Current best option for 4G Wireless Broadband to replace home internet?

Doy on 15/12/2021 - 18:50
Last edited 15/12/2021 - 18:51

Moving out to a place where the NBN is FTTN at a max of 25mbps, and not even reaching that, to my absolute horror.

Assumed I was going to be able to pay a pretty penny for uncapped speeds with a decent data limit, but all I'm finding are options that are either capped at 500GB, or unlimited usage at only 20mbps max. I feel like 500GB wouldn't be enough, nor 20mbps be enough.

I've seen some people talk about using data SIMs as opposed to dedicated 4G broadband, and just BYO your own modem, but I'm really unsure whether providers TOS allows for that sort of use. Also, I am definitely not in 5G range, but from visiting the place, Optus mobile coverage got me over 100mbps when doing a speedtest on my phone.

Does anyone have suggestions for a situation such as myself? Happy to pay upwards of $100 a month.

Thanks in advance.

Internet Broadband Wireless Broadband

Comments

  • AndyC1 on 15/12/2021 - 20:48
    -1

    Looks like you have no idea about 4G or 5G….. So lets start with this ASSumption on you.

    5G will need line of site to the tower and me withing about 1KM between the modem and tower.
    4G will not need line of site to the tower, but any metal or thick brick/concrete between the modem and tower will cause loss and slow things down.

    As for who…
    1) Optus:
    Optus you need to be very very very careful as the plans specify in they are for a phone or modem and the 4G modem plans for 500Gb are $65/month at the moment. Once you go over they will sting you $10/G for the first 5GB and then read the plan info.
    The Optus 5G home internet data plans are unlimited data, but you do NOT own the modem
    Optus technical support have no idea how to support either the 4G or 5G modems and if anything goes wrong that is not in their kiddy script responses then you are FOO BAR!!!!
    2) Telstra:
    They are more expensive than Optus and have less included data.
    They were allot faster and reliable compared to Optus
    No idea what the support is like, but apparently it is not good either (offshored).
    3). Vodafone:
    They are more expensive than Optus, but less than telstra
    Their unlimited plans after X GB drop the speed to Y until the next month kicks in
    No idea what the support is like, but apparently it is not good either (offshored).

    Overall The Optus plans seem the best and in the past some of the Optus resellers had better plans than Optus (I can't remember who, but it was a 4G plan with 1GB download for about $80/month)

    Be aware the download speed comparison between a 4G modem and a 4G phone is NOT valid. (Too technical for this forum). A phone gives an indication if the 4G coverage is adequate for a 4G data modem to "work"… work === >20Mbps based on my experience and what I have seen with issues on the Optus support forums over the last 3 years (then Optus yes crowd forum was closed down as Optus did not want people finding out how bad their support was after reading the posts)

  • ESEMCE on 15/12/2021 - 21:05

    Vodafone is speed restricted to 20mbps, so not an option.

    The only other potential option is a non NBN Fixed Wireless provider if one exists in your area.

    Otherwise Technology Choice through NBN or wait for them to do what they should have done in the first place.

  • dasher86 on 15/12/2021 - 21:18

    Best best bet is to try pick up a second hand b818 modem and sign up to this deal.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/671336
    500gb for $65 a month capped.
    If you need more data get disposable Sims or try your luck with this 'expired' deal and pool your data.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/goto/650483

    Really can give you an indication on the speeds you will get but it will determine on the towers in the area - the b818 modem is great.

  • loke on 15/12/2021 - 21:46

    On an Optus 500gb plan for 4g

    this is the router's speed test via the Adaptive QoS > Internet Speed tab:

    2021/12/15
    20:45

    Download 161.98 Mbps

    Upload 30.56 Mbps

    Optus Burwood East Server (VIC)

    located in Doncaster VIC

    • AndyC1 on 15/12/2021 - 21:50

      On my B818 I maxed out at 40Mbpsm BUT in the last two years the Optus tower was faulty for 8 months and the max during this time was sub 1Mbps, unless I locked the modem to specific bands while Optus did nothing or worked on the tower. I was refunded for 6 months in the last years by Optus due to the QOS.

      • loke on 15/12/2021 - 22:26

        Yeh this one should be a B818 modem, I have a B525 too lying about

        Asus rt-68u plugged into it

        I've been with Optus for ages and due to the phone 4G speeds/data inclusion never went with wired internet

        Picked up the 500GB 4G modem plan during lockdown but now with the phone plan on 500GB may not be necessary anymore

        Main phone plan : 500GB sim only

        3 data sims from a grandfathered plan (no month-to-month cost)

        I have x1 sim in a backup phone, other x2 sims with siblings.

        If doing a lot of downloading, I USB tether for better speeds (phone 4G always does better on speedtest? ~200mbits iirc can pull through the full 20MB/s (~160mbits+) downloading via USB tether) cos my wifi card is crap on this ~7year old computer.

      • loke on 16/12/2021 - 01:46

        Phone 4G is as follows:

        Test is at 1:45am, (since I only bothered to check now…)

        Galaxy Note 9: 216 Mbps / 28.2 Mbps

        Oppo Find X2 Pro: 269 Mbps / 28.5 Mbps

  • Doy on 13/01/2022 - 09:45
    +1

    For those revisiting this post, I went with Vodafone Ultra+ (unlimited, no speed cap, currently $65 a month) and stuck it in a B818 in bridge mode to a good router. Getting a consistent 260/30 as I live close to a non-congested tower. Already through a couple of hundred GB and no worries at all!

    • Adriftx on 31/01/2022 - 21:09

      Hey thanks for this info I am looking at a similar option. How did you get B818?

      • Doy on 01/02/2022 - 14:53

        No worries mate. Just off Gumtree / FB Marketplace

    • StonedWizard on 02/03/2022 - 20:22

      @Doy - How is this plan going for you? I"m considering doing it as well, but don't know if they've cracked down on you using it in bridge mode. I'd love to be on 4G with unlimited data.

      • Doy on 02/03/2022 - 20:50

        One word: flawless
        More words: low ping, no slowdowns, many gigabytes. I really did get lucky being close to a tower in a non-densely populated area, though

        • StonedWizard on 02/03/2022 - 21:54

          @Doy - Have they been counting your usage towards the normal data or hot spot?

    • shmingle shmongle on 17/04/2022 - 13:47

      Hey @Doy, this sounds like a great solution. Was the process of setting it to bridge mode and connecting to a router simple?

      I have a decent router but my knowledge of network tech is super limited haha

      Also, what kind of ping do you get if you have measured yet?

      • Doy on 17/04/2022 - 16:11
        +1

        Hey mate, little bit of fiddling around but just because the setting wasn't the most intuitive (don't remember the exact specifics, but something like having to disable the DHCP server before putting it into bridge mode). Took like 20 mins to do some research and find out a thread running into the same issue. Sorry, don't remember more off the top of my head.

        However, you could definitely just get the B818 itself at first and see if that works well for you without bothering with an external router. I just wanted to know I had something a bit higher spec that was more customisable. What's your use case?

        I would say my ping is about 10ms more than I would expect on the NBN, and maybe a touch more variable. I would expect to get approx 40-50ms ping on the Sydney LoL server from Brisbane, for example.

        Any more Qs, happy to help!

        • shmingle shmongle on 19/04/2022 - 16:01

          Champ.

          Sounds pretty straightforward and can be all done within the router management page - so I'll give it a go once I can grab a B818 from marketplace or wherever.

          It seems like my address has 5G coverage on Vodafone's map so is it possible to get 5G speeds with the B818 since it's 5G capable?

          I do a lot of downloading/uploading as I share a lot of video and audio files to my clients but other than that the occasional gaming.

          • Doy on 19/04/2022 - 16:09

            @shmingle shmongle: No worries. Of course your results will vary a lot based on your location and how congested the network is, but definitely worth a spin.

            I didn't think that the B818 was 5G capable, actually! Some weird marketing about 5G ready, but I've got no idea what that is actually referring to: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/564702

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