TP-LinkTL-MR105 N300Mbps WiFi 4G Router, 4G Cat4 LTE Network, Ethernet Port, 4G Router with Sim Slot, Mobil WiFi Router, Sim Card Router, TP-Link WiFi Router, External Antenna Ports, Plug & Play

This router is compact and it runs cool. I'm using an Ethernet cable to a desktop PC but WiFi is an option. On inserting the nano SIM and plugging into the mains everything was setup within two minutes without me having to do a thing. Initially speeds were very slow, around the 1 Mbps despite having full signal on Vodafone. On going into the settings, you can manually select from the available bands and this has made a significant difference. I am now getting up to 20 Mbps at night and 5-10 Mbps at peak times. The router wants to latch on to band 20 but by forcing it onto bands 1 or 8, I can get the aforementioned speeds.The TP-Link interface is brilliant, you can send and receive text messages from the SIM/router and customise how the device works, including turning off/on the LEDs, setting up parental controls, wireless options, access to the cloud and more.It's important to remember that this is a category 4 router so it can only access one frequency at a time from your chosen network provider, some other routers combine different bands to improve speeds. That said, having the ability to manually select a band, as this router can, has the potential to boost your bandwidth but 4G does still have its limitations, most notably network congestion at peak times.If you have realistic expectations and don't expect lightening fast speeds, this router is a great option for around the £50 mark. I for one am pleased to be finally free from the shackles of Virgin Media and its 18 month contracts, mediocre performance, inflation-busting annual price rises and negotiations with the retentions team. Check CellMapper and the official coverage maps before taking deciding what network to go for. Speeds on a basic 4G smartphone will be similar to what this router can deliver, so this could be used for testing. I've also found signal strength to be comparable or slightly better on this TL-MR105 model.For web browsing, email, social media and YouTube, this is sufficient for my needs. 5G routers are getting more affordable but for many, this device will deliver a respectable performance for much less.

Had the Vodafone supplied mobile router. Was lucky to get 15-20 Mbps (usually it hovered at 10 or less). Frustratingly slow and clunky.Invested in this and I am now consistently getting 250-300 Mbps. Easy to set up. Compact. Works right out of the box. Cannot fault it at all, just wish I had got one sooner.

I've been a Virgin Media broadband customer for years but decided to cut them off. The upcoming price increase is the straw that broke the camels back. I tried to negotiate a better deal and the best they would offer was £40 per month for 250Mb. They were offering the same to new customers for £23.99 and I would have signed another contact for that price...The day after I spoke to them I got a new phone that supports 5g and found that I get a decent signal indoors - my phone provider is Giffgaff and on my phone I was getting around 290Mb/s down and 50Mb/s up - I was fairly blown away that I was getting faster than cable on my phone.So I went looking at 5g routers and after some deliberation settled for this TP-Link Archer NX200. I did consider the TP-Link Deco X50 but preferred a proper web interface over using an App on my phone so I went for this.One of the reviews I read for this mentioned Smarty Mobile. I'd never heard of them but after looking into it they are similar to Giffgaff but on the Three Network and offer a month by month term of unlimited data for £20 per month. Ordered this and a Smarty Sim the same day.I got back onto Virgin to cancel. Low and behold, they can suddenly offer me 250 Mb/s for £20 - but on a 24 month contract; which of course includes ratcheting prices - or my same service for £23.99 for 18 months. If they would have offered what I asked the day before I would not have hesitated, but in the end I told them to shove it.To cut a long and boring story short; with this router and a Smarty sim I get over 600Mb/s down and 80 Mb/s up for £20 so I am very happy. What I save by not being robbed by VM will pay for this router in 6 months.Setting it up was a breeze. I simply slotted in the sim, activated it, mirrored some settings, wifi etc. from my Asus router and bobs your uncle. A totally seamless transition.If it had bridge mode and/or a few other features that I are available with AsusWRT routers it would be 5 stars.