Which Cellular Hotspot or Router is Best? All About the Modem Inside

Cellular technology is the most common way to get online for RVers and Cruisers - whether utilizing a smartphones or a mobile hotspots (aka Jetpacks or MiFis) or a full-on cellular-embedded router.

But not all cellular devices are created equal.

Inside every cellular device is a component known as a cellular modem, and the specifications and capabilities of that modem can make an absolutely huge difference in your online experience.

As each of the cellular carriers continues to evolve and advance their networks, your cellular data performance will be directly impacted by how modern your device is and whether the modem inside is capable of fully taking advantage of the cellular network it is connected to.

The performance difference between a modern high-end modem and an older basic modem can be as dramatic as the performance difference between a Ferrari and a Go Cart - and just knowing you have "3G" or "4G" or "5G" is not nearly enough.

Join us for a dive into understanding cellular modem specifications - from categories & generations, frequency band support, carrier aggregation and number of antennas. And then some real world results of comparing a line up of generations of cellular modems from Cat-3 to 5G X62.

----------------

💬 ❤️👍🏼 You can also help this video reach more people by subscribing to our channel, clicking the LIKE button or leaving a comment. Thanks!
---------------

For our full accompanying guide:

For more on optimizing cellular data performance:

For selecting cellular data devices - hotspots vs routers:

0:23 Intro
3:05 Modem Categories and Generations
6:35 Frequency Bands
8:47 Carrier Aggregation
13:20 How Many Antennas?
16:10 Real World Results - Putting It All Together
23:48 Wrapping It up

[Key guides and content over at the MIRC website]

[Join Us Elsewhere]

[Support MIRC by using our Affiliate Links]

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

[About MIRC]
The Mobile Internet Resource Center is dedicated to helping mobile travelers (RVers, boaters, nomads, etc.) keep connected!

We are primarily funded by our premium members, who allow us to make this niche topic our focus and offer a ton of free content (like this channel) to the public! Our members get a bunch of extra access to our Q&A forums, in-depth guides, product reviews, courses, insider tips, webinars and vendor discounts.

Interested in helping keep us funded to continue creating content? Want to go deeper? Want more interactive guidance?

© Two Steps Beyond LLC 2024
See our website for our full terms of use disclaimer:

[ancientSumerian]

these guys are dominating this niche on youtube

[mikekomalley]

I learned more from these YouTube videos then from any other source about which Wi-Fi modem and router to look at. Thank you guys

[wbire]

Thanks for the heads up on the Tmobile hot spot 30 gig. The only place that knew anything about it was a corporate store. Keep up the great work. Frank 😊

[HowRay]

Great work here. That is a LOT of information covered in a limited amount of time. I continue to be thankful for your efforts.

[kenreynolds]

Great tutorial, you guys are awesome, keep up the good work!!

[ryanchristie]

Just bought two of the T-Mobile 30 gig for 10 dollars a month plans. They are still available as of Jan. 30th 2024 for anyone interested. Thanks for sharing the info!

[davidr]

I have purchased land near Ocala Fl. We are using a Reolink LTE cam with a sim that allows the three data carriers. It works great but don’t know what carrier is giving us the best and fastest service. We want to get internet service buy a good modem/WiFi but don’t know the carrier we need. Currently we use EIOTCLUB sim in our cam but when cam connects with a tower that says 4G it’s poor but do not know what carrier it is. We will not be moving around and we are off grid. Thanks

[Chasing_The_Dream]

When you have four ears/antennas and your mounting them on a RV what antennas are you picking? Are we doing directional antennas once we get to our location? Are we doing Omni directional antennas so while we’re driving down the road people in the RV have access?

Your videos are awesome and I greatly appreciate every single one of them

[patrickdiener]

Interesting overview badly my favorite, which I built into my camper couple weeks ago, is missing. Teltonika RUTX50, industrie grade device, big feature set and with a external Panorama Antenna on the roof also really nice 5G speeds.

[DawnWhitcomb-emqv]

Any information or thoughts that you may have on a product called HomeFi?

[bobevans]

Nice overview. I just picked up the T-Mobile home internet gateway with their 5G service. Could not find much info on the specs for that product. It is included for free with their service. Model KVD21. Do you have any specs?

[DennisWintjes]

Thanks for sharing. Like 156. I love my InstyConnect 5G X62 modem

[EarlBalentine]

I love my T-Mobile home gateway I take it on the road all over the southwest and and I get excellent reception. Only $30 per month because Im already a T-Mobile cell phone customer. Easy setup and no contract and no hardware to buy. Best. bang for the buck.

[MarieVaugn]

Thanks for the info. I use the HomeFi Cat-12 router and it's so much better than what I had before.

[jarrellestes]

Hard typing. Example using router in nonstandard manner? External antenna connect plugged in or screwed in? Reusing antenna?

[max..t]

Hi. What about Wifi transmission range in meters indoors and outdoors? Witch is better. I hav 100 eur Huawei 4g sim router 150m outdoor and 450 eur RUTX50 5g cat 20 router only 20m outdoor range.
Can you compare?

[TheWanderingBeardedGuy]

Do you have any info on when Peplnk will support IPV6? I asked in their forums and got no response.

[sposwellness]

How's the power consumption and source?

[larrysulky]

Here in Mexico, a home wireless internet solution is offered by TelCel (I should note that AT&T Mexico also offers one). TelCel is willing to sell us their cellular modem/router for the equivalent of about US$100. Would any of the equipment mentioned in this video work with TelCel, or all they all firmly US-based?

[wskripka]

I live in Grand Rapids Michigan, I have Comcast / Xfinity service in Grand Rapids . Have a summer location in Ludington, Michigan, there we have Spectrum service . What are my options for having only one cost to service both locations 100miles apart ? Thanks