Question 4g router upgrade worth it?

[MrSar9e]

Hi all, simple question that I can't really find an answer for.

I live rural and use a 4g router for my home internet. I am using the old version of the 4gee router supplied by EE. I have an antenna outside and get decent speeds from it. Would it be worth upgrading the router? Why and what kind of performance would it provide?

Cheers

 

[bill001g]

My guess is not very likely. Your bottleneck is likely the 4g connection itself. Buying a different router will not change that.

Now I guess in theory if the 4g connection is really fast, say over 100mbps, and your current router does not have gigabit ports buying a router with gigabit ports would let you use the faster signal coming in from the ISP.

It is highly likely the 4g signal is well under 100mbps.

This would be ike buying a race car and you have a dirt road running to your house.

 

[MrSar9e]

My guess is not very likely. Your bottleneck is likely the 4g connection itself. Buying a different router will not change that.

Now I guess in theory if the 4g connection is really fast, say over 100mbps, and your current router does not have gigabit ports buying a router with gigabit ports would let you use the faster signal coming in from the ISP.

It is highly likely the 4g signal is well under 100mbps.

This would be ike buying a race car and you have a dirt road running to your house.

Many thanks, I had wondered about it for a while. Luckily I didn't drop money on a new one. I usually get 50-65 mb down and 10-20 up so yeh prob not bottle necked there. Would there be any benefit not centered around speed but perhaps more stable connections or less drop out and lag?

 

[bill001g]

Maybe but only if your problem was the wifi between the router and your end devices. This is more your generic wifi problem. In general you will not see much difference between routers for wifi converage. If this is some kind of portable hotspot type of device then a actual router might get better wifi coverage.

A router that directly support 4g is kinda rare. There are so many different radio frequencies used and they seem to not make devices that will support all ISP. In addition the ISP would have to allow you to activate it on their network and some only support a very limited number.

The better way to do this is to get a USB modem device and then find a router that supports the device (ie has the driver it needs built into the router os). Asus has quite a big lists and linksys also supports some. Third party firmware tends to have the largest support. The problem is some ISP are real jerks and even when the hardware is supported they will not provide the information needed to actually connect to their network.

The best option for mobile broadband is to place the router in a window closest to the cell tower