What Is The Best 4G Router
A problem with many fibre/cable broadband services is that they are great when available, for most of the time, but if not available, well… they are simply not there. Remote areas, countryside, even many of the so-called urban areas suffer from lack of proper fibre optic services. This is where 4G router with Sim slot comes handy.
There are many options when considering your choices of LTE router but what you need to remember, the price is not necessarily the best differential. Best 4G routers can increase your download and upload speeds, allow for more devices to be connected and decrease latency.
In this article we are going to have a look at top 5 4G routers in the UK. We based our choice on download and upload speeds, number of devices they support simultaneously, cost, and other criteria.
What Is the Best 4G Router UK? – Considerations
What is the main reason behind our considerations? The best 4G WiFi router in the UK needs to overcome the poor network bandwidth commonly experienced by UK residents in remote zones or those living in the countryside. It needs to combine good technical performance with price in order to be a good replacement for poor fixed broadband services from operators such as BT, Virgin Media, and others. WiFi routers with Sim slot are not the first choice for people who have access to good FTTH or even FTTC services but for rural areas of the UK they are often the difference between having access to internet or not.
Which 4G router is best?
When making our suggestions on which 4G router is best we considered the following:
4G Router Cost
Using router with Sim slot rather than fixed line can be expensive due to costs of data therefore having a 4G router that supports seamless connection can significantly influence how much you pay for your Sim.
Supported speeds
The best 4G routers in the UK have a download speed of at least 150 Mbps and an upload speed of at least 50 Mbps. Obviously, speeds depend on the network and location but a good 4G router can help you achieve better speeds. Closer you are to the mast, better the coverage and signal strength, better the speeds you achieve.
LAN ports
Although we are talking about WiFi routers, we should also remember that generally ethernet connection offers better speeds and more stable connection. If you consider using your 4G connection for streaming services, your Smart TV should be rather connected via LAN than WiFI.
Best 4G Router in the UK
So, let’s talk business now. Which 4G router is best?
No 5: Netgear Nighthawk MR1100
Netgear Nighthawk MR1100 is a lightweight and multipurpose router suitable for homes and outdoor use.
Wifi Speed: You can get WiFi download speed up to 150Mbps, and 50 Mbps upload speed.
Band: It is a dual-band router supporting 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
WiFi Load: It supports a maximum of 20 devices.
SIM: Netgear Nighthawk MR1100 is globally unlocked for all 3G and 4G LTE SIMs.
Port: It has 2 USB ports which you can use to share the internet with another device or charge the router.
Battery: It also has a long battery life of about 5,040 mAh. When charged, the battery can power all day, and you can use it to charge other USB devices.
Screen display: It has an amiable and colourful screen size of about 2.4 inches. It displays your network usage, network strength, and overall network statistics.
Netgear Nighthawk MR1100 Pros & Cons
Pros: Lightweight and ideal for travelling, and can share the WiFi with others suitable for outdoors, holidays, and camps.
Cons: It’s not easy to set up.
Cost: Around £250 on Amazon
No 4: Huawei B311
Huawei B311 is a single-band router that offers exceptional WiFi security.
WiFi Speed: It has a maximum speed of 150Mbps (download) and 50Mbps (upload).
Band: Huawei B311 is a single-band 2.4GHz WiFi router.
WiFi Load: It supports up to 32 devices.
SIM: Huawei B311 is unlocked to all mobile providers’ SIMs.
Port: It has five ports that support LAN/WAN cables and landline phone cables.
Antenna: It has an internal antenna. Also, through the external antenna port, you can connect an external antenna to increase your WiFi strength.
Huawei B311 Pros & Cons
Pros: It is affordable and ideal for gaming.
Cons: Single-band therefore not supporting Wi Fi 5GHz speeds and connectivity
Cost: Around £60 on Amazon
No 3: TP-Link MR6400
The TP-Link MR6400 is the best option for affordable and quality WiFi speed. It is suitable for light to medium streaming, gaming, and general browsing in your home or office.
WiFi Speed: With the TP-Link MR6400, you can get up to 150Mbps download speed and 50Mbps upload speed.
WiFi Band: TP-Link MR6400 adopts a single WiFi band of 2.4 GHz.WiFi Load: It can support up to 32 connected devices simultaneously.
SIM: It uses a nano SIM that’s unlocked for all networks.
Ethernet Port: TP-link MR6400 has 4 Ethernet ports. Connecting your UK wired broadband cable to the LAN/WAN ports of the router will convert it into a wireless network.
Antennas: It has a detachable antenna. Its detachability allows you to remove and replace it with another external one if you want to increase the WiFi coverage.
Warning: some models come with permanently fixed antennas what prevents users from attaching external antennas
TP-Link MR6400 Pros & Cons
Pros: Great value for the money.
Cons: some models come with permanently fixed antennas what prevents users from attaching external antennas
Cost: around £75 on Amazon
No 2: TP-Link Archer MR600
The TP-Link Archer MR600 is compatible with all TP-Link mesh WiFi extenders. It also has a higher speed than the MR6400. However, it costs a little bit more.
WiFi Speed: With TP-Link Archer MR600, you can get up to 300 Mbps download speed and up to 100 Mbps upload speed. Besides that, it could reach a potential higher rate of 867 Mbps when you set it to the 5GHz band.
Band: It is a dual-band WiFi router operating in frequencies of 2.4GHz and 5GHz.
WiFi Load: TP-Link Archer MR600 supports up to 64 devices simultaneously.
SIM: TP-Link Archer MR600 supports the SIMs of all mobile providers in the UK and over 100+ countries.
Ports: It has four ports. Antenna: The antenna is also detachable and can offer stable network coverage
Hardware Features
SIM: TP-Link Archer MR600 supports the SIMs of all mobile providers in the UK and over 100+ countries.
TP-Link Archer MR600 Pros & Cons
Pros: It requires no configuration. All you need to do is to insert your sim card into it and turn on your router.
Very suitable for rural areas
Cons: Bit more expensive
Cost: Around £160 on Amazon
No 1: Huawei B818
Huawei B818 is one of the most recent Huawei routers. It offers very good speeds perfect for UK countryside. As such he performs within home settings and is the best solution for business broadband.
WiFi Speed: This router is incredibly fast, offering a combined speed of up to 1200 Mbps. The upload speed is about 150Mbps, and the download speed can get up to 300 Mbps.WiFi Load: It can support a maximum of 64 WiFi users.
SIM: It uses a micro sim, and it is unlocked to all networks.
Port: It has three network ports. 1 Phone port (RJ11), 1 Gigabit LAN/WAN Port, and 1 Gigabit LAN Port. It also has two (TS-9) external antenna ports. You can use this port to fix LTE external antennas and improve your WiFi strength.
Antenna: Huawei B818 uses an internal antenna. This internal antenna makes it fit a little space during installation and ensures that it’s not cumbersome to carry.
Huawei B818 Pros & Cons
Pros: Reliable and most advanced out of all presented here routers
Cons: Price
Cost: Around £240 on Amazon
Some common questions:
What is 3G/4G Router
The simplest answer is that 3G/4G Router works with both technologies (3G and 4G). As sim cards are usually backward compatible you can utilise 4G connectivity in areas where 4G is available and 3G where there is only 3G. 3G/4G router is a good solution for areas wehre 4G is unreliable and the router needs to switch between technologies depending what’s available at the time.
Where to buy 4G router
You have several options but we always recommend to shop around. You can usually go to the manufacturer site for the list of distributors, you can also check e-commerce site. Our preferred option is Amazon.
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