Outdoor 4g/5g sim router recommendations

[brums evil twin]

We go away in our caravan and with two older kids streaming is important to them as we all know.

So we are looking for a recommendation of an outside 4g/5g sim router to put on the outside of our van.

Any suggestions?? - not an expensive one just something that's better than turning my phone into a hotspot.

also we will need a good value data only sim too

Cheers

[halo34]

Whatever you do, do not use 3 network - terrible service and customer service is atrocious.

I use EE with a 4g SIM in a rural location and its pretty solid. Their data sim deal is unlimited too (just make sure you choose the right package as one is limited in speed).

As for a router - I just re-used the 3 router when I switched off but some good choice out there, long as its unlocked.

[xtruss]

halo34 said:

Whatever you do, do not use 3 network - terrible service and customer service is atrocious.

Fully agree, I got a three payg sim, put £35 on for unlimited everything for 1 month to trial in my car tracker. Three after 4 days suspended my sim due to unusual activity. I have been on to Three 4 times now, and they keep promising to re connect it , but don't.
It’s now over 1 week with no data/sms. Abysmal customer service.

[Ham_and_Jam]

brums evil twin said:

We go away in our caravan and with two older kids streaming is important to them as we all know.

So we are looking for a recommendation of an outside 4g/5g sim router to put on the outside of our van.

Any suggestions?? - not an expensive one just something that's better than turning my phone into a hotspot.

also we will need a good value data only sim too

Cheers

You don’t need a data only sim.

I use a Talkmobile (Vodafone) general sim. £10/month for 100Gb data. Worked straight away, but I tinkered slightly with the settings in the router to optimize it.

With regards to the router I have used TP Link M7350 4G (battery operated / mobile) and currently the TP Link 4G MR600 AC1200 (mains).

Both very good and maybe a bit too pricey from your request in the OP. However I think they do cheaper versions in the range with slightly less features / performance. Definitely worth checking out.

[gus607]

Contrary to what other have said. I use Three BB. Router is superb, ZTE MC888 is much better than the previous Huawei which worked OKJ for two years & when I renewed my Three contract I was given the ZTE router.
The ZTE is far superior to the Huawei in terms of download speeds & better wifi too.
Never had a problem in two & a half years so not needed Three customer service at all so cannot comment on that.
4g & 5g BB is only as good as your 4g or 5g signal. I live half way up a tower block with a Three 5g mast half a mile away.
Traveling around the country there are many places where my Three phone signal is poor.
You pays your money & takes your choice.

[colin79666]

If you want to guarantee coverage consider starlink instead. They often have a promotion in for a refurbished kit at £200 and you can take the pay as you go roaming package so you can deactivate it for months you aren’t using it. Pricey but at least as fast as the best 5G and works just about everywhere.

[brums evil twin]

I like starling, but for the usage its out of my budget.

A question of routers - I have found a couple of outdoors ones that can stick to the outside of the caravan

for example :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Falcon-Combo-Boosted-Cara...

Is it necessary to have it outside or is a normal router okay inside the van???

[Amateurish]

Inside the van should be fine. You could always get an external aerial.

[Amateurish]

I use a 5G router (TP Link Deco £280) and a Talkmobile £16 SIM with unlimited data on the Vodafone network.

[Anastie]

We have used this Huawei B535 router in our caravan for a couple of years. No issues with it. Tried an expensive external antenna but it made no difference. So we stuck to the rabbit ear antenna that came with it.

Using GiffGaff sim (tried others to check signal)

Good enough router to stream Netflix etc.

[GlenMH]

I use a popit mobile sim - the data is more expensive but I can turn it on and off on a monthly basis. And you can use the full allowance roaming in Europe.
A quid a month to keep the sim alive and then 25 quid for 100GB in a month whilst we are away means 36quid for the year and data when I want it.
In the UK it works on EE, has 5G and has been great wherever we have needed it.

[wombleh]

May well find a MiFi device would do that OK and be a bit simpler.

[felga]

I recently went with 5g D-Link DWR 978, I bought aerail extension cables to put stock antennas outside, I have 100-300mbps on smarty network.

I did buy OMNI external 5G aerial and it makes it more stable but at what I get from stock antennas it`s not worth extra 140gbp

[sgrimshaw]

If you want 5g then you'll have to be prepared to pay for it.

4g much more affordable and as already mentioned above a MiFi inside should be fine.

I've got two TP-Link ones an M7350 and an M7650 the latter is quicker and offers 5GHz but is double the price of the M7350. There's an M7450 in between and a real cheapie in the M7000.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-M7000-Portable-Un...

Personally, I use Three 24gb sims, but I don't stream ... just used for Work on the road in UK and beyond:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Mobile-Pay-Broadban...

For UK only use there are certainly better deals if you need a lot of data.

[Turtle Shed]

Another vote for Three. I have their ZTE router to provide my home broadband. It has been flawless, regularly hitting 200Mb/s download and 110Mb/s upload.

First three months were free, the £20/month for unlimited data. Two year contract.

Cheaper than typical home broadband, doesn't need a phone line, and of course if you go away you can take it with you.

As to customer service I haven't ever needed it, so I can't comment, but the people in the store when I signed up were excellent.

[surveyor]

Out of the 4 networks only EE has met it's target for Rural deployment (where caravan sites often are). I know that's where I would be looking for coverage.

[brums evil twin]

this is really interesting - not sold on 5g at all and like the idea of a cheaper (better value 4g)

It all depends on having the capacity to allow both kids to watch YouTube and us to stream a bit of TV/films while away

One thing I thought was important, but you guys don't seem to worry about was it being outside on the side of the van - I had only been looking at external ones, but normal internal there are may more options

[Turtle Shed]

brums evil twin said:

this is really interesting - not sold on 5g at all and like the idea of a cheaper (better value 4g)

It all depends on having the capacity to allow both kids to watch YouTube and us to stream a bit of TV/films while away

One thing I thought was important, but you guys don't seem to worry about was it being outside on the side of the van - I had only been looking at external ones, but normal internal there are may more options

My router lives inside the house, though by a window. I am close to the M5 so I suspect there is a mast nearby.

Just did a quick test and can easily stream six different Youtube videos at once. Doubt that ten would be a problem.

Only me and Mrs Shed live here but in the nine months (since we moved in) we've had the Three router internet speed has never been an issue. It just works.