Longest Range 4G / 3G Router (with Sim slot) for Rural Areas

[colinulin]

Hello All! I am living in a remote area in Uganda and need reliable internet. Uganda has 3G (and even 4G in some places), but the signal isn't great most places and the little Huawei routers don't have very powerful antenna. What is the best, longest range 4G/3G router available on the market? Alternatively, what router could I connect a big antenna to if I wanted to drastically extend the 4G / 3G range?

The one I've been looking at is the D-Link DWR-953 (https://www.dlinkmea.com/site/index.php/product/details/892), but I don't know how to compare range. The DWR-925 also looks pretty good and has 2 3G/4G antenna (https://www.dlinkmea.com/site/index.php/product/details/918).

 

[bill001g]

The laws about the use of antenna on mobile broadband vary a lot from country to country. Most have some kind of restrictions to prevent interference. Unlike wifi mobile broadband run on licensed frequencies and part of the license says how much power you can transmit.

In general what you really want is a outdoor antenna. You have to be careful though because the cable going from the antenna to the router can absorb most the extra signal the antenna adds. Good quality low loss cable tends to be very expensive.

You likely should search for what is called a "outdoor cpe". Bandluxe is one brand but may vendors including huawei make them.

Even with the routers you list you have to really dig to find if they actually support the carrier you are using. It is not just swapping a sim chip the radios have to support the frequencies your provider is using. Terms like 3g,4g and even LTE do not mean the device actually operates on the correct radio frequency. Many manufactures actually have multiple models of the same router that run on different providers.

Then even if you find a device you have to be sure your provider will allow it. Many of these vendors will only support equipment you buy through them...pure greed some times since it can be exactly the same device but if you did not buy it from them they will not activate it.

 

[colinulin]

The laws about the use of antenna on mobile broadband vary a lot from country to country. Most have some kind of restrictions to prevent interference. Unlike wifi mobile broadband run on licensed frequencies and part of the license says how much power you can transmit.

In general what you really want is a outdoor antenna. You have to be careful though because the cable going from the antenna to the router can absorb most the extra signal the antenna adds. Good quality low loss cable tends to be very expensive.

You likely should search for what is called a "outdoor cpe". Bandluxe is one brand but may vendors including huawei make them.

Even with the routers you list you have to really dig to find if they actually support the carrier you are using. It is not just swapping a sim chip the radios have to support the frequencies your provider is using. Terms like 3g,4g and even LTE do not mean the device actually operates on the correct radio frequency. Many manufactures actually have multiple models of the same router that run on different providers.

Then even if you find a device you have to be sure your provider will allow it. Many of these vendors will only support equipment you buy through them...pure greed some times since it can be exactly the same device but if you did not buy it from them they will not activate it.

I think Uganda might be more relaxed on such laws, but I will definitely look into it. Also thank you for the tip on the outdoor cpe!

I'm able to get 4G and 3G on this provider using a Huawei E5573 (which supports LTE FDD/LTE TDD/UMTS/HSUPA/HSPA+
GSM/GPRS/EDGE). It's an unlocked router and I've used it on 3 different providers here so far without any issue so I think the providers here allow you to use any device. Do you think if the router I find also supports at least that range, I should be good to go?