5G Backup internet solutions

[synaesthesia]

Hi,

 

I'm investigating backup internet connectivity for our site. Very limited budget and physical connectivity is either ADSL grade "broadband" at a max of 37Mbps or leased line options at £hellofalot.

An ideal solution would be 5G - we have decent connectivity here for that, however looking at some options is confusing.

Now on paper this solution seems perfect:

https://business.ee.co.uk/mobile-broadband/smart-5g-hub/

Business grade, unlimited data, 4/5G, would be easy enough to plug into smoothwall to manually fail over if/when needed. Obviously some things will need taking care of like telephony but that's easy. My question relates to the terms and conditions these people seem to lay out - this is unlimited, but at several points in the T&C it states that even for unlimited connection after "using your full speed allowance you will be capped to 0.5Mbps" as well as "We deem anything over 600GB per month excessive and may move you to a more appropriate contract". Neither sits well with the term unlimited for me, especially for a business connection.

I don't for one moment expect we'll ever exceed 600GB - our typical month is around 2TB and if our leased line drops for multiple days we should still be OK. But I would still like to check we're not going to be falling foul of anything else!

 

Has anyone else gone down this route and considered these issues, or am I overthinking it?

[Wave9_Lee]

There's a good chance you can get FttP - according to the DSL checker all your neighbours can. It's often the case that the checkers don't show commercial premises or schools as being in range, even when all residential around can. Not sure if it's BT doing it on purpose, as FttP is cannabalistic to their revenues (compared to leased line) or just a glitch in the matrix.

 

A good broadband partner ; ) could possibly get your site re-tagged as FttP available. There might be a bit of work to extend to the site or up a drive, but worth a look.

 

Ref 5G even commercial 'unlimited' packages carry a fair usage policy. There are real costs to the telco for transit, so they can't offer true unlimited (for the prices that anyone would pay). Our 5G includes fixed IP, so telephony will work generally. As you say, leased lines are pretty bullet proof and have a 6 hour target SLA, so you're unlikely to hit any limits. If we were providing both primary internet and the 5G backup, Wave 9 would be carry any overage or additional SIM costs as part of our SLA.

[Davit2005]

I have TelTonika RUT955 at home, quite a lot of features and can even be sent reboot commands by TXT. Jus got a data SIM.

 

I jus have 2 routes on my firewall with the metric set so the 4g is backup and the primary VDSL disables it self if it cannot ping specific external IP addresses

 

I did have a DrayTek 4G router but the ports were limited and no vlans etc.

 

Hopefully getting FTTP soon, the order is in and available in my area but I live in a flat so complicated.

Edited December 14, 2023 by Davit2005

[synaesthesia]

Yeah, I did wonder about the FttP but any extra cost will be prohibitive, especially when it's only a short term solution.

 

Looked at just getting a data sim and our own router but as even the basic ones seem to be a few hundred pounds, it was actually cheaper to get something in at 30 a month for 12 months.

Personally I'd have been far happier having a competent provider in the first place! (and it would have more than likely been @Wave9_Lee )

[ITGuyNW]

I'm also looking at 5G backup.

 

My existing provider do a backup line, but it seems to be more about equipment redundancy rather than an emergency alternative backup line.

@Wave9_Lee do you have any literature or costs I can look at please? This may be something we look at down the line as more and more tech goes online.

[TechMonkey]

Depends on how serious you are. We spoke to Cradlepoint a while back and their system looked seriously good. @Net-Ctrl work with them now so you could speak to them and see what is what. Can't remember prices, but they seemed pretty reasonable.

 

The other option is StarLink business.

[synaesthesia]

We're going with EE 5G. £28 a month, unlimited data (within reason, the people we spoke to assured us that even if we hit a TB a month it wouldn't be an issue and I have that in writing just in case!) and no setup/install fees. 12 month contract.

[Wave9_Lee]

I'm also looking at 5G backup.

 

My existing provider do a backup line, but it seems to be more about equipment redundancy rather than an emergency alternative backup line.

@Wave9_Lee do you have any literature or costs I can look at please? This may be something we look at down the line as more and more tech goes online.

 

No problem - drop me an email or book a meeting to suit you using the link below