Which Router for caravan?

[Stevemr]

So I want to put a router in our caravan.
I know I don’t want an external Ariel.
Any recommendations?
When we are in Europe, is it possible to buy a sim card locally, that would give us internet? And is it simply then of sticking it in the router?
Any idea of costs of such a sim in Spain or France for example?

[Jordie Barretts sock]

What do you want the router for?

[silentbrown]

I've used one of these very successfully (although not in a caravan)
https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/3g-4g-r...

It was our main house internet for over a year, coupled with an ASDA unlimited data SIM.

Also used it in NL, where you'd just pick up a local vodafone PAYG sim from a local shop. There's a bit of fannying around needed to create an online account with the local mobile provider and keep it topped up, but otherwise it just works.

[Stevemr]

Use will be for watching YouTube, looking for campsites etc.

[alangla]

I put a T-Mobile branded 2nd hand Huawei 4G router into my in-laws static caravan. Indoor WiFi coverage is perfect, 4G signal reception as good as any mobile really, though I did eventually buy a couple of magnetic external aerials for it, which basically added an additional bar of 4G reception. If you’re planning this for a mobile caravan or motorhome, what I would definitely advise is not bolting it down anywhere as you’ll probably find that you’ll get better reception by trying it against different windows after you’ve parked up. A lot of campsites do have rather patchy mobile coverage and the mobile operators coverage predictors aren’t always accurate.
Before you sink any cash into buying a router though, why not just try an old phone in hotspot mode? Leaving that plugged into its charger with hotspot on continuously will probably do 90% of what you’re wanting.

[Jordie Barretts sock]

Why not just hot-spot your mobile phone?

Seems like a lot of hassle and expense for no gain. What will a router do that a hot-spot from your phone won't? You can even use a second sim/esim in your phone.

[Stevemr]

Hi
Thanks for the replies so far.
We do hot spot of our phones, but we go away for up to 3 months and we are only allowed 63 days in every 4 months. Plus we only have 25 gb data a month when abroad.
So thinking is to get a router and either a payg sim from uk or local sim to give another chunk of data.
Use it to watch YouTube vlogs and f1. Moto gp etc.
I had thought of using an old mobile, but thought a proper router would pull in a better signal.
I don’t want to be using campsite WiFi as it’s rarely any good.

[Jordie Barretts sock]

A local PAYG sim in your phone (alongside your UK sim) would do the same job. You just need to make sure you select the payg sim for data.

For example in Spain you could get a 100gb payg sim from say, Movistar and select that for your data when you want to stream anything.

[silentbrown]

Jordie Barretts sock said:

A local PAYG sim in your phone (alongside your UK sim) would do the same job. You just need to make sure you select the payg sim for data.

For example in Spain you could get a 100gb payg sim from say, Movistar and select that for your data when you want to stream anything.

I think dual SIM phones aren't that common.

However, the approach of using an old, dedicated phone as hotspot has benefits: When setting up a PAYG account, you typically get sent login links and data alerts etc as SMS by the mobile provider. Checking/reading these with a 4G router involves faffing with the router's web interface.

[w1bbles]

I put one of those TP Link routers (linked above) into our boat with an unlimited data SIM from EE on a 12 month contract. I chopped the power wire and replaced the 240v transformer with a 12v->9v DC/DC converter and hard wired it into a spare switch on the electrical panel. Made life much easier as it's always on; the problem we had with a hot spot is that after a while they drop out. They do on my combination of phone/provider anyway. Also the antenna on a router is much better than a phone one so where we see marginal signal from an EE phone, it's inevitably stronger on the router. It's mounted on a bulkhead inside but above the water line (which shouldn't be an issue with a caravan unless you're very unlucky).

[Jordie Barretts sock]

True, dual sim slots are not so popular now because of the proliferation of esims.

My Samsung S24 currently has an empty sim tray because I have a EE esim. Dual sim or even triple sim usage is common across most phones now with the ability to utilise esims.

[richhead]

silentbrown said:

I think dual SIM phones aren't that common.

However, the approach of using an old, dedicated phone as hotspot has benefits: When setting up a PAYG account, you typically get sent login links and data alerts etc as SMS by the mobile provider. Checking/reading these with a 4G router involves faffing with the router's web interface.

My moto g31 is dual sim, its about a year old and was about £100 new, and its one of the best phones ive ever had. Will add ive never used a second sim in it as get good roaming

[Stevemr]

I think the idea of using an old phone sounds like it might be sensible. I have an iPhone 7 I can use. So presumably I can just buy a sim in France from a supermarket and chuck it in the phone?

[Jordie Barretts sock]

You can.