Best Mini router for smart TV's

[lizidee]

My router is due an upgrade but when I upgraded last, EE 4G LTE MiFi Alcatel EE70VB Mini 2, the JVC smart TV would not connect to the router.  I have had to revert to the old square 4GEE mini which works perfectly at the moment but is probably 4-5 years old.  

Do the newer routers work with all smart TVs?  

[Chris_B]

@lizidee  All routers should work with all TVs you just need to make sure the TV is contacting to a frequency that it supports.  Ie 2.4Ghz and not 5Ghz as your TV might only be 2.4Ghz.    The router will support both. 

[EssexBoyEE]

My additional input on this would be to source an LTE Router that is capable of running both 2.4 and 5ghz simultaneously is split mode, ie, 2 X APs, so that you can take advantage of the 5Ghz AP for your Phone, Lappy etc should your Smart TV or Streaming Device not support the 5Ghz AP.

Another critira for the Router is to make sure it' can manually configured for IPV4 Only within the APN Profile as a lot of Smart TVs, or Streaming Sticks will not work correctly or cannot get Internet Connection with IPV6.

[mikeliuk]

Hi @lizidee ,

Assuming your smart TV allows a standard wired Ethernet connection, I would recommend that you review online reviews for 4G LTE routers with at least one gigabit Ethernet port. A wired connection will have lower latency and better stability if you are able to make use of it.

Even if you cannot directly wire your streaming device to the router directly, you can obtain a wired connection using powerline adapters or use a WiFi AP endpoint adjacent to the streaming device (my router is on a different floor and I have a Devolo WiFi AP about 30 cm from a Roku streaming stick).

Old TVs and streaming devices may not work too well with the very latest routers with more advanced encryption and deprecated or removed old authentication and encryption methods, so a wired option is highly advisable.

If fast.com and speedtest.net reliably show that you get in excess of 25 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up, with latency under 30 ms, I would recommend that you don't upgrade any properly functioning router at this time, and instead wait for 5G router prices to drop from the GBP 300 to GBP 700 range they are at currently.