4G unlimited sims

[bobk]

I've had 4g mobile broadband for 3 years , it's a revelation compared to fixed line which is unbelievably crap in this area .

 

[Steevo]

It's not just distance to the mast though. Closer doesn't always automatically = faster connection. But it does help

It also depends on how busy/congested the mast is and what sort of connection it has to the rest of the network (backhaul).

For example If its a recently updated mast, with nice fat fibre link, with a few users then happy days. If on the other hand it's a temporary mast, say at the local county show with a microwave link, with 10,000 people trying to use it, it will be so dog slow its not worth using almost.

So it's all a bit....ahem variable.

Ah! That's interesting.

Have a mast here that only has power to it, no other cables.....but it does have a dish on it. Your post made me think....it's likely a microwave dish allowing it to be a repeater from another mast?

 

[Grassman]

Any pointers on what external receiver and router to buy?
I have found line of sight with an O2 mast about 1 km away. So hopefully I can get a decent service.
Our telephone line broadband is very poor. 3mb at best.
Do masts get shared nowadays or am I just stuck with whatever O2 offers?

 

[upnortheast]

Had one of these for about 4 years -
Huawei B593s-22 LTE/4G Unlocked UK Plug Wireless Router - White
Initialy mast was 5 miles away 1-2 bar 3G signal - about 15 download
Then local mast 2 miles away was upgraded with no external antena gets about 60 down load.3 - 4 bar 4G signal
Get an "unlocked" one. Means it will take any network sim - useful if another local mast goes 3 / 4 G
If you take out a contract for a data sim there is often a "free" router included. Tend to be basic, often lacking network / antenna sockets etc.
Someone like Solwise could advise on suitable antenna
https://www.solwise.co.uk/4g-antenna-omni-xpol-a0001.html
HTH

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

This is the Poynting 4G-XPOL-A002 antenna that I’m currently using atop the house. Mine’s no longer this clean and shiny, and after being up on the roof for quite a few years, has taken on a very nice camo green appearance

It’s got very good gain, around 8 or 9 dB for the common 4G and 3G frequencies.

Remember the dB scale is logarithmic- this means that 3 dB equates to a doubling (or halving in the case of a minus figure) in power. So a 9 dB gain antenna will take an input signal with a power of “1” let’s say and produce an output power of “8” - minus the loss in the interconnecting coax cable - which is not to be underestimated or ignored. Keep the leads short!

Remember too, height is might with antennas! Enjoy.

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

Had one of these for about 4 years -
Huawei B593s-22 LTE/4G Unlocked UK Plug Wireless Router - White
Initialy mast was 5 miles away 1-2 bar 3G signal - about 15 download
Then local mast 2 miles away was upgraded with no external antena gets about 60 down load.3 - 4 bar 4G signal
Get an "unlocked" one. Means it will take any network sim - useful if another local mast goes 3 / 4 G
If you take out a contract for a data sim there is often a "free" router included. Tend to be basic, often lacking network / antenna sockets etc.
Someone like Solwise could advise on suitable antenna
https://www.solwise.co.uk/4g-antenna-omni-xpol-a0001.html
HTH

I had that exact model of Poynting antenna when I started experimenting with getting my own 4G external setup going. It’s a bit lower gain than the one I’m using now, but about half the cost to be fair.

In fact I’ve still got 2 of them “as new” in the box if anyone is interested, drop me a PM.

The other good quality / value external 3G/4G antennas are Panorama (British company not the TV show! ). In fact these are installed by EE as part of their rural 4G broadband service.

 

[neilo]

Are these 4G antennas directional?

I’m tempted to look into it as fibre doesn’t seem to be getting any closer from the nearby town. EE mast is about 1/2 a mile away, just above the town and with a clear line of sight to the house.

 

[bobk]

Are these 4G antennas directional?

I’m tempted to look into it as fibre doesn’t seem to be getting any closer from the nearby town. EE mast is about 1/2 a mile away, just above the town and with a clear line of sight to the house.

Shouldn't think you would need one as the mast is so close , ours is mile and half away and don't have an antenna

 

[neilo]

Shouldn't think you would need one as the mast is so close , ours is mile and half away and don't have an antenna

Phones struggle for 4G in parts of the house, so I was thinking an external antenna would give a reliable/better signal, hence more speed?

 

[bobk]

Phones struggle for 4G in parts of the house, so I was thinking an external antenna would give a reliable/better signal, hence more speed?

We park the router somewhere that gives good signal throughout the house

 

[neilo]

I guess I could prop it in the window, next to the wireless link that was positioned there temporarily for the Agricamera, seven years ago.....

 

[bobk]

I guess I could prop it in the window, next to the wireless link that was positioned there temporarily for the Agricamera, seven years ago.....

View attachment 804402

Good idea , mine's situated on a log by the patio windows .

 

[upnortheast]

Half a mile away it should fly.
Just find a place for the router where it is seeing a good signal then use cat 6 cable to get to where you need the service
If the main router doesn`t give you a WiFi signal where you want it, Get an old router, Go into the settings, turn off dhcp server ( your main router is doing that stuff )
Connect to main one with cable & you should be sorted

 

[Highland Mule]

Be careful if you're planning it to replace the current system and support the camera - I've had real trouble running my camera over a Vodafone 3g system - soothing to do with dynamic DNS, dynamic IP and some such. Apparently it is solvable, but I haven't worked it out yet and hence have to keep my slow BT broadband for that and not much else.

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

Be careful if you're planning it to replace the current system and support the camera - I've had real trouble running my camera over a Vodafone 3g system - soothing to do with dynamic DNS, dynamic IP and some such. Apparently it is solvable, but I haven't worked it out yet and hence have to keep my slow BT broadband for that and not much else.

Yes correct. 4G ‘public’ IP addresses that get dolled out to your router are, in general, not reachable from the internet.

Most modem stuff gets along just fine with it but certain cameras and ‘legacy’ gear that require dynamic DNS and port forwarding to function - just won’t work on a bog standard 3G/4G broadband internet connection.

 

[Highland Mule]

Yes correct. 4G ‘public’ IP addresses that get dolled out to your router are, in general, not reachable from the internet.

Most modem stuff gets along just fine with it but certain cameras and ‘legacy’ gear that require dynamic DNS and port forwarding to function - just won’t work on a bog standard 3G/4G broadband internet connection.

Any advice for a new PTZ camera that would behave with my Vodafone box? Would love to tell BT to go, but need lambing camera. Current one is a Swann.

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

Any advice for a new PTZ camera that would behave with my Vodafone box? Would love to tell BT to go, but need lambing camera. Current one is a Swann.

Only ways I can think of are either:
1. Fixed/public IP address SIM card. Kind of expensive and limited data compared to a regular consumer SIM card. Designed really more for commercial ‘M2M’ machine-to-machine remote connectivity. Could get expensive for lots of video over the connection.
2. Create a remote VPN connection. You establish a “tunnel” and connect back to your network from a VPN hosting provider. This will cost you more money as you would need a VPN provider to host your VPN. You also need a router that can manage the VPN endpoint on your end or another PC etc to do it.

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

Ah! That's interesting.

Have a mast here that only has power to it, no other cables.....but it does have a dish on it. Your post made me think....it's likely a microwave dish allowing it to be a repeater from another mast?

Temporary EE mast in the car park at the Suffolk Show today. Can see the microwave link dish about one tier down from the top.

 

[bobk]

Only ways I can think of are either:
1. Fixed/public IP address SIM card. Kind of expensive and limited data compared to a regular consumer SIM card. Designed really more for commercial ‘M2M’ machine-to-machine remote connectivity. Could get expensive for lots of video over the connection.
2. Create a remote VPN connection. You establish a “tunnel” and connect back to your network from a VPN hosting provider. This will cost you more money as you would need a VPN provider to host your VPN. You also need a router that can manage the VPN endpoint on your end or another PC etc to do it.

Blimey , that's complicated , I just plug mine in to a socket .

 

[Highland Mule]

Only ways I can think of are either:
1. Fixed/public IP address SIM card. Kind of expensive and limited data compared to a regular consumer SIM card. Designed really more for commercial ‘M2M’ machine-to-machine remote connectivity. Could get expensive for lots of video over the connection.
2. Create a remote VPN connection. You establish a “tunnel” and connect back to your network from a VPN hosting provider. This will cost you more money as you would need a VPN provider to host your VPN. You also need a router that can manage the VPN endpoint on your end or another PC etc to do it.

Was kinda hoping you’d say “go buy a Acme model 4 and it can cope without fixed IP”.

Have been suggested to try dynamic dns service or something, but no clue how to. Looks like I need to find a 16 year old to sort me out.