Apologies in advance if this is not the place for this question.
I’m looking for advice on the best hardware suggestions for creating a 4g internet connection to my remote house.
We have an off grid house in the hills of Wales. Our internet wifi speed is currently about 3mb! Via copper phone cable.
I’m trying to research 4g directional antennas & routers. We have a weak 4g signal outside but in guessing with the right set up it wouldn’t be hard to improve on the 3mb.
Can anyone offer some guidance on here?
One caveat would be energy usage. Because we are off grid I’d like to find an energy efficient option.
Ok I’ve waffled too much, I appreciate any help on this.
The energy consumption is really high. Although the mini version send to be more efficient. But the monthly price for this is pretty expensive, £96 a month!
Well, it's not like those two are comparable, budget wise, 119 vs 349 $ list price.
Both should do BUT the more expensive one, the newer ATL 5G R16 has some definite advantages:
it supports e-sims, which eliminates the issue - not really rare - that the physical e-sim contacts give problems on the outrdoor device (usually not easily reachable)
it has 32 Mb storage (instead of 16 of the sxt lte 6) which guarantees a surely longer update support (devices with only 16 Mb storage need in some cases a more complex update procedure), also it has 512 Mb ram instead of 64, less relevant in normal use
it is LTE20 instead of LTE6 (much faster, if the 4g/5g signal is good enough).
it has ARM architecture, which is more modern when compared to the older MIPSBE, and offers a few more (in case of need) options.
This device however really "just came out" and it might be a problem to procure one, likely you will need to join a waiting list at your preferred supplier/distributor, see:
The Sxt LTE6 kit on the other hand can often be found used (e-bay or similar) for less than 100 £.
I'd think the ATL 5G R16 be a great device, assuming you can get it outside and if you get some LTE/5G today at the location, the ATL no doubt be improved. It's powerful enough to act a router IMO, so I'd use the remaining grant on an AP(s) and/or switch.
But I'd recommend take a look at https://www.cellmapper.net/ to see what carrier/bands and the location of towers are on offer. This can help pick a carrier and where to point the ATL.
The mentioned devices are not "antennas", they are an "outdoor router with integrated antenna" or - it depends on the way you look at them - an "antenna with integrated router".
Since they have only one (the SXT actually two, but usually you don't use the second one if not to connect to other on-the -pole devices) ethernet port, you will need a switch of some kind to connect more than one devices (PC's, printers, etc.) or - possibly you will want wi-fi an access point/router/switch.
If (and it is suggested to have all the same kind of configuration) you go for another Mikrotik device, any cap or hap model would do for wifi, it depends on how large is your house and/or on WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor), the "best" devices are probably the hap AX2 or hap AX3 that have 5 ports besides the wifi radios.
If you don't need wifi or you already have an access point that you can re-use for this project, you can use any (unmanaged) switch, you only need a managed one if you want to implement VLANs.
With 500£ you can get an ATL and an HAP Ax2, no problem, probably also an Ax3, but there WAF will come into play.
Looks like a great way to future proof the set up. I’m edging my bets that the signal will eventually improve locally. Annoyingly our closest tower transmits 5g but it fires it off down the valley in the opposite direction to us!
- an "antenna with integrated router".