5G instead of FTTC

TMSG

We're with TalkTalk for our broadband (rock-solid 67Mbit, FTTC) but we don't use it for about half of the year because we're not home. In the other half we use it often though do no streaming at all and rarely big downloads, more browsing, email and web development.
So I've ordered and received a Scancom Three SIM preloaded with 25GB every month till Nov 27. I've done a few tests already with a smartphone connected to our Asus router's USB port... I get around 250 to 300Mbit most of the time (that's on 5G) but speed can vary greatly though I've not yet seen less than 100Mbit. So speed-wise I think we should be mostly fine though we may have to live with the occasional drop, probably NBD. And of course if we decide to go down that route we'd get a much larger data SIM, say 500GB or so.
But what about general reliability of 5G internet? We're no great users of phone/SMS functionality (almost completely delegated to WhatsApp and Signal) so I have no idea just how reliable Three (or the others, for that matter) actually are. (NB: we also have a second, non-Three SIM with 5GB data, for those moments when we have to do something online and Three has decided to take a nap.)
So I'd be v interested to hear from people who use just 5G for their regular internet access, to get an idea of what to expect if we cancel TT. I know it's all anecdotal but it'd be interesting nevertheless.

Peter999_2

I moved in November 2024.   When I was viewing the house I checked my phone and could see that I could get 5G with three at about 450 Mbps.      When I moved in, like you I bought a Scancom SIM but this one has 1000MB a month.    I bought a Zyxel NR5103E 5G modem and could get about 900Mbps though it was variable but never below 400 Mbps which was fine by me.

It worked great - I could stream TV with no problems (I put all my streaming services down to 720p instead of 1080p/2160p (4k).     I used it for about 10 months until I got a deal with Sky for FTTP 900Mbps for £17.99 a month so I stopped using the scancom.   After my 2 year contract is up with Sky (or they put the price up and I cancel it) I would have no qualms going back to using scancom (three) again.

Boohoo

Peter999_2 said:

I moved in November 2024.   When I was viewing the house I checked my phone and could see that I could get 5G with three at about 450 Mbps.      When I moved in, like you I bought a Scancom SIM but this one has 1000MB a month.    I bought a Zyxel NR5103E 5G modem and could get about 900Mbps though it was variable but never below 400 Mbps which was fine by me.

It worked great - I could stream TV with no problems (I put all my streaming services down to 720p instead of 1080p/2160p (4k).     I used it for about 10 months until I got a deal with Sky for FTTP 900Mbps for £17.99 a month so I stopped using the scancom.   After my 2 year contract is up with Sky (or they put the price up and I cancel it) I would have no qualms going back to using scancom (three) again.

Is Scancom the provider that's on HotUKDeals a lot for prepaid data SIM?

If it is then there are some really good deals to be had.

QrizB

Just an anecdote, but my son's university flatshare didn't have broadband and their landlord wouldn't let them install it...

They bought a used eBay 4/5G router and an unlimited phone SIM. It kept six twenty-somethings fed with data for the nine months they were there. It only gave probems at about 4pm in term time when the kids from the local secondary school would congregate at the bus stop opposite and all use their phones at once to watch TikTube, saturating the cell!

The router is now home with me with another of those ScanCom SIMs in it, just in case next door's evergreen tree eats our overhead cable again (it does this every 5-10 years).

Peter999_2

Boohoo said:

Peter999_2 said:

I moved in November 2024.   When I was viewing the house I checked my phone and could see that I could get 5G with three at about 450 Mbps.      When I moved in, like you I bought a Scancom SIM but this one has 1000MB a month.    I bought a Zyxel NR5103E 5G modem and could get about 900Mbps though it was variable but never below 400 Mbps which was fine by me.

It worked great - I could stream TV with no problems (I put all my streaming services down to 720p instead of 1080p/2160p (4k).     I used it for about 10 months until I got a deal with Sky for FTTP 900Mbps for £17.99 a month so I stopped using the scancom.   After my 2 year contract is up with Sky (or they put the price up and I cancel it) I would have no qualms going back to using scancom (three) again.

Is Scancom the provider that's on HotUKDeals a lot for prepaid data SIM?

If it is then there are some really good deals to be had.

Yes, that's the company.   I didn't have any problems with them all the time I had them.    You can't check on how much data you have left, so I installed a monitor on my router which told me how much I had used (it resets every month on the 7th).   I did once go over on the 5th of the month and it stops dead - you are still connected but can't use the internet at all.   It reset on the 7th but I had to reboot the router for it to work again.

Scrounger

TMSG said:

I've done a few tests already with a smartphone connected to our Asus router's USB port... I get around 250 to 300Mbit most of the time (that's on 5G) but speed can vary greatly though I've not yet seen less than 100Mbit. So speed-wise I think we should be mostly fine though we may have to live with the occasional drop, probably NBD. And of course if we decide to go down that route we'd get a much larger data SIM, say 500GB or so.
But what about general reliability of 5G internet? We're no great users of phone/SMS functionality (almost completely delegated to WhatsApp and Signal) so I have no idea just how reliable Three (or the others, for that matter) actually are. (NB: we also have a second, non-Three SIM with 5GB data, for those moments when we have to do something online and Three has decided to take a nap.)
So I'd be v interested to hear from people who use just 5G for their regular internet access, to get an idea of what to expect if we cancel TT. I know it's all anecdotal but it'd be interesting nevertheless.

I'm using a similar setup now (3 500GB SIM, 5g phone + Asus router) and it's very reliable.  I've implemented some extra features to in order to optimise reliability even further (we're fairly heavy users - usually about 30 devices connected, and the Mrs often works (online) from home):-

Reset the router every 24 hours at 03.00 by cutting the power for two minutes using a Tapo plug.

On the 5g phone (Samsung A22): enable 'Battery protection' (helps prevent the phone battery overcharging); and with developer options enabled, set: Tethering hardware acceleration to 'On', and the Default USB configuration to 'USB tethering'.

The Asus RT-AC68U router has Dual WAN support and by Selecting 'Failover mode' I have a backup MR600 4g router (with a second 500GB data SIM) providing a 'Hot-Standby' secondary WAN connection.  This router is located in another corner of the house (and actually connects to a different tower).  In the event of a problem with the 5g (phone) data the Asus automatically switches over to the backup 4g MR600 router until the main 5g returns (at which point it switches back automatically).  This is 'belt & braces' and very rarely have I noticed it switch over.   I only implemented this feature because I had the second data SIM.

I bought the extra 500GB data SIM because I had no idea how much data we would need, in fact one 500GB would have been sufficient (average about 8-10GB per day) so I have other plans for that SIM in the new year.


Scrounger

TMSG

Some good information here Thanks for that!
The 25GB SIM/smartphone combo is just for testing purposes; in the long run I'll get a much bigger SIM. I've also looked into Mifi devices, the Zyxel mentioned by @Peter999_2 seems to be what Three offer as their branded device, so this looks perfectly doable. The only thing I am not 100% sure about is the connection between the Mifi device and our Asus router... this seems to be possible via the Mifi's Ethernet port so that our complete router setup can remain unchanged.

Peter999_2

Hi TMSG.

I have my Zyxel NR5103e connected to my gli-net router (openwrt) without any problems.   You just sent the NR5103e to passthrough, connect the cable from LAN1 on the NR5103e to the WAN port on the router and it will connect to the internet.

I then turned off the wifi on the NR5103e so I just get wifi from my gli-net router.   It works really well and I've not encountered any problems.       There are two versions of the NR5103e,  V1 and V2.   V1 is the best to buy second hand as they cut some corners on the V2.     

TMSG

Thanks for that, Peter, as that's precisely the setup I'm looking at, for my ax86u. And as I'm out of contract with TT things could move quickly  Happy to get rid of those bills.