Huawei B525

I bought this router to use with a 3 sim card I bought, I manage to get the deal of £10 a month for unlimited everything :)It was a glitch on their system which they honoured.After reading other reviews I knew that this would allow me to add external antenna's and also you can connect up to 64 devices and it promises good WiFi coverage.For me the router gives varying speeds during the day and from checking how many masts 3 has in Spennymoor where I live I have only a choice of 1 mast.That means also that everyone else on 3 uses the same mast so I would have expected the speeds to go up and down as more or less people login and use their data allowance.I have added a few photo's to show the router and how many bars I'm getting off 3, the interface and the results of an average speed test.You will see that I have got four bars so the signal is quite good but my download speed is 17Mbps and upload speed is 14.4Mbps.This is about 1/3 of my current download speed I have on my BT internet broadband but as there is normally only me on the internet streaming then I don't see this as being a problem as I have been doing tests where I have use the WiFi router for my streaming and downloading and it has performed well, the WiFi signal is strong and when it get later on a night the speeds go up as most people have gone to bed.I did buy a Cross Polarised 4G Omni LTE Antenna for the router and I got no increase is speed and only a minimal increase in signal strength, not enough to warrant the price of the antenna.With the router being unlocked on all networks it means that I can plug in the home telephone in the RJ11 socket and use the mobile calls using the router.When calling out the router takes about 10 seconds before it dials the number you punch in on the keypad, I read somewhere that this is due to the router dropping down to 3G to make the call but I cannot confirm this.This router will save me lots of money and do more than my original router I got from my current broadband supplier.Very happy with the purchase and price.

I was very nervous about this I changed the IP address and DHCP pool......... I changed the main address to 192.168.1.1the DHCP was set as 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254 worked a treat this now works great with my home network. Also you can logon using 192.168.1.1 bingo. The router configures itself - easily as soon as the sim is in...great. The down load speed without an external aerial around 20gbits fab. Another good feature is the telephone plug ........... I hope to connect my whole house to this + burglar alarm saving me my land line cost ..... Wi fi is ok not the most powerful - but I use Ubiquity AP's so this is a non issue.So this is an excellent product worth every penny - vastly superior to the Asus AC68U router I used before :-)

As all routers go - it' simple to setup and worksGreat download/Upload speed as I use 4G in an area where there is no fibre broadbandWiFi range and signal strength is also greatOnly negative is that you need separate SID's for 2.4 and 5 WiFi bands - I just opted to switch off the 2.4Otherwise this would have been rated 5 Stars

This is a fantastic router. I was tired of getting ripped off by my "fibre" provider, so switched to 4g. I now get 40-50mbps downloads, and about 20-30mbps upload.All for around 60% less money than cable based providers through 3/Smarty Mobile. Only downside is most 4g providers use cgnat, so if you run any servers from home (plex in my case) port forwarding can be a pita. Not a fault of the router, but worth remembering if you do have a home server. Performance has really been flawless, and the only problems I have had have been caused by myself. There are apps to lock this to a band, which does help. Google "hmanager" if you need it. If you get this router from Livewire, it has bridge mode. And as others have said, there is no firmware updates for this router.Combine this with the poynting aerial and wave goodby to traditional landline providers. The extra layout for the kit is well worth it - and in my case pays for itself in about 7 months.

I bought this item because I wanted to upload to the Cloud faster than the paltry 1Mbit/s provided by my ADSL line.Where I live, the smartphone only occasionally shows a 4G signal outside, but not for long enough to use it, and never a 4G signal inside the house.The Huawei B525, when placed at a window facing the nearest 4G mast (about 8 miles away) locks on to the 4G network with a steady 2 bars out of 5, just using its internal antenna. This gives a download speed of around 12 Mbit/s and, far more importantly for me, an upload speed of around 6-7 Mbit/s.An external antenna would no doubt improve those speeds considerably, but my monthly allowance total of 100GB would be used up in an instant, so I may not bother to get one, as the unit is fast enough for my needs as is.Update: after the router updated its firmware, the received signal is better optimised, with 3 bars now instead of 2. Upload speed a solid 1MByte/s (8Mbit/s)Update Dec '18:I did try it with an external outdoor antenna, a well-reviewed one costing nearly £100 on here, but the received signal level DROPPED, no matter how I positioned it. So I would urge caution if you are thinking that investing in a pricy outdoor antenna will always improve the signal received. The router on its own is the best solution for me.