My mate lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere. He has tried a starlink satellite thing which he says is crap. His neighbour (half a mile away) has a 5g router with an EE unlimited sim card. Mate is asking me about what router to get etc.... I've not got a scooby so am hoping someone one here can give me recommendations. Apparently he has a mesh system in his house that can extend it but I haven't seen it to know what it is. He is sure its a 5G system.
5G system probably means 5 Ghz Wi-Fi. People seems to get confused about Wi-Fi 5GHz and mobile 5G data. Most routers these days I've seen (eg. Asus ones) are able to support USB dongle for WAN (internet). So try to get make and model of their router and see if it already supports 5G dongle would be my first port of call.
Thanks for the reply. He has been recommended this... https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-Nighthawk-4-Stream-Router-Built/dp/B01N5B5969/ His current router doesn't have any options for that appraently. He's happy to buy new.
That's a 4G router. EE have very reasonably priced 5G routers available that's work fine as a modem to connect to his current setup. Probably free on contract as well. Keep it simple
I don't really know what I am looking at to be honest. I'll get him to go instore. He knows someone in there.
https://ee.co.uk/broadband/pay-monthly-mobile-broadband-gallery/smart-5g-hub-details Depending on what "mesh" system they've got, it should work
Ideally get one with a router bypass if it is hooking up to existing infrastructure, like a mesh system, most can do this but I know there was the odd custom firmware applied to some provider devices that stopped this, on my 5G router I have to enable this on each boot up but going into the root admin pages, rather than the normal admin pages, where the feature doesn't show.
I'd suggest he check with a SMARTY SIM (Free PAYG Sim that uses Three's network) if he gets 5g signal also as Three's prices are very competitive, more to the point those EE prices are rather high! Three's router is free and contract is £22 a month. Current offer also has half price for 6 months for unlimited data. I use them at home, it's been very reliable and the router accepts external antenna inputs if he needs a boost. 4G & 5G Home Broadband Deals | Unlimited Home Broadband | Three
I would also check Ken's tech tips. Its is a great resource for what nearly every network is offering. Might be cheaper picking up a 1 month sim seeing if it works then going for a 12 or 24 month sim only offer and picking up a mifi or 5G router from amazon. Links for sim only deals and networks with Unlimited data. Compare SIM Only Deals: Best Value Mobile SIM Cards In The UK (kenstechtips.com) Unlimited Data Plans on UK Networks: Best Unlimited Data SIMs (kenstechtips.com)
I deploy either the ZyXel FWA510 or FWA710. You can also still pick up the ZyXel NR7101. Manage 100+ of these for a nation wide company, the cloud management is just superb and they are super reliable. Shocked to hear Starlink is rubbish, there must have been an obstruction. I look after 30+ Starlinks and they are wonderful bits of kit.
