Alternative router for Mifi aerial connection

Vikivan · Tuesday at 5:08 PM

Hi has anyone used an alternative portable router to connect to the 4G Mifi aerial Quickmount, my original router is a Huawei CF87 which I am fed up with having to reset almost every time we cross a border?
many thanks

fishplug · Tuesday at 5:16 PM

Yup.

Tons of routers out there.

Most routers / antennas will either have TS9 or SMA connectors, but you can buy adapter cables for about a tenner (or just under)

I've used a few but the ones I've been happy with were my Netgear Nighthawk M1 and my (significantly more expensive) Teltonika RUTX-50

Lots of people say good things about the GL.iNet LTE routers...

There's almost too much choice.

Do you have any more details about the antenna? (no point buying an all singing all dancing router if the antenna won't let it use half of it's potential)

Do you have a budget in mind?

Lenny HB · Tuesday at 5:17 PM

Not sure what aerial you have, but should be able to connect to any router, you may need adaptors.
Having to reset every time you cross a border is a network problem not a router problem.

A few years ago I had a Superdrug Sim running on 3 had to reset if I drove 10 miles.
Currently using a ID mobile Sim on 3 rarely have to reset it all across Europe. Although the Sims both use the 3 Network in the UK it doesn't mean the the Sim supplier uses the same partners in other countries.

Vikivan · Tuesday at 7:42 PM

fishplug said:
Yup.

Tons of routers out there.

Most routers / antennas will either have TS9 or SMA connectors, but you can buy adapter cables for about a tenner (or just under)

I've used a few but the ones I've been happy with were my Netgear Nighthawk M1 and my (significantly more expensive) Teltonika RUTX-50

Lots of people say good things about the GL.iNet LTE routers...

There's almost too much choice.

Do you have any more details about the antenna? (no point buying an all singing all dancing router if the antenna won't let it use half of it's potential)

Do you have a budget in mind?

Thank you for your response, the antenna is 4GMIMO - SHARKFIN which was installed together with the Huawei router on a quickmount.

fishplug · Wednesday at 7:25 AM

OK, so what that tells me is that it's a 4G capable antenna (not 5G) and that it's MiMo (Mutliple input, Multiple output).

Sharkfin just tells me the shape which doesn't affect the choice of router.

The real question is how many cables come out from it? I did try to look up the Huawei CF87 but couldn't find it.

I'm going to guess that it has two cables which would make it a 2x2 MiMo antenna. If it has 4 (I'd be surprised!) it would be a 4x4 MiMo...

Knowing that helps only insofar as there's not much point buying a router with four antenna inputs and only using two of them.

Equally, there's not much point buying a router with only two antenna inputs if your antenna has four.

Reading between the lines, I suspect yours will have two cables and I didn't have particularly good experiences with the cheaper routers/hotspots in that range.

The one I eventually settled on and kept for a good few years was the Netgear Nighthawk M1. They regularly come up second hand on eBay etc

While it's an old design now, it's still a good little unit.

If you can confirm the number of antenna cables then others might be able to suggest what's worked for them as well.

pandas · Wednesday at 8:05 AM

Lenny HB said:
Not sure what aerial you have, but should be able to connect to any router, you may need adaptors.
Having to reset every time you cross a border is a network problem not a router problem.

A few years ago I had a Superdrug Sim running on 3 had to reset if I drove 10 miles.
Currently using a ID mobile Sim on 3 rarely have to reset it all across Europe. Although the Sims both use the 3 Network in the UK it doesn't mean the the Sim supplier uses the same partners in other countries.

what is the fair usage in the eu for the sim? Also do you know if you can use an esim in with ZTE MU5001 which seems to have a forum link that didn't seem to conclude anything?

Manic · Wednesday at 8:38 AM

pandas said:
what is the fair usage in the eu for the sim? Also do you know if you can use an esim in with ZTE MU5001 which seems to have a forum link that didn't seem to conclude anything?

No sorry Mu5001 can’t use an eSIM

Lenny HB · Wednesday at 8:40 AM

Fair use depends on the supplier, with 3 it's 12gb, I'm with ID on 3 and get 30gb, wife is on O2 and gets 25gb.
A lot of suppliers say it needs to be inline with what you use in the UK so make sure you use a fair bit of data before you go.

You can now get sim card that you load an esim onto so you can use in devices that don't take esims.

Ditcha · Wednesday at 8:50 AM

Lenny HB said:
Fair use depends on the supplier, with 3 it's 12gb, I'm with ID on 3 and get 30gb, wife is on O2 and gets 25gb.
A lot of suppliers say it needs to be inline with what you use in the UK so make sure you use a fair bit of data before you go.

You can now get sim card that you load an esim onto so you can use in devices that don't take esims.

Lenny do you not get your full allowance when roaming with ID ?

This is one of the offerings to use a physical SIM with a esim loaded.

eSIM.me Store

Download SIM cards directly onto your smartphone | Works in any country | No more plastic, good for our planet :)

esim.me

Lenny HB · Wednesday at 9:07 AM

Ditcha said:
Lenny do you not get your full allowance when roaming with ID ?

No that was only on the older contracts only get 30gb.

Vikivan · Wednesday at 10:43 AM

fishplug said:
OK, so what that tells me is that it's a 4G capable antenna (not 5G) and that it's MiMo (Mutliple input, Multiple output).

Sharkfin just tells me the shape which doesn't affect the choice of router.

The real question is how many cables come out from it? I did try to look up the Huawei CF87 but couldn't find it.

I'm going to guess that it has two cables which would make it a 2x2 MiMo antenna. If it has 4 (I'd be surprised!) it would be a 4x4 MiMo...

Knowing that helps only insofar as there's not much point buying a router with four antenna inputs and only using two of them.

Equally, there's not much point buying a router with only two antenna inputs if your antenna has four.

Reading between the lines, I suspect yours will have two cables and I didn't have particularly good experiences with the cheaper routers/hotspots in that range.

The one I eventually settled on and kept for a good few years was the Netgear Nighthawk M1. They regularly come up second hand on eBay etc

While it's an old design now, it's still a good little unit.

If you can confirm the number of antenna cables then others might be able to suggest what's worked for them as well.

It has a charging lead which is basically a huawei phone connector i.e. the smaller type phone connector and two cables with what I believe are male TS9 connectors.

Vikivan · Wednesday at 11:05 AM

Lenny HB said:
Not sure what aerial you have, but should be able to connect to any router, you may need adaptors.
Having to reset every time you cross a border is a network problem not a router problem.

A few years ago I had a Superdrug Sim running on 3 had to reset if I drove 10 miles.
Currently using a ID mobile Sim on 3 rarely have to reset it all across Europe. Although the Sims both use the 3 Network in the UK it doesn't mean the the Sim supplier uses the same partners in other countries.

Ok thanks for that Lenny, it may be a network problem but the problem is with resetting the Huawei device, I am not the best when it comes to sorting this sort of thing out unless its simple and obvious, getting hold of anyone at Huawei to help is not without difficulty. So my daughter is now using the device at home for her internet connection, it's cheaper than Virgin or similar and it works fine if you stay in UK and don't change the network provider sim card.

TCG · Wednesday at 5:02 PM

Lenny HB said:
No that was only on the older contracts only get 30gb.

Hi lenny Currently in France and cannot get my ID sim to work in my Rut 951. However if I put it in my iPhone it works fine… any ideas. ?

Manic · Wednesday at 5:07 PM

TCG said:
Hi lenny Currently in France and cannot get my ID sim to work in my Rut 951. However if I put it in my iPhone it works fine… any ideas. ?

Have you checked the APN , I helped an English Motorhome last year with his and the APN was wrong.
His was on Three

All phones bought from us should arrive with the right settings already configured. But if you’ve switched to iD Mobile on a SIM Only Deal and kept your old phone, you may need to review the settings to get things like the internet and picture messaging to work. Our network (APN) settings are listed below:

iD

id

http://mms.um.idmobile.co.uk:10021/mmsc

mms.idmobile.co.uk

8799

[th width="291.890625px"]

Name

[/th]

[th width="291.890625px"]

APN

[/th]

[th width="291.890625px"]

Username

[/th]

[th width="291.890625px"]

Password

[/th]

[th width="291.890625px"]

MMSC

[/th]

[th width="291.890625px"]

MMS Proxy

[/th]

[th width="291.890625px"]

MMS APN Username

[/th]

[th width="291.890625px"]

MMS APN Password

[/th]

[th width="291.890625px"]

MMS Port

[/th]

TCG · 2025-09-04T09:19:24+0100

Manic said:
Have you checked the APN , I helped an English Motorhome last year with his and the APN was wrong.
His was on Three

All phones bought from us should arrive with the right settings already configured. But if you’ve switched to iD Mobile on a SIM Only Deal and kept your old phone, you may need to review the settings to get things like the internet and picture messaging to work. Our network (APN) settings are listed below:

iD
id
<leave blank>
<leave blank>

http://mms.um.idmobile.co.uk:10021/mmsc

mms.idmobile.co.uk
<leave blank>
<leave blank>
8799

[th width="291.890625px"]
Name

[/th]
[th width="291.890625px"]
APN

[/th]
[th width="291.890625px"]
Username

[/th]
[th width="291.890625px"]
Password

[/th]
[th width="291.890625px"]
MMSC

[/th]
[th width="291.890625px"]
MMS Proxy

[/th]
[th width="291.890625px"]
MMS APN Username

[/th]
[th width="291.890625px"]
MMS APN Password

[/th]
[th width="291.890625px"]
MMS Port

[/th]

Thanks Manic I will that

pandas · 2025-09-04T09:34:45+0100

TCG said:
Thanks Manic I will that

Smarty
Name: Smarty
APN: mob.asm.net
User/Pass: leave blank

Sky
Name: Sky
APN: mobile.sky
User/Pass; leave blank

Popit Mobile
Name: Popit
APN: everywhere
User: eesecure
Pass: secure

GiffGaff
Name: GiffGaff
APN: giffgaff.com
User: gg
Pass: p

ID Mobile
Name: id
APN: id
User/Pass <leave these blank>

Lebara
Name: Lebara
APN: uk.lebara.mobi
Username: wap
Password: wap

Tesco Mobile
Name: Tesco
APN: prepay.tesco-mobile.com
Username: tescowap
Password: password

Alternative router for Mifi aerial connection

Vikivan

fishplug

Lenny HB

Vikivan

fishplug

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pandas

Manic

Lenny HB

Ditcha

eSIM.me Store

Lenny HB

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Vikivan

Vikivan

TCG

Manic

TCG

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pandas

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