Hi has anyone tried the MUAMA Ryoko portable wifi gadget which includes a SIM

[Zentex]

Hi has anyone tried the MUAMA Ryoko portable wifi router gadget which includes a SIM and should provide internet access for up to 7 gadgets . It states it works in 137 different countries?

Be helpful if anyone has experience of it to pass over please, most online reviews seem favourable but you never know if they are being paid to make the vids

Apparently it is made by a Lithuanian company which makes a change from Chinese which I would never trust.

Thanks in advance

 

[Tigger-Tim]

The data looks very expensive.

The mifi is very basic.

 

[starquake]

Very expensive for a cat4 device given others are way cheaper. Bear in mind you can get a 5g cat20 device for, yes, about double the cost, but it'll be around 30 times faster on a cell tower that supports it in most cases.

Look at getting a ZTE device if budget constrained, they are very cheap on ebay, and you can get a 5g mu5001 for 130-140 quid when I got mine last month (probably cheaper today with black friday). Real 5g, able to do like home wifi where there is 5g signal (speed tested mine at > 800Mbit).

ie, don't waste your money on something using a chipset and frequency range.

As said above the data package isn't remotely comparible, given you can get 500Gb a month for near 24 months (UK only) for similar money as 1 month of 500Mbyte from them via the many Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals on amazon at moment.

Basically a bad deal preying on others, stay well away.

 

[starquake]

Ref; btw, Lithuianian vs Chinese which is the other point, it may surprise you to know that zero chipsets for mifi devices are in fact European (I've not come across one in years, and I have literally more than a few (>100) devices I have management over).

Samsung being Korean is probably your best bet if trying to avoid Chinese stuff. But in reality theres not a huge risk in usuing a Chinese router, what with 99% of the Internet now being encyrpted (from your device to the website).

Also far from me ahem telling you this, but it's not even Lithuanian, take a look at this product from a chinese wholesale which can be branded ... and tell me it's not the same device https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006866727684.html

^ is what they are selling you for more than it's worth, and it's cheap Chinese goods I suspect.

Wholesale it's under £6 delivered with your branding on it...

Stuff that is genuinely not Chinese (but uses Chinese) chips for mifi, look at the Mikrotik Chateau series (around £300) but its not that user friendly... the interface is for serious technical people, and I wouldn't really reccomend it. Personally I use Mikrotik kit, but it's not for the motorhome, it's for doing 10 mile type 4g point to point links for really remote monitoring.

 

[Zentex]

Ref; btw, Lithuianian vs Chinese which is the other point, it may surprise you to know that zero chipsets for mifi devices are in fact European (I've not come across one in years, and I have literally more than a few (>100) devices I have management over).

Samsung being Korean is probably your best bet if trying to avoid Chinese stuff. But in reality theres not a huge risk in usuing a Chinese router, what with 99% of the Internet now being encyrpted (from your device to the website).

Also far from me ahem telling you this, but it's not even Lithuanian, take a look at this product from a chinese wholesale which can be branded ... and tell me it's not the same device https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006866727684.html

^ is what they are selling you for more than it's worth, and it's cheap Chinese goods I suspect.

Wholesale it's under £6 delivered with your branding on it...

Stuff that is genuinely not Chinese (but uses Chinese) chips for mifi, look at the Mikrotik Chateau series (around £300) but its not that user friendly... the interface is for serious technical people, and I wouldn't really reccomend it. Personally I use Mikrotik kit, but it's not for the motorhome, it's for doing 10 mile type 4g point to point links for really remote monitoring.

Thanks for you help Star, you seem very well informed on all this tech, i need to look into it all better seems the advice

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[starquake]

Thanks for you help Star, you seem very well informed on all this tech, i need to look into it all better seems the advice

Loads of threads on here on device selevtion, ZTE make devices of seveal types (yes they are chinese, but they are quite reliable) and work very well in a motorhome. I find they have the easiest to operate user interface which works from a phone/tablet as well as laptop. I don't much like Huawei devices (they don't work as well in my experience), but they are a credible alternative, but I don't have a huge amount of experience in them as some of my clients prohibit Huawei.

Really key first point to look for is the LTE category of anything in the specifications, it is a number from 1 to around 20. Cat 4 (which is often listed as 150Mbit best), is the oldest of the technologys, and has a flaw in it can only use one frequency at a time. Cat 6 (which is next cat up) is twice as quick, but can use 2 frequncieis at the same time (ie 2 radios), one to send and one to receive, which makes it a lot faster in practise than a device which is having to switch from transmitting to receiving like a CB radio. Cat 12 is faster still, and can usually use over 3 frequencies. You get the picture.

For ZTE Many motorhomers use a MF986D (4g only, but covers all bands) cat 12 device, or a MU5001 cat 20 device (offers real 5g) from ZTE if you looking at cheapest end of market at least, other models available without a battery FAR cheaper if you never plan on it leaving your van. (I think the model is a 286 for the non-portable cat12 device, needs a 12v feed 4g model).

Teltonica make a large amount of routers for motorhomes too (industrial wifi), but they come at a hefty premium if wanting 5g. The Avtex and a few other branded motorhome wifi are rebranded Teltonica (but older models typcially than the modern 5g capable varients). You'll find threads reccomending them on here, and they ARE a decent device, but I would advise against buying a cat4 varient today (so buy anything cat6 or higher and you'll probbakly be happy).

Roughly on ebay yesterday a ZTE 5g capable device (ie latest tech) is around £170 (actual 5g not 5g wifi), a Teltonica is in the £3-400 range normally, as they rarely on ebay. New (not via ebay) they can be double that. Personally I don't see point in new, if it works it works, it's technology -> and you do typically get a small warranty off reptuable ebay sellers anyhow.

You won't go wrong with either of those, personally I'd avoid Huawei and Netgear, as the firmware on these is less stable in my experience (ie, you get random reboots). Others on here use them fine, but in my line of work I need devices that stay running for months at a time, and I usually use Teltonica or Mikrotik in that line. Mikrotik I cannot reccoment to people on here as the user interface is very "unfriendly" and you need a laptop for the full gui, however their kit is very reliable (but cannot be used like a mifi, it needs a permanent 12V feed).

Linksys you will see on amazon a lot offering routers, they are okay, but there is a flaw in them, as other than their 2024 models (which are not always labelled) they don't offer full frequency band coverage, particularly in bands motorhomes likely to need (b28) in all cases. It's a case of buy-with-care if you buy a linksys, buy cat6 minimum device with b28 and it's an okay device.

What I would avoid is all the Aliexpress "junk" as the firmware will have no updates, and it will break eventually... And when you check specs on these, the bands are limited to the most-common only, meaning even in UK, several of the in-use bands do not work.

Be warned a lot of companys cheat and put 5g, meaning 5ghz wifi on their devices, without them offering actual 5g. It's common on places like aliexpress, and 5g can be a game changer when you camping in a city as it will offer a at-home level of performance in many cases if you get 5g. 5ghz wifi IS NOT 5g (it just avoids interference from other vans with 2.4ghz wifi near you as 5ghz wifi doesn't travel (as far). There is a difference, but you need both 5g and 5ghz wifi to get the most out of 5g (2.4 ghz is slower than the performance a 5g can give).

Equally check the list of supports Band/frequencies carefully when buying any mifi, it is THIS that gives you support in multiple countries (a sim card is needed too), but it's imporatant as some bands are very country specific. The device you listed wasn't great in regards to that. The absolute key band for future is band 28, being rolled out by all networks pretty much and it basically is best in rural camping. If you don't have a device with this you pretty much can guarantee worse signal in future.

The one thing I'd personally say is avoid cat4 devices today, as being honest you'll probably buy a cat6 device for 10-20 quid more and it'll give double the performance.

Hope that helps you pick a device that suits your budget/needs. Avoid rebranded Chinese stuff and you'll be fine. Oh and get an unlocked model so it works on any network, but that much is near obvious. Then you can get the best deals on your data from anyone by just in many cases inserting the sim and setting 2 pieces of information (APN + username/password). In many cases the APN+username/password is done automatically for you on a ZTE.