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Too much choice! LTE/5G Router.

dobbyhdm

Member
I hope you can help!

TLDR question: What is the 'best value' LTE & 5G Router? any and all suggestions/gotchas welcomed!

Over the last 4 weeks I've been trawling the web (mostly this forum) to find the best 'bang-for-buck' 5g/LTE router option.
My problem is, there is so much information spanning the last 2 years or so, some of which is contradicting and left me a little perplexed.

Current Situation
I have borrowed a Mikrotik SXT-6 that has provided an acceptable 45mbps, bu this tails off after around 3 hrs to 12mbps. I have been in touch with EE and hey have assured me there is no 'fair use or QoS that should affect this.

In the same place, on my S24 Ultra Im getting 110mbps (on 4G). I suspect this is down to the fact the phone s not limited to the CAT 6 CA capabilities?...

The reason i am looking for a 5g option is that it is coming to my area shortly, so i am looking to future proof where possible. The device will also likely be hooked up to my campervan and used as a permanent solution for working on the road.

Looked at so far:
  • ZTE MC801A 5G
  • Zyxel NR5103E
  • Robustel R5020
  • ZTE MC888
  • And so many more.
Cheers Folks!
 
If considering use at home and a campervan then you really need a compact device that can easily be switched between them. My NR510E is an excellent router but its really too bulky for my van.

Unfortunately 5G modems are still expensive and so are the compact router units.

In my van I use a USB tethered MIFI through a Gl.iNet router (old versions of Opel or Beryl) to which I can then additionally tether (via Ethernet or USB) a 5G phone (early versions) where necessary. (USB 2 limitations apply). For general use the MIFI is fine for moderate speeds in practice and the phone provides additional connectivity options when needed. Simple 12v to USB converters for power.

Unlocked EE CAT 7 MIFI (£30)
Opal (£34)
Old/Refurbished 5G phone (£100)

My NR510E has been great and used on all networks. A lot of the THREE contracts are coming to an end this summer so more of these may be coming onto the used market soon. If cheap enough I will gut one for the van.

I am still watching the price of the Gl.iNet Spitz AX though.
 
If considering use at home and a campervan then you really need a compact device that can easily be switched between them. My NR510E is an excellent router but its really too bulky for my van.

Unfortunately 5G modems are still expensive and so are the compact router units.

In my van I use a USB tethered MIFI through a Gl.iNet router (old versions of Opel or Beryl) to which I can then additionally tether (via Ethernet or USB) a 5G phone (early versions) where necessary. (USB 2 limitations apply). For general use the MIFI is fine for moderate speeds in practice and the phone provides additional connectivity options when needed. Simple 12v to USB converters for power.

Unlocked EE CAT 7 MIFI (£30)
Opal (£34)
Old/Refurbished 5G phone (£100)

My NR510E has been great and used on all networks. A lot of the THREE contracts are coming to an end this summer so more of these may be coming onto the used market soon. If cheap enough I will gut one for the van.

I am still watching the price of the Gl.iNet Spitz AX though.
Thanks for the speedy response! I have an electrical cupboard with room to spare in the van and conduit running to the roof for antennas (should i go that route).

My van is parked directly adjacent to my office/study so I could leave it in situ in the van and piggy back off the wifi or run a CAT6E cable to m switch/APs inside. (3.6Kwh of batery and 450w of solar, so shouldnt be an issue running 24/7)
 
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I don't know which one is the best option, but some feedback about the NR5103E.

I'm happy with mine. It's not as fast as my S23 Ultra, but I only see a 50 or 100Mbps difference when I'm already getting 400Mbps+, so in practice it doesn't affect me that much.

The downsides is that it doesn't have QoS and I can't lock it to a mast (I can disable some bands, which is essential in my case). I believe some routers have this, so if this is something you really need, you should go with something else. If you plan to use O2 or Vodafone, a router that can aggregate low bands would also be a better option depending on the area.

Regarding phones, that's what I had before getting a dedicated router. I think they have an advantage on speeds compared to the cheaper routers, but they're not very good as routers. For example, sometimes I had to reboot the phone(s) because the WiFi hotspot was behaving weirdly or a device couldn't connect. To fix this I'd need to use another device as router/WiFi (and a USB-to-Ethernet+Power adapter connected to the phone) and the phone only as a modem... on top of this, while we can root the phone to control the bands it uses, battery charging, etc, after a point I had to ask myself if it didn't make more sense to use a 5G router so I didn't have to deal with all this... so far I think that was the right thing to do.
 
Sxt LTE 6 is limited by the 10/100 ethernet port.
You could put a Quectel em12g in it, cat12 so would be better than the cat6, would aggregate up to 600 down but as you're limited by the ethernet max you can see is just under 100 down.
 
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