First things first: we love ourselves some Fibre.

In fact, as far as we’re concerned, Fibre will always be our golden child, and why not? It’s the Ferrari of connectivity but, sadly, not everyone can drive a Ferrari. To some, it’s too costly, to others it’s inaccessible. Some just want to get from A to B without expensive overheads, and others just want to drive, full stop.

Whatever your reasoning, everyone deserves the thrill of amazing speed and best-in-class technology. Everyone should have a solution for their specific needs and, if you’re not a Ferrari person, why not try a Porsche?

If Fibre is a Ferrari, then a Porsche is exactly what LTE-A is.

Similar speeds, equal innovation, but a lot more affordable than the crème-de-la-crème. At least, that’s what they claim, which is why we decided to put a router to the test.

Our experience with LTE-A:

Within three days of ordering, our delivery guy was outside. Best. Feeling. Ever.

Truth be told though, we weren’t sure what to expect, as our only previous Router experience came from Modems and Fibre. To us, LTE was a bit WTF. Besides, what’s the deal with that SIM card thing? However, we barely had time to scratch our heads before noticing a distinct green Vox logo on a concise setup guide.

Four steps, each clearly outlined – watch out IKEA, you’ve got some serious competition.

Jokes aside, each box contains:

  • The router itself. Naturally.
  • A cable to connect to your PC.
  • A power cable.
  • SIM Card.
  • A more comprehensive guide- sort of like a service book.

You know the feeling- you open a new box, it smells like fresh plastic mixed with hope, and suddenly you’re a kid on Christmas morning. The router itself is big enough to say “I’m here” but not obtrusive in any way. The design is sleek and streamlined, with only a single wire connecting it to a power source and no antenna or randomly protruding limbs threatening to poke our cat’s eye.

All we had to do was insert SIM, power up, wait a few hours to connect and “bazinga”, we were online.

But what about the actual Internet?

Within the first three hours, we set a new track record on our Wi-Fi speed test and downloaded the box set of Game of Thrones. At least, that’s what most service providers would have you believe, but while our Internet is fast, we still had reasonable expectations.

For comparisons sake, we put it to the test next to a Fibre router and experienced absolutely no difference in speed. Over the course of a week, the LTE-A router seamlessly handled our work, streaming and even gaming needs with no interruption or delay. We tested it during odd hours of the day (and night) and are pleased to say it passed with flying colours- not bad for a Porsche!

Although our time together was short, and we handed back our Router with a heavy heart, we eventually ended up placing an order for a device of our own as a backup to our Fibre line. We’ve noticed that when the whole family is online, our connectivity can delay a bit, and a Fixed LTE-A Router is that perfect stopgap for pushing one last Email over the finish line or just getting through a peak hour meeting.

Ultimately, Fibre remains king of the Internet track (at least until the conspiracy theorists stop destroying 5G towers). However, there are times when you need a backup, or when the overheads of connecting to the very top just aren’t feasible.

If you’re after a failsafe or a viable alternative that compromises on nothing at all, you’re good to go with Fixed LTE-A.

And what more could you want from your Internet, really? It’s not a car after all.