Mobile/Portable Wifi Product Recommendation

HollyandCo

Hello

Can anyone recommend a good product.  I am going to stay at a house that does not have a broadband connection.   I don't want to tether/hot-spot off my phone and obviously I don't want to enter into a long-term contract.

I guess at most it will be used to connect about 4 devices and allow me to work from home.  

Greatful if you can vouch for a good product.

Neil49

Step one is to find out if there is a decent mobile phone signal available at the house and the network that it's on.

Take a look at the TP Link M7350 as a starting point. 

PHK

I use a ZTEMU5001 which will work in any network. It also comes with two aerials for low reception areas. On EE, I get around 500Mbps on 5G and 100Mbps on 4G

They are often available on eBay or Amazon as an unlocked Vodafone device (still works on all networks ) for about £140 to £150. I use with a 1p Mobile unlimited data SIM. 

HollyandCo

Neil49 said:

Step one is to find out if there is a decent mobile phone signal available at the house and the network that it's on.

Take a look at the TP Link M7350 as a starting point. 

Thank you.  Its a very good reception for mobile phone.  Thank you, I will look into TP Link M7350.

Vitor

TP-Link TL-MR6400 4G LTE WiFi Router, SIM Card Slot, 4G Router, 4 LAN Ports, Up to 32 Devices, 2 Antennas, Plug&Play, Parental Controls, Home/Remote, QoS Priority, WAN Connection Backup : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

BFBW

I wrote out a long list of caveats and recommendations, but a problem with the Browser and all lost.

Simply put, neither suggestion above can has the capability to connect to the 5GHz band, nor can they combine LTE bands. The MR-6400 is from 2016.

If you want something of a similar standard, but can connect to 5GHz, there is the MR-400 for £26
https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=6935364006839
Archer MR400 | AC1200 Wireless Dual Band 4G LTE Router | TP-Link United Kingdom

Of course if you have a penchant for paying over the odds for vintage tech, don't let me stop you   I have a Blackberry you can buy if you like.

For something that can combine 4G bands for higher speeds and has 2.4GHz/5GHz capability at the same price point you were considering, there is https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=8885020623277 for £60
Archer MR515 | 4G+ Cat6 AC1200 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router | TP-Link United Kingdom


Alternatively, an older model that has a similar, but slightly lesser capability for £50 https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=SNETTPLARCMR600
Archer MR600 | 4G+ Cat6 AC1200 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router | TP-Link United Kingdom

Step up to 5G mobile broadband? 

https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=6902176112935 £90 delivered.
£150 via Amazon.
Though personally I would avoid a battery powered device, unless I needed portability
Three 5G MiFi Review | ZTE U50 Mobile Broadband

They also have the ZTE MU5001 mentioned in an earlier post, for £120 https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=SMOBZTEMU5001EUNL
Though it's another battery powered device.

I left this work for @Cisco001 but they've gone AWOL
 

BFBW

PHK said:

I use a ZTEMU5001 which will work in any network. It also comes with two aerials for low reception areas. On EE, I get around 500Mbps on 5G and 100Mbps on 4G

They are often available on eBay or Amazon as an unlocked Vodafone device (still works on all networks ) for about £140 to £150. I use with a 1p Mobile unlimited data SIM. 

Do you mind posting screenshots after testing via https://testmy.net ?

Frozen_up_north

For a long time we have been running EE mobile broadband with a TP-Link 5G router. These particular routers are quite good for remote access too. Bought new you don't get much change from £200 for the router.

We use EE data SIMs from Scancom on Amazon. Prices can be as low as £6 ~ £7 per month for 50 GB per month, up to around £14 per month for "unlimited". These prices are for non contract "pay in advance, throw the SIM away" purchases. Note in practice the mobile networks may limit use to 500 GB or so per month.

At our rural location we obtain around 50 Mb/s at one house and double that at another. This place is about 2 miles from the EE site, speed test from the more distant house below from a few minutes ago.

HollyandCo

Vitor said:

TP-Link TL-MR6400 4G LTE WiFi Router, SIM Card Slot, 4G Router, 4 LAN Ports, Up to 32 Devices, 2 Antennas, Plug&Play, Parental Controls, Home/Remote, QoS Priority, WAN Connection Backup : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Thank you.  I had a look at this on Amazon.  I am not a techie person.  The picture of the TP Link, on the Amazon Website, showed the Link Attached to a Router.  The Router looked like it was connected to a phone line.

I won't have a router or a phone line.   Have I misunderstood the setup and how it is used?

HollyandCo

BFBW said:

I wrote out a long list of caveats and recommendations, but a problem with the Browser and all lost.

Simply put, neither suggestion above can has the capability to connect to the 5GHz band, nor can they combine LTE bands. The MR-6400 is from 2016.

If you want something of a similar standard, but can connect to 5GHz, there is the MR-400 for £26
https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=6935364006839
Archer MR400 | AC1200 Wireless Dual Band 4G LTE Router | TP-Link United Kingdom

Of course if you have a penchant for paying over the odds for vintage tech, don't let me stop you   I have a Blackberry you can buy if you like.

For something that can combine 4G bands for higher speeds and has 2.4GHz/5GHz capability at the same price point you were considering, there is https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=8885020623277 for £60
Archer MR515 | 4G+ Cat6 AC1200 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router | TP-Link United Kingdom


Alternatively, an older model that has a similar, but slightly lesser capability for £50 https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=SNETTPLARCMR600
Archer MR600 | 4G+ Cat6 AC1200 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router | TP-Link United Kingdom

Step up to 5G mobile broadband? 

https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=6902176112935 £90 delivered.
£150 via Amazon.
Though personally I would avoid a battery powered device, unless I needed portability
Three 5G MiFi Review | ZTE U50 Mobile Broadband

They also have the ZTE MU5001 mentioned in an earlier post, for £120 https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=SMOBZTEMU5001EUNL
Though it's another battery powered device.

I left this work for @Cisco001 but they've gone AWOL
 

Thank you, this is a very interesting post.  Can I ask a couple of questions (sorry, I am just not a techy person).

These devices, could it make sense that (at my permanent residence) that I actually ditch the broadband service I have (ISP).  In short, I live in a village where my broadband is naff.   It constantly drops and often my TV buffers.

If I stand outside of my house, I get good coverage to use my mobile phone.  However, in doors, I have to stand in particular rooms or connect to my WIFI router to talk over Whatsapp.   I absolutely hate my Broadband at home!

Cisco001

BFBW said:

I wrote out a long list of caveats and recommendations, but a problem with the Browser and all lost.

Simply put, neither suggestion above can has the capability to connect to the 5GHz band, nor can they combine LTE bands. The MR-6400 is from 2016.

If you want something of a similar standard, but can connect to 5GHz, there is the MR-400 for £26
https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=6935364006839
Archer MR400 | AC1200 Wireless Dual Band 4G LTE Router | TP-Link United Kingdom

Of course if you have a penchant for paying over the odds for vintage tech, don't let me stop you   I have a Blackberry you can buy if you like.

For something that can combine 4G bands for higher speeds and has 2.4GHz/5GHz capability at the same price point you were considering, there is https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=8885020623277 for £60
Archer MR515 | 4G+ Cat6 AC1200 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router | TP-Link United Kingdom


Alternatively, an older model that has a similar, but slightly lesser capability for £50 https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=SNETTPLARCMR600
Archer MR600 | 4G+ Cat6 AC1200 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router | TP-Link United Kingdom

Step up to 5G mobile broadband? 

https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=6902176112935 £90 delivered.
£150 via Amazon.
Though personally I would avoid a battery powered device, unless I needed portability
Three 5G MiFi Review | ZTE U50 Mobile Broadband

They also have the ZTE MU5001 mentioned in an earlier post, for £120 https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=SMOBZTEMU5001EUNL
Though it's another battery powered device.

I left this work for @Cisco001 but they've gone AWOL
 

I would say £40 ZTE MF286D or Sercomm LTE2122GT from CEX instead if OP in 4G area.
ZTE MF286D is CAT12 while Sercomm is CAT 18