Newbie needs help!

[heyjb]

Hi, I am not very technical and need help. I cannot get internet where I live (except Hughesnet) . A coworker uses a MOFI4500-4GXeLTE-SIM7 and a sim card for unlimited internet. He brought it to my house and it worked. I was looking for something less expensive than that device. From what I read that is a router and modem. Can I just purchase one of routers mentioned in other posts? Do I need a router and modem?
Thanks for any help
Julie

[Didneywhorl]

Hey Julie,

You can build the same router as the MOFI-SIM7 with these two parts:

Router:
https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/routers/lte-rou ... fi-router/

Modem:
https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/modems/quectel- ... l-ec25-af/





Or you can build a better router, like the MOFI 4500 SIM4 is just by using this modem:
https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/modems/sierra-w ... em-refurb/




OR you can build an even better router with a way better modem:
Router:
https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/routers/lte-rou ... fi-router/
Modem:
https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/modems/sierra-w ... m-2-modem/



OR you can build an EVEN BETTER router and modem with this:
Router:
https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/routers/lte-rou ... parts-kit/
Modem:
https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/modems/sierra-w ... m-2-modem/


Full building and configuration tutorials and resources are here on this site. You can put it together, and set it up and save the cash.



Get the same data plan as your friend and your golden.

[Adm1jtg]

lol but can you build a REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY better router

Personally I am budget conscious and use a wg3526 and an ep06-a combination. Its like the mofi 4 and mofi 7 had a baby with the best of both units.

[heyjb]

Thanks!! When you say better.... do you mean faster? Also does the modem need the firmware upgrade for addl $15 ?

[Adm1jtg]

Better usually means more flexible, able to utilize more bands, able to use carrier aggregation, use carrier aggregation on upload and possibly more then just 2x and of course better would mean 5g capable if thats even something you need/want

[gscheb]

Personally if don't plan on going over 100 Mbps like
WE826 and a Quectel EM12.

[Adm1jtg]

Personally if don't plan on going over 100 Mbps like
WE826 and a Quectel EM12.

I dont like the lower end router only because their wifi is so weak (and only 2.4ghz) and they only have 10/100 ethernet ports. For a little more you should get the wg3526 which has gigabit ethernet ports.

As far as the modem the one listed above of the ep06-a would both work great for you. The EM12 is more advanced as far as capabilities with max download speeds and CAA but its also more money.

Like I said either will do just fine and The Wireless Haven can put it all together for you

[gscheb]

I dont like the lower end router only because their wifi is so weak (and only 2.4ghz) and they only have 10/100 ethernet ports. For a little more you should get the wg3526 which has gigabit ethernet ports.

As far as the modem the one listed above of the ep06-a would both work great for you. The EM12 is more advanced as far as capabilities with max download speeds and CAA but its also more money.

Like I said either will do just fine and The Wireless Haven can put it all together for you

Honestly haven't been impressed with WiFi out of any of the lte routers. Always use access point router anymore. Seen allot of people that struggle with good signal don't see speeds over 100.

[Adm1jtg]

Honestly haven't been impressed with WiFi out of any of the lte routers. Always use access point router anymore. Seen allot of people that struggle with good signal don't see speeds over 100.

Right, thats why I was recommending the router with the gigabit ethernet ports. You will never get a FULL 100 out of a 10/100 ethernet connection and thats mega bits anyway, not bytes. A 10/100 card running at 100mbps would be capable of 100 million bits per second. A byte is 8 bits, so divide that by 8 to get 12.5 megabytes per second. So that is the MAX theoretical speed the router can communicate to the access point. Its actually less then that with signaling overhead and such. Gigabit being a factor of 10 greater would have a theoretical max of 125 megabytes per second. Again that number will be less in real world use. Thus by using 10/100 you are introducing a bottleneck between the router and the access point.

Someone please correct me if I m wrong on this. The router and access points obviously use things like caching algorithms and such so the problem is not as pronounced as it seems but it still is a bottleneck.

Lastly just buying the wg3526 wont resolve this issue the access point must also have gigabit ports.

[gscheb]

Yes this is true the WE826 is a bottle neck. Won't ever go over 100 Mbps. Allot of people say it won't ever go over like 85 Mbps. Have seen like 92 Mbps before out of it.
You are completely right it is true. All that was stating is for allot people that isn't an issue since they will never even get to 100 Mbps capable speeds. And you don't need them. Like the post you had on another thread that you could do everything you need with allot less than that.
Think we are both saying the same thing.