4G Sim card router - internet and 4K Netflix possible?

[phinix]

I want to cancel my contract with Virgin and switch to sim card router.
Would 4G sim with unlimited download (up to 150mbps speed) be enough to for general use of internet and 4K Netflix streaming?
Do you guys use sim card routers? Would you recommend any?

I pay £70 for 200mbps broadband, tv and phone from Virgin. I do not use tv and phone, wanted to disable these but those *******s want me to still pay £55 when other two services disabled... 
I found some unlimited sim cards for £15/month with up to 150mbps down speeds. Then would need to find some router.

[Leslieann]

Are they unlimited or "unlimited"?
Not sure about over there but here unlimited doesn't mean use all you want, at some point most will throttle you to the point of pain (128-256Kb).

More to the question though... again this may be somewhat different across the pond and that I haven't actually tried this myself.
4G is a dumpster fire for standards, before it was released companies started using the name to describe many different speeds, including enhanced 3g. 4G LTE is actually somewhat standard (an attempt to fix the mess), but even then speeds still vary depending on the frequency being used. Note that carriers are pulling the same trick with 5g. Higher frequency=more data/less distance, lower frequency longer distance/less bandwidth, that's a limitation of radio.

How loaded is your tower, 4g towers tend to be bandwidth limited, hence the desire to go 5g.
Does Virgin throttle that data even further?
A lot of cell carriers can and do send a signal to Netflix/youtube/etc. to downgrade streams to 480 or 720p then upstream them back to 4k, especially during Covid. So even if the system could send enough data, they may not.

Bottom line...
IF you can get the bandwidth (about 1/10th theoretical limit) and they do not throttle or downgrade the stream (good luck), in theory, it can easily manage. Ignoring theory and sticking to reality, yes it works, but as soon as anyone else tries doing anything on your connection, like your kid wants to watch Youtube or even Reddit. you could see some issues. Also, bear in mind some carriers do not like you using these as full time home internet and if you don't have a native carrier antennae nearby it could switch over to roaming in which case roaming charges could apply and even if you don't pay extra for that your carrier would and if you're streaming that much data over roaming your carrier is not going to be happy and could terminate the contract. I've seen and heard of it happening in more than just the U.S.



Side note:
Damn you guys have cheap data.
£70 for 200meg connection plus tv and and phone? my carrier would want 3x that and MANY places in the continental US can't even get close to those speeds. Worse still is that £15 deal, I currently pay 7x that for that same speed on a home connection let alone a mobile one.

[phinix]

Thanks for your comment. Sounds like I better find other ISP than use sim router...

Well, I thought its expensive over here - internet only 200mbps is I £50 a month, 100mbps £45.
I got a quote for a 1gbps with that tv and phone - £70 a month - this is cheap but what a hell am I gonna do with that speed?

I think I may ask Virgin to lower it to 50mbps - it would be enough for my needs - 3 PCs and 4k Netflix.

[Darthbaggins]

Stream 4k out every device at once, download all the things, stream & game all the time. 

[tp4tissue]

bandwidth over wireless is also very unstable. Latency spikes are HUGE.

Even wired internet is not "Unlimited", they get angry at around 7 TBs of upload.

Tp4 payz $80 month for gigabit, it's not even gigabit, it's 980mbps.

[phinix]

I phoned Virgin and got new deal.
Dropped tv and landline phone, keeping same internet 200mbps and just renewing my mobile sim card for next 18 months for no extra cost.
Dropping internet costs from £70 to £36

[Leslieann]

Dropping internet costs from £70 to £36

I hate you.

[phinix]

Dropping internet costs from £70 to £36

I hate you.

    

Well, they first offered me £70 1gbps...
Thing is I even wanted to drop it to 100mbps, I dont use it that much, watch 4k Netflix, only 3 PCs connected at home, download some "stuff" here and there, 10-20GB files, but maybe 3 times a week...

Overall, even 100mbps would be enough for me.
200mbps is fine, who the hell needs 1gbps?

Leslieann, to make you feel better - f** broadband speed, it rains here 99% of the time in this ****hole... I have depression here
I would move to Canada if I could to have some sun and snow, even if I had to have 50mbps for $100.

[tp4tissue]

    
it rains here 99% of the time in this ****hole... I have depression here
I would move to Canada if I could to have some sun and snow, even if I had to have 50mbps for $100.

Learn Korean,  become pr0 starcraft.  Win ASL, then, Korea e-sports groupies cure depression.

Move to Korea,  get 10- gigabit internet for $37 a month.

[Leslieann]

Leslieann, to make you feel better - f** broadband speed, it rains here 99% of the time in this ****hole... I have depression here
I would move to Canada if I could to have some sun and snow, even if I had to have 50mbps for $100.

I get that.
Rain, mold (OMG so much mold, ugh) and more was why I left the U.S. midwest and went back to the southwest rat race. Hello warm sunshine, goodbye easy living.

At one time I started making plans on moving to Canada but I'd have the same issue you're having now (lack of sun, I need lots), plus, the area of Canada I was considering (Vancouver) has become insanely expensive even by California standards.

[Surefoot]

I used to have a 4G router, waiting for fiber since regular DSL was a no-go (512Kbps when it works, which is not often). Used the 4G for about 2 years.

I want to cancel my contract with Virgin and switch to sim card router.
Would 4G sim with unlimited download (up to 150mbps speed) be enough to for general use of internet and 4K Netflix streaming?

4K streaming, no. 4G will be enough for 1080p streaming though. Also "unlimited download" you better contact them and ask if:
- unlimited means unlimited. Usually "unlimited" means "limited" with a limit that's much lower than you may think. If it's above 10TB though you're fine streaming whatever you want.
- you can run aggregate 4G at around 300mbps. Mine did, awesome speeds. Still not enough for sustained 4K streaming, but full HD content was fine.
- you can use your simcard in a router. PC modem use is disabled for some low cost providers.

Do you guys use sim card routers? Would you recommend any?

Tried a few. Netgear one would silently reset my connection ever hour on the mark - means in games i'd get suddenly disconnected. Huawei router was fine.

I found some unlimited sim cards for £15/month with up to 150mbps down speeds. Then would need to find some router.

Usually truly unlimited 4G is much, much more expensive than that. There's something fishy.

[phinix]

Yeah, I'm happy that I left with them and kept same speeds.
Don't really need that much but why not...
I guess I could even stay with just 100mbps, but just 2 quid less, wasn't worth saving.
like getting 100mbps for 2 quid

[iri]

I want to cancel my contract with Virgin

Hahaha, good luck.

Also, which mobile operator gives you consistent 150mbps? I tried to use EE's 4G for work (Citrix Workspace + Zoom) and the connection wasn't stable enough, with latency spikes and inconsistent throughput.