Where to get a good 5G CPE/Modem/Router from?

[harshmoorjani]

TL;DR - Need a 5G CPE for my Airtel 5G SIM that can provide internet via ethernet to my main router.

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So, I am based in Bangalore.

I have 2 broadband connections (Airtel and TataPlay) to avoid depending on any one of those and for rare cases when both go down (eg: during recent hanging fiber cleanup by BBMP a few days back, when they cut random wires on some random roads which brought down almost all fiber networks in my area), I have a SIM router.

All these combined form the backhaul of my home network and since the automation access and security (camera) etc depends on these, I need to be be fairly certain that the network wouldn't go down and will have no single point of failures.

Current Setup -

1. SIM (Airtel) goes into a 4G Router (TP-Link Archer MR600), wifi disabled.
2. The 2 fiber connections (Airtel and TataPlay) have their own router (whatever the company provides), wifi disabled.
3. All these 3 connections are fed into a multi-WAN router (Mikrotik Hex RB750GR3), doesn't have wifi.
   • This does the load balancing/sharing between both fiber connections
   • Manages fallback to SIM connection when both fiber fails
4. The above router then feeds into a Google Wifi Mesh (actually, multiple Google Wifi devices in bridge mode) via a ethernet backhaul.
5. This Google Wifi devices provide wifi around the house

Now, I want to replace this 4G Router with a 5G one, but I am not able to find a good one.

I was open to Airtel/Jio AirFiber but they have their own plans - they are treating it as a fiber/broadband conneciton (restricted bandwidth, unlimited download) rather than SIM (unrestricted bandwidth, limited data). And since, I am using it as a backup only connection, I won't be using much data on it, but don't want restricted speeds (otherwise it beats the purpose of moving to 5G).

Also, since whatever decide I will end up using won't be providing wifi to the house, so I don't care about whether it has wifi or not. I just want something that can use Airtel SIM to provide a 5G connection to my Mikrotik router via LAN (much like Huawei 5G CPE Win - assuming it works with Airtel 5G SIM)

I tried finding devices via online sources that are available in India, but couldn't find anything (mostly not available, also why are these so expensive?)

Help?

 

[akshay71]

I would suggest NOT buying any 5G router for following reasons:

• Such CPE/Router It will cost you Rs. 20000 and upwards
• If you have decided to get Jio or Airtel, get their CPE individually and it will still work out to be cheaper than paying 20k and upwards.
• A CPE/Router purchased from outside WILL give you random network incompatibility issues.

 

[harshmoorjani]

@akshay71 - I am aware of cost tradeoff and infact that's definitely one of the concerns... but -

1. Airtel fiber is not available in my city (and even if it was available, they just have 100mbps plan)
2. Same with JioFibre - specific speed limited plans
3. I already have a Airtel 5G SIM (that is in my family plan, so effectively doesn't cost me anything)
4. On my SIM, I almost always have unutilized data (400-500GB) and since I need it as a failover (I don't need unlimited data)
5. Outside CPE will allow me proper 5G speeds (unlike these restricted plans)
   • If not for this, I already have a 4G router, why change it then?

Anyways, for a year of 100mbps -

• Airtel AirFiber costs = (799 + 18%)*12 + 2500 = 13813/-
• Jio AirFiber costs = (899 + 18%)*12 = 12729/-

Point being, I want to optimize of speed than data usage and both Airtel/Jio don't have unrestricted speed plans.

 

[royalroy]

You don't know when Jio/ Airtel will cap 5G speeds and introduce 5G plans.

 

[Deleted member 83050]

Airtel/Jio may not allow you to use 5G data over other CPE or cap speeds over hotspot. It's much better to get Jio AirFiber imo as it would provide you proper speeds in most situations because of the outdoor unit. The supplied router seems to be pretty good with gigabit LAN ports. You just have to figure out a way to disable WiFi.You will be able to get support from Jio incase you run into any issues.
5G speeds over third party CPE/mobile hotspot maybe inconsistent or not work at all in the future once more users move to 5G.
It's better to stick with your 4G router now if you don't want to get AirFiber.

 

[pothi]

If you know someone in Gulf to buy products and send along with someone else, you may consider the following 5g cpe... Amazon.ae

It costs less than 20k.

 

[_Dexter]

Don't know about other CPE but my ZTE MC7010 (2.5Gbe port) works just fine for me (tested with Airtel/Jio/Vi and haven't faced speed or connectivity issue so far). It's just that these CPE are costlier. Looking at what you wrote in your post it seem ODU is what you need. If you are not concerned with COST then just buy a good ODU from either ebay/AliExpress. Also check this out Sim based Router recommendation for 5G cellular network | Hardware

 

[harshmoorjani]

Thanks guys.

Given pros/cons - I am not much inclined towards AirFiber.

@royalroy - that can always happened, but hasn't happened to 4G yet (so hopefully won't happen for 5G too)

@rajat_ - yeah, if I don't find something that works properly, sticking to 4G makes sense... but in general, 4G works pretty well with different CPE/Routers and there shouldn't be any reason why 5G wouldn't work (for a CPE that supports it). No?

@pothi / @_Dexter - thanks for the links. I will check them out.

 

[Deleted member 83050]

@harshmoorjani there wasn't much bandwidth on 4G. Hardly 10-15 Mbps on an average in 40-50 Mbps in the best case scenario, atleast for Airtel. With the tremendous increase of bandwidth with 5G, they may prevent it being used by third party CPE/hard cap speeds. It's a calculated risk you'd have to take. I read somewhere on this forum that Jio already caps 5G speeds over hotspot.

 

[JB701]

there are routers where you can modify ttl to get non-hotspot speeds. its the case on routeros atleast