Suggestions needed for LTE router

[lotus123]

I've been using a TP-Link 3220 V1 router for the last couple of years, but it's never been the best router for 3G. Despite keeping it at the latest firmware levels it's always been a PITA, disconnecting a few times a day and also hanging up the WiFi connections.

I'd like to replace it now with something that can also handle LTE when it arrives here. The only LTE routers I've seen so far that appear to be readily available are the newer TP-Link routers, but based on my experience I'd rather look at something else.

Any suggestions?

 

[OGroteKoning]

The Dovado Tiny .....

Jola has ordered one to link to the incredible Asus RT-N66u. Wating for his respnse though when he gets it

 

[FireTelkom]

I am using a Huawei B593 that was supplied by 8TA. I am one of the lucky people that were selected to be part of the trial. The router was working brilliantly until an Eskom power spike or lightning decided to kill the power supply. I am waiting for 8TA to collect the unit and exchange the unit.

I can seriously suggest to invest in one of these units when they become available.

 

[Jola]

The Dovado Tiny .....

Jola has ordered one to link to the incredible Asus RT-N66u. Wating for his respnse though when he gets it

I received the router just this afternoon, so have not completed my testing yet.

It does work, as claimed, with the E398 and E3276, in fact I am posting this while connected to the Tiny / E3276. But I don't have Cell C LTE at my house, so cannot test that. I do have good Vodacom LTE signal, but cannot connect to that because Vodacom will not provision Top Up contracts for LTE, supposedly because of a system problem (according to Jannie, but how long can it take to fix that ?).

You can check the specs for this router on the internet, it is relatively simple yet still supports failover, etc. But it only has 100mbps ethernet support.

It does N150 on the wifi side, and seems to have a reasonable range for such a small device.

So it is not up there with the RT-N66U specwise, etc, but at least it does have proper modem software support, unlike most others. You do need to update the firmware when you get it, else it will not support the E3276.

I am going to Umhlanga next week, which does have Cell C LTE, so will then be able to test it properly.

I am planning to use this as a front-end for the RT-N66U, feeding into the WAN port.

I ordered it on eBay from a company (Varia) in Germany, that went quite smoothly, and I received it quickly. The total cost (excl taxes) was about EUR110 incl shipping, and I paid about R180 in duties. Maybe you can get it cheaper locally, I looked around for one but couldn't find one.

It is expensive for a small router but does seem to be the only one around that supports all the Huawei LTE modems.

 

[lotus123]

Thanks for your really useful answers.

I've also been looking for local suppliers, but Dovado doesn't seem to be very good at providing information. The supplier websites that they link to don't have the Tiny, so overseas may be the only option. I'm guessing their online support and updates are better.

Asus don't seem to have a strong local presence either, although Esquire seems to stock a lot of their stuff (but not the RT-N66U, although I'll call them to make sure).

This idea of "clustering" routers together seems to make sense. I suspect that in the case of this feeble TP-Link router the device doesn't have the MIPS to handle a lot of concurrent activity such as 3G and WiFi. Perhaps clustering routers provides a similar performance effect as clustering servers?