Literally had tried all the main provider and still don't know what best for me.

pizzacooper

Hi all, I recently moved to the countryside and because of my living situation, I cannot have normal broadband because of sharing one Eircode.

I tried a sim card in the router method to get internet, but it seems there is no perfect solution. I did check the mass coverage and coverage map and from the main provider, Vodafone and Eir are the best, and Three is fair.

1. Three 20 euro all you can eat: The internet is great only in one spot on the window, literally cannot move the router more than 5cm. This spot is just a bad spot for the house to place the router there. I hung the router on the wall next to it to get an "okay". In general, the speed varies from super great 20-40mbps to sometimes lower than 1-2mbps. I used to have this sim on my phone and the signal is crap at my place. Sometimes speedtest.com shows decent speed but when online gaming the lag is crazy. Steaming is also not stable at times (pixelated on and off).
2. AnPost 18 euro: I was thinking that AnPost uses Vodafone's network and it supposes to be "very good" on the coverage map. But I guess AnPost in general is just crap so speed is laughable.
3. Vodafone X 5G, 25 euro: I ended up trying Vodafone, the most expensive of all on the list hoping that it will solve my problem. The first time I was at the shop, there was a gentleman arguing with the staff about that he can't get internet when put in his router. Then the staff was saying about Vodafone blocking that kind of usage because of fair data blah blah. I ended up leaving the shop, but then later went back thinking that must be bluffing. And yes the sims don't work at all on my router despite the APN setting. The internet is crap as well on my phone so there goes my hope and money.
4. GoMo 15 euro: My neighbor used it on the phone and said the signal is good. I wanted to move away from Three on my phone anyway since the signal is crap, so I changed my phone to GoMo and was super excited to see the signal is very good, and the internet is the best of all so far! (usually gets 20-40 constantly). I then put it on the router and thought that is it! everything is great. Gaming, Steaming, Speed. I download games and little do I know that the fair usage is only 120GB! So, the speed is capped at around 5-6 Mbps which is still good (I am able to game better than Three at 10-20 Mbps). But still, I feel that the data cap is so low, and thinking then I'll be having good internet for half a month, then probably use it up. But so far it is the most stable and I might even use it despite the cap. The bad thing is the contract compared to other prepaid.

Sorry for the long post! I'm just frustrated since the Eircode problem that I cannot have broadband. It is just no perfect solution and wonder if I am missing some options. I don't want to give up using their "mobile broadband" which costs double and I have the router already.. Thanks for reading this far and for all the help!

Happy_Harry

• Get 2 or 3 GOMO SIM cards and change out once your usage is over the FUP.
• See if you can get Imagine or Net1 or any other local fixed wireless provider.
• Get Starlink, which is the expensive solution
• (how about trying to get an eircode ? I don't know what is involved , but that is probably the best solution long term)

smuggler.ie

What router you use (make and model)? Three has external router (ZTE MC7010)

External antenna can improve things too

pizzacooper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120852028#Comment_120852028

Hi, thanks for the reply. I bought my own TP-Link MR500.

I guess I didn't want to do the outside installation since it mean I will have to be with their mobile broadband which is more expensive. I know that might be better but I heard a lot of people, and have a friend, who has the main internet with a prepaid mobile sim card in a router.

The only thing is that if GoMo would not have a 120 GB cap, it is perfect because the speed is good for what I got. Now that I got a cap for overuse, the speed comes from 30-40 down to only 5 Mbps but for streaming and even gaming is not the worst because the signal is so stable, compare to Three that I barely get a constant signal around my place.

I guess because I already have/bought my router then I want it to work.

smuggler.ie

TP-Link MR500 is not even "good" router to my opinion if not to say "cr**". Where LTE CAT6 is match to Huawei B525, Huawei have external antenna ports(option to boost 4G signal with proper external 4G antenna) and i believe much better build. Both routers would be quite dated at this point, but works to degree of their capabilities.

Locate nearest masts on comreg siteviewer.

Try to take router outside, locate to nearest mast side of the house and see if you get better speed, on three i mean, no caps.

If speed improve, there is chance to get even better speed with Huawei B818 (CAT19) or higher CAT models.

External antenna + good router inside = works for me for last decade, starting with speeds under 100 back in the day on different Huawei models(including B525) and increasing up 200 with B818 now. YMMV as many factors have effect.

Worth reading below and some other threads

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2057089101/advice-needed-on-external-3g-4g-antenna

pizzacooper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120864361#Comment_120864361

Thanks for the help! The location near mass is tricky because there are two points that are about 5 or so km, one northwest and another one southwest of my apartment which has only windows to the west. I think hence the router by that one window is the best. The router choice is also due to my budget.

The funny thing is those spots on the Comreg site existed Three and Eir masts. I got a very good Eir signal (on my GoMo) but Three..not so good. Maybe it is more people who use Three in my area??

About the external antenna to strengthen the signal. I don't know how much I have to invest in that. And I guess it has to be a solution to wire from the external antenna to the internal router as well correct? I don't know about this because the landlord is a bit old school and might not want me to put holes, install things etc. also I am not super handy myself.

Furthermore, I guess I see the only reason to put an external antenna is to get a "Three" signal if I want to use it. The GoMo signal is very good so far just that 120gb cap that sucks. I guess maybe I try to use that for now and see how many times I go under the cap. Just this month it went on cap fast from me downloading a 100gb video game.

Though the antenna might make Eir's signal even stronger (though on my phone is already show a full bar)? Because my router is 4G but isn't 4G can go up to 100mbps? Anyway, when I'm in the next town my GoMo on my phone gets the 5G and it runs about 100 mbps.

pizzacooper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120851413#Comment_120851413

Hi, thanks for the help!

• I actually might do that because it is a very good signal for the phone anyway, and 15 euros for unlimited data (120gb though) is a good phone sim. So basically our household will include 3 GoMos, 1 for me, 1 for my wife, and 1 in the router. I mean, when the speed is cap it caps at 4-5 mbps. So it is good enough to surf, stream. And when I want to download stuff then maybe I turn my hotspot.
• Those are expensive compared to the GoMo method. But yeah 1TB cap is basically you don't have to think about it
• Yes, that is quite expensive. I envy people who have it hehe.