How to get the most out of the LTE router

If you want to connect wirelessly to the Internet at the time of Netflix and others – for example. To stream movies or play online on a laptop, cell phone or TV, you need to have an LTE router. " The […]

If you want to connect wirelessly to the Internet at the time of Netflix and others – for example. To stream movies or play online on a laptop, cell phone or TV, you need to have an LTE router. "The fast Wi-Fi connection is always based on a good Internet connection, with enough bandwidth, but the best Internet is worthless if the WLAN router goes down," said Maximilian Schirmer, CEO of tarife.at, adding : "One who adopts five simple rules to heart can easily make the most of the Internet".

Choosing the right router – keyword "grouping operators"
tarife.at recommends using only LTE routers with "Carrier Aggregation", also called "LTE Advanced" (or at least LTE device category six), and also explains why: The LTE network uses different frequencies. While the lower frequency bands (800 or 900 MHz) have the advantage of transmitting over long distances, the higher bands (1800 or 2600 MHz) allow faster speeds. In addition, each frequency band is divided into channels – called "carriers". The larger the channel, the higher the maximum speed. To date, but especially after the emergence of the first LTE router, it was mainly devices without aggregation of operators on the market, which can only connect to a single operator. If this is busy, they must move to another or fail. In contrast, LTE routers with carrier aggregation, e.g. Huawei B618S, use multiple frequency bands simultaneously or use multiple channels in a frequency band. As a result, they reach higher bandwidths, are more stable and faster. Tarife.at advises to test the SIM card of the WLAN router in the mobile phone, most modern smartphones already support the aggregation of operators. If you are significantly slower on the router than on the phone, an exchange is advisable.

The position of the router

tarife.at also recommends paying attention to the correct location and orientation of the router. It is possible to check if the signal is correct on many devices by means of light signals on the device or in the web interface of the router. If the performance is low, proposes to tarife.at to configure the router in different places and in a few days, at different times to perform speed tests for which the comparison portal provides a free speed test. Ideally, the router has a direct line of sight on the mobile antenna. The positions close to the window are therefore particularly well adapted, but not the locked locations or boxes. If the wireless router has an external antenna, you can also ask the mobile phone service provider which turntable must provide and position the router so that the antenna looks at it. If you are not sure exactly where the antenna is in the device with built-in antennas, you need to test different performance in either portrait or landscape orientation.

The choice of mobile service provider

If mobile networks are overloaded, capacity is allocated via bandwidth optimization through usage clbades. LTE home rates are mostly at a disadvantage compared to traditional mobile rates. Apart from this, pay attention to discounters: Internet traffic is driven by what is called "peering" from the source to the destination. Because fast peering is expensive, some discounters use cheaper peering, which slows down and increases latency. But as mobile networks are usually dynamic, once the network of a provider busy, once that of another. Based on millions of measurements, the free SpeedMap tarife.at gives you a preview. In order to remain flexible and avoid long links with a supplier, the comparison portal recommends tariffs only for SIM. If you want to know which provider is the best in the desired location, you should try the three home LTE networks. In this context, some suppliers grant a test phase or request an online purchase with a right of withdrawal of 14 days. If you change providers, you must re-determine the ideal position of the WLAN router.

WLAN versus Ethernet

However, the WLAN itself frequently hampers the quality of the Internet. During speed tests, the router must be connected to the computer via a LAN cable in order to exclude restrictions due to WLAN. In general, connecting via a LAN cable is preferable to a WLAN connection. If this is not possible, tarife.at recommends opting for a dual band LTE router that can also use the much faster 5 GHz frequency band for WLANs. If these measures are still not effective, tarif.at recommends to ensure that: If this is guaranteed, you could, for example, use an amplifier – called "repeater" – which is simply connected to a power outlet . In large houses, it is also useful to have wireless networks with mesh networks, which create a national network by combining several devices.

Room or house antennas

Especially in rural areas, the transmission towers of mobile operators are often distant. In this case, you can use your own more powerful antenna. These are either inside the window (useful from around € 60), or if possible fixed to the wall of the house or the roof (from around € 130) and aligned exactly on the pylons of transmission. tarife.at also advises in this case to choose a multi-band antenna for several frequencies, which is then connected by cable to the router.