🏠🌐 Home internet: temporary 4G/5G or a contract right away
Discover the ultimate guide to surviving the first few weeks after moving and avoiding overpaying for internet! This article is a must-read! Not only does it provide crystal-clear selection criteria, but it also comes with visual calculations for 3/6/12 months. And that's not all — it's packed with practical notes on ping and stability, making it an invaluable resource. All of the interactive inserts below are provided in code and adapted for mobile devices, so you can access them wherever you are!
🧭 Selection criteria
● Usage horizon. If you need internet for 1-3 months (searching for accommodation, renovations), it is often more profitable to use a temporary 4G/5G router or eSIM plan. For 12 months or longer, a contract (fibre/coaxial) internet connection is usually better.
● Traffic volume. For regular HD calls, photo/video synchronisation, streaming and updates, you need a large package (250–500 GB+) or an "unlimited" wired connection.
● Ping and stability. For sensitive tasks (video calls, VPN, remote work with RDP), low latency and predictability are important — wired connections often win out here.
● Connection speed. If you need internet "right now," the mobile option can be activated on the day of purchase, while wired requires waiting for a technician to visit/activation.
● Penalties and "minimum term". Contracts often include a minimum term and a penalty for early termination — take this into account when comparing.
● Household composition. Multiple users/devices are an argument in favour of wired (higher total capacity and reliability of Wi-Fi).
Mobile 4G/5G (temporary)
Fixed contract
| Horizon | 4G/5G: total | 4G/5G: 1 GB | Contract: total | Contract: 1 GB | Cheaper |
|---|
“9999 GB” is used as pseudo-unlimited to calculate cost per 1 GB.
🛰️ Ping and stability: how to read "quality"
● Latency (ping). Consistently low latency is important for video calls and VPNs. Wired connections usually provide more stable ping, while mobile connections are more "jerky" due to the radio channel and base station load.
● Jitter and loss. Even with high download speeds, quality can suffer from jitter (latency variation) and packet loss. Group calls and remote desktops are particularly sensitive to this.
● Home Wi-Fi. The bottleneck is often inside the home: overloaded 2.4 GHz, old routers, weak antennas. It is worth taking the time to configure your network: 5 GHz/6 GHz, channel selection, access point location.
Hybrid scenario. Optimal: main wired + mobile backup in case of emergencies/relocations. This provides the best balance of cost, ping and availability.
FAQ
Enter your prices in the comparison table: for 4G/5G, take into account the router and subscription fee; for a contract, take into account the installation, subscription fee and, if you leave before the minimum term, the penalty as a percentage of the remaining payments. In the short term, the mobile option often wins out due to the absence of penalties.
Estimate video calls (e.g., 10–15 hours per week), streaming services, updates, and downloads from the cloud. For active remote work with HD meetings and streaming, it is safer to budget for a minimum of 200–300 GB per month, and for a family scenario, 300–500 GB and above.
A wired connection usually provides a more stable and lower ping: fewer "jumps" and losses, which is critical for calls and VPN. A mobile network may show high download speeds, but the ping is "jerky" due to the radio channel and load.
Yes, this is the most stable scenario: wired provides quality during working hours, mobile saves the day in case of emergencies and when travelling. A backup package of 30-50 GB can cover several busy working days.
Check the terms and conditions: usually, you will have to pay a penalty for some or all of the remaining months. If you are likely to move, choose a tariff without a minimum term or plan your horizon so that you can stay within the minimum term without penalty.
After the "full speed" is exhausted, operators may limit the bandwidth. For remote work, this is noticeable in screen sharing and video calls, so the actual amount of GB before shaping and the traffic reserve are important.
Often, yes. An old router, poor access point placement, and congested channels can all spoil the experience, even with a good connection. Configure 5 GHz/6 GHz, change the channel, and add a second node in a "distant" room.
