I am setting my folks up with 4G broadband. I’ll need a router rather than a wifi box as the signal is poor and will need an external aerial to point to the local cell mast.

My question is: Can my folks use a iPhone each with unlimited SIM data to access the router in the loft or does the router need a SIM of it’s own?

I was thinking of like how you tether your mobile to a laptop?

Any help appreciated…

Ells

I use a Huawei 4 router with it’s own sim card which is what you’ll need. I get 30-40mb down and 15-20 up. I can see the mast in direct line of site though. I use Smarty on the Three network, £20 a month for unlimited data

Similar situation here. Can’t see how you could tether a phone to a router.

What we have is an unlimited 4g EE sim (£45 per month) in the router and we connect to that.

I’m sure when I spoke to BT they said they’d have done the Sim card for £25, pretty sure that was for business though.

Do you want to have another go at explaining your question? Because it makes absolutely zero sense to me.

I’ll need a router rather than a wifi box

If you’re setting up broadband you’ll need a router, end of. What’s a “wifi box”?

Can my folks use a iPhone each with unlimited SIM data to access the router

You don’t use the cellular network to access a home router.

in the loft or does the router need a SIM of it’s own?

How are you proposing to deliver 4G broadband without a SIM card?

I was thinking of like how you tether your mobile to a laptop?

You tether a mobile to a laptop using a SIM card?

Any help appreciated…

Describe the problem that you’re trying to solve rather than asking for critique of a solution that you’ve made up and don’t understand.

To sort of answer your questions

The data total on each phone is irrelevant, it’s the the data package that comes on your 4G router that counts. Three appear to be the best for this. The 4G router receives data like a phone would and then broadcasts that data via WiFi

The phones then connect to the 4G router WiFi. At that point on their own phones they need SIM’s that have WiFi calling to be able to make calls/send texts.

Not sure about an Ariel pointing at a mast, that’s beyond my knowledge, but I know in our area there are companies that claim to offer this kind of more detailed set up for £25+ per month.

Who has the best coverage? Go to their website and sign up for mobile broadband there. They’ll send you all the kit you need and if you’re stubborn enough will often come out and install it and an external antenna (EE).

There’s no need to be rude about OP’s question. He’s obviously not a networking nerd like some of you lot, but we all knew what he meant even if he wasn’t accurate in all the terms he used.

To the question at hand: I’m out of the loop in this stuff completely but aren’t there some (tablet) data-only SIM contracts that ‘share’ the data allowance with a phone contract? You’d be tied to the same network as your phone but it may work out cheaper. Be aware that sometimes the T&Cs on plans intended for mobile use forbid data sharing (tethering or in your case, WiFi).

But you will need a physical SIM card with its own plan to put in the router.

SIM based broadband needs, as a minimum

1. Physical SIM

2. SIM contract, preferably unlimited data

3. Router with a SIM slot and some form of antenna

Depending on how far / line of sight to the local mast you may need

4. External antenna

We have 1-4. £22 a month unlimited. 50-60 meg down, 15-20 up.  We needed an external antenna as we don’t have LOS to the mast and our house is old with thick walls so internal antenna was a bit flakey.

Sorry for my lack of technical understanding. Thanks for all the replies in helping me out.
What is the difference between a router and a MiFi box? I thought a MiFi mobile router would do the same thing as a normal fixed router but just portable if needed?
I take it that a dedicated fixed router has more options as I need an external aerial, and point this at the cell mast, but need to cut some small trees out of a hedge to get line of sight with the cell mast for my parents.

I will get an unlimited date SIM from Three.

If I need to get Wi-fi signal in thick walled rooms, would you recommend a mesh setup?

Sorry for all the questions…

Ells

You won’t need to cut trees down – line of sight in this sense means a hill in the way or thick stone walls at the house.

MiFi is as you say a mobile mobile (!) solution. I’ve not looked a them for years but they probably aren’t going to work very well inside a house. I think if your contract allows you to tether your mobile, mifi is pretty much dead as a solution.

If you don’t have line of sight you will still get some kind of signal as Flaperon says. Do you get one on your phone ? (Assuming same carrier) It just won’t be as strong. With 3 they bundled the router – not sure if this is still the case – so you could try it first before investing in an external.

External antenna will mean new router. There’s loads of options. If you go that way, suggest talking to a specialist company. We used Solwise who were great.

Thick walls may necessitate a mesh. Some good cheap ones about like Tenda.

My question is: Can my folks use a iPhone each with unlimited SIM data to access the router in the loft or does the router need a SIM of it’s own?

I was thinking of like how you tether your mobile to a laptop?

im certainly no expert, but isnt this a simpler solution than is being suggested so far? mifi, external antennas, routers etc, doesnt the OP just ask if the iphone with unlimited data would be enough? in which case yes? so no need for a router in the setup at all?

you mention being on Three, my lad wanted unlimited data a while ago for netflix streaming, and is also on Three, we looked into it and it was cheaper just to upgrade the contract to unlimited data and then tether, than to get a mifi set up. works perfectly for him.

not sure of your folks requirements, but if theyre always together, they could just set one of the phones up with that contract, be a bit cheaper.

or am i missing something? (which is perfectly possible)

doesnt the OP just ask if the iphone with unlimited data would be enough? in which case yes? so no need for a router in the setup at all?

WiFi hotspots eat battery though, and most networks limit how much data you can use as a WiFi hotspot, usually about 30gb even if the contract is unlimited

The house has thick walls and slate on the outside. Slate acts as a barrier due to the density.

If I could get good 4G signal then a phone would be all that was needed.

The cell mast has line of sight from above the ridge line of the house and therefore I need to mount the aerial as high as possible as there is a hill in the way. It is just possible to mount very high to get poor 4G signal strength.
If I climb up the hill and out past the trees which shroud the house, the signal strength goes up massively and I’m still the same elevation as just above the ridge line. A couple of small trees taken out will boost the signal.

Is there a massive difference on the speed of 4G from Three to EE etc?
Are some cell masts owned by some of the big companies who rent it to other smaller companies? Does this affect speed?

I can recommend one of these for use on Three or Vodafone:

https://www.router-switch.com/huawei-5g-cpe-win.html

It costs about £350 inc duty and shipping and comes with a 15m PoE cable that can easily be extended without reducing the speed of the connection – just plug an indoor Wi-Fi router on the other end and that’s it.

If the OP has a TV aerial it comes with a bracket that will clamp round. As long as it’s pointing in the direction of the ma set it gives a very good stable connection – I’m getting 300-350 Mbps on Three.

I can’t recommend it on EE because they do something funny with their network provision that means it connects fine but the router bit gets disabled by the network. I tried to resolve it with them but EE’s tech team aren’t very good at listening.

There’s no need to be rude about OP’s question. He’s obviously not a networking nerd like some of you lot, but we all knew what he meant even if he wasn’t accurate in all the terms he used.

You might have done. I read it several times and couldn’t make moss nor sand of it.

I wasn’t meaning to be rude, rather that if the OP doesn’t understand the tech (which is perfectly fine) then they’d be better served by describing the problem they’re trying to solve.

most networks limit how much data you can use as a WiFi hotspot, usually about 30gb even if the contract is unlimited

we asked Three this question, they said unlimited really does mean unlimited, and so far my lad has found this to be true.
having read the OP’s follow up tho, this isnt the right answer in this situation.

We have the ee 4gee router. I found it gets best signal upstairs, the beauty of only needing power means you can try it in different places for signal.

We’ve had it a while now and on the contract finishing I managed to get unlimited for £39 pm.

Download speed varies but usually around the 40-50mbps at the moment but I have seen 80+. Great for streaming 4k.

I can’t see the mast so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

I might try a 3 SIM but I don’t think we get the best signal strength where we are.

Just to cover off a comment above – every network has a “fair usage” policy on their unlimited tariffs. I think the monthly limits are as follows:

Three – 1 x terrabyte
Voxi – 1 x terrabyte
Vodafone, o2, gifg gaff and ee contracts from mid September – 600 to 650Gb