DBK
LIFE MEMBER
I've just come back from a site in Cornwall we like very much although mobile phone reception is very patchy there and I can only rarely get a broadband connection with O2. From previous visits I knew you could get Three there so before this trip I bought a £10 PAYG SIM and gave it a try in my MiFi. With an external aerial I could get an acceptable broadband connection, enough for emails and a little MHF.
Then after a couple of days it stopped working and the only page I could get was a warning from 3 that the PAYG SIM I had "must be put back in your phone". Apparently, because I could get "faster and cheaper" data using one of their mobile broadband packages I had to use one of these instead.
I only bought the £10 SIM to check my coverage from home (poor to non-existent) and to check the coverage at the campsite - which was acceptable. My contract with O2 runs out in a few weeks and I was considering changing to a SIM only deal with Three but given the poor performance of Three at home this won't be my first choice but a factor worth considering is Three look set to buy O2 subject to EU agreement which I assume will mean the networks will merge and Three reception at home improve if they start using O2's local transmitter, which I can't take as a given.
Anyway, this experience does prove Three know if your are using a SIM for tethering - and also that to buy a Three PAYG data SIM for use in a MiFi costs a minimum of £20, which makes it expensive just to get a broadband connection for a few days.
There is a Three shop in Plymouth so I might go and have a moan at them next week. What I really want is a SIM which works in my phone at home but which I can take out and put in a MiFi with an external aerial for use in areas where reception is poor. At the campsite we go to the only networks available are O2 and Three so choice is limited.
My current plan is to go for a SIM only deal with O2, possibly a 12 month one, for about £12 a month (there are cheaper deals with O2 but with less data allowance) or pay a few pounds extra and have a 30 day contract, which would give me flexibility to change later if things around where I live change.
Then after a couple of days it stopped working and the only page I could get was a warning from 3 that the PAYG SIM I had "must be put back in your phone". Apparently, because I could get "faster and cheaper" data using one of their mobile broadband packages I had to use one of these instead.
I only bought the £10 SIM to check my coverage from home (poor to non-existent) and to check the coverage at the campsite - which was acceptable. My contract with O2 runs out in a few weeks and I was considering changing to a SIM only deal with Three but given the poor performance of Three at home this won't be my first choice but a factor worth considering is Three look set to buy O2 subject to EU agreement which I assume will mean the networks will merge and Three reception at home improve if they start using O2's local transmitter, which I can't take as a given.
Anyway, this experience does prove Three know if your are using a SIM for tethering - and also that to buy a Three PAYG data SIM for use in a MiFi costs a minimum of £20, which makes it expensive just to get a broadband connection for a few days.
There is a Three shop in Plymouth so I might go and have a moan at them next week. What I really want is a SIM which works in my phone at home but which I can take out and put in a MiFi with an external aerial for use in areas where reception is poor. At the campsite we go to the only networks available are O2 and Three so choice is limited.
My current plan is to go for a SIM only deal with O2, possibly a 12 month one, for about £12 a month (there are cheaper deals with O2 but with less data allowance) or pay a few pounds extra and have a 30 day contract, which would give me flexibility to change later if things around where I live change.
