Teltonika's New RUT241 4G Router Review and Test - Discount Code

In this video we try out the replacement for the very popular Teltonika RUT240 4G router - the RUT241
Many will ask why would I choose this over a simple 4G MiFi - so that's what we have looked at as well as what has changed.
You can review all the products we've looked at from Solwise here www.solwise.com/explorevan and get 10% discount on any products simply by using the discount code EXPLOREVAN at the checkout.
#mobileinternet #vanlife #4gWiFi
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[@TeltonikaNetworks]

Thanks for a great and thorough review! Would not have done it better ourselves!

[@ExploreVanUK]

Glad you like the video! We Like the product! - look out for the RUTX14 review coming soon :-D

[@xdgfx_]

Thanks for posting this, I'm deep into researching routers for my van, and the RUT240 was top of my list - I hadn't realised the RUT241 was available for basically the same price so I will definitely be going for this over the old model. Are you planning on reviewing the KUMA Connect router? It promises to be a competitor to this router, and the customer support seems excellent, but there are limited reviews for it online so I'm hesitant to go for it.

[@ExploreVanUK]

Glad it was helpful! I've had a quick look at the Kuma but as you say there is not a great amount of info on the product or the company. I'll drop them a line and see if they would like to lend a unit for review.

[@ExploreVanUK]

Hi just a quick update - I did a bit of digging on the Kuma Connect and though the website is creatively written to make it look like it is designed and manufactured in the UK - the router appears to be a rebadged Tuoshi LT22M manufactured in China. You can see it here - www.alibaba.com/product-detail/TUOSHI-4G-LTE-Unlocked-Industrial-WiFi_1600052337297.html?spm=a2700.details.magic-edit-release-top.2.15ea4d8evYY2ch These can be bought and shipped to the UK for around £50, Kuma sell them at £139. Presumably, you will get faster delivery, some level of UK support, 12v lead and may be better instructions which you wouldn't get buying direct but it feels like quite a mark up.

[@newm1x]

The model RUT240 with the latest firmware also has the same modern web interface as the RUT241

[@ExploreVanUK]

Thanks for clarifying - as I don't have a RUT240 to test I was going on Teltonika's video from their website here teltonika-networks.com/product/rut240/ which shows the old interface.

[@iknowallyoursecrets]

Great post, how do you setup load balancing if I'm on a camp site and they have wifi...?

[@ExploreVanUK]

Glad you found it useful! Here is info on setting up Load Balancing. wiki.teltonika-networks.com/view/RUT241_Failover#Load_Balancing

[@iknowallyoursecrets]

Brilliant @@ExploreVanUK , thanks for the quick reply and the link.

[@mdkram]

Is there any rule of thumb for the distance (cable length) between the router and the antennae? Are there any antennae boosters when running a long cable to a far-away antennae? I remember seeing a device that placed the electronics near the antennae, running an ethernet cable for the rest of the way to the router inside the caravan. Does this ring a bell with you? I'm in a place with really bad mobile reception. Thanks! Great videos!

[@ExploreVanUK]

In short the longer the antenna cable the greater the signal loss, so short high quality cable would perform best. It sounds like you are thinking of a CPE type arrangement these two videos cover the different ends of the spectrum of these price wise. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sH7KgqBrmLifesU kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJnTmnWjqdCGgbc

[@carlerikkopseng7172]

What you want is "QuMax Enclosure & Antenna RUT240". It shortens the path to 0, minimizing signal loss to close to 0. The loss of a RG58 is typically 70.5 dB per 100 m (21.5 dB per 100 feet) at 1 GHz. Not being a physicist, I assume a linear drop, so that would be 7dB drop for 10 m of cable, meaning your 8 dB antenna increase could be voided in practice. Keep it as short as possible. From the RUT241 you don't need to worry about signal drop anymore, as it runs Cat6 ethernet.

[@mdkram]

@@carlerikkopseng7172 I have both RUTX12 and RUTX14 and have used them both with the "QuWireless QuSpot for RUTX11" (AX11S) which was great for reception. Too bad my RUTX's were shite, though. One crashed often when connected via ethernet, RUTX12 didn't fail over reliably, the other's VPN functionality just didn't work. Not impressed.

[@dztdzt2024]

very good review, thanks so much

[@lucasrecoaro1701]

Thanks!, Excellent!

[@pj4433]

Great but our van only has 240v when connected to external power. Shame looks great but only 5v usb I have

[@ExploreVanUK]

You have 12v though? It’ll run on anything from 9v to 30v so you can just connect it direct to your battery.

[@pj4433]

@@ExploreVanUK great idea thanks. Yes could easily do that

[@ChrisandHeathervanlife]

We bought an adapter that plugs into a 12V cig lighter socket for ours, available on teltonikas site.

[@lumieredargent]

We have a RUT241 in our motorhome, replacing a Netgear M1. I went for the Teltonika for the priority to stability and low power usage. The connection is anything but stable. Slow download but browsing experience OK, video streaming working well, etc... but as soon as 2 persons start using KZbin, the router goes down, we lose wifi connection. The only solution is to wait a while or reboot the router by unplugging and replugging the power. From what I see when I manage to connect to the web interface in such cases, the CPU is stuck at 100%, maybe overwhelmed by the load of 2 people browsing? This is a major disappointment, maybe I went too low in the range.

[@ExploreVanUK]

Hi, we've not experienced this with any of the Teltonika Routers we've used / tested and we connect as many devices and run them simultaneously as part of the testing process. As you can see here kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmeYZoBveMiMnLcsi=Fj-WK3baez-FmaDs&t=472 My first suggestion would be to make sure you are using the latest firmware and try a factory reset to check you have not inadvertantly changed any settings. I am a little intrigued what your motivation was to change to the RUT241 which has a Cat4 modem - considering the Netgear M1 has a Cat16 modem which where multiple bands are available will well out perform the RUT241? If you wanted a comparable Teltonika router to the Netgear M1 the RUTX14 would be my choice.

[@lumieredargent]

@@ExploreVanUK Firstly, thank you so much for taking the time to answer and be very informative. The motivation to replace the Netgear was that the M1's battery was shot and running it without battery appeared first to work but made it unstable. Also, the M1 was heating easily in summer in the South of Europe, leading to further instability. So, yes the download speed with the Teltonika is inferior, typically around 20Mbps instead of the 50Mbps I observed most of the time with the Netgear, but that is immaterial for our usage. 20Mbps is plenty enough. That difference is much less than what is in the tech specs, maybe the antennas are better on the Teltonika and help reduce the difference. I don't know. Thanks for you advices, I will try what you suggest. Regarding the video you link to, yes, I was wondering if I should not have gone for a RUTX14 instead of the RUT241.

[@peters8080]

I also have battled with a RUT-240 for over 20 months, random drop outs, dropping out and not reconnecting, high CPU usage. It has been extremely frustrating, and recently returned it. Hopefully they honor their 2yr warranty.

[@nicodrost763]

HELP ... :-) I want to connect a RUTX12 to 12v in my camper, do I only connect the 2 (red / black) pins to battery? And ... if I want to install a on/off switch .. will that be a simple "break the power switch"???

[@ExploreVanUK]

Hi. Yep red to positive and Black to negative. With a suitable fuse. Yes you can just put a switch in the positive lead. Pin outs for connector are here. images.app.goo.gl/meeEtgHGZBTVRzht5

[@markpearson8360]

Would you have this over the RUTX14 for general light usage?

[@ExploreVanUK]

Really depends what you want to use it for, how important having as good a connection as possible is to you and how much you want to spend. The RUTX14 is a different level being dual SIM, Cat 12, having GPS and around 3 times the price. If you’re only going to use one SIM card, not bothered about the GPS, and high speed isn’t vital to you, I would save my money and go for the RUT241

[@markpearson8360]

@@ExploreVanUK brill, thanks for the honesty. What roof mounted Omni directional roof Arial would you pair with the 241? Cheers

[@ExploreVanUK]

No worries. Antennas are where spending the money does help, whatever the router you go for. We use the Poynting MiMo3 the V12 version would suit the RUT241. www.solwise.co.uk/A-MIMO-0003-V2-12 Don’t forget our 10% discount code if you do buy from Solwise. 😉

[@berni109]

Very interested in your comment about hotspot from free wifi and sharing with mobile bandwidth but cant for the life of me workout how to set this up. Deep in the black heart of networking. Give us a clue please.

[@ExploreVanUK]

Hi - I'm afraid I don't have the unit anymore to be able to do it and step by step you through it. But here are some links to help. I'll assume you already have your 4G connection set up. You then need to set up a connection to the WiFi hotspot using Wireless Client Mode. wiki.teltonika-networks.com/view/RUT241_Wireless#Client_Mode Once you have done this you then need to switch on Load Balancing between the 2 connections wiki.teltonika-networks.com/view/RUT241_Failover#Load_Balancing Hope it helps

[@berni109]

@@ExploreVanUK thanks for taking the time to get back to me with the further suggested reading. Need a bit of thinking time to digest all the teletonika tech info. Must be doable but having got the mobile side working I don't want to have to start over.

[@michaelschiller1334]

I've had 2 of these router's 1 on its own and 1 inbuilt to the QuWireless QuMax both have failed miserably with extremely slow speeds. Literally pointing at the cell tower a mile away. Both on average by the end get 0.9 speeds. So I hot-spot my own phone which gets 65down. I just don't get it.

[@ExploreVanUK]

Pretty simple really, these routers have Cat4 modems. Your Phone probably has a Cat18+ modem so is able to aggregate more signals together. These routers come into their own in areas where your phone won’t get any signal at all. In areas with a good signal your phone will perform better unless you pay a lot more for a similar Category Router. Take a look at the talk I gave at the Adventure Overland show here which might help you to make sense of it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXbYqWSnhbp2aa8

[@carlerikkopseng7172]

@@ExploreVanUK Great info, leading me to kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXyUYqCtgct1Z68 . A Cat4 should be able to do up to 150 Mbps according to this Teltonika video, but I guess that's only doable under perfect conditions with a few good signals.

[@ExploreVanUK]

Hi, yes 150 Mbps is the threoretical maximum on Cat4 but signal strength, interference error rate, tower load and just general mobile performance means you are never likely to get anywhere near this in reality. The same as you’d never get close o the theoretical maximum of 300 Mbps for cat6.

[@JacksAviationUK]

If only this was battery powered. I need it for live broadcast from the field.

[@djsmiley01]

Why still only a CAT4 router? A decent router nowadays has much more supported bands, and is able to combine them (MIMO). While you don't nessecary need 300+Mbit of a newer type, the usage of multiple bands makes a lot of sense, especially in the more rural locations. Buying a CAT4 router in 2022 is like spending your money in an iPhone5. It does the job but doesn't make sense for long-term investment. I have a CAT19 router which has no problem getting a decent signal, even on more remote locations. I've been in the UK for 3 weeks, and (with EE Pay-as-you-go) I have had multiple sites where my phone has 1 bar, or no service, and my Huawei CAT19 still was getting 30Mbit.....

[@ExploreVanUK]

They have higher Cat routers in the range too, if its important to you. for example the RUTX14 which we'll be reviewing soon, but it's more expensive. Personally I wouldn't get hung up on High Cat, unless the high speed is essential to you - for me consistency and stability is far more important - I'd rather get a consistent 10 Mbps with good signal hold - whilst moving and in rural locations - than 300 Mbps in a few locations and nothing but buffering and broken connections in others. In our experience whilst High Cat Routers with the ability to Carrier Aggregate are great in a fixed Urban environment, where they are consistently able to connect to a CA enabled tower, their performance can often be disappointing on the move and in rural areas. Where a more sensitive and configurable Cat 4 router can beat them hands down. I'd disagree that High Category is that useful in a rural situation as in a lot of cases you would only get a single band so there is nothing to aggregate. CA comes into its own in an Urban environment where there are lots of Bands to aggregate. Like most things it very much depends on your use case and your budget. - Despite having a box of consumer Cat 6 - Cat 18 routers and MiFis from various manufactures we choose to use our Teltonika RUT955 (Cat 4) as our permanent solution as it is by far more consistent and capable than all the others. But that is because it works for us and gives us what we need in the way we use it. Whilst a High Cat consumer router could be great for one use case - a Professional Configurable and Stable Cat 4 could be much better in others. Now if you can recommend a suitable Cat19 device for a reasonable cost with the level of configuration that the Teltonika range provide, the ability to hold on to signals so well and 4x4 Mimo antenna connections (so you can actually make use of the high cat when using external antennas) I'd be very happy to try it out. We know that everyone's use case is different and what suits you or us would not be the same as would suit others, that's why we review a range of solutions with different prices and complexity to give our viewers the chance to make an informed decision of what is best for them. To try and give a rough analogy, your Cat19 Consumer Router is like a Sports Car it performs really well in the right environment, but put it on a road with speed bumps, a muddy track or half way up a mountain and its not going very far very quickly. The Cat4 Teletonika Routers are like a 4x4 off roader - they may be older tech and slower in some situations but they are capable in more places and able to get almost anywhere consistently.

[@IK-wc4od]

I recently bought a teltonika RUT240, the speed is pretty attrocious.. barely 20mbit wired via ethernet and less than 10 via 2.4ghz at a distance of about 2 meters. I'm in an area with a 4 bars of 5G available and mimo 4G/LTE on a consumer grade mifi / netgear m1 / MR1100 (where I get 150mbit casually and over 200mbit in the late evenings when the congestion isn't a problem). The netgear also has a battery which is useful. Admittedly.. the pricing for these is quite different, but not a lot different between a second hand MR1100 and a new RUT240/RUT241. If you are going to be doing traffic light controllers or water pumping stations in remote communities where you need a modbus gateway, the RUT240/RUT241 and others are the absolutely business. If you are an internet user / office worker, then clearly the consumer grade modern stuff is really better (cheap second hand gaming wifi router + mimo mifi).

[@75veto]

@@IK-wc4od Teltonika RUT240 when connected to a 4G network gives a maximum of 15 Mbps, although the manufacturer declares 150 Mbps theoretical speed and 50 Mbps real. The smartphone shows 60-100 Mbps depending on the operator. I strongly do not recommend this rubbish.

[@TarasKalapun]

What about RUT360?

[@ExploreVanUK]

Hi, I’ve not been able to test one out as yet, but as it has a higher category modem if you were in an area that has carrier aggregation it should perform better.

[@thedarkglovemusic]

These speeds are really poor. I'm getting between 35-45Mbps using a TP-Link Sim router (4G only) and am trying to find one that will get me more. I can hit up to 120Mbps on my mobile, again 4G only so am wondering if this unit is just not capable of higher speeds or if your signal isn't very good.

[@ExploreVanUK]

There are a large number of factors that impact the final speed at your device. For more detail check out our full talk on this subject from the Adventure Overland show last year. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXbYqWSnhbp2aa8

[@thedarkglovemusic]

@@ExploreVanUK Thanks for your reply. It's not general info I'm after, really just what this unit is capable of with a decent 4G signal (which I consistently have)

[@ExploreVanUK]

The RUT241 has a Category 4 Modem, if you are in an area with good 4G signal and multiple bands available you will find devices with a higher Category (for example your phone which is probably at least Cat7 and possibly more) will perform significantly better as they will aggregate multiple bands.
What is the model of your TP lInk router? 

 Where the RUT241 or similar industrial routers excel is in their robust design, ability to hold to signals when moving, ability to add external antennas and their sensitivity when in areas of low or no signal on other devices. 

 I’d compare your phone to a Sports Car (I’m sure it cost significantly more than the RUT241) and it will be really fast when there is good coverage - as a sports car would be really fast on Road or track, but put it on a farm track or off-road and it won’t go anywhere. 
However, the RUT241 is more like a trusty Toyota 4X4 it will obviously be slower on a nice road or track, but on a farm track or off-road it will easily outperform the Sports Car. 

 Out of interest what are you using your internet connection for? What do you find you are unable to do with 35-45 Mbps? We only need a consistent 5 Mbps to work effectively so having this in more places, which we get from our solution (a RUT955), is much better for us than something that would give us 100 Mbps when near a town or city but 0 Mbps once in the countryside. If you know you are always going to be in an area with good coverage across the 4G bands and really need fast speed, then a higher Category Consumer Router/Modem (Something like the Cat 7 Huawei B535-232 amzn.to/3Homrtt or Cat 12 B628-265 amzn.to/3wIIJBl), would probably be a better option to chose rather than a low Category Industrial / Professional Router. However, if you plan to go to areas that have a weaker signal you will almost certainly find these perform no better and possibly worse than a lower Cat Professional / Industrial option.
 Hope that helps

[@thedarkglovemusic]

@@ExploreVanUK Thanks again for your reply and lengthy response. This is for my home broadband so not for moving about (I know this channel is really about the mobile element of these things so not really your intended market) but I'm right out in the sticks so landline is useless however, I'm literally right next to a mast, I can see it from my office desk. Signal 100% RSRQ: -82dB RSRQ: -8dB SNR: 25.6dB 4G only (no 5G mast) TP-Link TL-MR6400 v5 router I know the router is my bottleneck... I'm a developer (software/automation/you name it) and I just need the best speeds I can get for reliability, transferring massive files, as well as keeping the Mrs and her mum happy with remote working an TV etc. In an ideal world I would use my old mobile to supply 4G to my main router (Ubiquiti Dream Machine) but I've yet to find an acceptable way to do this. I'm in a great situation where my signal is as good as it gets so I want a device that will take advantage of that. Every speed test I see for these devices are being used in less than ideal locations (as they are meant to be used) but then I end up not knowing if I'm going to be paying out for an upgrade that won't get me any better results!

[@ExploreVanUK]

@@thedarkglovemusic That makes more sense - If I were you I would definitely look at a higher category Router and assuming the network you are using and the mast provides a good range of bands you should get improved carrier aggregation and consequently better bandwidth. The RUT241 is not going to be a better solution for you. TP Link don't confirm the Category of their modem in the MR6400 v5 but given that they quote a maximum theoretical download speed of 300 Mbps I would estimate it to be Cat 6. So theoretically, subject to the network and tower configuration and capacity at the tower being suitable a Cat 12 Router like the B628-625 amzn.to/3wIvJf0 could give you better performance. Being capable of agregating more bands up to a maximum theoretical 600 Mbps. It's worth checking what is available in the firmware of your phone, there are a small number of Android phones that allow Ethernet connection via a USB-C to ethernet adapter which would allow you to connect it direct to your Ubiquiti and utilise its connection that way. You could also consider the Teltonika RUTX12 (we review it here kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmeYZoBveMiMnLc) - which has dual modems and could load balance accross the 2 simultaneous connections - obviously, you would have 2 data plan costs though. But given your needs it may be worth it. As a final option and given it sounds like you could put at least some of the monthly cost as a business expense - Starlink may not be a bad longer term and more stable option.

[@mattlechock1819]

I really don't understand why they build these routers with cat4 and 6 LTE.. it's 2024.. wth.. my iphone 11 from 4 years ago have cat 19. so i'm guessing it's not the hardware we pay for in this but the freedom to do what ever you want with it. I'm looking for a router to out up in my mast on the boat. But i'm not paying this amout to have such bad connenection.. Industrial or not. Then just make a consumer version with PoE supprt and cat 19 LTE.. Thats all i need. I don't care about all the other software things..

[@ExploreVanUK]

Given the Teltonika Range goes from Cat4 all the way to Cat 22 then I think they do a good job of covering the full range of needs and there is a model to suit most people. If you need high speeds and want to exploit the highest speed performance in areas with multiple bands then a higher category router is probably the better choice for you. Consider the RUTX14 or RUTX50. Reviews here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKOseaqDqNacZpI kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqXEZmSJpZyDsLc Many people don't need super high speeds (for example our go-to router is a Teltonika RUT955 which is Cat4) as it gives a good stable connections in almost all areas we travel. We don't really have a need for more than 5 MBPS so that we can Stream Tv and Music and it usually gives us more than that. It lets us do all the configuration we need to prioritise devices, the stability and wide area coverage for us is more important than top speed. We don't have to worry about it, as we know it will just work. Comparing a Smartphone that was roughly 7x the cost of the RUT241 isn't really a fair comparison, you should be comparing it to the RUTX50 which would still be cheaper than the iPhone. Consumer Routers will very rarely have POE as it's not something most Consumers would want or need

[@75veto]

Teltonika RUT240 when connected to a 4G network gives a maximum of 15 Mbit/s, although the manufacturer declares 150 Mbit theoretical speed and 50 Mbit real. The smartphone shows 60-100 Mbps depending on the operator. I strongly do not recommend this rubbish.

[@ExploreVanUK]

The performance of the RUT240 will be dependent on the bandwidth available on the Tower and Band you are connecting to. The RUT240 is a Cat 4 modem and therefore will only connect to one band. Your smartphone is likely to be at least Cat 12 and possibly even up to Cat 22 so will connect to multiple bands where available and aggregate the bandwidth. But the RUT240 has lots of features that your Smartphone is unable to do - such as connecting external antennas, bandlocking, multiple hotspots, QoS, SMS integration, remote management plus more, which will make it perform better in other scenarios. I wouldn't be surprised if the retail price of your phone is also many times the cost of an RUT240 If you want a Router that is comparable to your Smartphone's performance where multiple bands are available you would need something like RUTX14 or RUTX50 which have comparable modems to most smart phones but are obviously more like the price of the smartphone. You can see reviews of these in the following videos: RUTX50 - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqXEZmSJpZyDsLc RUTX14 - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKOseaqDqNacZpI