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Which outdoor router should I get?

littlesheep

Casual Member
I'm suffering from a rubbish ADSL2 fixed broadband, can't get fibre, so want to try mobile broadband instead.

Cell Mapper tells me that my house is supposed to be within cells from:

EE: 2 masts both with B1 and B3
Vodafone: 1 mast with B20 (800 MHz)
3 Mobile: 2 masts with B1, B3 and B20

My iPhone 14 (with EE) sometimes gives me a 5G signal, usually when I'm in the garden. Inside I get a weak 4G signal generally. If I use my phone as a hotspot and lean it against an upstairs window I can get good bandwidth but it's not that stable or reliable.

Since Cell Mapper doesn't show any N28 or N78 masts so I am guessing that EE's 5G signal is carried over one of the older 4G frequencies B1 or B3?

I like the idea of an outdoor router so I don't have to mess around with antennas so much.

I'm looking at a couple of options, a Huawei Pro 2 Win and a Four Faith FNB600. The Huawei is a bit cheaper, and from a better-known brand, and gets good reviews, but doesn't cover the N28 band.

From what I have researched I don't think we have the N28 band here (yet) so I'm tempted to just buy the Huawei. Does that seem like a reasonable decision? Or is it a bit silly to buy something that doesn't cover N28 when it is being rolled out now? How likely is it that Cell Mapper is out of date?
 
ZTE MC7010 Tends to be available for a decent price, supports a wide range of bands, and from what I have heard works rather well.

As for what network I would give Vodafone a miss if B20 is all there is. That will give a strong signal but generally the speed doesn't tend to be very fast. It would be between EE and Three - And EE tends to suffer far less with network congestion so would probably be where I would start with this.
 
ZTE MC7010 Tends to be available for a decent price, supports a wide range of bands, and from what I have heard works rather well.

As for what network I would give Vodafone a miss if B20 is all there is. That will give a strong signal but generally the speed doesn't tend to be very fast. It would be between EE and Three - And EE tends to suffer far less with network congestion so would probably be where I would start with this.
Thanks, yeah I did have a quick look for the ZTE MC7010 but can't seem to find it new at the moment in the UK. There are a few of them 2nd hand on eBay with "3" logos on them, which may be fine but would prefer to buy new with warranty ideally.
 
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IMHO, 5G on n28 is a waste of time in most cases, ideally you need n78 as the best option, or, as you suggested 5G using refarmed N1 and or n3.

Do you have a idea which Mast you are using to get your 5G from?, bear in mind that on the EE Network you could be getting your 4G and 5G from different Masts.

If you to post up, or, you can send me a PM with your Post Code I can have a look at my 5G Maps for the EE Network and try and see if you can get any n78 from EE available to you, that would make decisions easier for which Outdoor Router to use or possibly an Indoor Router with some Directional 5G Antennas.

Chris.
 
IMHO, 5G on n28 is a waste of time in most cases, ideally you need n78 as the best option, or, as you suggested 5G using refarmed N1 and or n3.

Do you have a idea which Mast you are using to get your 5G from?, bear in mind that on the EE Network you could be getting your 4G and 5G from different Masts.

If you to post up, or, you can send me a PM with your Post Code I can have a look at my 5G Maps for the EE Network and try and see if you can get any n78 from EE available to you, that would make decisions easier for which Outdoor Router to use or possibly an Indoor Router with some Directional 5G Antennas.

Chris.

To be honest I'm not super bothered about getting very high speeds, if I could get a reliable 50 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up that would be awesome. At the moment we have 17 Mbps down on ADSL which is working OK for us. But the 0.6Mbps up is a real killer! The key thing for me is decent reliability, stability and low latency so video calls for work run properly.

Anyway I've sent you my postcode, thanks for helping :)

Cell Mapper currently says there are no 5G services but since I get it on my phone I know something is going on, I was assuming it's the B1 and B3 bands.
 
Cellmapper doesn't appear to show 5g cell towers yet.
Install netmonster on your phone as that will show you the 5g band you are connected to.
Most likely 2100 n1 so the huawei wont be any use for 5g for you.
I have the same problem as rural and only 2100 n1 5g and cant find a new outdoor router to buy.
 
Last edited:
Cellmapper doesn't appear to show 5g cell towers yet.
Install netmonster on your phone as that will show you the 5g band you are connected to.
Most likely 2100 n28 so the huawei wont be any use for 5g for you.
I have the same problem as rural and only 2100 n28 5g and cant find a new outdoor router to buy.
I'm on iOS so no NetMonster unfortunately.

So you think there is likely to be an N28 mast but Cell Mapper is just out of date? Rather than EE using the B1 and B3 bands and repurposing as N1 and N3?
 
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Cellmapper doesn't appear to show 5g cell towers yet.
Install netmonster on your phone as that will show you the 5g band you are connected to.
Most likely 2100 n28 so the huawei wont be any use for 5g for you.
I have the same problem as rural and only 2100 n28 5g and cant find a new outdoor router to buy.
That's expected. Cellmapper only shows 5G standalone towers, not non standalone towers.
 
I'm on iOS so no NetMonster unfortunately.

So you think there is likely to be an N28 mast but Cell Mapper is just out of date? Rather than EE using the B1 and B3 bands and repurposing as N1 and N3?
I was wrong with N28, (I have edited my earlier post) for me since 3G switch off there has been a lot of 2100mhz 5g appearing in rural areas around me so for me I need a router that will support N1 2100mhz so not the Huawei external router.

There is a bit of 700mhz b28 locally but that would be slow.

Probably ZTE if I can find one that is new and affordable and not locked as I need to use EE
 
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On balance I don't think it makes sense for me to buy the Huawei CPE Win. It's listed as supporting:

5G Bands: N41/N77/N78/N79
4G/LTE Bands: B1/3/5/7/8/18/19/20/28/32/34/38/39/40/41/42/43

Since we have 5G here and since there are apparently no masts likely to have N78 anywhere nearby, I reckon the Huawei wouldn't get a 5G signal. even though I can get it on my phone. Might just as well get a cheaper 4G unit in that case I guess.

Isn't it a bit weird that these outdoor routers are so hard to get hold of?
 
On balance I don't think it makes sense for me to buy the Huawei CPE Win. It's listed as supporting:

5G Bands: N41/N77/N78/N79
4G/LTE Bands: B1/3/5/7/8/18/19/20/28/32/34/38/39/40/41/42/43

Since we have 5G here and since there are apparently no masts likely to have N78 anywhere nearby, I reckon the Huawei wouldn't get a 5G signal. even though I can get it on my phone. Might just as well get a cheaper 4G unit in that case I guess.

Isn't it a bit weird that these outdoor routers are so hard to get hold of?
Yeah, wouldn't bother with the Huawei considering it'll only connect to standard n78 deployments or rare O2/Vodafone 5G n38 deployments.

Have you tried to field test mode to see what band your 5G is delivered over? I think it shows it for NSA connections?
 
Just get a used mc7010 from eBay (yes you'll struggle to find them new) and have fun. I can't remember the last time I used warranty for anything.
 
Erm, why hasn’t anyone mentioned the
Huawei 5G CPE MAX 5 - H352-381

It’s the 2023/24 model which replaced the 5G CPE WIN!

I bought one a few weeks ago!

It’s pretty awesome!

Lots of N1!

Band Lock, Cell Lock, & Frequency Lock too, without the need for LTE Manager!

IMG_4343-compressed.webp
 
Ähm, warum hat das niemand erwähnt?
Huawei 5G CPE MAX 5 - H352-381

Es handelt sich um das Modell 2023/24, das den 5G CPE WIN! ersetzt hat.

Ich habe vor ein paar Wochen eines gekauft!

Es ist ziemlich großartig!

Viel N1!

Auch Bandsperre, Zellensperre und Frequenzsperre, ohne dass ein LTE-Manager erforderlich ist!

View attachment 13450

Hey, wo hast du es gekauft? Das Gerät ist interessant, aber unterstützt es n75? Der Oppo ist auch gut, der neue aber nicht Outdoor

O Test No good Huawei


Und was ist mit Askey?
 
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Erm, why hasn’t anyone mentioned the
Huawei 5G CPE MAX 5 - H352-381

It’s the 2023/24 model which replaced the 5G CPE WIN!

I bought one a few weeks ago!

It’s pretty awesome!

Lots of N1!

Band Lock, Cell Lock, & Frequency Lock too, without the need for LTE Manager!

View attachment 13450
Oh. I didn't know about that. There's almost no information about it that I could see. For example I went to the Huawei website and even putting the model name directly into search you get nothing. That might be why my initial searches didn't find it.

Looks remarkably like the ZTE MC889, I wonder if they're made in the same factory.

Good to hear that it works well. Could be an option. I can see it for sale for £400 in a bundle with a Wifi router. Shame it's not available cheaper as a standalone unit as I already have a really good, up-to-date wifi setup.
 
Yeah, wouldn't bother with the Huawei considering it'll only connect to standard n78 deployments or rare O2/Vodafone 5G n38 deployments.

Have you tried to field test mode to see what band your 5G is delivered over? I think it shows it for NSA connections?
I've just tried this (didn't realise my iPhone had a field test mode!) and I don't really understand the results:

IMG_7185.webp
IMG_7184.webp


So whether I connect to 4G or 5G, the serving cell info looks remarkably similar, both say 'Band 3'. Does that mean the 4G connection is B3 and the 5G one is N3?
 
I've just tried this (didn't realise my iPhone had a field test mode!) and I don't really understand the results:

View attachment 13451View attachment 13452

So whether I connect to 4G or 5G, the serving cell info looks remarkably similar, both say 'Band 3'. Does that mean the 4G connection is B3 and the 5G one is N3?
Have to assume you're definitely connected to 5G, but I don't think the 5G carrier is n3. I will admit I'm not familiar with iPhones, but it's possible that you might be aggregating B3+B3 and n1 or n28 perhaps?
 
Have to assume you're definitely connected to 5G, but I don't think the 5G carrier is n3. I will admit I'm not familiar with iPhones, but it's possible that you might be aggregating B3+B3 and n1 or n28 perhaps?
Actually, it may not be n1, looking at the mast at Nailsea and Backwell station (hello fellow West of England human), B1 4G is broadcasting from there (last seen 10th of March which would suggest it's still there) and I'm not aware that EE is doing DSS on B1.

I would wage my bets on that being n28.
 
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