Thorpy's Guide to 4G Broadband (or Mobile Internet)

1 - Thorpy's Guide to 4G Broadband - Intro

I was in the process of typing up an email to send to my Mum, explaining the set up of our 4G Broadband, and thought it might make a good blog post. So here you go Mum!

1.1 - Costs 

Running costs when you are up and running will be around £30 a month. Which is comparable to line rental and copper broadband contracts.

Setup costs would be £80 for router and if you want to go all in, another £150 for an external antenna.

1.2 - Time to Set Up

Not very long. 20 minutes once you have all the bits. Longer if you use an external antenna.

2 - Thorpy's Guide to 4G Broadband - Router

In order to get good high speed internet over a mobile network, and attach to other devices you already have (mobile phones, smart TVs and PCs) you will need an LTE Router.

I have a TP-Link TL-MR6400. Which have been very reliable, and allows for wireless and wired network connections. You could use some sort of dongle, but I would recommend the below product. It has served us very well, and has a few features that are very handy.

Unlike a normal router, which connects to your phone line, this router has a slot for a SIM card in the back. So you put in a SIM card in it, and it gets the data over the mobile network rather then the phone line.

Using the above router, you simply insert the SIM card, plug it in and then you can connect to the wireless signal, via the default access IP of 192.168.1.1 (Type this in the address bar of you browser - phone or PC it doesn't matter) . It is very easy to use and comes with instructions.

3 - Thorpy's Guide to 4G Broadband - SIM Cards

To watch a 1 hour program on BBC you will use about 1 GB of data. If you have kids watching 2 or 3 hours of TV everyday and playing computer games etc. you can use LOADS of data. Last month I was backing up files online, on top of normal TV and work use, and used 1200GB.

So it is important to choose an unlimited data plan, other wise you will pay lots of charges for going over your limit. BUT you may wish to test things out before you commit to a long term contract . . . .

3.1 - Testing Out with PAYG SIM

Before you sign up for a 12 month contract it might be worth trying out the router with a pay as you go SIM, to see if it works for you.

You could also try the router with the SIM from your phone, but it is unlikely the SIM will be the same size. As the router take a full size (old school) SIM card.

3.2 - Getting an Unlimited Contract

I use a Vodafone "Unlimited" Plan it includes minutes and texts which you won't use, but the unlimited data, is what you are after.

Remember, if you do not want to sign up for a 12 (or 24) month contract you can get a 1 month "rolling" contract. So you can pull out any time.

4 - Thorpy's Guide to 4G Broadband - Coverage

This router will work with 3G or 4G so if you have coverage for either then it should work OK. Simply choose an operator (eg. Vodafone) that you like the look of, and use a "coverage checker" to see what signal you get.

Coverage at Cold Comfort

So for my Mum she is OK, because apparently she has coverage of 3G and 4G. And this is for phones. . . she will get a better reception using a router with big aerials.

5 - Thorpy's Guide to 4G Broadband - Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the rate at which data can be delivered to you property. To stream music on Spotify, or watch Netflix in standard definition you need 1.5 megabytes every second. 

That is not a great deal. But for many rural households and businesses a copper wire will not provide that. I live in an area where my router picks up a 50% signal, and I am able to get:

• 7 MB/s using 3G
• 10 MB/s using 4G

So whether you use 3G of 4G and can get a 50% signal (2 bars on phone) you should be able to watch videos and stream music from spotify etc. 

With a very good signal you could get 20, 30 or even 40 MB/s which is enough to watch 3 or 4 HD TV sets at the same time.  

6 - Thorpy's Guide to 4G Broadband - External Antenna

You may not need an external antenna. But fitting one will increase you bandwidth. There are two main types directional and omnidirectional. 

 Things to look out for are:

• MIMO
• Nice Long Cables (5 meters or more is good)
• SMA connectors

If you are unsure which to get then get Omnidirectional. 

6.1 - Directional - If you know here you closest mast is. 

I am writing this during the CV19 lockdown, and next week I will have 3 kids at home using internet video conferencing, and I will be working from home also. So my durrant 10MB/s may well not be enough. 

A Directional Antenna

I can reliably increase my bandwidth by using an external antenna. These range in price from about £25, to about £150. I have tried the cheap type. And this gave a 25% increase in signal strength, with my bandwidth increasing from 10 MB/s to about 16MB/s. If you intend to use the antenna at you house (where you won't move it), and you live close to one particular mobile phone mast then it s a good idea to choose a directional antenna. Both of the above antennas are directional.

• A Cheap Antenna - £25 - Will boost from 10MB/s to 15MB/s
• An Expensive One - £109 - Will boost from 10MB/s to 40MB/s

You need to point them at your nearest mobile phone mast that your carrier uses. A taller pole, to mount the antenna on, may help. 

6.2 - Omnidirectional

An omni direction antenna, is good if you live between several masts, or you don't know where they are. Omnidirectional antenna, look a bit different. I have never used one, but they get good reviews. Provided you buy a decent one. 

7 - Thorpy's Guide to 4G Broadband - Pictures of My Setup

For simplicity have included a few picture of my set up. 

Picture of router with various network cable stick out of back. Antenna cables are the black ones with the gold connectors.

 The antenna cable then go through a hole drilled in the wall of my shed (shoffice) and outside. Some people mount there antenna in the attic, to save drilling through walls.

Cables are run down wall slightly to prevent water trickling inside. 

Cheap directional antenna attached on top of wooden pole. As high as I could get it with supplied 3 meter cables. Its flat face is pointing towards out nearest mobile phone mast which is 2.63km away. 

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