4G Mobile Router;...”to buy or not to buy, that is the question”.

Biggus_Dickus · 26 September 2019 at 4:40PM

Not sure if this should be on here, or the ‘mobile’ forum, btw.

Landline internet is a bit crap round my way so I’ve had Virgin fibre broadband for several years and it’s been excellent to be honest.

However, their incessant hefty prices increases (10% last week) have finally tipped me over the edge. My last bill was £41,...that’s just unlimited data internet,...no phone or TV.

So I’m looking at other options. My daughter recently purchased this :-

http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices/Huawei/HomeFi?memory=0&colour=Black

The package she bought is on ‘Three’ network, unlimited data, 24 months contract with no upfront costs, £21/month (annual RPI increase in charge every May though,...probably?? 2 or 3 percent).

I’ve tried her 4g-router in my house and it runs sweet as a nut,....60Mbps download speed (speedtest.net) using Wi-Fi. My Virgin router runs at 110Mbps (speedtest.net) but I don’t really need that speed tbh. Only me and Er’indoors these days so not often there is more than one device downloading anything significant at any one time.

I’ll need to purchase a ‘Network Switch’ (£12 from Amazon) but after that I should be least £19/month better off.

Anyone got any comments/suggestions/advice regarding the above?... Any pitfalls that may be lurking?...any better/cheaper packages on offer anywhere else?

As ever, all replies gratefully received.:)

P.S. I’m probably going to have my landline telephone disconnected as well in the near future;...we rarely dial out on the landline these days and the cold/scam calls are a real pain,...so that should be another £20+ per month saving.:money:

[Deleted User] · 26 September 2019 at 5:02PM

Overall a good idea, especially as you've tested the speed you'll get.

I'm not sure how you'll connect the network switch to the Huawei MiFi device - WiFi extender? It may be better to get something like this instead of the MiFi or Huawei make some as well eg B525.

mnbvcxz · 26 September 2019 at 5:24PM

Yes I'm not sure that particular mifi has an rj45 socket.

If virgin have given you a wifi router and let you keeps it presumably you could use that as a switch? With the wifi turned off if you rather or with it on as an additional free access point.

If you want to keep your telephone number you could port it to a free VOIP service like sipgate and get a some sort of cheap voip adapter for your telephone to receive calls over the internet.

I'm not up on this but three's b311 and b315 router seem to go for around £45 unlocked on ebay though then you would have to support it yourself, but greater freedom. Might have voip built in for the brave.

Before getting too smart a mifi device consider you may want to replace it in a years time with a 5g one...

Smarty do frequent £19 offers for unlimited data sims but again no bundled device.

D_M_E · 26 September 2019 at 6:40PM

Don't Three offer a free Huawei B-310 router with their unlimited data plans?

If so, you can plug your home phone in the back of it and use it just like a normal landline as well as connect various devices to it via wifi - you just need to give people the number.

That's if you get the unlimited everything package for about £20 or so - ask in one of the shops if there's one near you.

editor1 · 30 September 2019 at 10:29AM

I've been using unlimited 4.5G Broadband for 2 years and tested a variety of 4.5G enabled routers from Huawei, Netgear and TP Link, most 4.5G Routers are not great for wifi coverage, hence, in your calculations work out the cost of both a decent 4.5G router and link that to a decent wifi router of AC3200 or above for decent coverage across the average sized home. The only issue with my own set-up is that we have restricted bandwidth that's influenced by weather conditions, so whilst I've been able to achieve above 100Mbps on the 4.5G network, I get a better 24/7 connection utilising 3G.

mnbvcxz · 30 September 2019 at 11:34AM

I hope you have spotted that if you go through quidco or topcashback the 24 month b535 package is discounted to £20 a month. You might get £60 cashback too!

Its a tradeoff. Locking yourself in for 24 months is undoubtably simpler and cheaper. Buying your own router and self supporting would give more options and the ability to quit early but cost more. You could get a monthly card with unlimited calls though.

Biggus_Dickus · 30 September 2019 at 5:18PM

mnbvcxz wrote: »

I hope you have spotted that if you go through quidco or topcashback the 24 month b535 package is discounted to £20 a month. You might get £60 cashback too!

Its a tradeoff. Locking yourself in for 24 months is undoubtably simpler and cheaper. Buying your own router and self supporting would give more options and the ability to quit early but cost more. You could get a monthly card with unlimited calls though.

I was just about to order the Huawei B535 from Three and I thought I’ll just check my thread to see if any more ‘suggestions’ had been posted,... and lo and behold!

Before I make any substantial online purchases I always check Topcashback,...but for some unknown reason I’d completely forgotten this time,...I’ll have to call it a ‘senior moment’. :doh:

However, thanks to your post I’ve just ordered the Huwei B535 unlimited data package (24months @ £20/month) through Topcashback. It should be delivered on Wednesday.

So that’s a saving of £36/per year off the usual ‘Three’ website price,.. plus an additional £60 cashback if/when it materializes.

Thanks so much;...I owe you a drink,...or three! :beer:

mnbvcxz · 30 September 2019 at 11:07PM

Well well done you. I hope it actually works

Biggus_Dickus · 1 October 2019 at 9:59AM

mnbvcxz wrote: »

Well well done you. I hope it actually works

It should be fine, thanks:);..I’ve been using my daughters ‘Three’ Huawei B311 4G Router and it’s been as sweet as a nut all weekend;...running consistently between 50Mbps and 60Mbps download and 25Mbps upload,...the upload speed is actually twice as fast as my Virgin fibre upload speed!

The ‘Three’ Huawei B535 router I’ve purchased has 4 ethernet ports which is more convenient for me. My daughters B311 router (no longer available from ‘Three’) has just 1 ethernet port.

My daughter has had a ‘Three’ 4g router for a while now and it runs consistently between 85Mbps to 90Mbps download and 20Mbps upload.

All being well I’ll be giving my expensive Virgin Fibre Broadband the heave-ho very shortly. :money:

This ‘Three’ 4G router won’t suit everyone though. My son was so impressed with the B311 router he took it to his own house to test it with a view to making a purchase because his (landline) Broadband isn’t brilliant.

He lives 3 miles away from me and although the ‘Three’ website says his post-code should have ‘Very Good Service’ it wasn’t very good at all;...it fact it was completely useless. The ‘Three’ signal strength was totally inadequate.

A close examination of the ‘Three’ network coverage map showed that his house was exactly on the transition between two distinct signal strength areas ‘Indoor & Outdoor’ and ‘Outdoor’.

Biggus_Dickus · 3 October 2019 at 11:15AM

OP here,...update for anyone still remotely interested.
I received my Huawei B535 4G Router from ‘Three’ yesterday. Quick and easy set-up,...running sweet as a nut.:)

I rang Virgin this morning to cancel my 110Mbps Fibre Broadband package (BB only, no phone or TV). It just gone up £42.50/month.

When the operator realised my request to leave Virgin wasn’t just a bluff she offered me the same package on a new 1 year contract;...£25/month for 6 months, then £30 for the remaining 6 months, which to be fair is not bad if you really need 110Mbps fibre broadband.

I declined her kind offer.

molerat · 3 October 2019 at 11:44AM

Just got a 3 SIM to give it a go. Map shows excellent coverage but only get a 15 download speed so whilst reasonable and above ADSL speeds not really a replacement for fibre. My granddaughter is waiting for Openreach to come and install her line as O2 was the only network giving her any reasonable speed.:(

4G Mobile Router;...”to buy or not to buy, that is the question”.

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