[tyc85]

Has anyone ever consider bringing up a private LTE network (over unlicensed or shared spectrum), either at home, enterprise, or even MDU?

Density and security are less of a concern on LTE, and the peak throughput is catching up.

The question I have has always been: are we seeing a world moving towards a more controlled wireless network architecture or a evolved version of Wi-Fi type of ad-hoc architecture.

[lucb1e]

Are there LTE routers you can buy at reasonable prices? Would I then need a custom SIM card in my phone that only works at home? Does my device even look for mobile carriers on unlicensed spectrum? Basically, is this a real, consumer-grade thing or something you can only do with sdr and osmocom?

[tyc85]

I think the short answer is no, currently there isn't a reasonably priced LTE routers that you can deployed by yourself. There are products available though. That's why the question can be interesting to be figured out to a certain extent.

Whether device look for carrier in unlicensed spectrum: the answer is yes, Licensed Assisted Access is happening, though slowly, as with any things related to carrier. See this link: https://support.t-mobile.com/thread/144981

Finally, it's certainly not something you can only do with SDR, but then doing it with SDR could be what makes it appealing though, it the price can be somewhat brought down. Good Wi-Fi routers nowadays cost a lot anyways, and some even wants you to pay monthly fee, no?

[IshKebab]

There are various attempts at that sort of thing, but generally they are still tied to an existing LTE connection.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTE_in_unlicensed_spectrum

[gok]

Very few modems support LTE in unlicensed spectrum (aka LTE-U)