Is it a substitute for a fixed line at home?I thoroughly tried "WiMAX + 5G" with relaxed communication restrictions
Wednesday, March 16 17:05 ITmedia Mobile
Home router "Speed Wi-Fi HOME L11" used in this verification
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As introduced in the previous series, UQ Communications (hereinafter referred to as "UQ") has partially changed the communication restriction rules for the communication service "WiMAX + 5G" from February 1st. This change also applies to MVNO services that use WiMAX + 5G lines, including au (KDDI and Okinawa Cellular Phone). A quick look back at the new communication restriction rules is as follows.・ Elimination of the quantitative threshold of communication capacity limit in "the last 3 days not including the current day" ・ Uniform speed limit when the threshold with the quantitative threshold of "15GB" before the change is violated Before the abolition / change, the speed is limited to the "crowded time zone (18:00 to 2:00 the next day)". After the change, the speed is limited in consideration of the traffic (overall communication status). I think that some readers may have questions such as "Is it really not restricted?" Or "Is it a substitute for optical lines or CATV lines?" Therefore, in this "How to use mobile data communication in 5 minutes", I changed the optical line that I usually use at my home (in Tokyo's 23 wards) to a WiMAX + 5G line, and for a while it was "exactly" the same as usual. I tried using it like this. Can it really be used without worrying about restrictions ...? ● Conclusion: It can be used as a substitute for a fixed line (more practical than I expected). Suddenly, the maximum speed (especially the upload speed) is slower than that of an optical line, but I communicate over 15GB every day. However, there were no scenes where I felt inconvenienced, such as "The speed is slowing down ...". It can be used as a substitute for a fixed internet connection. I have a direct contract with UQ, but when I look at the contractor's website within the conventional time limit, it says "Communicating at normal speed", and there is no speed limit on the status. I also understood that. I'm sure there are people who think, "Well, really ...?", So I'll explain in a little more detail how the verification was done. The one used in the verification was the ZTE wireless home router "Speed Wi-Fi HOME L11". It has two Wi-Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax) compatible wireless LAN and 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet) compatible wired LAN ports. (Of course) L11 can be used as a router by itself, but it is troublesome to reconnect the devices that you usually use, such as PCs, smartphones, tablets, video devices (Fire TV Stick), smart speakers, etc., in the first place. There are not enough wired LAN ports. Therefore, this time, we switched the connection destination of the WAN (external line) port of the wireless LAN router that we usually use for optical lines from ONU (optical network unit) to the L11 wired LAN port. First, we measured the communication speed during the daytime with "Speedtest.net" before satisfying the condition of "15GB in the last 3 days". The results are as follows. -Ping (response speed): 39 ms-Downstream (download): 92.88 Mbps-Uplink (upload): 11.17 Mbps The response and upload speeds of optical lines are not as good as those of optical lines, but the download speed is sufficient. After that, after communicating with this and that and satisfying "15GB or more in 3 days", the result of measuring the speed during the conventional regulated time zone is as follows. -Ping: 40 ms-Down: 84.64 Mbps-Up: 8.76 Mbps As you can see, communication is possible at almost the same speed as during the daytime. In this case, it can be used instead of a fixed internet line except for some usages described later. There are almost no problems when using the Internet in daily life, such as browsing the Web, exchanging emails, streaming videos, operating smart home appliances using smart speakers, and so on. ● There are still some scenes where I feel "insufficient power" It is more practical than I expected to use a WiMAX + 5G line instead of a fixed internet line at home ... but there are still two scenes where I feel lack of power. .. One is the scene of uploading a large number of videos and photos. As mentioned earlier, WiMAX + 5G has the drawback of being slow to download while being fast to download. If you have many opportunities to upload a large amount of data, such as using cloud storage, you should consider introducing a fixed internet line as much as possible. The other is when data communication is performed on multiple devices at the same time. One day, I was teleworking on my PC, a web conferencing app for online learning on my child's tablet, and streaming video on the Fire TV Stick. There was no problem so far, but when I try to send a command to the smart speaker or stream the radio with the "Radiko app" in this state, a timeout (error due to too slow response) occurs. It could happen. In short, if you try to access the Internet from another device while you are in a series of large data communications, the response may be unusually delayed. This is a phenomenon that does not occur in ordinary optical lines. By the way, even in this state, there is no such thing as "too slow and the buffer is not in time" in the streaming playback on the Fire TV Stick, but in rare cases the reading stopped suddenly. This also does not happen with ordinary optical lines. These problems may be solved if the WiMAX + 5G radio wave environment improves and the effective communication speed improves. However, even if you want a certain degree of "stability" and "reliability" in Internet communication, I think you should consider introducing a fixed line as much as possible. However, there is no doubt that WiMAX + 5G has become a new “gospel” for those who say that the fixed line of an apartment house is slow and unbearable, or that the physical conditions of the building make it impossible to introduce a fixed line. ● WiMAX + 5G home router is portable (excluding au contracts) One of the merits of a WiMAX + 5G compatible home router is that it can be used anywhere (excluding au's "Home Router Plan 5G"). .. In this verification, we also verified that we would take the L11 to a travel destination and use it. Home routers are intended for stationary use at home or in the office. Therefore, the main body is larger than the mobile router, and the power adapter is also a dedicated one. Therefore, it is not suitable for carrying around. However, because the main unit is large, it is easier to install a high-sensitivity antenna than a mobile router, so a mobile router may be able to perform stable communication even in places where communication becomes unstable. This applies not only to mobile communications, but also to Wi-Fi communications. When traveling, it may be difficult to go out due to bad weather. You may not always have a stable internet connection. I should create an environment where I can enjoy the Internet at my place of stay as if I were at home. That's why you carry your home router. UQ's "WiMAX 2+" often had poor communication quality outside of urban areas, or was "out of service" in the first place. Although these problems can be solved by using "High Speed Plus Area Mode" that can also use the au 4G LTE area, an additional charge of 1100 yen will be charged for the month of use (free depending on the contract conditions), and 7GB of communication per month. There is a capacity limit. On the other hand, with WiMAX + 5G, some areas of au 4G LTE / au 5G can be used for free even in "standard mode", and communication restrictions in "plus area mode" that expands the area coverage no longer affect standard mode. rice field. Although the standard mode cannot use the 800MHz band, which is the main band of au 4G LTE, it still has a wider area than WiMAX 2+, which makes it more practical. For users of WiMAX 2+, whether it's a home router or a mobile router, just using WiMAX + 5G will significantly reduce stress. Let's consider the transfer positively.