We live in a remote part of the West of Ireland and like you we use 4G+. We installed a TP link mesh with fi system which is working perfectly. Antenna to router to main mesh unit then through the house wiring to the various other mesh units. This does away with network switches, LAN cables and digging into stone and old plaster. The only problem with 4G+ is that it is a shared system. We can have 100 Meg download then a gamer goes online a mike away and the speed drops then another customer watches Netflix etc etc. At one stage our speeds dropped from 100 Meg download down to 12 Meg in the evening. If the B n B has a full house you might have very low speeds indeed.
Yea we did wonder about that. There isn't many more options available other than 4G at the Hotel. Starlink was slower. We could always get a second 4G sim and double the amount available (at least to the guests) it doesn't do anything about the total internet from the mast though
Great episode. Love those rooms, the boat is a wonderful use of space. Especially for a hotel or air b and b. I thought about having a narrow boat on land. Just need suitable connection for waste water and power etc. Look forward to seeing, should you continue, how the hotel rooms progress.
Since your first 4G adventure videos, and BT openreach failing to fix my landline... I decided to refresh my docs and wasted a few days on eBay, you can get CAT18/CAT19 routers for less then 50GBP Huawei CPE Gen 1/2 units for example are tossed away when people get fibre in city locations, key thing is they accept 4x4 MIMO antenna arrays (so 8x SMA one for 4G and 5G) with just a simple IPEX1 to SMA connector cables, a simple mod some companys are making a tidy profit off of. When you start adding it up DIY its a lot more powerful then then the AIO antenna units cost and upgrade wise now CAT20 modems are on the market. I can get 60/8mbps with just the base antennas outside with these units in a backpack with a battery but this jumps to 370/27mbps down the road with no obstructions so with external 4x4 and Yaggi antennas massive potential at 3m above the house I expect a lot more out of it my tower as it's just shy of a mile off as Three setup new masks last year i just found out with no commerical obstructions.
While weather does impact speeds, in reality it's the cell loading (other people using) that has biggest impact. Rain does of course absorb, but really only affects the higher carriers. Leaves on the other hand..that canes signal
BRILLIANT! This channel just keeps on getting better. Thanks for the content mate. Always some interesting information on a VERY wide group of topics. Thanks again.
You might want to setup remote VPN (if the router supports it) to help remotely support it. Good call not to rely on cloud services to service the kit. Also, the VLAN feature deployment is excellent. A major feature that little even in commercial companies forget about.
I love your videos and great walk through. From a networking perspective, you should only mount WiFi Access Points on walls as a last resort if you cannot get it on the ceiling, and close to the middle of the room, even then is should be mounted on a bracket so it fires downwards.
Yea I suggested that to the owner but he was running the cables and diddnt want to run it upstairs through the floorboards so we ended up with them where they are.
I love videos about networking, but I was sat here thinking "that's nice place, I wouldn't mind seeing more of this place" and then we was, thankyou ♥. It is A very nice place, and I love the boat too. Brilliant video thankyou 😊♥
I use an "Outdoor-Router" as per what you had earlier on, with a Three Network sim, used cell-mapper and get internet where there are no telephone lines. My Uploads are always way more than the downloads. You did a wonderful advertising video for the hotel..😃
I was so pleased once I found Cellmapper as it would be really hard without it. That's interesting to hear your uploads are higher than the downloads. I will have to have a look into why it varies place to place as far as the download to upload ratio
That looks like a great place to stay. I love the honesty in your uploads, we've all bought some kit with "Quoted speeds" and found it's not quite like what the sold us, your reviews give amazing real world feedback on these things. When it comes to wifi in lets, I'd much rather have a solid 2mbps connection than a 50-100 one that flakes out constantly. It looks like that vpn router can provide that pretty well and more.
When using 4G, link quality and weather is not the only factor effecting speed. The number of other users on the mobile network and the traffic will reduce the overall speed. Generally people upload less than they download, so upload speeds can often be higher. The Backhaul into the cell tower may also be limited. Some towers might have a fibre connection, but many remote locations are done with point to point microwave links. If you have a good link and test the speed in the middle of the night, it will usual be much higher as you are not sharing the tower bandwidth with anyone(Or only a few people.) Also be very carefully with directional antennas. If the 4G Modem can link with any other 4G tower on the same network, although at a much weaker signal level. You might find the 4G modem is not linking to the cell you are pointing it at. Mobile networks can and will just handoff you off to another cell when they feel like, even if the signal is weaker. So make a note of your CellId, should you find the speed very poor one day, double check the CellId, you might just find it's connected some where else. (Assuming you have other cells on the same network in the area.) I hope this helps in you quest for better internet. P.s. keep up the great content.
Thanks for the excellent info I wondered how the masts were fed and I suspect that this mast is a point to point as its right on top of a mountain. Thanks I will keep the cell Id written down.
I am using a unifi ubiquiti beam antenna to beam internet to my brother who is 3 miles away from me and he is getting amazing speeds nothing less than 400mbs but im not using a sim card for service though im using a fiber internet service. Im aware that you may not have fiber at your location and you have to use the sim card service but all im saying those unifi beam antennas would give u better service from the Cell tower you setup. Great videos though
Hi Off grid Scotland I think you are over thinking this and spending money on unessary items all you needed are some powerful unifi Direct Beam antennas and some proper poe switch to to run drops around the home. A unifi ubiquit beam antenna wouldn't drop performance in bad weather.
Hi , I am trying to find land in Scotland to start my off grid journey , You wouldn't perhaps be selling any small parcels of your land any time? around 5 acres? or do you know of any up for sale? Great videos! Thank You
Sorry but our land only has a small access from the road, the rest is land locked so it would be hard to sell a section without having access issues. I will let you know if I see any for sale though
The thing I can't get to the bottom of is that none of the networks allow you to make your connection publicly available. If they detect you are sharing it they can terminate your contract.
Yea hopefully the speeds are enough to cover the usage split up. It was about the only option available at the hotel apart from starlink that was slower
The only problem with ee it has fair usage policy of 600gb which isnt massove nowadays. 20gb a day is quite easily done. Once you hit the 600gb the speed is reduced to 0.5mbps. maybe should look at speed restrictions so atleast people arent streaming at 4k.
Incorrect, after you hit the 600GB FUP, you don't drop to 0.5 mbps. You get a lower QCI level on the network meaning you get slightly deprioritized. Stay Connected Data is for data capped plans.
@@cyanade not what I read on ee's website but I have no experience to back it up. Maybe it's just there incase it's very necessary. The information I read was specific to an unlimited plan.
@@HA05GER It can be quite unclear, but sometimes EE don't even bother slowing you down from what I have experienced. Also I doubt many users will ever go over 600GB. But from EE documents they will drop you from QCI 8 to 9. (9 being less priority on the network/cell).
"On plans that have an Unlimited data allowance we have a Fair Usage Policy (FUP) - 1TB for EE Mobile WiFi plans & 600GB for EE PAYM SIMO and Handset plans. Any customers breaching the FUP will have their QCI moved from an 8 to 9, meaning their service is deprioritised on congested cells."
@@cyanade cool very interesting. I think 600gb is pretty easily reached though 5 Hours a day of streaming 4k would do it. In a hotel I think even quicker. I mean in an area this hotel is placed even if your priorty is dropped I don't think it will make much difference as these masts have very low demand compared to say a large town that may have 1000s of people on one mast. Here you may only have 50 on the mast.
"Electrician asked for the equipment list". Of course he did. He thinks that any fool can do what you did and so he want's to eat your lunch. I'll bet he installed CAT5/6 cabling and "saved money" by wiring 2 outlets to one wire.
The unifi router software may be able to manage those access points. It's all Unifi kit apart from the switch, so should work.
It seemed better than I thought once I did the set up
We live in a remote part of the West of Ireland and like you we use 4G+. We installed a TP link mesh with fi system which is working perfectly. Antenna to router to main mesh unit then through the house wiring to the various other mesh units. This does away with network switches, LAN cables and digging into stone and old plaster. The only problem with 4G+ is that it is a shared system. We can have 100 Meg download then a gamer goes online a mike away and the speed drops then another customer watches Netflix etc etc. At one stage our speeds dropped from 100 Meg download down to 12 Meg in the evening. If the B n B has a full house you might have very low speeds indeed.
Yea we did wonder about that. There isn't many more options available other than 4G at the Hotel. Starlink was slower. We could always get a second 4G sim and double the amount available (at least to the guests) it doesn't do anything about the total internet from the mast though
Great episode. Love those rooms, the boat is a wonderful use of space. Especially for a hotel or air b and b. I thought about having a narrow boat on land. Just need suitable connection for waste water and power etc. Look forward to seeing, should you continue, how the hotel rooms progress.
Thanks, Angus mentioned it was very difficult to get it sited (they needed a crane)
Since your first 4G adventure videos, and BT openreach failing to fix my landline... I decided to refresh my docs and wasted a few days on eBay, you can get CAT18/CAT19 routers for less then 50GBP Huawei CPE Gen 1/2 units for example are tossed away when people get fibre in city locations, key thing is they accept 4x4 MIMO antenna arrays (so 8x SMA one for 4G and 5G) with just a simple IPEX1 to SMA connector cables, a simple mod some companys are making a tidy profit off of.
When you start adding it up DIY its a lot more powerful then then the AIO antenna units cost and upgrade wise now CAT20 modems are on the market.
I can get 60/8mbps with just the base antennas outside with these units in a backpack with a battery but this jumps to 370/27mbps down the road with no obstructions so with external 4x4 and Yaggi antennas massive potential at 3m above the house I expect a lot more out of it my tower as it's just shy of a mile off as Three setup new masks last year i just found out with no commerical obstructions.
Nice! That sounds like a great setup
While weather does impact speeds, in reality it's the cell loading (other people using) that has biggest impact. Rain does of course absorb, but really only affects the higher carriers. Leaves on the other hand..that canes signal
Aha thank you I will bare that in mind.
BRILLIANT! This channel just keeps on getting better. Thanks for the content mate. Always some interesting information on a VERY wide group of topics. Thanks again.
That's very kind thank you
You might want to setup remote VPN (if the router supports it) to help remotely support it. Good call not to rely on cloud services to service the kit.
Also, the VLAN feature deployment is excellent. A major feature that little even in commercial companies forget about.
Thank you I will have a look into the remote VPN and I am glad I looked at a good solution
I love your videos and great walk through. From a networking perspective, you should only mount WiFi Access Points on walls as a last resort if you cannot get it on the ceiling, and close to the middle of the room, even then is should be mounted on a bracket so it fires downwards.
Yea I suggested that to the owner but he was running the cables and diddnt want to run it upstairs through the floorboards so we ended up with them where they are.
I love videos about networking, but I was sat here thinking "that's nice place, I wouldn't mind seeing more of this place" and then we was, thankyou ♥.
It is A very nice place, and I love the boat too.
Brilliant video thankyou 😊♥
Im so glad you liked it because it felt like I was going off track with the tour
I use an "Outdoor-Router" as per what you had earlier on, with a Three Network sim, used cell-mapper and get internet where there are no telephone lines.
My Uploads are always way more than the downloads.
You did a wonderful advertising video for the hotel..😃
I was so pleased once I found Cellmapper as it would be really hard without it. That's interesting to hear your uploads are higher than the downloads. I will have to have a look into why it varies place to place as far as the download to upload ratio
That looks like a great place to stay. I love the honesty in your uploads, we've all bought some kit with "Quoted speeds" and found it's not quite like what the sold us, your reviews give amazing real world feedback on these things. When it comes to wifi in lets, I'd much rather have a solid 2mbps connection than a 50-100 one that flakes out constantly. It looks like that vpn router can provide that pretty well and more.
Thank you very much. I am glad to hear you would like stability over speed so I will pass that feedback on
When using 4G, link quality and weather is not the only factor effecting speed. The number of other users on the mobile network and the traffic will reduce the overall speed. Generally people upload less than they download, so upload speeds can often be higher. The Backhaul into the cell tower may also be limited. Some towers might have a fibre connection, but many remote locations are done with point to point microwave links. If you have a good link and test the speed in the middle of the night, it will usual be much higher as you are not sharing the tower bandwidth with anyone(Or only a few people.) Also be very carefully with directional antennas. If the 4G Modem can link with any other 4G tower on the same network, although at a much weaker signal level. You might find the 4G modem is not linking to the cell you are pointing it at. Mobile networks can and will just handoff you off to another cell when they feel like, even if the signal is weaker. So make a note of your CellId, should you find the speed very poor one day, double check the CellId, you might just find it's connected some where else. (Assuming you have other cells on the same network in the area.) I hope this helps in you quest for better internet. P.s. keep up the great content.
Thanks for the excellent info I wondered how the masts were fed and I suspect that this mast is a point to point as its right on top of a mountain. Thanks I will keep the cell Id written down.
I am using a unifi ubiquiti beam antenna to beam internet to my brother who is 3 miles away from me and he is getting amazing speeds nothing less than 400mbs but im not using a sim card for service though im using a fiber internet service. Im aware that you may not have fiber at your location and you have to use the sim card service but all im saying those unifi beam antennas would give u better service from the Cell tower you setup. Great videos though
Thanks, I will keep the kit in mind for my next project as we have alredy finished this one
Hi Off grid Scotland I think you are over thinking this and spending money on unessary items all you needed are some powerful unifi Direct Beam antennas and some proper poe switch to to run drops around the home. A unifi ubiquit beam antenna wouldn't drop performance in bad weather.
Thanks for the feedback I will check out the system you mentioned as its new to me
This is brill. What are the ping/latency readings?
I ask because we are moving to scotland soon, and we will need the lowest latency possible.
Cheers.
I think it was around 40-50 but I am not entirely sure. Ours where we live is 40
Nice detailed work, nice to see your depth of knowledge, and cudos for use of vlans, adds a nice extra layer of protection, at zero extra cost
Thanks, It sounded crazy to have to pay for cloud subscription to keep things secure
Great stuff as usual!
Thanks!
Hi , I am trying to find land in Scotland to start my off grid journey , You wouldn't perhaps be selling any small parcels of your land any time? around 5 acres? or do you know of any up for sale? Great videos! Thank You
Sorry but our land only has a small access from the road, the rest is land locked so it would be hard to sell a section without having access issues. I will let you know if I see any for sale though
The thing I can't get to the bottom of is that none of the networks allow you to make your connection publicly available. If they detect you are sharing it they can terminate your contract.
I didn't know they could terminate your contract if you are sharing we will have to keep an eye on that
Very interesting, but if each room is using the internet at the same time, peolpe will get a share
Yea hopefully the speeds are enough to cover the usage split up. It was about the only option available at the hotel apart from starlink that was slower
👍
Thanks
the ap's are only running at 10/100 mbps as the light is orange on the switch
Ah thanks
Thats a uap gen 1, at 20mhz you ca n expect 30mbit at 40mhz you can expect 60mbit, try ethernet to verify
Ah thank you I will check.
@@offgridscotland if you need help just let me know
The only problem with ee it has fair usage policy of 600gb which isnt massove nowadays. 20gb a day is quite easily done. Once you hit the 600gb the speed is reduced to 0.5mbps. maybe should look at speed restrictions so atleast people arent streaming at 4k.
Incorrect, after you hit the 600GB FUP, you don't drop to 0.5 mbps. You get a lower QCI level on the network meaning you get slightly deprioritized. Stay Connected Data is for data capped plans.
@@cyanade not what I read on ee's website but I have no experience to back it up. Maybe it's just there incase it's very necessary. The information I read was specific to an unlimited plan.
@@HA05GER It can be quite unclear, but sometimes EE don't even bother slowing you down from what I have experienced. Also I doubt many users will ever go over 600GB.
But from EE documents they will drop you from QCI 8 to 9. (9 being less priority on the network/cell).
"On plans that have an Unlimited data allowance we have a Fair Usage
Policy (FUP) - 1TB for EE Mobile WiFi plans & 600GB for EE PAYM SIMO
and Handset plans. Any customers breaching the FUP will
have their QCI moved from an 8 to 9, meaning their service is
deprioritised on congested cells."
@@cyanade cool very interesting. I think 600gb is pretty easily reached though 5 Hours a day of streaming 4k would do it. In a hotel I think even quicker. I mean in an area this hotel is placed even if your priorty is dropped I don't think it will make much difference as these masts have very low demand compared to say a large town that may have 1000s of people on one mast. Here you may only have 50 on the mast.
All of that electronic kit should of gone down behind books or a safe area, so it can't easily be knocked about.
Thanks it was just like that temporarily, after I finished the testing and once he got a better extension lead it was going to be cleared up.
"Electrician asked for the equipment list". Of course he did. He thinks that any fool can do what you did and so he want's to eat your lunch. I'll bet he installed CAT5/6 cabling and "saved money" by wiring 2 outlets to one wire.
I felt like letting him know it wasn't quite that simple but wasn't sure I wanted to get involved
This was painful to watch as a network engineer, but nice place for sure!
Sorry. I try my best
Rooter? lol you should get a Router.
I always wondered which one it was. I thought a Router was my woodworking tool which is why I said Rooter
@@offgridscotland hehe all good mate,was just having some fun,i think its like aluminium can.