Cudy New 4G LTE Cat 18 WiFi 6 Router, Up to 1.2Gbps 4G LTE Modem, Qualcomm Chipset, 4 x 4 MIMO, AX1800, OpenVPN, Wireguard, Zerotier, Cloudflare, IPv6, Detachable Antennas, Dual SIM, LT18

I'm using this with a T-Mobile Home Internet SIM. Note that this isn't plug-n-play, you'll have to do some research on how to configure this router to support that and that's not officially supported by T-Mobile.The issue I had the TMHI gateway is band swapping to bands that weren't working. Even though this is only LTE, I'm getting higher speeds thanks to the ability to use a faster tower. Sometimes a weaker signal of a better or less crowded band is actually better. I live near an amusement park and devices usually want to use the tower right behind the amusement park because it's closer; but it's also usually very congested. This device supports band locking, which doesn't exactly let you pick which TOWER you use, but you can use a band that's supported by a different tower or is less congested. In my case, instead of a 20mbps super congested 5G signal; I'm getting 100+ mbps on LTE.The Good:Performance is excellent. It supports AT commands including the ability to modify IMEI. It supports band locking and all of the usual configuration you would want. It does support things like native VPN but note that the chipset onboard is fairly low end and probably won't perform well when using a VPN in-router, you'd be better off running the VPN on your device(s).It supports 4x4 MIMO with detachable LTE antennas using standard SMA ports. I use this in an RV with a Peplink Pepwave 42G antenna and performance is great.Like the vast majority of network equipment, it runs at 12v. That's handy if you're installing this in an RV like I did, and you want to power it directly from the RV's 12v system. There are a handful of these devices that run on USB-C which I would actually prefer over a barrel plug; but some operate at 15v using the USB-C PD standard. While it's still possible to run a 15v USB-C PD devices off of a 12v power source; doing so requires an expensive buck converter or USB-C charger. This just required a $3 cigarette lighter adapter that I could to splice into my electrical system. With very little effort, this is hard-wired into my RV!The user interface is simple and handy. It also has dual sim slots. Though it only has one modem (which you'd expect for the price) it has the ability to failover. Meaning you could have two limited plans and swap when data is used up; in fact it will do this for you automatically if you set your monthly data limits in the software. Or just use it as a failover if you are using this in a mobile setup and want to pick which provider has the best signal.It has a power button. That's a small thing but one I appreciate. It's a pain when the only way to turn a device off is to unplug it!Another small but nice thing is that it has a selectable WAN/LAN port. Which means that you can use this as an LTE router where it provides the internet connection to your network via the LTE modem and then you can populate every single ethernet port with devices. OR you can switch port 1 to a WAN port and attach another internet connection and use the LTE modem as a fallback in the case of an internet outage. Another small thing, but a handy thing! It would be frustrating if it didn't have the WAN capability. It would ALSO be frustrating if one of the ports wasn't usable when using it as an LTE router.Finally, another big plus is the very wide useable temperature range. Hopefully it indeed lasts at those temps. Why does that matter? Well; again, for most people it won't. But I sometimes leave my RV solar/battery system turned on while it's in storage so that I can monitor things like the solar system remotely, such as when I want to run my 12v fridge the day before we go camping. Inside the camper can be 110+, and the remote monitoring to make sure the batteries aren't getting too low is only possible with an internet connection! So the fact that this is rated to continue operating at those temps enables me to do that. And I've done it! And so far I've had no ill effects from having this on and running at 110+ temps. It's also rated to be stored at up to 140F. Which means a hot vehicle or RV experiencing the greenhouse effect in triple digit temps is not going to be too harsh of an environment for it.The not-as-good:It only supports 2x2 WiFi. That won't really limit LTE speeds but if you're planning to use this as a primary router, WiFi speeds between devices can suffer and they can be more subject to noise and interference than 4x4 routers. It's not a big deal, but it's worth mentioning.While the LTE antennas are detachable, the WiFi antennas are not. The good news is that they are attached internally using just a U.Fl connection. So I was able to yank those out and install RP-SMA adapters so that I could attach the WiFi connections to my Antenna (which supports both LTE and WiFi).The case comes apart easily for modifications and doesn't have annoying (and unenforceable) warranty stickers. However if you disassemble it you'll find that the internal board is significantly smaller than the external case. I'm not sure if this is because they wanted to space the antennas apart more and that was the most efficient way to do it; or they just felt like it should look bigger and more substantial. But it's a LOT of wasted space. Again, I'm writing this review from the perspective of an RV owner so space is more limited.The GOOD news is that it's wall mountable. I have it mounted to the ceiling of a cabinet and since the antennas are all removed and it's wired to a rooftop antenna, it's fairly compact. But it could be a LOT more compact; and many of its competitors are. I'm giving serious thought to removing the board from the case and just mounting the board by itself.It also lacks any USB ports. It's a fairly low end router with a decent modem attached, kind of a strange combo. So it probably would lack the performance to do anything really useful. Nevertheless I still really wish it had one. USB ports are useful for things like external storage or printers but they're also really useful as a handy source of power for other devices that might be installed near the router. Again; not a BIG deal. But routers commonly include USB ports and this one doesn't.All in all, an excellent solution. I've only this with T-Mobile, but performance has been very good. It's installed in an RV and has been an excellent RV internet solution for us.

This Cudy LT18 maintains a stable connection to a nearby 4g AT&T tower. I tried 3x different Netgear units, the Nighthawk M1, M6 (non-pro), and LM1200 and these three disconnected service multiple times per day. The Netger units were a big hassle and I was disappointed they all did the same thing. On the other hand, this Cudy LT18 has been excellent with no disconnects in the last 12 days I've been using it. I wish I bought it first.I don't use the wifi (I run my wifi through an existing ORBI mesh setup), so I can't comment on the speed or range but it appears to function as normal.The setup/admin site is functional but took some looking around to find everything; not an issue. I really appreciate the band locking. Try the different bands by themselves and run speed tests to find your fastest bands. Then lock off the slow or saturated bands. I also like the automatic restart timer, I've got it setup to restart itself every day before we wake up.Minus 1 star because the carrier aggregation is unpredictable. Sometimes it works and my speeds boost to like 150+ mbps, but most times it seems like I'm on one band and running between 50-80 Mbps. Still a respectable speed, but I'm not sure why CA isn't running more often and I don't see a switch to force it on. I will update my review if I figure it out.After dealing with the unreliable Netgear units, I'm happy to have found the Cudy LT18!Update 5/26/2023: My Cudy LT18 is still chugging away happily! No problems since installation in Nov '22. I do use the built-in WIFI now, and it seems to have average strength comparable to other routers - not stellar coverage, but serviceable for the average home. I sometimes struggle to get WiFi in the corner of the basement with the LT18 upstairs. It works well with extenders (I've tried TP-Link & Netgear extenders). I have not tried a Cudy extender to test the built-in Mesh feature. I never figured out the unpredictable carrier aggregation, but it's 100% useable as-is. Sometimes it's there and I'm connected to multiple bands and sometimes it's not and I'm connected to only one. The bands where I live aren't too congested, and I've already disabled the slow bands so it won't connect to those. I don't really notice this as an issue anymore since disabling the slow bands. I recommend the LT18 and it has served me well.Update 7/27/23: I'm upping my review to 5 stars. I'm still very happy with my Cudy LT18! I purchased a Cudy AX1800 extender that has the Cudy Mesh compatibility. Setup was painless using the method where you push the WPS button on the router and then the setup button on the Cudy AX1800 extender. It connected almost immediately. The mesh system is functioning perfectly!I watched the carrier aggregation while I downloaded stuff and did some light browsing. It appears the CA will kick in when it needs to; it won't sit idle with the carrier aggregation bands engaged.. Also, don't lock off all but one band, it needs some band flexibility to kick in carrier aggregation. I wish I could tell it to connect to band 2 as the default primary band, which is commonly the best band at my tower. I can force it to by disabling the other bands, but like I mentioned above doing this will hurt its ability to engage carrier aggregation. Overall, still very happy with it!

I received and installed this product today. The installation was effortless. Literally it took 15 minutes. It recognized my Google T-Mobile SIM without me having to configure 4/5G. Failover is nearly perfect and WiFi coverage in my house is better than my Google Nest mesh network with one router and two remotes. I retired my Google routers for which I paid about $600.I highly recommend this router. It really exceeded my expectations.

My cellular signal at home is not good. I live in the woods in a really hilly area, a ways from any cellular towers. This cellular router was able to pull in a good signal and provide me with a good way to get internet connection.