5G for home internet?

Does anyone here use Three exclusively for their home internet?

The place I’m in has connections for both fiber and Virgin Media. However, I don’t do much streaming, and my internet usage is fairly light, mainly consisting of browsing Reddit and Twitter and watching the occasional YouTube video. I gave my 65-inch TV and streaming box to my girlfriend, who I visit every weekend, so I just use a PC for entertainment now.

I’ve noticed that Three has two offers at €20 per month for the first 12 months, then increasing to €40 per month, with a 3% increase plus inflation every April. Both plans run for 24 months.

I’ve estimated that the average cost would be around €32 per month over the 24 months, including the price increase.

I’m not sure whether I should opt for just getting the modem or go for the home installation with an external antenna. I don’t have line of sight from my ground-floor apartment to either of the towers. I haven’t tried standing on a ladder and pointing my phone toward the tower at the back, but I could consider mounting an external antenna there since I used to have a Sky dish, which is no longer in place.

Alternatively, should I just buy my own 5G modem and get an external antenna if needed? I should note that I haven’t tested Vodafone yet.

pizzahead77

Are you an existing Three mobile customer? If so, what is the 5G coverage like in the apartment/area.

Would you have permission to install the aerial on an external wall of your apartment?

If you have fibre available at your apartment, it would give more reliable speeds.

Sky are currently doing 500Mb or 1GB for €30 per month and after the year's up you could move to a better deal.

smuggler.ie

I am, decade or so.
But your situation will differ from anyone else - its mobile and "up to" is quite low,contract would be my last choice.
€20 PAYG/28d (21.67 per month) still same mobile, same masts, -customer service(useless for me anyway)
Speed fluctuate(whatever they do there, fe***rs), but i usually can get it above my needs. 4G below by the way, 5G similar, just with different ratio DL (lower)/UL (higher)

Other providers have some plans too, but three has no caps - 1TB no limits/restrictions or at least i never encounter

If you have no limits on mobile data and no need of internet while you away, perhaps hotspot from the phone would cover demand…

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122622783#Comment_122622783

I'm currently trialling Three mobile using an eSIM. I'm not sure if a physical same would be better as I only seem to get 5G outside although inside my phone shows the 5G signal bar, according to an app I used to monitor frequencies. I am only getting LTE inside. I won't know until I get a router. Whether this is an issue with my phone or an issue using an eSIM.

Unfortunately, I am just out of a contract with Sky plus I want the flexibility of being able to move and not being tied into a contract. For example, I may decide in the next few months to move in with my girlfriend, so not being tied into a contract for Internet or at least having one that is portable would be a bonus.

I've checked outside and it looks like it would be fairly easy, although I would need to get someone to install it for me to put an aerial on the now disused communal TV aerial mast and then run the cable down the wall to a vent and feed the cable into my apartment. The 5G/LTE transmitters for Eir, Three and Vodafone are only around 200 m away. Do you think it would be worth getting those plug-in rabbit ear antennas for the modem or perhaps some other antenna that I don't necessarily have to mount would a directional antenna work, even if I didn't have direct line of sight inside and was able to point it in the direction of the mast.

I'm hoping with the modem that I have ordered. If the firmware allows it. I can force the modem to use a certain frequency, and possibly lock it to just using that tower.

IncognitoMan

We had the 3 5G mobile broadband for the last 2 years… we were getting a 5G connection up until the last 2 months or so. Then for some reason, it dropped to 4G/4G+

You can log into the router and see the signal and what it is. Download speeds showing speeds far below 5G

When we rang 3 they told us that the 5G connection was not available in our area. When I argued that we had been on a 5G connection for the guts of the previous 2 years they told me I must be mistaken that they do not offer that service in our area.

So I went back and found screenshots of speed tests that we had done over the previous 2 years clearly showing that we had 5G connection and speeds that you simply could not achieve on a 4G connection.

Also, I showed them the deal we signed up to - 5G…

The agent could offer no explanation as to why 5G was no longer available and could only offer to terminate the contract early as the service had been degraded without any indication of when or if it would be returned

So yeah, 3 5G was great for like 20 months and then taken away without any warning or explanation! Even their own online help coudln't get an answer as to why

KildareP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122627970#Comment_122627970

They're vastly overselling their network.

Selling 5G broadband as a replacement to fibre (as their current TV ad campaign suggests) with no limit and introductory prices of €20 a month for 12-months is only going to have one end result. Serious congestion.

Not to mention you have the likes of 48 (runs on Three network) coming along with €12.99 a month for unlimited everything - that's just going to make an already congested network even worse.

5G in my own area with them has now gone to pot at peak times - low double digit speeds, high packet loss and jitter so bad you'd struggle to have a Whatsapp voice call never mind a video call. The same at 5am will give you several hundred megabits and zero jitter or packet loss.

Unsurprisingly, they blitzed the area about a year or so back selling their 5G Gold fixed wireless product and quite a few houses now have the antennae plonked on the side of the house. They were charging €40 a month with the first six-months free (and if you had Three mobile I think you got 12-months), compared to the fibre to the home offerings which all start from €40 a month with nowhere near that level of discount on offer.

JustJust a quick update So far I have been finding it quite good speeds seem to be around 80 megabits per second on average going up to over 200 at night time.

The ZTE MC801a gets a better signal than my phone once it has been positioned correctly however the 5G signal is still -102 dB despite being on my window.

Unfortunately the side facing the mast is a solid wall so in order to get the best signal I may have to consider putting up an antenna outside.

I know this varies from location to location but I do wonder how much roughly it would cost to have someone come and install it for me?

smuggler.ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122647044#Comment_122647044

ZTE MC801a external antenna ports for n77/n78 bands only. It was/is no improvement with Iskra P60 - there is no n77/78 in my area, is there in yours ?
Let me know if you have updated info re band support on this router.

Try set router in the attic - less obstructions in any direction and up higher.

In some instances, forcing device into 4G only mode might give you better consistency at insignificant loss of speed that fluctuate

On Three at least where I am I'm on 5G band n1 I haven't yet tested Vodafone to see what band that uses in my location.

Unfortunately, when I inserted my 3-SIM card, the router automatically updated to the latest firmware. Even using the JavaScript mod, there doesn't seem to be any antenna option, even hidden my understanding is that in this latest release they either got rid of the option to manually select using an antenna and made it automatic or on this particular model or it was always automatic switching when it detected a connected antenna.

Strangely I found a manual written in Bulgarian that listed the supported frequencies on the external antenna ports as being "700 MHz до 4200 MHz"

There is no mention of the frequencies in either the English or Arabic I have emailed ZTE clarification and they have passed on my query about what bands are supported on the external antenna ports to their technical team.

I will post their response as soon as I get a reply.

smuggler.ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122650258#Comment_122650258

links to your discoveries would save time for other(and me too) looking for additional info , should they want/need. Thanks

2ndcoming

I only got the Three 5G installed a few months ago. We've moved to a spot where our house specifically can't easily get fibre due to quirks with the poles on the road outside - we'd have to run our own cable a fair distance to get to the nearest connection point.

I have to say I find it very good for my needs anyway. As I type I'm getting 95 down / 20 up which is plenty for me. At quieter times it gets up to about 320 down / 100 up. These are wireless figures. The Vodafone mobile broadband it replaced used to only manage in the 5-20 range for download speed which was miserable to say the least.

I could be helped by the fact that the fibre issue only affects us and the vast majority of houses in the area would have access to fibre and are more than likely using it the demand maybe never gets too squeezed but it's working grand for me so far anyway.

WanderingMan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122650626#Comment_122650626

I know I am not the person that you asked but I had a similar query so I emailed ZTE to ask about the external antennas. Their response was brief, but unfortunately I can confirm that at least with version 1 of the 5G modem, the external antenna ports only support 5G.

Dear Customer,
Thank you for reaching out to us. I appreciate your inquiry regarding the MC801A router and its external antenna capabilities. To answer your question, the external antenna ports on the MC801A router are designed to support 5G band extension only. Unfortunately, these ports do not support the frequencies used for 4G connections.

As far as I am aware there was a hardware revision so if you have version 2 of the modem you should be able to get 4G frequencies through the external antenna ports.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122829825#Comment_122829825

To specifically say 4G or 5G bands is vague, what frequencies does it support?

Mobile frequencies are technologically neutral so 4G or 5G could be in any frequency.

WanderingMan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122831105#Comment_122831105I presume that this discussion is correct in that the version 1 of the router supports N77 and N78 or 3.6 gigahertz and up.

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the 5G spectrum here in Ireland and if there are any companies that use those two bands.

WanderingMan

Sorry, boards keep screwing up my post formatting.

Here is the link I was talking about.

https://confusedbird.com/thread-321.html

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122831163#Comment_122831163

All three MNOs have spectrum in that band plus Imagine Broadband.

https://www.comreg.ie/industry/radio-spectrum/spectrum-awards/3-6-ghz-band-transition/

reggie3434

anyone here use a 5g router and a 48 sim? I see they lifted their data cap but would like to know it works ok before getting the router.

I had a 4g setup which worked well before

reggie3434

bought a second hand ZTE router, getting 180mb on 4g so delighted with that, 5g should be higher again so all the best fibre

s_carnage

Have 5g broadband with three and have found it very good the last 2 years so decided to switch our mobiles over to three at the weekend.

Mobile Internet has been very bad since switching from Vodafone. Have done numerous speed tests and getting 1-10 mbs on 5g and 4g mobile broadband and then switching to the wifi through three 5g can get 200+. Been on to costumer service and they are looking into it.

Anyone come across something like this where the mobile network is much much poorer than the home broadband at the same location and both on Three 5g?

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123159472#Comment_123159472

Without knowing your setup it could be down to mobile signal quality/strength between the two mobile networks where you use the mobile phones.

Do you know if both networks use the same mobile mast?

Does the Three broadband router have an external antenna?

whizbang

I recently ordered and got a sim from 48 to test.

I am in a poor area according to comreg maps on all the providers, but I gave it a go anyway.

48 would only connect in 3G (+CA sometimes) at speeds of up to 3Mb..! but a friend on Three got 4G at up to 20Mb recently. So - Is the 48 free sim limited until i signup???

With my currect Vodafone sim in router I can get 4G, but anywhere from 2Mb-25Mb, I havent found any pattern. I DIYed a broadband external antenna, and it brought the Vodafone speeds up, but 48 was still fixed at 3G

Theres a new mast just popped up (without antenna yet) about 1/2 Km away, but dont know who provider is.

Does anyone know if i can get a GoMo sim without paying up front ?

AllForIt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123161614#Comment_123161614

48 would only connect in 3G (+CA sometimes) at speeds of up to 3Mb..! but a friend on Three got 4G at up to 20Mb recently. So - Is the 48 free sim limited until i signup???

No, if anything they would throttle up your speeds so you'd sign up.

s_carnage

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123160079#Comment_123160079

Yeah I have an external antenna but thought Three mobile and home 5G would be using the same mast as both the same network. Have tried numerous speed tests (upstairs beside where external antenna is located and outside) and fail to get over 10mbs everytime while still getting over 150mbs everywhere in home with the home 5G broadband.

Had assumed it wouldn't be as good as the home broadband but it's unusable at times and can quite often can only make calls upstairs.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123161789#Comment_123161789

The antenna is for the router, connects to the mast independently of any other devices and this is what make the difference.

The mobile phones connect to the mast separately of the broadband router, via their own small internal antennas.

A mobile repeater would be required to boost the mobile signal indoors.

Vodafone's coverage was better indoors maybe because it was coming from a different mast, possibly a closer mast?

Look up Comreg's Siteviewer website to see the location of the various mobile operators masts in your area.

TimHorton

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123161614#Comment_123161614

"Theres a new mast just popped up (without antenna yet) about 1/2 Km away, but dont know who provider is." Check the planning application for the new mast. It will have details

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123179668#Comment_123179668

Not necessarily, masts up to 12m are exempt from planning

whizbang

Found the Planning: 'On Tower Ireland Limited' doesnt tell me a lot..

The Cush

The documentation attached to the planning application will have the information about who will be using the mast

pluto_322

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123161640#Comment_123161640

Got 48 SIM last month, would only connect at reduced 4G speeds for trial period but got good 5G on signing up - varying between 70 & 280 Mbps. Very happy with removal of download cap.

reggie3434

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123232731#Comment_123232731

same setup, cancelled sky broadband which felt good!