Best Powered 4G/5G Wi-Fi Modem?

Click_It on 19/03/2021 - 12:10
Last edited 19/03/2021 - 12:12

I bought a Netgear Nighthawk M1 last year but it's not really up to the task here. I live in the worst blackspot I've ever known. Ironically Vodafone is the best network here and Telstra the worst. Anyway whilst the Netgear is great for portability it's not really what I need here. What are my best powered options and would they be superior to the Netgear?

Budget is whatever it takes, my 3 work-from-home jobs need stable internet. NBN/Wired internet is out of the equation, to make a long story short and WiFi providers don't cover this blackspot, so mobile networks is the only option, ideally one that will be unlocked so I can use Vodafone.

Computing Mobile Broadband Modem

Comments

  • bhakharvadi on 19/03/2021 - 12:47

    You can get either of the newer versions of nighthawk models, they are on sale right now: https://www.telstra.com.au/internet/mobile-broadband

    And I don't think they are locked to telstra as you can't buy from Netgear directly or from anywhere else, so you can insert vodafone sim and might need to change APN settings.

    Of course you can confirm that before purchasing, people on forums are saying it's not locked.

  • AndyC1 on 19/03/2021 - 12:51
    +1

    I would grab some cheap external TS-9 antenna's first and then if they do not help then I would head on over to https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/ and ask there. IMHO the best 4G modem at the moment seems to be the Huawei B818. As for 5G if you are in a black spot then 5G is out of the question.

    An example of the antenna's are:
    https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2Pcs-Set-Home-WIFI-4G-LTE-Extern…

    • ESEMCE on 19/03/2021 - 13:48

      Look up what bands your local Vodafone tower supports and do some investigation to see which bands do Carrier Aggregation on Vodafone.
      Then target a modem that supports not only those bands, but specifically Carrier Aggregation on those bands.
      The B818 is probably a safe bet.
      It can be tuned (using third party software) to only connect to one (or multiple) targeted band(s) as required to extract the best performance from the tower.

      Also look up the location of the tower and try to position the modem with the most direct signal path to the tower (ideally positioned with direct line of sight).
      This could even be the solution to get your existing M1 Nighthawk performing.

      • AndyC1 on 19/03/2021 - 14:08

        Nothing is going to fix the bad signal strength like an external antenna. The CA will only work if there is a decent signal.

        If you want to find the towers have a look at the following site: https://www.rfnsa.com.au/?first=1

        For the B818 the third party software EXEMCE was hinting at for a PC is:
        https://ltehmonitor.github.io/
        https://www.lte-anbieter.info/lte-forum/threads/lteinspector…

        On Android:
        https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=TheCoder&hl=…

        • ESEMCE on 19/03/2021 - 14:36

          Better placement plus better antenna will greatly assist, plus the M1 may well be a Telstra one with hardware targeted for Telstra's bands, not Vodafone's.

          Telstra's M1 supports the following for CA
          1800+700, 1800+2600, 2600+700, 2600+2600, 700+1800+2600, 1800+2600+2600, 700+2600+2600 MHz1800+700, 1800+2600, 2600+700, 2600+2600, 700+1800+2600, 1800+2600+2600, 700+2600+2600 MHz

          According to Whirlpool,

          Vodafone 1800MHz FDD-LTE service currently supports up to 20MHz of duplex bandwidth.
          The Vodafone 850MHz FDD-LTE service currently supports up to 10MHz of duplex bandwidth. Vodafone is also refarming 2100MHz at some sites for use with LTE.
          The Vodafone 700MHz FDD-LTE service currently supports up to 5MHz of duplex bandwidth. It is currently being deployed over a handful of sites around Australia.

          So the Telstra M1 wont see much benefit from CA on Vodafone 1800+700 is the only combination for 25MHz total spectrum is the best possible.

      • triviums on 19/03/2021 - 14:33

        If you do go down the path of getting a B818 investigate the tower bands first to see if you can save yourself some money and get a cheaper modem.

        I have a Netgear Nighthawk M1, B818, and a B315s. Out of all these 4G modems the B315s works the best for me in blackspot. The B315s was also the cheapest out of the 3 (it only costed me $20, while the other two costed me $100+).

        • AndyC1 on 19/03/2021 - 14:41
          +1

          @triviums Sounds like there may be some issues with the extra bands the B818 supports that the B315 on the tower you are connecting to. Use one of the apps listed in my post above to only enable the B818 bands the B315 has and it should give you a better speed. Second hand prices vary allot.

  • dasher86 on 19/03/2021 - 14:12

    also 4g modems / hotspots can have pretty bad distance issues with the wifi itself.
    First point of call is to find the best spot for the 4g device, second relocate your office there XD if not you may need to get a range extender.
    I used to have my ac800s in the lounge as it would get the best speeds there.
    my office was in the spare bedroom on the other side of the house. Speeds in lounge were good, in office bad.

    • AndyC1 on 19/03/2021 - 14:36

      External TS-9 antenna's help allot with the AC800S as the the download speed improvement can be allot, but it can also overload the receiver if the signal strength it too much. The DC112A helps allot with the AC800S wifi. The AC800S would probably be the equivalent to one of the Nighthawk, but I do not know which one.

      I replaced my AC800S with a B818 in the middle of last year as I could not get telnet to work in order to lock out a faulty Optus B40 that it kept connecting to.

  • Arcticsoldier on 19/03/2021 - 15:33

    I bought the nighthawk M5. As I'm country NSW I would only get 12/2Mbps. I bought a cheap 5G high gain antenna with ts9 connectors which I mount to the window. Now I get 50/4Mbps which is a lot better that I expected.

    https://www.amazon.com.au/Panorama-DMM-7-38-2TS9-MiMo-Antenn…

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