Looking for advice on Mobile home broadband

Martinaob

Hi, I've been with sky home broadband for the last two years. Speeds were fine up until the last few months. I began struggling to get good download speeds on my phone in general. But for the last month my sister has been teaching online from home. When she is doing her zoom calls, I can do nothing on my phone and streaming on my firestick is impossible.

I've had similar problems in the past with bt, and can't get fibre in my area. 

I've been thinking about moving to 4g broadband to see if it's any better. I just signed up to three broadband, but then saw a lot of bad reviews on Facebook!

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on a 4g router, what I'd need. And do I need a specific sim card for mobile broadband, or can I get a normal high data sim?

Thank you 

Neil_Jones

You need a decent mobile signal first for mobile broadband.  Get some free PAYG sims from the big four (Vodafone, Three, EE and O2) and see what sort of signal you get on each of them with your phone.  Note:  Everybody else piggybacks on one of these, there are only four mobile networks.

Once you know what networks you get good signal with, will help you determine who to look at.  If you get crap signal on all the networks (which may be slower than what you have now) then its pointless going down this route.

matelodave

4G is only going to be as good as the service that you get where you want to use it. In the end you'll have to find out which suppliers can provide a decent service - you could try that by getting some Paygo sims and trying them out in your phone.

There are no guarantees regarding service or performance and 4G is subject to the vagaries or weather, location and network loading so dont dump your landline service until you've testing out the alternatives. A lot of people are having problems with their broadbands speed because there are thousands more people using it and stuff like Zoom and streaming uses lots more bandwidth than just internet browsing or e-mails.

tacpot12

If you are prepared to invest in a mobile broadband solution, I would suggest you review the options here : 4G Antennas - View our range of high gain 4G LTE compatible antennas (3grouterstore.co.uk)  a good external aerial (antenna) and a router than can accept it will give you the best chance of good internet speeds over a mobile connection. 

Martinaob

Thank you. I still have my line broadband and plan to test the 4g speeds as a home WiFi system before I cancel with sky.
I have always had exceptional 4g coverage in my house with o2 on my phone (although it has been oddly patching this month).
I've previously tried three, ee and Vodafone in my house which have had zero coverage, so I doubt the Three hub I have coming will actually work as well as they suggest.

I'm just afraid to invest in an independent 4g router without knowing what I should be looking for. So if anyone would have any advice on that, that would be great!
But I also worry about getting a normal sim card which may involve me being cut off for exceeding their limits

J_B

We use Airband a wireless service, no mobile signal or landline required.

The service is excellent 90% of the time and awful the other 10%

matelodave

J_B said:

We use Airband a wireless service, no mobile signal or landline required.

The service is excellent 90% of the time and awful the other 10%

It's only any good if it's available where you live and that's not in many places around the country

Cisco001

I am using 5G broadband from three. 
I am happy with it in general.

I would say three and vodafone mobile broadband price are acceptable where compare to normal broadband.
O2 and EE are just too expensive.
Do you have signal outside the house?

CEX sell used Huawei B535 for £85. 
Add an outdoor external antenna if you are determine to use 4G router.