Looking for a phone that will help test 4G speeds in my area

smuj2016

Hello All!

I currently have fairly poor landline broadband - about 9Mbit/s down and 0.5 up. An engineer, out to fix a problem a couple of years ago, said I could get a maximum of ~20Mbit/s download if I rang Eir. (It's seemingly capped at the moment for legacy reasons.) I never got round to ringing them because, TBH, the 9Mb was fine for what I use it for - just watching YouTube videos and basic web browsing etc. I've decided now's the time to upgrade though and I want to get rid of the landline and (hopefully!) replace it with a better 4G connection - at least until 5G or a better landline option becomes available in my locality. My current phone - old faithful! :P - is only 3G, so obviously I need a new 4G capable phone for testing the various networks. Budget-wise I was looking at around €200 - but can go higher - and thought this Samsung Galaxy A12 looked a nice starting point: https://www.carphonewarehouse.ie/shop/phones-plans/all-phones/galaxy-a12

In addition to my basic usage of YouTube etc., I've a new MacBook on the way, and I understand that MacOS updates can be fairly substantial in size, so it would be nice to have a decent download speed for that.

I'm fairly out of date, tech-wise, so was wondering if it makes much of a difference which new 4G phone I get, and whether the Galaxy A12 was a good/bad choice for a hotspot phone? (I should add that I need a phone rather than a standalone 4G router, as I also need to download a couple of Apps that won't run on my existing phone.)

TIA for responses!

alan4cult

Have you tried checking if you can get fibre first, it might be a better longer term solution? Given you have 9 you would seem to be reasonably close to the exchange.

ED E

The A12 is only CAT4, no aggregation. Aim for something CAT9 or above. An A51 is a nice unit

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/F-SMA515FZWAMZ-Samsung-Galaxy-A51-Prism-Crush-White/dp/B08CVJC43P/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Samsung+A51&qid=1612373747&sr=8-3

smuj2016

alan4cult wrote: »

Have you tried checking if you can get fibre first, it might be a better longer term solution? Given you have 9 you would seem to be reasonably close to the exchange.

There's a cabinet not a million miles away from me, but I'm just in an unlucky spot for Fibre at the moment! There's supposed to be undergrounding of cables taking place past my house "any year now!", but you wouldn't want to be holding your breathe waiting for it!

smuj2016

ED E wrote: »

The A12 is only CAT4, no aggregation. Aim for something CAT9 or above. An A51 is a nice unit

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/F-SMA515FZWAMZ-Samsung-Galaxy-A51-Prism-Crush-White/dp/B08CVJC43P/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Samsung+A51&qid=1612373747&sr=8-3

Thanks! I tried to learn a bit more about those 4G Categories last night. Apart from sites with technical details of the standards, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of general chit-chat about which phones support which categories! I've yet to see a YouTube phone review that mentions anything about them, and even sites like deepspecs or gsmarena seem to have limited information. I couldn't even find any details about the A51 being CAT9 on Samsung's own site! Maybe (as a newbie) I'm looking for the wrong thing though! Is there any site or resource out there that has a list of the 4G Categories supported by various phones?

On another note, I was wondering if perhaps I was taking the wrong approach generally to my problem. I do need a new phone for some basic Apps that aren't supported on my current one, but would I be better off getting a cheaper phone to run those Apps, and then buying a standalone 4G router as well? I've only had a cursory look into what's available out there; presumably I again want something capable of CAT9 or above, as you said. Suggestions welcome!

alan4cult

4G router all the way but they have gone up a lot in price since the start of the pandemic. Zyxel LTE3302 is what I have but there are lots others.
You can get external antennae for them too but unless you have a good route outside may not be so easy to install.

smuj2016

alan4cult wrote: »

4G router all the way but they have gone up a lot in price since the start of the pandemic. Zyxel LTE3302 is what I have but there are lots others.
You can get external antennae for them too but unless you have a good route outside may not be so easy to install.

Cheers! Just looked at your model on Amazon, so that linked me to some other options too. Yours appears to be max 150Mbit/s download and 50 up, which I think is the CAT4 category that Ed E mentioned. I know those figures themselves are only theoretical, and that everyone's connection speeds will be different - and vary throughout the day - but was wondering what speeds your yourself are getting, if you've tested, and whether you've had any issues? (Are you using the router instead of a landline option?) TIA!

ED E

Use GSM arena for specs, youtube for opinions.

A CAT4 radio can only use one cell at a time, a CAT9/12/? can use multiple cells. So even rurally where you might only get 20Mb with a CAT9 your CAT4 neighbour is only getting 10Mb.



Also Zyxel have been in the news for some pretty poor practices of late, I've defended them in the past but they keep doing it. Wouldnt use them.
https://threatpost.com/cybercriminals-exploits-zyxel-flaw/162789/