For anyone who depends on 4G networks while travelling: I recently purchased a 4G router, TP Link MR100 (~ Rs 4500/-), which has detachable antenna. You can buy antennae (~ Rs 500 for a pair) like this. I have Vodafone, Jio and Airtel SIM cards. Vodafone used to be the poorest quality with phone/dongle. After switching to this router, the difference is visibly big. I have steady ping throughout day, rare drops on calls. These routers are small, light and seem to work way better than dongles. Hope it helps.

What speed do you get on average on your mobile vs the router (connected to mobile via wifi)

MR600, an expensive variant is a better option for higher speeds - it is the only router in this market which supports LTE aggregation

@wide-twilight-82330 the price is more yes, I looked at it too. It does not have detachable antennae so it was a no-go for me. The speed difference is perhaps at the WiFi end not LTE. LTE speeds most devices is pretty standard. By aggregation do you mean LTE/WiFi link aggregation? I do not think it matters for me since my WiFi on router is Off, I use a load-balancer in front (I have multiple connections).

@wide-carpet-65149 I'm not sure where you read it doesn't have detachable antenna. It's mentioned right there on tp link website. I'm talking about LTE band aggregation not wifi aggregation. My iPhone does band aggregation so gives me a speed up to 62 Mbps, at the same location a device which doesn't support LTE-A does not more than 15 Mbps.

@wide-twilight-82330 a comment in Amazon India mentioned fixed antennae. So I did not risk buying it.

Band aggregation will be useful mostly in congested areas. Rural areas with sparse population density is unlikely to have speed issues even without band aggregation. Many mid and higher level smartphones these days have band aggregation.

Interesting, I always assumed LTE band aggregation has been there from start of LTE. What I see is very few bands in India actually have support though, although info does not seem concrete. Anyhow, if it helps then great. And you are right, this will matter more in congested networks.

@wide-carpet-65149 why is detachable antennas that important of a factor?

@thousands-morning-63911 you can use outdoor antennae like Netboon and put on roof of the house if needed (10 M cable). This is something I have read gives a good LTE signal. Again this might not be needed for anyone not living as remote as I sometimes do.

thanks @wide-carpet-65149 didn’t know these kind of products existed, these will definitely help me when I am travelling.

@wide-carpet-65149, any reason why detachable antenna is more preferable than fixed ones?

@narrow-judge-33018 if you scroll up in this thread, I have answered this earlier.

@wide-carpet-65149 Do you mean if we have detachable antenna, we can buy better antenna separately and attach it to the router?

@narrow-judge-33018 yes.

I'm considering buying either MR100 or MR600 router from Amazon, however I've been reading inconsistent / not so great recent reviews. Most of them say that the router fails to detect the SIM card, or the network keeps dropping frequently. Has anyone here faced such issues?

@narrow-judge-33018 my MR100 does not detect Jio, but I have not tried it many times. It works fine with Airtel and Vodafone. Otherwise I do not have any issues.