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4G / 5G vs ISP...

webwolfwebwolf Member Posts: 21
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in Network Troubleshooting & Connectivity
Hey guys, first post!

To provide some background to this; I'm moving soon to a new house and leaving behind my awesome 300Mbp/s Virgin fiber  :'(  for... lets just say the area has exchange 'fiber' at a max rate of 60Mbps (guaranteed apparently). But with all the talk recently of 4g and 5g home routers providing unlimited bandwidth at a very reasonable cost! Is it worth looking into 4g / 5g as a reliable connection or is DSL going to be around for a while?

I know it's kind of opinion based, but a family member suggested a friend of his achieved over 100Mb with a 4g router from 3 (I think maybe he got lucky with a 5g trial and didn't realise it... or is 4g capable of 100Mb in the real world?)

In any case I work from home, so stability is more important, but I also work in tech and download a lot; plus my partner is a gamer so bandwidth is very much utilised in this house!
Tagged:
Gidster

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  • PoohPooh Member, Beta Tester Posts: 674
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    Unlimited in Telco terms invariably isn't unlimited. For example many providers give you a certain allotment then start to prioritize your connection behind other customers once you've breached it.

    Others will drop you down to 3G or even 2G type speeds.

    I'd stick with the DSL one if I were you. May not be published as being as fast, but you're probably not going to get many surprises with it either.
    People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.
    HronosMDavide
  • BurrathaBurratha Member, Beta Tester Posts: 12
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    edited September 2019 Accepted Answer
    I've personally measured 123 MB on a 4G Vodafone connection, near Knutsford Cheshire. 

    A friend has measured almost 300 MB on a 4G Vodafone connection in Islington, London.

    My understanding is that when the telcos are installing a 5G cell, they're also upgrading the 4G ones at that location, as well as increasing the physical bandwidth from the mast/site they're hosted.

Answers

  • LeeLee Member, Beta Tester Posts: 22
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    I'm located in Southern California and I've never seen a 4g connection anywhere close to 100Mb. My house is connected to fiber with about 230Mbp/s through it. We won't have 5g in our neighborhood under the 3rd to 4th quarter of 2020 so I've got no idea what speed it will actually be at this point.
  • kltaylorkltaylor Moderator, Beta Tester Posts: 1,231
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    webwolf said:
    Hey guys, first post!

    To provide some background to this; I'm moving soon to a new house and leaving behind my awesome 300Mbp/s Virgin fiber  :'(  for... lets just say the area has exchange 'fiber' at a max rate of 60Mbps (guaranteed apparently). But with all the talk recently of 4g and 5g home routers providing unlimited bandwidth at a very reasonable cost! Is it worth looking into 4g / 5g as a reliable connection or is DSL going to be around for a while?

    I know it's kind of opinion based, but a family member suggested a friend of his achieved over 100Mb with a 4g router from 3 (I think maybe he got lucky with a 5g trial and didn't realise it... or is 4g capable of 100Mb in the real world?)

    In any case I work from home, so stability is more important, but I also work in tech and download a lot; plus my partner is a gamer so bandwidth is very much utilised in this house!
    My first question to you would be: "What do you do on the internet?"
    Not meaning any intricate details, but what do you do when you're connected?  Do you simply browse and stream?  Are you a gamer?  Casual or Hardcore?
    In my situation, my house is literally a mixture of all of those.  If I had to move somewhere (I own my home, so I hope that's never the case) I'd not consider anything less than 100Mbps.
    Would I endure a 4g/5g connection?  Only if I absolutely had to, if I could have a higher speed for my connected home, I'd go with that first.
    "There's a fine line between audacity and idiocy."
    -Warden Anastasia Luccio, Captain
    Hronos
  • webwolfwebwolf Member Posts: 21
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    Primarily I need to use it for office stuff (online meetings, office docs etc).


    Partner streams games and watches streams all the time. I usually have Netflix or something running in the background when I'm working.


    I'm considering getting 2 dedicated lines for business and gaming just so I can dedicate 60Mb each way. I've had over 100Mb for about 6 years, not over the moon about losing it but at least it's the top end of DSL. I could possibly load balance two connections through the router if I can get 2 lines installed!

    GidsterHronos
  • Manny_CavalierManny_Cavalier Member, Beta Tester Posts: 18
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    If you go for 4G, I suggest you should put up an outdoor antenna receiver and pair it with a signal booster. 
    webwolf
  • webwolfwebwolf Member Posts: 21
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    Amazing, that confirms at least that "upgraded" 4G will reach +100Mb.

    This is good news, I can certainly see 4/5G taking over DSL when it's widely available, my sister is still pulling old school speeds like a bloody 500k modem; I think her current 4G and DSL is about the same (sub 1Mb). They really should give away anything under 5Mb for free at this point.

    HronosGidster
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