4G backup broadband

[AstonZagato]

I would like some help, please. I live in a rural location and the broadband I get (best speed 30Mbps and average of 20Mbps) suffers from regular dropouts. It is fine when streaming movies but make Zoom/MS Teams calls difficult.

I was wondering if a 4G router could add an automatic backup facility, i.e. when the broadband drops out, the 4G data kicks in?

However, I would need the equipment and process explained in words of one syllable and with an absence of meaningless (to me) acronyms, please. Imagine you are talking to an idiot (because you are).

Ideally I'd like to have suggestions on equipment (assuming it is possible)

Current Setup
I have a Sky hub as a router. It feeds what I believe is an Ethernet switch which connects to data sockets around the house. It is boosted around the place by various boosters. These are an ad hoc combination of things I've added over the years - so stuff wired to data ports (Apple Airports, Apple Time Machine) and wireless relay boosters (a Sky one and and a random thing off Amazon). All the ports in the back of the hub are used currently (one for the PS4, one for Apple TV (I think), one for the Ethernet switch, one for an Airport (again I think, that only does music distribution for the house)).

Complications
It is not totally straightforward as there are two more complications:

1. 4G Signal
The 4G signal we get in the house downstairs is poor to non-existent. Upstairs it get better and on the drive or in the gardens it is fine. So an outside aerial is probably a must.

2. Broadband router location
The current Sky Hub is in a tiny downstairs cupboard at one end of the house. It would be difficult to route new wires there. Not impossible but would require a professional. It would be especially difficult to get an aerial cable there. So if the 4G modem needs to sit next to the Sky Hub, I might have an issue.

Sky Router type:

Back:

[jamoor]

You need a router than is dual wan - capable of using 2 internet connections at the same time.

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/dsl-mod... - These routers should do the job. (just read the descriptions)

Plug your phone line into the router and it will use that as its primary internet.

Then buy your 4g subscription, just make sure the router isn't wifi only and has a connection for an ethernet port so you can plug stuff into it https://shop.ee.co.uk/dongles/pay-monthly-mobile-b...

Then plug your 4g into your tp link router and configure it as a failover.

There are usb ones that you can plug in, but I wouldn't trust em.

[mudnomad]

I'm using Archer MR200 from Amazon and it's great. 5ghz and 2.4ghz. It automatically configures the 4G and it switches over automatically.
All you have to do is put the sim card in and it's ready to go.

[jamoor]

mudnomad said:

I'm using Archer MR200 from Amazon and it's great. 5ghz and 2.4ghz. It automatically configures the 4G and it switches over automatically.
All you have to do is put the sim card in and it's ready to go.

Do you plug your DSL modem into it?

If so this is probably a cheaper option as you only need 1 new router.

[page3]

Can I ask a question on this?

I have fttc 27/3 but it drops daily. If I was to use 4g as a fallover then EE would work for me as reception is fine. However, do I really need to pay £35/month for data I’m rarely going to use? If this is a fall over surely there must be a cheaper way? If not, what are the disadvantages of binning fttc and going 4g only?

[mudnomad]

page3 said:

Can I ask a question on this?

I have fttc 27/3 but it drops daily. If I was to use 4g as a fallover then EE would work for me as reception is fine. However, do I really need to pay £35/month for data I’m rarely going to use? If this is a fall over surely there must be a cheaper way? If not, what are the disadvantages of binning fttc and going 4g only?

I'm on 4G only. Vodafone in London, £30 per month, standard mobile contract, unlimited data. Normally around 60mbps down and 30-50up.
Watching 4k video on Amazon/Netflix etc without any issues.
I cancelled my broadband over a year ago and never looked back.

[mudnomad]

jamoor said:

Do you plug your DSL modem into it?

If so this is probably a cheaper option as you only need 1 new router.

I don't because I only use 4G but yes, you just plug the modem in.

[jamoor]

page3 said:

Can I ask a question on this?

I have fttc 27/3 but it drops daily. If I was to use 4g as a fallover then EE would work for me as reception is fine. However, do I really need to pay £35/month for data I’m rarely going to use? If this is a fall over surely there must be a cheaper way? If not, what are the disadvantages of binning fttc and going 4g only?

Three is 1p per mb payg or you could find some payg plan that gives you a 90 day bundle

[mudnomad]

Three payg and GiffGaff are good if you want a bit of cheap data just as a backup. Just choose which one has better coverage where you are.

[page3]

Just run a Speedtest on 4g from my old iPhone and get 30/5 which is better than my fttc connection. Perhaps I should look in to going 4g only.

After 6 months on complaining re daily drops Openreach have still done nothing.

I’m currently with A&A and use a voip phone. Assume I can still do that on 4g?

[jamoor]

page3 said:

Just run a Speedtest on 4g from my old iPhone and get 30/5 which is better than my fttc connection. Perhaps I should look in to going 4g only.

After 6 months on complaining re daily drops Openreach have still done nothing.

I’m currently with A&A and use a voip phone. Assume I can still do that on 4g?

Which network are you on?

[skeeterm5]

Trying running a speedtest via you connection and then when connected to the hub, ie not an extension. I found that the drop off between the main wifi router and my extension was enough to make video calling poor.

I now connect my iPad for video calling to the main hub wifi and it is fine.

S

[page3]

jamoor said:

Which network are you on?

EE.

The problem is that my wife insists on a landline.

If we were to move to 4g (easy) we’d have a find a landline provider at reasonable cost or a voip provider that can transfer the number (A&A transferred it from a bt line to their copper pair only for voip)

Apologies OP, if this isn’t of interest to you I should start my own thread.

Edited by page3 on Sunday 24th May 14:21

[AstonZagato]

jamoor said:

You need a router than is dual wan - capable of using 2 internet connections at the same time.

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/dsl-mod... - These routers should do the job. (just read the descriptions)

Plug your phone line into the router and it will use that as its primary internet.

Then buy your 4g subscription, just make sure the router isn't wifi only and has a connection for an ethernet port so you can plug stuff into it https://shop.ee.co.uk/dongles/pay-monthly-mobile-b...

Then plug your 4g into your tp link router and configure it as a failover.

There are usb ones that you can plug in, but I wouldn't trust em.

Thanks.

I think you lost me on the bold bit. I plug it in where the LAN/WAN port is?

I presume the "fallover" bit is a simple setting in the TP Link setup?

[AstonZagato]

mudnomad said:

I'm using Archer MR200 from Amazon and it's great. 5ghz and 2.4ghz. It automatically configures the 4G and it switches over automatically.
All you have to do is put the sim card in and it's ready to go.

Thanks. I don't see somewhere to plug in the phone connection so presumably I still need a second box of some description.

Are the aerials any good / better than a mobile?

[NorthDave]

I'd look at this slightly differently.

Are you 100% sure that the reliability issue you have is down to the internet feed in to the house and not wifi issues? The reason I ask is that your "collection of various wifi bits" is ripe for issues. If it were me I would install a proper managed Wifi system and then if I still had issues (and knew it was down to the internet) I would transfer to Zen Internet and report a fault. The reason for Zen is because they have good customer support and will handle the issue with BT until resolved.

If at that point you still wanted 4G backup then you could swap your ISP provided router for a dual WAN version and have the phone line as one input. The second input could be a dedicated 4G router housed on the end of one of your network cables. You might find a 4G router upstairs works OK or it might need an aerial which could be inside the house or externally mounted on the roof (it would be the same aerial so you could try it indoors first). If it needed to go on the roof then you could put this router somewhere that is easier to cable to.

I hope that makes sense?

[AstonZagato]

I guess I understand some of that.

I have been thinking about junking the bitsa setup that I have and getting a mesh system (the house is large and rambling).

So, I think you're saying do that first (but I guess ensure it is a dual wan router to give me the retro-fit capability?).

Then see if I still get the dropouts (I am FTTC but I am about the last in the village so I have a looooong copper stretch to get to the fibre).

If I still get dropouts and the broadband provider can't resolve (Sky unsurprisingly don't seem to care), add the 4G router.

Question though: if I get a 4g router and plug an ethernet cable into it and the data point in the wall, will the dual WAN router "see" it and be able to configure for it?

I'm starting to think I need to get a proper communications firm in to set this up for me...

[jamoor]

page3 said:

jamoor said:

Which network are you on?

EE.

The problem is that my wife insists on a landline.

If we were to move to 4g (easy) we’d have a find a landline provider at reasonable cost or a voip provider that can transfer the number (A&A transferred it from a bt line to their copper pair only for voip)

Apologies OP, if this isn’t of interest to you I should start my own thread.

Edited by page3 on Sunday 24th May 14:21

Voipfone will transfer it and it’s only a couple of quid a month. Buy a cheap ex corporate voip phone off eBay and hook it upto voipfone and tell her it’s a landline.



There’s no reason to have a copper line in this day and age unless you have to have one. It’s just a money making scam.

[jamoor]

AstonZagato said:

jamoor said:

You need a router than is dual wan - capable of using 2 internet connections at the same time.

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/dsl-mod... - These routers should do the job. (just read the descriptions)

Plug your phone line into the router and it will use that as its primary internet.

Then buy your 4g subscription, just make sure the router isn't wifi only and has a connection for an ethernet port so you can plug stuff into it https://shop.ee.co.uk/dongles/pay-monthly-mobile-b...

Then plug your 4g into your tp link router and configure it as a failover.

There are usb ones that you can plug in, but I wouldn't trust em.

Thanks.

I think you lost me on the bold bit. I plug it in where the LAN/WAN port is?

I presume the "fallover" bit is a simple setting in the TP Link setup?

Yes just read the documentation for your router and it should explain

[anonymous-user]

jamoor said:

You need a router than is dual wan - capable of using 2 internet connections at the same time.

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/dsl-mod... - These routers should do the job. (just read the descriptions)

Plug your phone line into the router and it will use that as its primary internet.

Then buy your 4g subscription, just make sure the router isn't wifi only and has a connection for an ethernet port so you can plug stuff into it https://shop.ee.co.uk/dongles/pay-monthly-mobile-b...

Then plug your 4g into your tp link router and configure it as a failover.

There are usb ones that you can plug in, but I wouldn't trust em.

I bought a TP-Link TL-MR6400 and it does what you are looking for. You can set it up as a normal wireless router which then falls back to 4G in the event of an outage. Really easy to set up, just insert the SIM and off you go. I got 20GB /month subscription from Tesco for £10.

Tip for you: when choosing a sim only deal, work out which provider has the best coverage for where you live. E.g, Vodafone was crap for us but Tesco (O2) is fine.

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 24th May 15:21