TP-LinkTL-MR3420 3G/4G Wireless N Router

I live in the jungle. Literally, my house is 300 meters up a mountain on the Central Pacific coast of Costa Rica. I have no public services. No internet except for the fledgling over-priced and pitifully unreliable over-the-air service provided by a neighbor who built a tower on his property.Despite my remote location, I do have line of site to a cell tower owned by the state-run cellular service. It's near the beach about 3 miles from my home. Installation of the TP-Link was a piece of cake. I purchased a data stick from my provider and subscribed to unlimited data transfer at 5 megs download and stuck it in the TP-Link. Instant connection!And I've been able to expand my wifi network by connecting my existing Apple Extreme and Express routers with only one Extreme connected via ethernet to the TP-Link. Despite what you might read on the internet, it is possible to use the TP Link as your main 3G access point and extend your network by connecting other devices, including Apple.I did one other thing to improve reception inside my main house, which has concrete walls. I mounted the the TP Link upside down on a window with the antennas pointed down against the glass. Results in great reception inside the house. I also upgraded the stock antennas. You can't go wrong with the price. It works as it should and has an easy to use and understand interface.

Shipped and received timely and package was in excellent condition. I bought it used good or very good (don't remember now), but unit had no issues, worked on first try. This modem has both Ethernet and WiFi downlink connections (or end-user) as well as its usual upstream (or Internet Service Provider) connection.This router allows the usage of both an Ethernet-based WAN modem, and an USB-based hotspot, which they refer to as "modem". This means that you can use both WAN "sources" to connect to the Internet. You must choose a supported USB modem from their list, as this router both powers it and drives it to provide the connection.I highly recommend this router because, if you already own an USB-based cellular modem and have a cable or DSL modem, or else have some sort of WAN signal provided via an Ethernet connection, you can use BOTH at the same time. For this price it is very good. It would also allow to set up a battery backup to feed your router and your hotspot, so even in a blackout you can still connect to the Internet. If you have a DSL modem, you can likewise feed it through the battery backup and still have a high-speed connection when a blackout.With a cable modem, well, not so much. DSL signals are fed by phone companies, which are used to power customer equipment from their central offices and, therefore, would have signal (just like a landline) long after a cable modem during said blackout.At least, that has been my experience.

When first set-up worked fairly well , but after 3 weeks started loosing connection and finely would not connect at all.I tried to contact tech support , which took half dozen tries , and when was ably to get connected , they could NOT understand me nor could I understand them , and so it went for 3 days.I contacted the seller , but I was past the return date by 3 days.The warranty states that the router was under warranty for 2 years , so filled out their form online and was contacted within hours.They required additional information ( which I had filled out on the site , and which was attached to an email from them requesting the SAME info ).A couple of days passed at which time I received another email stating that " your return has been authorized " and gave me the RMA number , " but if I wished to receive a new one , I had to PAY for the return of the router to them !Needless to say that I am NOT going to spend more money on a defective product , so purchased another CradlePoint .Buyer beware !

Update 2/19/16 - TP-Link finally sent me a BETA version 151117 that fixed the problem with not switching back to the preferred mode. I have raised my rating from to 2 stars to 4 stars. If the production version comes out with issues, I will be back here again.Update 2/14/16 - I have been trying to get an answer out of TP-Link for the failure to switch back to WAN when in Preferred WAN mode. They said that all engineers are on holiday for the past week, but they keep sending me emails saying that they are closing my ticket because I have not responded to their email saying there was no one to look at my issue???? This is another company that is interested in closing a ticket, not solving a problem. There are issues going back 3 years with people complaining that it won't switch back to WAN when the network comes back up. If you are looking for WAN backup and not just 3g/4g primary, this is not the product to buy.Original Review: I bought this unit for security reasons. I have several appliances in my vacation home (freezer, sump pump) that I monitor through the Internet. My WAN goes to sleep for a minute or two every now and then, so I wanted cellular for backup in case it really went out. The big issue here is that when the WAN does go out, it switches to cellular and stays there. The mode "WAN Preferred" is supposed to switch back to WAN when the WAN comes back, but it does not. I only have a 2gb plan on cellular, so I can't afford to be on cellular all month. The second issue that I had was one that I was aware of when I purchased the unit. I use T-Mobile for my backup connection, and they only sell Access Point (hot spot) devices now. The router needs a USB type device. While the MF61 hotspot does have a USB cable connection, it would not connect to T-Mobile (It did connect to ATT quite easily). I bought an older T-Mobile MF691 on Amazon for $10, took my SIM from the MF61, and put it in the MF691, plugged it into the MR3420, and it connected to T-Mobile just fine. So I kindof won the battle, but lost the war, since it does not switch back from cellular. The latest firmware is in the unit, but it did not fix anything.