First time home network

[eddie_eddie]

So I’ve never had a home network or wifi and I’ve just always  used a mifi  router and now with my growing number of devices I think it’s time I got something serious but I don’t know what’s overkill and what’s the best bang for my bucks…. right now I need to chose between having fiber internet run to my house or just getting a wifi router and chucking a SIM card in it 

any advice??

[Donut417]

46 minutes ago, eddie_eddie said:

So I’ve never had a home network or wifi and I’ve just always  used a mifi  router and now with my growing number of devices I think it’s time I got something serious but I don’t know what’s overkill and what’s the best bang for my bucks…. right now I need to chose between having fiber internet run to my house or just getting a wifi router and chucking a SIM card in it 

any advice??

Routers that support SIM cards are going to be few and far between. Yes they exist, but it can be difficult to find one that will work with your ISP. I know many routers will support cellular via USB, but Ive only seen a few routers that have actually sim slots. 

 

If you get Fiber internet your at the mercy of the ISP and what equipment they choose to give you. Some will give a standard ONT and you just plug what ever router in to it, some will give a Gateway (ONT/Router) and that might work for your use or you might need to buy an Wireless Access point for better WiFi, OR you might need to put their box in to bridge mode and use your own router. 

 

Generally when it comes to a router you want at LEAST WiFi 5 if not WiFi 6. As far as features go, that depends on what you want to do. My router for example allows me to track bandwidth usage by device, which helps me stay within the data caps imposed by my ISP. Some routers might have USB ports that can be used for Cellular internet, Printer sharing or mass storage devices. Ive seen higher end routers with 2.5Gbps Ethernet, etc. So you just need to figure out what you want out of the router. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

On 9/28/2021 at 12:03 PM, Donut417 said:

Routers that support SIM cards are going to be few and far between. Yes they exist, but it can be difficult to find one that will work with your ISP. I know many routers will support cellular via USB, but Ive only seen a few routers that have actually sim slots.

They're not THAT uncommon, they just tend to be quite limited in functionality compared to wired only routers.

However going for a home router rather than a portable router (which I presume is what they mean by MiFi) is a good idea.  I doubled my speed doing that, as they have bigger/more antennas with better gain plus support things like carrier aggregation.

I don't think they inherently HAVE to be limited like that, but portable routers tend to be in the budget end whereas home routers can be quite expensive (for 5G units which also perform better on 4G).

[IPD]

If your choice is between something like a Verizon Jetpack and a fiber connection...100% fiber all the way.  Better bandwidth, lower latency.

 

MiFi like a Jetpack is great if you live in BFE and even HughesNet/satellite would be slow.  But fiber is an easy no brainer.  Most of us would kill to have fiber; usually most get stuck with cable or *gasp* DSL.

 

And yes, home routers will provide better range than portable.  Go mesh if you want perfect coverage over your domicile.

[Alex Atkin UK]

7 hours ago, IPD said:

If your choice is between something like a Verizon Jetpack and a fiber connection...100% fiber all the way.  Better bandwidth, lower latency.

 

MiFi like a Jetpack is great if you live in BFE and even HughesNet/satellite would be slow.  But fiber is an easy no brainer.  Most of us would kill to have fiber; usually most get stuck with cable or *gasp* DSL.

 

And yes, home routers will provide better range than portable.  Go mesh if you want perfect coverage over your domicile.

Somehow I missed the bit about fiber, absolutely nothing compares to fiber (seeing as its literally the backbone of every other connection, just not quite in the same configuration).

 

I'm lucky to have 500Mbit 5G but you'll notice I still kept two DSL lines, because they're much more reliable. (granted, not everyone has reliable DSL)  Anything going over the radio waves is just inherently less reliable than going over copper, and fiber beats everything.