We have to use EE because they’re the only ones serving our local area adequately. Some neighbours have attempted to use 3 or Voda, with awful results. I have a contract SIM with EE already, so the SIM in the router is a second line on my existing contract. As I said earlier, you can put a phone SIM in a router without issue, and if you’re going to go down the 4G (or 5G) home internet route, you absolutely should do so because data-only SIM contracts are ridiculously expensive in the UK (largely because so few people use them, and therefore they don’t really understand them - as the OP ably demonstrated above).
I am paying an additional £25 a month for the second SIM which has unlimited everything. I have a student discount though, and it is a second line deal. My neighbour is paying nearer £45 for the same service from EE. My neighbour and I both have identical equipment - a Huawei B818 router, and a Poynting A-XPOL-0001-v2 omnidirectional antenna. His is pole mounted on his eaves. Mine’s attached to the inside of an upstairs window with suction cups. We have the same kit because he copied my installation after asking for advice (he knew I’d done some research before purchase). We were both absolutely sick of slow ADSL and no prospect of fibre within the next 18 months.
Unlimited data really is a must for a family - we’re getting through about a terabyte each month.
