3 feel at home. Is it a con? (1 Viewer)

Nov 15, 2013
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For the last couple of years we have used a 3 data sim in a mifi in France with no problems. A bit slow but ok. So we changed our phones to 3 so that we could use them in France this year along with another data sim in the mifi. I don't know wether iPads use more data than iPhones but with little usage the 12gig in the mifi is used up after 6 weeks. With the phones, which we use most of the time, we have 4gig as part of our package and only use about 2gig a month. Phones not connected to mifi. Also I have never seen 4g while we have been in France, only 3G, and the internet speed is so slow, much slower than last year. 3G is ok in uk for utube videos or even watching tv! Certainly can't do any of that here in France. I can't remember seeing anything in t&c that says Internet connection will be much slower when used abroad. Where am I going wrong? Or is it all a big con? Thinking of buying a French data sim for the mifi.
 

Jim

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Its certainly not the nirvana we thought it was going to be. Broken Link Removed
 

funflair

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Works for me, the 12GB data sim is in my iPad and we have only been at home 7 weeks this year, most of the remaining time we have been in France, Spain or UK and i have used it for internet and e-mail, I do use Opera mini web browser to compress data.

I should also say that I have used 3.6GB to date so the 12GB will last me 12 months I reckon.

OK its not lightning fast.

Martin

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D

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Yes, a tablet will generally use more data than a phone for doing the same task. It is what it is although 12 gig in 6 weeks is going some unless you've been streaming loads of video and/or TV in which case it's easy to so get through that much.

With regards to the slower speeds that is down to how the local provider allocates bandwidth to client networks. Foreign roaming services come somewhere near the back of the queue. It's not 3's (or any other network) fault and there is nothing they can do about it. Again it is what it is.

I imagine the UK networks do the same thing when people on non UK networks roam here.

If you decide to buy a local SIM you need to do some research and make sure you buy the right one, not necessarily the cheapest one. You will need to by one from one of the main providers who operate their own infrastructure. If you buy another client one you probably won't see any difference as it will still be low on the allocation priorities and therefore still appear to be "throttled"
 

DBK

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Check your iPads are not backing up photographs, this will use a lot of data. But your usage is about what we get through with a couple of Android tablets, so I don't think it is excessive - of course some folk get by with considerably less but it depends entirely on what you are doing with it.

I've got a 4g MiFi and it won't connect in France or Italy to a 4g network. For example where I am now the networks include I WIND 3g and I WIND 4g. It will connect to the former but not the latter. However, this isn't a Three thing as my O2 sim card is the same and is no faster than Three.

I think it has always been the case if you want a fast connection buy a local card.
 
Oct 30, 2010
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Been using 3 on my iPhone in France for four weeks with no problems.
I used the phone for hours each day on the internet (much of it reading Fun) and when I checked my last bill I had only used just over 2gb out of my 12gb available that month.
I did find that I needed to change carriers as when on 'Automatic' it would hook up to the Free network which is really slow.
I changed to Bouygues network and it was so much quicker.

Richard.

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makems

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Ditto the advice about backing up photos. In Morocco i wndered why my data had all been used in a day. Then i realised Gwen and ii had both taken loads of photos on our iphones and ipads which were then shared by icloud. Doh!
Icloud photo sharing switched off until we got home!
 
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Speeds are definitely throttled, if you are using more data I would try and check for something uploading data such as some cursed cloud system or other app set to automatic updates.

I have set 'Skydrive' sync settings to off but something uploaded 300+ Mb today, I was using an Orange sim at the time ( for speed ) if I had been using my 3 sim I would have probably noticed as it would have probably taken all day:)
 
Oct 1, 2013
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I've been using it for 6 months with no problems. Can't stream videos, but I don't watch video or telly, so no problem anyway :)

If you stream stuff, you will soon run of data anyway


It's great for general browsin.

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Mar 26, 2009
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I've been using it for 6 months with no problems. Can't stream videos, but I don't watch video or telly, so no problem anyway :)

If you stream stuff, you will soon run of data anyway


It's great for general browsin.


Fully agree. I've been using a 12gig sim since end of April in UK & France (for email, text based applications etc but not streaming) and I've only used 2.8 gigs so far. Yes I have to admit sometimes the response times can be frustratingly slow. But it is a cheap solution. Make sure your apps/system aren't being auto updated.
 
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telsdog
Nov 15, 2013
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Yes, a tablet will generally use more data than a phone for doing the same task. It is what it is although 12 gig in 6 weeks is going some unless you've been streaming loads of video and/or TV in which case it's easy to so get through that much.

With regards to the slower speeds that is down to how the local provider allocates bandwidth to client networks. Foreign roaming services come somewhere near the back of the queue. It's not 3's (or any other network) fault and there is nothing they can do about it. Again it is what it is.

I imagine the UK networks do the same thing when people on non UK networks roam here.

If you decide to buy a local SIM you need to do some research and make sure you buy the right one, not necessarily the cheapest one. You will need to by one from one of the main providers who operate their own infrastructure. If you buy another client one you probably won't see any difference as it will still be low on the allocation priorities and therefore still appear to be "throttled"
Certainly not streaming videos, won't work, whereas previous years it's been ok. We have managed to download 3 books to kindle ( took forever) and only used for emails, Facebook etc and of course Fun.
 
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telsdog
Nov 15, 2013
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Ditto the advice about backing up photos. In Morocco i wndered why my data had all been used in a day. Then i realised Gwen and ii had both taken loads of photos on our iphones and ipads which were then shared by icloud. Doh!
Icloud photo sharing switched off until we got home!
Think that is on, but don't take too many photos. Will switch it off before we buy a new sim

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D

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Certainly not streaming videos, won't work, whereas previous years it's been ok. We have managed to download 3 books to kindle ( took forever) and only used for emails, Facebook etc and of course Fun.

In that case look at the advice from other people on this thread about things uploading/updating in the background. Look at iCloud services and Photos to start with and then have a look at what apps are running. Remember when you close out of an app it doesn't stop but runs in the background.

The other really important thing to remember is that when you use a MiFi any device/phone/tablet that you connect to it connects via WiFi so the device thinks it's on a proper WiFi connection and therefore will permit things like OS updates, and any other things, that are usually not allowed when on mobile data. The difference between a real WiFi connection and a mobile data connection via a MiFi catches a lot of people out. When you're using a MiFi you need to go through your device and turn off ALL auto updates and all WiFi only services.

None of that will have any effect on speed though. What I posted previously still stands for that.
 
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telsdog
Nov 15, 2013
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In that case look at the advice from other people on this thread about things uploading/updating in the background. Look at iCloud services and Photos to start with and then have a look at what apps are running. Remember when you close out of an app it doesn't stop but runs in the background.

The other really important thing to remember is that when you use a MiFi any device/phone/tablet that you connect to it connects via WiFi so the device thinks it's on a proper WiFi connection and therefore will permit things like OS updates, and any other things, that are usually not allowed when on mobile data. The difference between a real WiFi connection and a mobile data connection via a MiFi catches a lot of people out. When you're using a MiFi you need to go through your device and turn off ALL auto updates and all WiFi only services.

None of that will have any effect on speed though. What I posted previously still stands for that.
Thanks for the info. Will definitely turn everything off before I try a local sim. Does anybody else think speed is a lot slower than previous years?
 
Apr 9, 2014
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Use three 12gb in UK no problems, usage in France last 2 weeks speeds varied widely depending upon the provider connected to. We found Bytel OK but Free and F.Bourges (??) could be awful despite a good connection signal, same provider via O2 was fine.
,
As to data usage many programs/apps act differently when connected via wifI, photo/video upload is just one example updates are another, we managed to use over 2gb one weekend in the new forest, all down to some map updates and video upload.

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telsdog
Nov 15, 2013
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Been using 3 on my iPhone in France for four weeks with no problems.
I used the phone for hours each day on the internet (much of it reading Fun) and when I checked my last bill I had only used just over 2gb out of my 12gb available that month.
I did find that I needed to change carriers as when on 'Automatic' it would hook up to the Free network which is really slow.
I changed to Bouygues network and it was so much quicker.

Richard.
Just changed to Bouygues. It seem quicker but just tried to look at a video link posted on here by Bryandh about Spanish roundabouts but no joy!
 
2

2657

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Thanks for the info. Will definitely turn everything off before I try a local sim. Does anybody else think speed is a lot slower than previous years?

Don't know about before last year but speeds the same this year whichever French or Spanish network you connect to...........s...l..o....w
 

Jaws

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We used it for a couple of months in Spain with just a 2 gig package and never ran out

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telsdog
Nov 15, 2013
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Previous years we have looked at the odd video that were posted on Facebook or Fun but this year we haven't been able to see any since we've been away. I can see the data going on updates and cloud etc, my fault for not turning that off, but the difference in speed makes everything hard work. Sometimes sky news won't update, emails won't load etc even though I'm supposed to have 3G. What's going on?
 
Oct 1, 2013
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when I called Three last year, they said the providers in each country decide the bandwidth
 
Oct 30, 2010
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Am I correct in thinking that 3 don't allow streaming while in Europe?
I'm sure I remember seeing something in the T & C's.
Small bits of video seem to play OK from Facebook but larger and longer videos don't seem to play.

Richard.

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Welsh girl

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I couldn't stream anything on 3 while abroad but I can now I'm in the uk.
 

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