Review: Tenda 4G680 V2.0 4G LTE Router with WiFi

Tenda 4G Router

In times like these the thoughts of a broadband outage are enough to make you shudder. So here’s a look at the Tenda 4G LTE Broadband Router which could just save your sanity.

4G to WiFi

The 4G680V2.0 N300 is a router with VoLTE (Voice over LTE) and Tenda say it will “support over 300 mobile/cellular networks in over 135 countries”.

It is everything you need, in a single box, to receive 3G or 4G LTE cellular broadband and turn it into a WiFi network that you can use to share an Internet connection with up to 32 of your devices.

The 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN it creates can transfer data at speed of up to 300Mbps down and up to 50Mbps up, where supported by your local cellular network.

As well as being a backup for when your road is dug up or some other outage, it could also be perfect for a temporary office, holiday homes or rural houses that have rubbish broadband. I’ve even read of people using them in their car as a WiFi Hotspot too.

Setup

The box includes the 4G680V2.0 unit, Quick Install Guide, Two antennas the 12v/1A Power supply, Ethernet cable and an RJ11 phone cable.

Within a minute or two the unit had booted and I was able to connect to its WiFi network and access the Internet.

Our install actually lived up to the advertised ‘zero config’. I just took it out of the box, slotted one of these Three Data Sims into the bottom of the unit (it’s unlocked for any network) and turned it on.

You can set a maximum monthly data usage limit via the mobile app which will automatically disconnect for the cellular network to avoid overcharges.

Tenda 4G680 V2.0 - Rear

Two hidden internal antennas handle the Wi-Fi, whilst the two external ones are for 3G / 4G. As the unit has removable cellular antennas (SMA connectors) you have to option of changing them for a high gain antenna like this or even an external one like this to really maximise your signal strength.

As long as your SIM supports it (not data only) you can also simultaneously make phone calls as well by plugging a regular handset into the RJ11 phone port on the rear. You can make calls and use the WiFi data network simultaneously.

You can manage the router via a browser (default 192.168.0.1 admin:admin) or Telnet. It can provide DHCP (or not) although it’s worth pointing out that the router does not allow Port Forwarding of any kind.

the WAN port allows you to connect your hardwired broadband instead, using the unit as for WiFi and moving the cellular feature to become a failover backup option.

Verdict

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

This unit was superb in our tests. It worked straight out of the box with zero configuration and established a reliable WiFi network from the 4G cellular network. I’m dropping a half star for no port forwarding capabilities but all in all highly recommended.

Available from Amazon

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Last update on 2024-03-14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

7 Comments on "Review: Tenda 4G680 V2.0 4G LTE Router with WiFi"

  1. Is it able to do run in bridge mode? E.g. if you have a firewall you would prefer to use, which doesn’t have 4G could the Tenda 4G680 be configured to bridge it’s connection across using something like PPPoE?

  2. Hi Mark. Interested to hear what speeds you achieved. I know lots of factors involved such as mast location, topography, building materials, so no reflection on the hardware.

  3. @Vanburen – no bridge mode but can take the Ethernet and connect to a switch.

  4. @Mark B – around 37Mbps in our test. Would like to try it with an EE data sim sometime as up to 150 seems achievable.

  5. I have Tenda 4G680 deployed in 10 plus locations using vodafone and o2 sim card . The connection is stable and better than adsl or fibre . This unit used to be 40£ in Amazon due to high demand its now 90£. For that price i would recommend consider Huawei B311 (https://amzn.to/39jcyM5) . They are better chipset and better performance.

  6. Hi Mark,
    Have you tried getting internet from 4G and then connecting only wired devices (via switch) through the LAN port? Does it provide internet to the wired devices?

    No wifi needed in this case.

    Thanks.

  7. Can this be set to be to a VPN router (open VPN)

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