# Recommendations for a 4G/LTE modem/router



## balanga (Jun 8, 2021)

I got a TP-LINK Archer MR200 a couple of months ago but am having terrible problems with it disconnecting or not even connecting, so want to get a replacement (not too expensive).

What would anyone recommend?


----------



## aragats (Jun 8, 2021)

[slightly off-topic]
Depending on your router's version it may be supported by OpenWRT. You can try installing it.


----------



## balanga (Jun 8, 2021)

aragats said:


> [slightly off-topic]
> Depending on your router's version it may be supported by OpenWRT. You can try installing it.



Apparently my version is not supported....









						TP-LINK Archer MR200 AC750 Modem Router as Internet Gateway
					

Many thanks, mine has v4.1.  Is there an on-going thread about using one of these routers?  I don't want to start asking question which may have been covered in such a thread.




					forum.openwrt.org


----------



## a6h (Jun 9, 2021)

Just make sure it's not locked to specific carrier's SIM cards. All of locked devices are unlockable, though! but why headache.
If that's one of those locked-device, first make sure you can find an unlocker for it. Even if all that you have is one and only one carrier, still I hate the idea of locked devices.


----------



## aragats (Jun 9, 2021)

vigole said:


> I hate the idea of locked devices


I hate them too, but an unlocked device may not help you with some "smart" carriers.
E.g. Verizon in USA has white and black lists of IMEI numbers, most unlocked devices are blacklisted, thus cannot be used unless Verizon approves and whitelists them. Usually they deal with companies on that matter, not regular users.
From time to time Verizon expels formerly approved devices by restricting them to use certain bands. They did so with certain HTC models and iPhones≤7 ~2 years ago.


----------



## a6h (Jun 9, 2021)

aragats said:


> I hate them too, but an unlocked device may not help you with some "smart" carriers.


That's bad, and I'm not sure what's the workaround. Is that US-only, or it's common in other countries too? Let's hope they have patent for their "smart" whatever!


----------



## covacat (Jun 9, 2021)

i have a huawei b310 and an external antenna
i used to force it to 3g because 4g was flaky
3g perf was about 2/3 of 4g (13Mb/s vs 20Mb/s) but at least it was stable
fortunately i got fiber after a few months because it sucked and was expensive too
vodafone crap


----------



## cmoerz (Jun 9, 2021)

Wow, dodged a bullet there. Almost bought the TP-Link MR200 myself a few weeks back. I've worked first hand with Huawei's B535-232 and had pretty good transfer rates. Obviously YMMV depending on reception and a long list of other factors.

If you want to go cheaper, you could go for a USB modem like Huawei E3372; they work nicely after running `usb_modeswitch`. They expose a network interface with default route. Clearly, this only makes sense if you intend to use your box as a firewall/router. Careful though - these already do NAT, do not support reverse NAT/port forwarding and therefore come with a box of limitations. Also, those USB modems usually don't even come close to the dual radio bandwidth rates that the Archer or B535 get to.

Sorry about going all Huawei on you. I'm certain there's a bunch of other manufacturers with equal products. Just didn't use them myself with FreeBSD, so can't make any recommendations based on experience.


----------



## diizzy (Jun 9, 2021)

...or just flash them (E3372) to stickmode and use NCM 
My experience is also that Huawei getways works best.


----------

