TP-LINK Archer MR600 AC1200 4G+ Cat6 Mobile Wi-Fi Router Dual Band, 4G/3G Network SIM Slot Unlocked, No Configuration required, Support Guest Network & Parental Control, UK Plug

Despite living in London, we are in rather a dead spot as regards mobile reception. To add insult to injury, we cannot get fibre broadband and the 'copper' connection we get from BT is slow and unreliable.Indeed, over the new year, we lost BT broadband completely for 3 days until it was eventually fixed. Even now, we still get annoying intermittent drop outs - particularly exasperating when watching sport! Tethering using a mobile is not an option even in an emergency - the signal indoors is too poor.I initially purchased this TP-Link 4G+ LTE MR600 router to give us a backup solution. Given the bad mobile reception, I paired it with an external Poynting XPOL (V2) 4/5G antenna. Set up was easy - I connected the external antenna (in place of the ones provided with the router) using the SMA connectors, popped in a test "3" SIM and everything burst into life! The admin interface via a browser or the TP-Link Tether APP is straightforward and it's easy with a bit of practise to find your way around. It's all rather comprehensive for a router in this price range and there are also lots of settings and useful statistics. Note - if you want to use SIMs from a provider that uses another carriers network [GiffGaff (O2), Smarty ("3"), Tesco (O2) etc], you will need to adjust the APN settings manually. However, it is very straightforward and all providers publish their required settings on the web.The gigabit LAN ports allow us to connect to our home network with a NAS, printers, YouView, Blue-ray box and smart TVs etc. Currently, our BT Hub still acts as our DHCP server - but that will soon change - see below.I purchased a selection of cheaper pre-paid SIMs (EE, 3, O2, GiffGaff, Vodafone, Tesco, Smarty etc) to test out which supplier is best in our area. I had expected EE or Vodafone to be best but O2 / GiffGaff / Tesco were surprising but clear winners - with a solid 4G+ LTE connection (40-40 band), a consistent 75% signal (2 out of 3 bars) and download speeds averaging above 50Mbps (in a range of 28-67 Mbps). Uploads are 4-6Mbps. That result is more than adequate - we can watch streamed football on one TV, Netflix on another and stream internet radio in the kitchen - all simultaneously. We've never been able to do that before!The other good news with O2 is that I can use a GiffGaff SIM - as they run on the same network but are cheaper and contract free. The Tesco Mobile unlimited data options are also interesting (to us)!However, to be fair, performance will depend on location so you will need to test what is best for you. For my part, I am in the process of cancelling our BT Broadband - this 4G+ LTE router solution is so much better and more stable!UPDATE:-After a few days, we started to find that for about an hour at dawn and dusk, the router would suddenly flip to alternative LTE bands with a much lower download rate - which could interrupt streaming football or films - most annoying! We tried an alternative antenna (Poynting XPOL V3 directional, high gain) and while there was an improvement, the problem still happened occasionally. TP-Link support were great. They believe the issue is due to our odd situation with an alternative mast's broadcast reflecting off buildings causing interference particularly around dusk.They sent me a beta firmware that allowed me to set a specific LTE band thus effectively eliminating interference. It works a treat! Indeed, we also got an increase in download speeds and we often see 85 Mbps. The worst case (in busy times) we see is about 35 Mbps. The connection is rock solid. The result is very acceptable - and a big thanks to TP-Link support. It's worth paying a bit more!UPDATE 2:-I have subsequently upgraded to a V2 model as that has manual LTE band selection built in as a default option.This works absolutely fine and negates the requirement to run Beta firmware. Otherwise, the 2 versions are to all intents and purposes, identical.I returned my older V1 device to standard firmware and installed the device in my daughter's new flat (she has no requirement for manual LTE band selection).We are both chuffed!!

I bought this WiFi router for its 4g capabilities as a "failover" second source of broadband for when my main Virgin Broadband link goes down. I work from home and can ill-afford to be off the internet for several hours while Virgin sort out their broadband act. My main link from Virgin Broadband runs at 500 mbs receive (35 mbs transmit) and is generally stable. The Archer only provides around 24 mbs receive (18 mbs transmit) on a 75% 4g signal but this is faster than BT can provide in my area and the 4g link is pretty stable. I find the 4g link provides a good stand-by replacement for general internet use. Both broadband links are fed into an Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite which has been configured in "failover" mode. If my main Virgin broadband link goes down the 4g link automatically cuts in.The Archer impressed me from the outset since it was only necessary to put in the 4g SIM card (a data unlimited phone SIM from Virgin Media supplied as a freebie from my main subscription) plugged it in to the mains and it immediately established connection with the 4g network despite then being in the poorest 4g reception area in the house. I logged in via the WiFi network using the default user id and password and was immediately able to access the web portal application which is clean and slick, sensibly arranged and easy to configure. Internet access was immediately possible from the WiFi connection and minutes later after a reboot I was able to use my own SSID and default password. Later I connected it to my home network and it works just as well over the wired network.In connecting it to the EdgeRouter it was necessary to make some adjustments to the Archer LAN IP and gateway address since the default LAN IP and Gateway are 192.168.1.1 which clash with the EdgeRouter IP default IP location. A change to 192.168.200.1 for the Archer fixed this and it now works very well.I will not go into the Archer's full range of features here but if you read the specifications it is a full-featured device and very capable. It will service a traditional broadband link if required to do so. However, for me the attraction is the 4g link and my experience is that it works very well indeed anywhere there is a workable 4g signal. That would include remote locations (on holiday for example) and even caravans/motor-homes assuming a suitable power supply is available. The WiFi signal it puts out is dual-band, stable and quite strong and can be picked up all over our house.It was easy to set up and has a fuss-free online interface application. In my experience there is a lot to like about the Archer MR600.