EE Hybrid Broadband - landline+4G combined = Win !
Discussion
There is lots of threads on here about poor rural broadband and similarly rural 4G usage.
As it happens I have both - EE Broadband that bumbles along at about 4mb download, but only 0.2mb upload, and I have EE 4G - originally a MiFi type device in the window sill and then EE upgraded to an external aerial that made it perform off the charts : 50mb up and down.
The landline covers the day to day and streaming, the 4G as a fall back and when I need to send large attachments on emails.
Having two wifi networks running through the house with different devices grabbing different networks makes it a right chuff.
I was looking to buy a TP-Link TL-R470T + v6.0 Load Balance Broadband Router (WAN / LAN Port) that will take both networks, create one and be all cool, but then say EE have a similar set up, straight out of the box heading for release :
"Introducing Hybrid Broadband technology" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juR_Ti-gPyk
It's what I want and need !
A google suggests a song and dance was made of this May 2018.
Does anyone have any updates on this ? I rang EE and they themselves don't . - either throught the 'small business' side or personal side of the retail.
As it happens I have both - EE Broadband that bumbles along at about 4mb download, but only 0.2mb upload, and I have EE 4G - originally a MiFi type device in the window sill and then EE upgraded to an external aerial that made it perform off the charts : 50mb up and down.
The landline covers the day to day and streaming, the 4G as a fall back and when I need to send large attachments on emails.
Having two wifi networks running through the house with different devices grabbing different networks makes it a right chuff.
I was looking to buy a TP-Link TL-R470T + v6.0 Load Balance Broadband Router (WAN / LAN Port) that will take both networks, create one and be all cool, but then say EE have a similar set up, straight out of the box heading for release :
"Introducing Hybrid Broadband technology" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juR_Ti-gPyk
It's what I want and need !
A google suggests a song and dance was made of this May 2018.
Does anyone have any updates on this ? I rang EE and they themselves don't . - either throught the 'small business' side or personal side of the retail.
AandA isp have offered there own adsl packages with automated seamless failover to 3/4g for years, there is no reason they could not run it as a hybrid setup like this.
The technology to do this is not new, it is a little complicated, but would be easily doable if there was a big enough market which there almost certainly would be.
My guess is that it's simply more profitable for them to keep thing separate so this was just an idea that will never come to market.
The technology to do this is not new, it is a little complicated, but would be easily doable if there was a big enough market which there almost certainly would be.
My guess is that it's simply more profitable for them to keep thing separate so this was just an idea that will never come to market.
As you say - the technology is there but " it is a little complicated " - thats what put me off from unboxing the Load Balancer router.
If EE are bundling the two set ups I have in to one, with a simple UI - then I want to signup. I just can't see any progress in their offering since the 'launch' or announcement last May.
If EE are bundling the two set ups I have in to one, with a simple UI - then I want to signup. I just can't see any progress in their offering since the 'launch' or announcement last May.
BT also provide this service via a product they call BT Assure:
https://business.bt.com/4g-assure/
It too uses the EE mobile network. However I think, and you should check when you enquire, that both EE and BT's products are configured for failover or periods of poor performance only. That is you can't select which connection is used based on your own preferences. For that you're better off with a dual WAN router and policy based routing. I used to run this configuration for a couple of years, for the same reasons as you, using a home built pfSense router. That's not for the faint hearted and a prosumer router that supports dual WAN out of the box might be easier to configure.
https://business.bt.com/4g-assure/
It too uses the EE mobile network. However I think, and you should check when you enquire, that both EE and BT's products are configured for failover or periods of poor performance only. That is you can't select which connection is used based on your own preferences. For that you're better off with a dual WAN router and policy based routing. I used to run this configuration for a couple of years, for the same reasons as you, using a home built pfSense router. That's not for the faint hearted and a prosumer router that supports dual WAN out of the box might be easier to configure.
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