mobile internet ? (1 Viewer)

[greyman1]

i am in the process of choosing a internet tablet thingy to use when i] am in the vacinity of wi fi hotspots [ie mc donalds] etc when away in the van. i thought i had it pretty much sussed but now the question arrises what if i wanted to access the internet away from a local free connection ? is there a best allround option for use here and in europe and is there a certain spec that the tablet needs to have to enable me to do that ? i understand what a sim card is but what the hell is tethering ???? cheers garry

 

[DiggerJon]

Mifi

Take your wireless with you with a mifi. Basically it is a wireless spot driven by a SIM card provided by numerous providers and connects to the mobile network and thence to a built in wireless transmitter which you can log onto with your tablet and computer and.... You can buy them on eBay as UNLOCKED with a range increasing aerial and then buy the best data sim deal available. Very useful when you can't get a wifi signal! The 3 network probably has the best coverage in the UK and you can buy their SIM cards on eBay and I find use and dispose when the credit runs out and put in another. It is cheaper than any monthly contract or other deal! Hope it helps.

 

[yorkieman]

An alternative would be to just use the hotspot feature on your existing mobile phone. Most of the recent smartphones have this feature and it means you don't have to have another data plan.

Using the hotspot feature you can connect any wifi device you have (tablet, laptop, etc) all to the same hotspot and they'll all use the data on your phone.

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[Welsh girl]

I realized I was paying a monthly contract with 3 and Terry had a all you can eat data with three on his phone, ureka moment, ditched my three and now going to tether to Tez.s phone.
Pity we can't do it in the winter when we winter abroad, for the first time I might add.

 

[timdownieuk]

I realised I was paying a monthly contract with 3 and Terry had a all you can eat data with three on his phone, ureka moment, ditched my three and now going to tether to Tez.s phone.
Pity we can't do it in the winter when we winter abroad, for the first time I might add.

Um, you might want to check your terms and conditions first. "All you can eat" refers to data use on your PHONE and unless you have a different contract tethering isn't allowed. They can and do block tethering.

http://www.three.co.uk/Privacy_Cookies/Terms_Conditions?site=d&content_aid=1220469566802

 

[greyman1]

thanks guys . its all starting to make a bit of sense to me now [i hope!].as i dont have a smart phone at the moment [ i bet you could tell that eh !!]. am i right in thinking then that as long as the tablet will accept a sim card connection for now if i upgrade my phone at a later date [ to a smart one] then i would have the option of using it via the phones link to the internet as well and this would be then classed as "tethered". EUREKA !!!! [i hope!!!!] by the way the tablet that i like the look of is a 9" lenovo idea tab a2109 on offer at £125 and inc gps mode etc . will this model work via a sim/smart phone connection though ? thanks again for taking the time to reply, to what is probably, [to most of you ] very obvious questions !! garry,

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[enery8]

I have a mifi hotspot the E5331, this does not have an external antenna socket. However, the e5332 does so that is likely the one to go for. There are others so it would be wise to look at what is available carefully. I intend to sell my E5331 and buy an E5332 in the near future.

 

[timdownieuk]

thanks guys . its all starting to make a bit of sense to me now [i hope!].as i dont have a smart phone at the moment [ i bet you could tell that eh !!]. am i right in thinking then that as long as the tablet will accept a sim card connection for now if i upgrade my phone at a later date [ to a smart one] then i would have the option of using it via the phones link to the internet as well and this would be then classed as "tethered". EUREKA !!!! [i hope!!!!] by the way the tablet that i like the look of is a 9" lenovo idea tab a2109 on offer at £125 and inc gps mode etc . will this model work via a sim/smart phone connection though ? thanks again for taking the time to reply, to what is probably, [to most of you ] very obvious questions !! garry,

Firstly, a tablet with a simcard doesn't need a phone to connect to the internet. It'll do that through the 3G phone network using the simcard. You will need a data contract to do this.

That said, unless I've misread the spec, that tablet doesn't have a simcard but does do wi-fi and bluetooth so it will connect to a smartphone with a "hotspot". Accessing the internet using a tablet via a mobile phone connecting is called tethering.

It's not that simple though and just because you've paid your phone company to use data on your phone, you can't assume without checking with the company whether you will be able to access that data with a tethered device.

Check with whoever you pay for your mobile phone calls and see what they say. Companies vary a lot. Many block tethering (like 3) unless you have a contract that explicitly permits it. Others couldn't give a monkey's but I think they're in the minority.

FWIW, I'm with T-mobile and they seem very laid back about tethering and data use and although I'm only on 250MB a month, they only block streaming video and other high data applications when I use up my quota. I can still surf the web, send and receive emails etc. They also *don't* charge me any extra for going over the limit.

Whether you could get a similar deal with EE now I don't know. As others have said, a mi-fi unit with a 3 data sim from ebay may be a better bet if you want to use a lot of data.

 

[greyman1]

thanks again . my total requirements are as follows ; to be able to go away in the van check my emails , check out info on the web ie mhf, campsite reviews etc, and use as a large screen sat nav ! NO GAMES, NO FACEBOOK , NO SKYPE,NO MUSIC ,NO FILMS ,WONT BE USING IT TO TAKE PICTURES and i want to be able to do it without having to sit in a mc donalds next to a rondabout in france etc [ithink by now you can see where im coming from !] cheers garry [ aka victor meldrew ]

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[timdownieuk]

thanks again . my total requirements are as follows ; to be able to go away in the van check my emails , check out info on the web ie mhf, campsite reviews etc, and use as a large screen sat nav ! NO GAMES, NO FACEBOOK , NO SKYPE,NO MUSIC ,NO FILMS ,WONT BE USING IT TO TAKE PICTURES and i want to be able to do it without having to sit in a mc donalds next to a rondabout in france etc [ithink by now you can see where im coming from !] cheers garry [ aka victor meldrew ]

Well I can see where you're coming from but I think we're nearing the limit of the advice we can offer you now. YOU need to check whether a) you have a data allowance on your phone and b) whether tethering is allowed on your contract.

If the answer to a) is no, then you'll need to change contracts. If the answer to b) is no, then again you'll need a different contract.

If you don't want to increase you monthly contract consider a PAYG data deal and an unlocked mi-fi unit.

Lastly be aware that data costs when out of the country can be very high depending on the deal you have.

 

[greyman1]

forgive me for trying your patience but i thought i had already explained that I DO NOT HAVE A SMART PHONE therefore the terms of my contract dont come into it . i was merely looking for advice to ensure that the tablet i buy, now will give me the option to upgrade to one in the near future if i decide not to use sim cards . it appears i have been given the answer so i will consider this thread closed . regards garry

 

[timdownieuk]

forgive me for trying your patience but i thought i had already explained that I DO NOT HAVE A SMART PHONE therefore the terms of my contract dont come into it . i was merely looking for advice to ensure that the tablet i buy, now will give me the option to upgrade to one in the near future if i decide not to use sim cards . it appears i have been given the answer so i will consider this thread closed . regards garry

I appreciate that you don't have a smart phone but changing your phone and changing your contract aren't necessarily tied. You can buy sim-free smart phones and use your existing SIM card if you have a suitable contract. It was the suitability of your current contract that I was querying.

If you're happy that your existing contract won't meet your needs then just make sure that when you get a new smart phone and new contract that the contract DOES allow tethering. You can't take it as a given. Just trying to be helpful.

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[TheBig1]

seriously, the whole idea of troubleshooting tethering a phone for a novice computer user is not worth the hassle. the simple answer that works out of the box is a mifi on 3 network or better unlocked and a £10 PAYG data sim that lasts 3 months or 3gb whichever comes first. better coverage than most other providers and cheapest per month for light internet use.

i have used a mifi and new sim every 3 months for a few years now. originally had the first model of the mifi but upgraded when the new faster one came on the market.

all you do is fit the sim, same as in a phone. write down the password. put battery in and switch on. your tablet/laptop/phone/ipad will all see the new network. select connect to network on your device and type in the password you wrote down. save the settings. you can now connect automatically to the mifi whenever its switched on. after 3 months change to a new sim card, the connection details stay the same

if you go abroad, pick up a sim for the local country and replace the one in the mifi. its thats simple:thumb: