Wifi hotspots?

[HavocXphere]

I've been tasked with arranging some mobile wifi hotspots for my employer.

Probably going to need like 5 of them & maybe another 5 later.

I gather LTE-A is an improvement on LTE, but where does the 4G fit in? Is LTE-A = 4G?

The providers mostly refer to 4G but I've also seen references to LTE-A so if those are the same thing then that should work. I'm thinking of getting these:

TP-Link M7350 4G LTE-Advanced Mobile WiFi Router. Mostly because it has 5ghz, but the hotspots all seem pretty similar function wise. Is there are preferred brand for this?

 

[Rickster]

LTE is actually 3.9G but companies use the word 4G to make it sound like a new invention rather than a revision.


LTE-A is true 4G.

How far apart are these hotspots going to be approx?

 

[HavocXphere]

How far apart are these hotspots going to be approx?

Very close. But probably lots of interference hence 5ghz might be useful.

Seems some of the local providers seem to be taking liberties with 4G then...don't think they're all LTE-A yet they all claim 4G.

Anyone know the expected real world difference between LTE-A vs LTE? The provider that is the cheapest (by a big margin) seems to be rocking LTE only.

 

[Rickster]

Very close. But probably lots of interference hence 5ghz might be useful.

Seems some of the local providers seem to be taking liberties with 4G then...don't think they're all LTE-A yet they all claim 4G.

Anyone know the expected real world difference between LTE-A vs LTE? The provider that is the cheapest (by a big margin) seems to be rocking LTE only.

How many users are you expecting to connect?

 

[upup]

So lte from tower, but then plain wifi between router and device?

 

[HavocXphere]

How many users are you expecting to connect?

Probably 3-7 per hotspot.

We just need something mobile the guys can use at clients with crap wifi...costing a fortune in lost productivity & bad morale.

So lte from tower, but then plain wifi between router and device?

Yup. n standard 5ghz. The ultrabooks can do ac standard but the routers in that price range don't seem to so it'll have to be n standard.

 

[Rickster]

Why have 5 routers/hotspots when you only need 1?

Forget that ^, didn't read.

OP, we need more info, what jobs do they do for these clients, what's the Internet going to be used for? How is the LTEa coverage?

 

[ItherNiT]

I'm assuming your looking for something like the Huawei E5577

 

[HavocXphere]

OP, we need more info, what jobs do they do for these clients, what's the Internet going to be used for? How is the LTEa coverage?

We've got teams of ~7 sitting in random office buildings that need to VPN back to central servers using whatever internet is available there. The locations keep changing daily though so the plan is to grab the best tech available (within reason) and hope for the best regarding coverage.

Hence the LTE vs LTE-A question...working out what gear to grab. I'm just looking at whats available...and they all seem pretty much the same thing so was curious to hear if mybb has an opinion on what to pick. I can just buy one I picked somewhat arbitrarily (like the one in OP - LTE-A and its on special) but if someone actually has experience with these that would be better.

I'm assuming your looking for something like the Huawei E5577

Pretty much. Except will probably get a LTE-A one as it appears there is at least some areas with LTE-A coverage & the devices seem similarly priced.

 

[Rickster]

We've got teams of ~7 sitting in random office buildings that need to VPN back to central servers using whatever internet is available there. The locations keep changing daily though so the plan is to grab the best tech available (within reason) and hope for the best regarding coverage.

Hence the LTE vs LTE-A question...working out what gear to grab. I'm just looking at whats available...and they all seem pretty much the same thing so was curious to hear if mybb has an opinion on what to pick. I can just buy one I picked somewhat arbitrarily (like the one in OP - LTE-A and its on special) but if someone actually has experience with these that would be better.


Pretty much. Except will probably get a LTE-A one as it appears there is at least some areas with LTE-A coverage & the devices seem similarly priced.

We can't help you with how good it is because LTEA here vs Europe is a whole different ballgame.

I assume in "Europe" it's just like our providers here in SA you get caps and trotting?

So you have to chose the right package and link to this package?


PS, LTEa is backwards compatible with LTE, so if there is no LTEa you will get LTE and then 3G.

 

[Rickster]

And?