data from the Huawei 372 upstairs and also provides seemless wifi around the house on the 372 and the X2 as they use the same SSID etc
 
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Hi,

So what is your current problem with Virgin?
Nothing major, occasional loss of service is the main bugbear with very little in the way of explanation in terms of what's causing it or how long it will take for service to return.

More wondering if I will get increased speeds with 5g for around the same price and also intrigued that I might be able to take 5g router 'on-the-road' by having it powered off lesire battery in my caravan using an inverter 😊
 
Are you getting a 5g router included in that package at £30 a month?.

I currently use the 112-372 unlocked 5g modem, its situated upstairs to get a good signal from the 5g tower, to improve downstairs wifi coverage have an Honor X3 router downstairs in Link+ mode,

The downstairs router is hidden behind the TV and the TV Soundbar and Nvidia shield are all connected to it via Ethernet. That works really well in Link+ mode getting the data from the Huawei 372 upstairs and also provides seemless wifi around the house on the 372 and the X2 as they use the same SSID etc
Yeah they include a router, see here - http://www.three.co.uk/store/broadband/home-broadband/threeonly5ghomebroadband - might need to put in a post code, can use mine S14 1PE

My intention however is to basically only use that modem to connect to 5g network then run a ethernet cable from it to my current Linksys Router as it's setup with custom firmware (FreshTomato) that I'd ideally like to still be able to use.

My concern is that either the ethernet cable running from 5g router to my current router, the input port on my router, the router itself or the output ports / WiFi that it expels will be a bottleneck of some sort in terms of accessing the full potential speeds of the 5g...
 
Ok, so based on that postcode Three shows you are in a "pink" area, ie not the greatest signal.
I'm in a similar position and with an external router (Huawei CPE Win) I get between 150-350 Mbps dl, 30 up, 15-25 ping.

As per the above, don't think you'll hit any bottlenecks in your current setup.

It's worth a shot, but before you make the move, you need to be aware 5G/LTE can fluctuate a lot based on many factors and latency's not great. IMHO replacing Virgin with this is questionable, unless you're using it as backup.

Re caravaning with that thing.. you'll need to install an antenna on the roof and the problem with this device is that the antenna ports are only for the 5G modem, not the 4G one that you'll still need for anchor and uploads...
 
Having just left Three for Virgin, I can say in my experience at least, its like chalk and cheese by comparison. I cant imagine why your router would be a bottle-neck at all.

Unlike you I'm on coax from virgin though and haven't had 1 minute of downtime (or even a drop in speed from max 24/7), not virgin FTTP (though i was unaware they even sold it).

Really, trust me when I say "do not burden yourself with a three connection.". It's a really bad idea.
 
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I guess it depends what you use it for. I'm 3/4 of the way through my second year with three having ditched Virgin and I currently have no intention of returning. Virgin's internet service was near faultless but billing was awful and I had had enough of the constant telephone wrangles and threats to leave. In that respect Three has been refreshingly boring, same bill every month except in May with the expected small price rise which was 25p this year. Might be a bit more next year.
I get a bit of congestion during the early evening. A download at those times might only reach 3-4 MB/s but I get the feeling that Three prioritises streaming services and I never have buffering problems with HD or even UHD streaming at these busy times.
But that is the big difference between a mobile provider and cable; mobile is often more heavily contended. Three doesn't give any guarantees on minimum speeds, and AFAIK neither do the other mobile providers so WYSIWYG. If it's good enough, fine, if not look elsewhere.
 
Don't buy one of the three routers. Trust me, they are awful. Mine stopped working 1 day after I got it, even then it was EXTREMELY temperamental. 5G in my location is quick as hell (first mast tested in the video below is the one I'm connected to, actually). I could get 100Mbps max speed off this router they sent me, same location with a 5G phone I was getting 500Mbps.

 
Three doesn't give any guarantees on minimum speeds, and AFAIK neither do the other mobile providers so WYSIWYG. If it's good enough, fine, if not look elsewhere.
Three often told me anything sub 14Mbps they deemed unacceptable and wanted me to report it, not that it made any difference doing so.
 
Don't buy one of the three routers. Trust me, they are awful. Mine stopped working 1 day after I got it, even then it was EXTREMELY temperamental. 5G in my location is quick as hell (first mast tested in the video below is the one I'm connected to, actually). I could get 100Mbps max speed off this router they sent me, same location with a 5G phone I was getting 500Mbps.

Was the router using the same APN as the phone though?
 
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Thanks folks for your replies. I think I'll stick with Virgin for a while longer and wait and see how 5g develops over the coming years.
 
Thanks folks for your replies. I think I'll stick with Virgin for a while longer and wait and see how 5g develops over the coming years.
Pah! That's far too sensible Will_KO.
I bought my 5G router 3 years ago and I'm still waiting. :giggle:
 
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