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Looking to purchase a property that’s a little of the beaten track. No mains gas/water/ drains. It it does have mains  electricity and a very big barn ! But it doesn’t have a phone line either so was looking at one of the 4G boxes that have an aerial to provide broadband, anybody have any experience of these and what the download speeds are like ?

After 42 years at BT I should probably know more about this than I do, but a bit like when I was at when I was at school I didn’t pay enough attention B)

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My parents have Airband at their rural location - it works well for them, around 40mbs download and 10 upload. I suspect the choice of supplier will be governed largely by the location of your prospective property, the choice (and therefore level of competition) could be quite narrow.

their phone is VoIP using the same service.

...... Andy 

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Just gone through this with my mum as she has suffered v poor bt service at top prices together with miss selling fibre. 
she was lucky to get 1.6mb.

neighbours use smarty network ( 3 is the carrier) £20 per month for an unlimited data SIM card. 
 

and Amazon provided the router WiFi and plug in ports. 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016ZWXYXG/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_glt_fabc_RF5G34WY7APE35FTTHX3

 

both delivered next day and registered and up and running in about 30mins

15mb down load

10mb up load

you need to check your 4g signal strength. And choose your SIM card/network provider carefully  

may be see which mobile phone signal is best if you have a few visitors round to test different networks for real.  

 

Edited by Hamish
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Last year i cancelled my landline and went 4g at home, already 4g on the boat.

speeds vary a lot, at home i’m on 3 and get 10-15 down and about 5 up, or Vodafone gives 20-30 / 1-3

i am able to do everything i need, including streaming netflix etc

so as above check out the local masts and choose accordingly, also invest in a directional antenna and point it at the mast, this makes a big difference

steve

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I have been studying this recently in the context on having internet in a motorhome and it is clear that lots of people use 4g for home provision also. As far as I can see, one of the most consistently highly regarded LTE (4G) routers is the Netgear Nighthawk M1. Couple this with a Poynting External Antenna and you wont go far wrong. If you can pinpoint where the nearest mast is and have line of sight, use a directional antenna such as the Poynting Xpol 2 but if not, then use an omnidirectional Antenna such as Poynting Xpol 1. Directional antennas give much better gain, therefore better speeds if you can use one, but in the mobile context this is not really possible and the Omni ones can give excellent results. 

Another useful point of interest is the fastest 4G network in the UK is EE, with Vodafone in 2nd, O2 in 3rd and Three is the slowest. Best source of cheap data sim cards is one of the piggyback providers such as Smarty, Voxi, etc but pay attention to which network they piggyback on

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-MR1100-100EUS-Nighthawk-Downloading-Streaming/dp/B079H2LX8X/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_i=B079H2LX8X&th=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Poynting-4G-XPOL-A0001-Cross-Polarised-Antenna/dp/B00C1DGFPS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1O3V5GAVQUUUF&keywords=poynting+4g-xpol-a0001&qid=1637169756&s=computers&sprefix=Poynting%2Ccomputers%2C176&sr=1-1

No connection or interest with these suppliers, just an interested party.

Hope this helps.

Sean

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Vodafone is the only 4G signal where I live in a valley. I used a local supplier of satellite and phone bbnd who visited to evaluate the signal speed and best location for the squaerial -inside an upstairs window. 25mbps is more thanfast enough for us but we dont stream videos or gaming, Peter

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I switched to 4G last year. 5mbps from copper cables became 100mbps download and 25mps upload. 
External directional aerial pointing at the nearest mast and an Archer MR600 4G router. 
I was quoted nearly £1500 to install by a a local rural broadband company. 
Total DIY cost under £300.

I have an unlimited data Sim for about £21 a month. Clearly you need to select a provider that gives good coverage in your area. 
 

Iain

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We switched to fibre with Plusnet a few years ago, unfortunately it was only to the cabinet and we are the last house in our area so speed was a claimed 15mbps but often much lower.  Spoke with BT and they installed a fibre supply into the house from a pole nearby in the next area. no set up or installation costs and speed could be 900mbps although we choose to have 50 (upgradeable) to keep the cost to £28/month.  

There is a company called Swish installing fibre in some southern areas, despite some wild claims they have said I would be unlikely to improve on my BT speed.

Mike

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12 hours ago, iain said:

I switched to 4G last year. 5mbps from copper cables became 100mbps download and 25mps upload. 
External directional aerial pointing at the nearest mast and an Archer MR600 4G router. 
I was quoted nearly £1500 to install by a a local rural broadband company. 
Total DIY cost under £300.

I have an unlimited data Sim for about £21 a month. Clearly you need to select a provider that gives good coverage in your area. 
 

Iain

That’s interesting Iain

i also have the MR600 and tried an omnidirectional Poynting aerial but it made no difference

what directional aerial are you using ?

steve

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7 hours ago, Steves_TR6 said:

That’s interesting Iain

i also have the MR600 and tried an omnidirectional Poynting aerial but it made no difference

what directional aerial are you using ?

steve

Hi Steve

I used  the directional version of your aerial, mounted just above roof ridge height.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00C1DGGKC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Iain

 

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