LTE Internet at home?

[Hylexx]

Hey,

I just came off the phone with a guy from an ISP. We currently have a 50 Mbit/s DSL connection and want to swap the ISP, because of stability issues etc. 

The plan was to get a 100 Mbit/s DSL connection, but now the guy on the phone informed us about the option of getting LTE internet at home via SIM-Card and router. Download speeds would be 225 Mbit/s and the overall price would be the same or even cheaper if we get it before 26.2. 

Has anyone any experience with this in terms of stability, packet loss or ping? Apparently the ping is lower than DSL which I just cant imagine to be true. I'm currently thinking of "just" getting the 100 Mbit/s and be on the safe site since I still play some games and having a shitty ping would totally ruin that for me.

 

If anyone uses LTE over the router at home I would love to hear what your experience is, especially in the context of gaming. Also recommendations over which internet plan seems better in your opinion. 

[Eigenvektor]

No experience, but some questions you should probably be asking:

• Is there a data cap and how high is it?
• Is it cheaper "forever" or is there a limit (e.g. 1 year), before prices increase?

If possible, get a written offer for both, before accepting anything or signing contracts. Make sure to read everything, especially all of the tiny footnotes⁽¹⁾.

 

Also keep in mind that LTE, just like Wi-Fi, is subject to interference. The more people in your area use it, the more bandwidth will suffer. Bandwidth in contracts is always "up to".

[The_russian]

To add to @Eigenvektor's list of questions you should be asking:

• Is the speed constant or do you get throttled after a certain amount of data used? 
• What other ISP options are available in your area? There are sites where you can enter your address and it will show what options you have.

[Kilrah]

Ping is usually higher and speeds vary much more than with a DSL connection depending on network use.

[Hylexx]

Thank you all for the quick replies. Here are some of my conclusions and answers based on your responds.

 

Yeah he checked the speeds and apparently also did a ping test for my address, but I don't remember exactly what it was, only that our current DSL was lower...

So conclusion is, I probably get a little bit more speed, maybe even double but the ping will be higher most likely and not as stable. I can live with the speeds so I just get the DSL for a stable ping and maybe even a more stable connection overall.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Yes stability means a lot.  I had LTE as a backup and on a really really good day it did 100Mbit, on a bad day it did 2Mbit.  No point it being faster if when you actually want to use it, its slower than DSL would be.

 

I still have LTE as a backup with a different provider and closer tower (peaks at 120Mbit and reasonably consistent so far), but I'd never have it as a primary connection unless there was no other choice.

[Aragorn-]

I've been on LTE for 2 weeks waiting for my VDSL line.

 

Its crap. As above, when it works its alright, but seems to really suffer from bad congestion in the evenings and also seemed to be affected really badly by the recent bad weather, though i'm unsure if that was specifically weather related, or if the weather just meant lots of people were stuck at home using it.

Absolutely a last resort, rather than a primary connection.

[Alex Atkin UK]

14 minutes ago, Aragorn- said:

 i'm unsure if that was specifically weather related

Damp air will absolutely kill the signal quality and strength as it will not only absorb the signal, it would also reflect it causing more crosstalk.