I'll be spending more time in rural Cornwall where I do not have a physical broadband available, so I've taken out a 4GEE mobile broadband subscription. It's an unlimited plan.
I currently have my SIM in a Teltonika RUTX12 mobile router. I previously had it in the issued MIFI router and the overall performance, in particular WiFI coverage, was inadequate, hence the router upgrade.
I'm currently in Carmarthen, Wales with a good 4G signal testing the new router. EE's 4G coverage is supposed to be excellent here and there are no reported problems. Although the connection is rock stable and the router works well, to my disappointment, the download/upload rates have remained miserable throughout most of the days. Download rates are 1-5Mbps and upload 8-12Mbps. After about 11pm, things improve with download/uploads of about 20-25/30Mbps. I get the distinct impression that there's bandwidth throttling being implemented in peak hours since the difference is too consistent.
To ensure that I was getting the best signal possible, I upgraded the antenna to Poynting A-PANL-401. This now yields an RSSI of -53 (Excellent). The download/upload speeds remain unchanged. Only the LTEB3 band seems to be available as well.
It's troubling that for such a premium charge, the service is so poor when you most wish to use it. Although I plan to use the service in rural Cornwall, I know it works since I've previously used it there. I did not do any measurements at the time, but thought the performance was left wanting as it is now. I expected it to be a LOT better here in Carmarthen.
I will now have to explore other providers to see what their mobile broadband performance is like. There's theory and then there's reality... I may get a surprise for the better, since so far, I've been sorely disappointed. I've read similar experiences here so doubt there'll be any solution.
