4G Ethernet Router

Terry Kidumms · January 20, 2019

I live in a bad area which has max speed of 8mbit/s download and 0.30mbit/s upload speeds. My friend came over and he has 4G internet on his phone. He tested speed and it came 50mbit/s download and 38mbit/s upload. I am able to get 4G internet for the same price I am paying for this slow speed. I am really considering this but problem is I will not get router from my ISP, but I will have to buy my own. So I was searching around and cheapest router that has ethernet ports and sim slot is around 100 euros, which for me is little expensive. When I was looking I stumbled upon on Asus RT-AC1200G which has USB port and it says for 4G conectivity. Would I be able to connect SIM card to that router with help of a USB dongle or should I aim for router with SIM slot? 100 euro one TL-MR6400 is more expensive, but it has built in sim slot. Will it have better speed then RT-AC1200G+dongle ?

wng_kingsley7 · January 20, 2019

Hey @Terry Kidumms! Welcome to the LTT forums How are you doing?

Firstly who is your current mobile provider? You say your area's 4G cellular capabilities aren't great but what is the performance typically like during off & peak hours of the day for yourself? Are you bound into a contract or pay as you go for data?

I used to have a 4G ISP which provided the router & unlimited data plan for about £20 in the London, UK. The speeds weren't too bad but in my opinion I expected this solution to be more capable since I live in a quite centralized area, the performance was typically around 20mbit/s down with 5-10 up (could go up to 50mbit/s down but uploads performance was never something Relish UK pushed to be a feature), with 100-200ms ping however I did also think of buying a third-party 4G LTE router or dongle & dedicated wireless router with more ethernet ports for connections.

Terry Kidumms · January 20, 2019

@wng_kingsley7 Great, Thanks for asking

My current provider is Croatian ISP company called Iskon. They are giving me 8mbit/s download, 0.20mbit/s upload. In my area that is max speed becouse we still have Yugoslavian Telephone lines that we use for internet and telephone. Now in my area 4G coverage isn't that bad, it is way better than this. So I am thinking getting router with ethernet and sim card slot/USB. How did you use your sim card when you had 4G internet?

wng_kingsley7 · January 24, 2019

Good evening! @Terry Kidumms Sorry I haven't made a reply.

Is this your ISP's website (https://www.iskon.hr/)?

I would definitely save your money if I were you as I don't think it would be justified to spend your money on a expensive router if the current internet speeds are only capable of 8mbps down 0.2mbps up.

Endeavor01 · January 24, 2019

24 minutes ago, wng_kingsley7 said:

Good evening! @Terry Kidumms Sorry I haven't made a reply.

Is this your ISP's website (https://www.iskon.hr/)?

I would definitely save your money if I were you as I don't think it would be justified to spend your money on a expensive router if the current internet speeds are only capable of 8mbps down 0.2mbps up.

I think you're misinterpreting the question, he's looking for a 4G router so he can get off his current network.

Unfortunately it seems that price range is what those routers will run you nowadays, I'd wait for them to catch on a little more and let the price lower.