Flexible Internet options for a rental property

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PoundMan

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I am a first-time tenant moving into a rental property in phases from June until moving in permanently in August. I rely upon decent quality of internet as I will be working remotely from home two days per week, and attending online courses two evenings per week. There doesn't appear to be any existing or prior broadband at the property, so I am seeking a flexible solution as opposed to paying for a permanent installation. I'm not entirely certain how long the tenancy will last as both the landlord and myself have remained fairly flexible on this. I have checked the eir code of the property on the ComReg coverage website and it would appear that Eir have the best quality signal as it is classed as 'Very Good' across 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G. I have my own Huawei mobile broadband router which has a SIM card slot. Would my best option be to look for a SIM-only plan? Perhaps one that included data only since it will be going into a router as opposed to a mobile phone. I'm also wondering if 4G would be sufficient or if I'd need to consider paying extra for 5G.
 
Does your router support 5G ? I was thinking of doing something similar by buying a GoMo or Sim only all you can eat data plan. I have heard that unlimited really means limited so I guess it depends how much you use. I use about 120GB which is steep enough I believe. The pros here should be able to help.
 
We live in an area with pretty poor 4G mobile coverage, no 5G and no fibre. Until a month ago we used a GOMO sim, which is on the Eir network. It is €14.99 per month. Was adequate - I worked from home for several years including during Covid. Fine for Zoom/Teams calls, fine for general emails etc. Could just about stream RTE player with some occasional buffering but not worth paying for netflix etc and that was with just an indoor aerial where we got about 2.5mb download and a crawl upload. More recently with an external aerial we got 25mb down and 2.5mb upload. Gomo gives 120GB per month which was fine. Previously they gave 80GB which was a bit tight, after that it is technically unlimited but they crank back your speed to a crawl. Stand outside the new house, or better still in the living room with your mobile phone and do a speed test using an eir or gomo phone to try it out. You can find a speed test by googling them - it is free to do.

A month or so ago we got Starlink - it is now down to around €50 per month, having started at three times that price. Gives 250mb download and 25mb upload - so ten times as fast. The unit is mobile - you can fix it to the roof/outside wall or e.g. put it on the lawn on the stand provided. Obviously much better speed and we are thinking about Netflix (happy days!)
 
Probably not actually now that you mention that. Would 4G not be sufficient? My father only has a 4G broadband router and he has various network connected devices in his home including a CCTV system.
 
So it looks like if I went for Eir's 5G Home Broadband package (which includes a free router) it will cost €39.99 per month but unfortunately they tie you to a 12-month contract. I'm now thinking of buying an unlocked 5G router and possibly just going with Eir's SIM-only plan (which includes unlimited 5G data) at €19.99 per month on a rolling 30-day contract. Would this work? An unlocked router might suit better as although Eir is the only 5G provider in the area at the moment, that will most likely change in future.
 
I bought a new 5g phone and tried GoMo. I can get speeds of 40mbps inside my apartment. Adequate for streaming and PC. Frustratingly I can go outside on the street and get 250mbps but no aerials allowed. I have tried high up beside window and a little better but not much. I haven't fully moved over from VM yet so it may prove to be not enough when I try it all the time. I am going to buy a Three payg sim for €20 to see if that signal is any better. If the phone proves adequate after a while I'll probably invest in a router with a sim. Failing any of that I'll rejoin VM again.
 
I've only just realized that the ComReg coverage map is only for outdoor signal. So although it says the Eir 5G signal at the eircode is very good, that doesn't mean it will work indoors. I was thinking I could go with a GoMo SIM in a 5G router, but their coverage checker only lists 5G as outdoor whilst the likes of 4G is listed as both outdoor and indoor. Perhaps 4G is going to be my only option as I wasn't looking to install any outdoor aerials at the property.
 
PoundMan said:
I was thinking I could go with a GoMo SIM in a 5G router, but their coverage checker only lists 5G as outdoor whilst the likes of 4G is listed as both outdoor and indoor.
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I'm no expert on how the technology actually works but my understanding is that it will use 5g if it can and then automatically rolls to 4g. I presume in the future the 5g will far outweigh current speeds and 4g will be in the same bin as 1g. I suppose the cost of the router is what you are thinking about short term ?
 
Yes indeed I was surprised at the cost of 5G routers as it seems to be €200+ even for refurbs of older gen models. Like with any piece of technology, I'm always torn between affordability or paying extra for a more future-proof device that may potentially last longer. I end up usually going for mid-range options that never really seem to satisfy either criteria particularly well.
 
Yes @Páid this is actually the same 4G router that I've setup in my fathers home. It is sufficient for his limited networking needs although his CCTV system can sometimes drop connection.

Does anyone know, if I wanted my GoMo bill to fall around the 15th of each month would I have to purchase the plan on the 15th? I was planning to purchase the SIM-only deal online as I don't think there are any GoMo stores nearby.
 
@Páid is it true that GoMo has a 120GB fair usage limit? I'm thinking this could be a potential stumbling block in my plan to use their €14.99 SIM in a LTE Router as the average household uses 600-700GB of data per month.
 
Yes, it's 120GB and I've never managed to go over it.

I suppose it depends on what your want to use it for. If you are streaming 4k video then you'll use it up pretty quickly.

Usage will also depend on how many people in the household that are using it obviously.
 
I saw GoMo doing an offer of first month for free so I've ordered a SIM to give it a try. I currently only have a 4G router so I won't be able to test the 5G yet. I've seen some 5G routers online that allow multiple SIMs for failover, so perhaps it might actually be more cost effective to have two GoMo SIMs to double the monthly limit to 240GB. The guy in the Eir store told me that once you go over the 120GB limit the speeds become so throttled that it is practically unusable, but he may have just been telling me that to try to tempt me into buying their 5G Home Broadband package with "truly" unlimited data that is still actually limited to 1TB.
 
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