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Replacing Landline broadband with a 4G Router and a SIM Card. Good Idea?

  • 11-01-2021 5:25pm
    #1
    Cuttlefish
    Registered Users Posts: 727 ✭✭✭


    Hi folks,

    Was talking to a work colleague and he mentioned getting broadband services in his house using a 4G Router with a SIM card installed and that some mobile phone service providers offer unlimited data

    So got me thinking as I am on EIR and find it not reliable enough in my 3 Bedroom semi-D would this be a better option as it would take away the wiring from the cabinet out on the road somewhere to the house?

    Is this recommended or is landline broadband better

    Like to hear your thoughts/ experiences


Comments

  • #2
    jdon72
    Registered Users Posts: 244 ✭✭jdon72


    Depends on how fast your wired broadband is and what the signal is like in your area. Current mobile broadband pricing is 300GB with Vodafone for €40 / month, 750GB with eir for €30 / month and 750GB with three for €30 / month (three could be fully unlimited though, not sure). If you already have a 4G sim router though, you can any sim you want and put it in e.g. if 100GB would be enough for you, you could get 48's plan at €8 / month


  • #3
    Cuttlefish
    Registered Users Posts: 727 ✭✭✭Cuttlefish


    jdon72 wrote: »
    Depends on how fast your wired broadband is and what the signal is like in your area. Current mobile broadband pricing is 300GB with Vodafone for €40 / month, 750GB with eir for €30 / month and 750GB with three for €30 / month (three could be fully unlimited though, not sure). If you already have a 4G sim router though, you can any sim you want and put it in e.g. if 100GB would be enough for you, you could get 48's plan at €8 / month

    Don't have a 4G SIM router would have to buy one think they about 80 -120 euro

    Main thing would be reliability of it, am near Cork city so expect 4G coverage to be good


    the pricing you mentioned above is for broadband speeds? If so then they are pretty decent speeds


  • #4
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,164 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    Thats for whatever speed the network can bare. It could be 150Mb, it could be 2Mb.



    Check out Grimeires thread in the Midband sub, he's just outside Cork using 4G and while it works, stability leaves a lot to be desired.


  • #5
    naughto
    Registered Users Posts: 7,316 ✭✭✭naughto


    jdon72 wrote: »
    Depends on how fast your wired broadband is and what the signal is like in your area. Current mobile broadband pricing is 300GB with Vodafone for €40 / month, 750GB with eir for €30 / month and 750GB with three for €30 / month (three could be fully unlimited though, not sure). If you already have a 4G sim router though, you can any sim you want and put it in e.g. if 100GB would be enough for you, you could get 48's plan at €8 / month
    The top up of 20euro from 3 is what you need pop the sim in the router.
    It will depend on location and how close you are to the mast for speed,ping ect

    (Sorry quoted the wrong post)


  • #6
    dam099
    Registered Users Posts: 1,080 ✭✭✭dam099


    Cuttlefish wrote: »
    Hi folks,

    So got me thinking as I am on EIR and find it not reliable enough in my 3 Bedroom semi-D would this be a better option as it would take away the wiring from the cabinet out on the road somewhere to the house?

    I am guessing you are on DSL of some sort. Is it ADSL/ADSL2 or VDSL (do you know what sort of cabinet is on the road e.g.one of the green ones and how far from it are you)?

    Are you measuring reliability based on WiFi? What speed do you get on a wired connection to the router with a Desktop PC or Laptop?

    You should first determine if your issue is external to do with your internet connection (testing wired to the router) or internal due to poor WiFi coverage/Router performance.

    If it is your internet connection then 4G might help (subject to caveats already flagged by other posters) but if its the crap ISP router giving poor WiFi then a new router/mesh system might be a better solution.


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  • #7
    Cuttlefish
    Registered Users Posts: 727 ✭✭✭Cuttlefish


    dam099 wrote: »
    I am guessing you are on DSL of some sort. Is it ADSL/ADSL2 or VDSL (do you know what sort of cabinet is on the road e.g.one of the green ones and how far from it are you)?

    Are you measuring reliability based on WiFi? What speed do you get on a wired connection to the router with a Desktop PC or Laptop?

    You should first determine if your issue is external to do with your internet connection (testing wired to the router) or internal due to poor WiFi coverage/Router performance.

    If it is your internet connection then 4G might help (subject to caveats already flagged by other posters) but if its the crap ISP router giving poor WiFi then a new router/mesh system might be a better solution.

    OK I know it is a dark green cabinet!! about 400 metres away

    Yes based on WIFI because the router is sitting in the hallway as this is where the cable enters the house.

    What happens is the Smart TV running Netflix will lose connection during a view of show/ movies and even the Echo dot can "have trouble connecting to the internet" during the day so seems the wireless connection "drops"

    EIR sent out a new eFibre router and an engineer called and resolved some issues outside with poor connectivity but these intermittent issues still occur.

    Have tried TPLink repeaters etc but never get a satisfactory solution to the poor reception in a standard 3 bed semi hence why my ears pricked up when someone mentioned uses the 4G Network to provide broadband within the house


  • #8
    whomitconcerns
    Registered Users Posts: 4,308 ✭✭✭whomitconcerns


    Cuttlefish wrote: »
    OK I know it is a dark green cabinet!! about 400 metres away

    Yes based on WIFI because the router is sitting in the hallway as this is where the cable enters the house.

    What happens is the Smart TV running Netflix will lose connection during a view of show/ movies and even the Echo dot can "have trouble connecting to the internet" during the day so seems the wireless connection "drops"

    EIR sent out a new eFibre router and an engineer called and resolved some issues outside with poor connectivity but these intermittent issues still occur.

    Have tried TPLink repeaters etc but never get a satisfactory solution to the poor reception in a standard 3 bed semi hence why my ears pricked up when someone mentioned uses the 4G Network to provide broadband within the house

    you need to plug a device directly into the router and run a speed test. It could be just your house?


  • #9
    John_Mc
    Registered Users Posts: 2,790 ✭✭✭John_Mc


    Dam099 is right in that you should verify that the internet connection is the problem and not the wifi, therwise making the change probably won't resolve your issue. You can do this by using a wired connection on your router when a problem with Netflix is encountered - if the wired connection works then your wifi is the issue.

    Wifi repeaters promise a lot but are very unreliable and slow. You'd be best off getting a mesh network as this can be used with any internet provider and are so much better than the wifi that comes with the router. They have come down a lot in price and will improve the wifi coverage throughout your home.

    My mother in law had fixed line "broadband" and was getting 3 mbps down and 0.3 up for about €40 a month.

    I bought an omni-directional 4G antennae on Amazon and mounted on the outside of the house on the side of the nearest 4g cell mast. You can find these on the Comreg website: https://siteviewer.comreg.ie/

    She now gets 45-70 mbps down and 45 mbps up for €30 a month which is very good for her location.


  • #10
    Kildalkey
    Registered Users Posts: 17 ✭Kildalkey


    John_Mc wrote: »
    Dam099 is right in that you should verify that the internet connection is the problem and not the wifi, therwise making the change probably won't resolve your issue. You can do this by using a wired connection on your router when a problem with Netflix is encountered - if the wired connection works then your wifi is the issue.

    Wifi repeaters promise a lot but are very unreliable and slow. You'd be best off getting a mesh network as this can be used with any internet provider and are so much better than the wifi that comes with the router. They have come down a lot in price and will improve the wifi coverage throughout your home.

    My mother in law had fixed line "broadband" and was getting 3 mbps down and 0.3 up for about €40 a month.

    I bought an omni-directional 4G antennae on Amazon and mounted on the outside of the house on the side of the nearest 4g cell mast. You can find these on the Comreg website: https://siteviewer.comreg.ie/

    She now gets 45-70 mbps down and 45 mbps up for €30 a month which is very good for her location.

    Hi - interested in this as have the same issue, terrible fixed line (6mb/s if I am lucky and repeated calls to Vodafone end up with 'suck it up, thats all you can get' despite my next door neighbour getting 40mb/s on Vodafone, same house, built same time). 3 mast built recently close to where I live, so looking at mobile option. The 3 website suggests 4g mobile broadand will only result in 10mb/s max download though?

    I would need an antennae if I do go down this road. Anything to look out for when buying one?


  • #11
    Pcgamer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 139 ✭✭Pcgamer


    What you need to do is.

    1) Go to speedtest.net when your beside your home router and post your download and upload speeds here. If there is a green cabinet near your house your more than likely on fibre.

    No one can advise until you post these results. Preferably with an ethernet cable and laptop if you can


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  • #12
    John_Mc
    Registered Users Posts: 2,790 ✭✭✭John_Mc


    Kildalkey wrote: »
    Hi - interested in this as have the same issue, terrible fixed line (6mb/s if I am lucky and repeated calls to Vodafone end up with 'suck it up, thats all you can get' despite my next door neighbour getting 40mb/s on Vodafone, same house, built same time). 3 mast built recently close to where I live, so looking at mobile option. The 3 website suggests 4g mobile broadand will only result in 10mb/s max download though?

    I would need an antennae if I do go down this road. Anything to look out for when buying one?

    I went with this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Poynting-4G-XPOL-A0001-Cross-Polarised-Antenna/dp/B00C1DGFPS/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2RISTMB9YIPYR&dchild=1&keywords=omnidirectional+4g+antenna&qid=1610471407&sprefix=omnidire%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-3

    You just need to make sure that your modem can use an external antenna. It's just a case of removing the one that comes with it and attaching the cable from this antenna.

    The cable is only 5m so you should research and investigate where best to mount it outside. You can also attach to a window using the suction cups that come with it


  • #13
    Thoie
    Registered Users Posts: 6,344 ✭✭✭Thoie


    My parents have similar broadband issues, because they're miles away from the cabinet. I thought of switching them to a 4G router, but what happens to their landline?

    There was/is an existing landline connection to the house, but the last few providers they've used switched them over to VOIP, so the phone is plugged into the back of the router. They need a fixed landline, so if I get them a 4G router, would I have to go back to eir and pay €40 a month for just a phone line? Or does any other provider do "just a phone line"? Would prefer to avoid eir if at all possible.


  • #14
    babelfish1990
    Registered Users Posts: 583 ✭✭✭babelfish1990


    Cuttlefish wrote: »
    OK I know it is a dark green cabinet!! about 400 metres away

    Yes based on WIFI because the router is sitting in the hallway as this is where the cable enters the house.

    What happens is the Smart TV running Netflix will lose connection during a view of show/ movies and even the Echo dot can "have trouble connecting to the internet" during the day so seems the wireless connection "drops"

    EIR sent out a new eFibre router and an engineer called and resolved some issues outside with poor connectivity but these intermittent issues still occur.

    Have tried TPLink repeaters etc but never get a satisfactory solution to the poor reception in a standard 3 bed semi hence why my ears pricked up when someone mentioned uses the 4G Network to provide broadband within the house

    If your fibre cabinet is only 400m away, you should be getting around 80Mbps (assuming your line follows the direct route). As others have said, test speed from your router with an Ethernet cable - if your Broadband speed is fine at the router, your problem is likely within the house. Get a mesh WiFi system, and place one node near the Smart TV. Don't go mobile - it will likely be flaky - particularly in an urban area, where there are loads of other users.


  • #15
    John_Mc
    Registered Users Posts: 2,790 ✭✭✭John_Mc


    Thoie wrote: »
    My parents have similar broadband issues, because they're miles away from the cabinet. I thought of switching them to a 4G router, but what happens to their landline?

    There was/is an existing landline connection to the house, but the last few providers they've used switched them over to VOIP, so the phone is plugged into the back of the router. They need a fixed landline, so if I get them a 4G router, would I have to go back to eir and pay €40 a month for just a phone line? Or does any other provider do "just a phone line"? Would prefer to avoid eir if at all possible.

    Just port the landline over to a VOIP service. There's no reason why you would need to use existing landline and pay the line rental fee

    There are one or two that are particularly reputable I think. You'd be best off asking about those on the VOIP forum though:

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=542


  • #16
    Kildalkey
    Registered Users Posts: 17 ✭Kildalkey


    Hi

    Am on the brink of getting 3 mobile broadband, seems to be my best option. They are insisting that 10mb/s is the maximum download speed for their 4g mobile broadband offering. Looking at Vodafone's website they say the same. Seems to be very slow - are they covering themselves, or is that what you can expect? It's hardly worth it if 10mb/s download is the max.


  • #17
    John_Mc
    Registered Users Posts: 2,790 ✭✭✭John_Mc


    Kildalkey wrote: »
    Hi

    Am on the brink of getting 3 mobile broadband, seems to be my best option. They are insisting that 10mb/s is the maximum download speed for their 4g mobile broadband offering. Looking at Vodafone's website they say the same. Seems to be very slow - are they covering themselves, or is that what you can expect? It's hardly worth it if 10mb/s download is the max.

    I'd say there are covering themselves. I have gotten as high as 75-80 mbps down on Three and 4g technology is capable of higher than that.

    The best thing to do is get a PAYG sim with Three for €30 a month. You get 30GB for that. Test it out and see what speed you get - if happy, signup for bill pay for €30 a month and no limits.


  • #18
    naughto
    Registered Users Posts: 7,316 ✭✭✭naughto


    John_Mc wrote: »
    I'd say there are covering themselves. I have gotten as high as 75-80 mbps down on Three and 4g technology is capable of higher than that.

    The best thing to do is get a PAYG sim with Three for €30 a month. You get 30GB for that. Test it out and see what speed you get - if happy, signup for bill pay for €30 a month and no limits.

    The 20 euro 1 is it not ??
    There is no download allowance with that either


  • #19
    John_Mc
    Registered Users Posts: 2,790 ✭✭✭John_Mc


    naughto wrote: »
    The 20 euro 1 is it not ??
    There is no download allowance with that either

    That's voice sim and yeah it will probably work without any problems.

    The mobile broadband on prepay is €30 for 30gb: https://www.three.ie/buy/broadband.html#prepay

    I went with that for my mother in law as I didn't want any sudden problems because they knew she wasn't a voice customer.


  • #20
    bergipau
    Registered Users Posts: 308 ✭✭bergipau


    Kildalkey wrote: »
    Hi

    Am on the brink of getting 3 mobile broadband, seems to be my best option. They are insisting that 10mb/s is the maximum download speed for their 4g mobile broadband offering. Looking at Vodafone's website they say the same. Seems to be very slow - are they covering themselves, or is that what you can expect? It's hardly worth it if 10mb/s download is the max.

    10mb for max is definitely wrong for 4g. I believe they say if it is less than 10 then you can get a refund in the first 14 days.

    https://www.three.ie/legal/terms/mobile-network-speeds.html

    The max of 4g is 150mb, I know people getting very high speeds with three, but it depends on your signal strength.
    I am thinking about replacing imagine with three, but I think I’ll buy a router separately and then a sim for three. Three’s broadband contract with free router is 24 months, I don’t want to commit that long.


  • #21
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,164 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    bergipau wrote: »
    The max of 4g is 150mb, I know people getting very high speeds with three, but it depends on your signal strength.

    Your info is out of date. The original 4G deployment was CAT4 150Mb, now 225 or 300 are common. The temporary license has given them extra bands to aggregate.


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  • #22
    bergipau
    Registered Users Posts: 308 ✭✭bergipau


    ED E wrote: »
    Your info is out of date. The original 4G deployment was CAT4 150Mb, now 225 or 300 are common. The temporary license has given them extra bands to aggregate.

    Even better!
    My image is a whopping 1.5mb at the moment so I’d be happy with 15mb!!


  • #23
    Ten Pin
    Registered Users Posts: 2,815 ✭✭✭Ten Pin


    10mb for max is definitely wrong for 4g. I believe they say if it is less than 10 then you can get a refund in the first 14 days.

    https://www.three.ie/legal/terms/mobile-network-speeds.html

    They say....
    The estimated maximum upload and download speeds achievable at least once in any 24 hour period in realistic usage conditions...

    ...in other words the contractual speed condition is met so long as you hit 10Mbps on 4G once a day. No mention of what the minimum speed is (except for their FWA product).

    The contractual max speed figures they quote are practically meaningless...who cares what the max speed is....it's the minimum at peak times that matters not the max at 5am for 2 seconds.


  • #24
    bergipau
    Registered Users Posts: 308 ✭✭bergipau


    Ten Pin wrote: »
    They say....


    ...in other words the contractual speed condition is met so long as you hit 10Mbps on 4G once a day. No mention of what the minimum speed is (except for their FWA product).

    The contractual max speed figures they quote are practically meaningless...who cares what the max speed is....it's the minimum at peak times that matters not the max at 5am for 2 seconds.

    That’s why I don’t want to start a 2 year contract


  • #25
    Simi
    Registered Users Posts: 1,864 ✭✭✭Simi


    bergipau wrote: »
    That’s why I don’t want to start a 2 year contract

    Then your best bet is buying a router from somewhere with a good return policy and using a three sim with €20 rolling top-up.

    If you currently use three or one of their mvno's you can do a speed test and see where would be best to place a router and if you'll get acceptable speeds.

    Keep in mind you'll typically get lower speeds with a 4g router than you will with a high end smartphone. Speeds can also be much lower at peak times depending on the level of congestion in your area.


  • #26
    alan4cult
    Registered Users Posts: 1,583 ✭✭✭alan4cult


    Be careful with moving to 4G, I moved and had issues with my work VPN due to my IP address constantly changing. You might get higher speed but 4G providers aggregate IP addresses and refresh them more frequently meaning the VPN may kick you out.

    Worth checking at least.


  • #27
    Lewis_Benson
    Registered Users Posts: 1,879 ✭✭✭Lewis_Benson


    Cuttlefish wrote: »
    Don't have a 4G SIM router would have to buy one think they about 80 -120 euro

    Main thing would be reliability of it, am near Cork city so expect 4G coverage to be good


    the pricing you mentioned above is for broadband speeds? If so then they are pretty decent speeds

    Don't expect or assume anything.
    My eir. 4g connection works flawlessly for me where I live, out in the sticks. I get between 80 - 140 Mbps down and 40Mbos up.
    I tested it for my dad, In the middle of athlone, as hs Three 4g connection is poor and it was unusable, only getting 4 Mbps


  • #28
    Ten Pin
    Registered Users Posts: 2,815 ✭✭✭Ten Pin


    My eir. 4g connection works flawlessly for me where I live, out in the sticks. I get between 80 - 140 Mbps down and 40Mbps up.

    What kind of SIM is it....PAYG phone or SIM only phone or bill pay data or....?


  • #29
    Lewis_Benson
    Registered Users Posts: 1,879 ✭✭✭Lewis_Benson


    Ten Pin wrote: »
    What kind of SIM is it....PAYG phone or SIM only phone or bill pay data or....?

    Bill pay data
    Its the eir 30 per month deal.


  • #30
    Lewis_Benson
    Registered Users Posts: 1,879 ✭✭✭Lewis_Benson


    Attached screenshot is over Eir 4G right now.


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