Total dinosaur needs help (1 Viewer)

[Al-Di]

Hi,



looking for advice re WIFI, total thicko here



I do not have a smart phone but a very old samsung, phone/text



so looking to upgrade to a dual sim smarty, 1sim for phone/text/pic's 2nd sim for internet/wifi



we don't watch tv, download films, youtube.



We do browse the web, post to furums email and use to find stopovers, but to do all this we need to stop/parkup get the laptop out and mifi and faff about unless I do it the night before or at lunch,



we would like to have something up front with us and a bit more immediate, that we could both work,



also the phone is on android, so please dont start the debate about which is best os



over to you



and thanks for any input,



Alan,

 

[chaser]

All you need is a decent smartphone with a contract with plenty of data and park4night app.

 

[Al-Di]

thats the rub I dont want a contract,

I've used my phone twice this year, that was for recovery

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[chaser]

thats the rub I dont want a contract,

I've used my phone twice this year, that was for recovery

Yes but these days a smartphone is not just for phoneing they do all what you say you have other things to do all in one.

 

[funflair]

You don't need dual sim as you can have calls and data on the same sim 4GB of data is enough for a decent bit of web browsing and whatever else you want, not TV.

Its not WiFi that you are using it's data WiFi is different.

Not having a contract can make anything you user quite expensive, £10 a month should see you sorted.

Martin

 

[mitzimad]

we use a smartphone to
find camperstop
find gas
sat nav
traffic updates
settle arguments
google for every query
places to visit
carparks
its a learning curve but once you get the hang of it its invaluble
if you need a bigger screen get a tablet
i pay £13 per month on a monthly contract for 10 gig of data unlimited texts and 2500 mins of call i use less than a hundred

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[TheBig1]

pay as you go data is ridiculously expensive compared to contract

 

[Al-Di]

thanks for input, was looking at this,

Three’s Data Reward SIM offer gives customers 200MB of free internet every month via their special pay as you go sim. The deal has no catches and you’ll get 200mb of data free every month without the need to top-up your SIM card.
To take advantage of the free 200MB of data, you’ll need to order a Data Reward SIM card (this is different to a standard Three Pay As You Go SIM.)
When ordering a Data Reward SIM card, you are required to pay an upfront charge of £10. The SIM will be delivered to you with 1GB of data which expires after 30 days. After that, you will receive 200mb of data free every month.
Should you need to make calls or send text messages, then you will need to top up the SIM (minimum top up is £2) and Three’s standard rates for Pay As You Go usage (3p/minute, 2p/text and 1p/MB) will apply. Roaming is also included in the free data as part of Three’s Feel At Home offer.
Remember, to keep receiving 200mb of data, you need to keep your SIM card active by making a chargeable activity at least once every six months. One SMS, one phone call or an add-on bundle all suffice the requirement.

 

[chaser]

200 mb won't last two minutes

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[Al-Di]

sorry just edited my post, told you i was thick

 

[DBK]

200Mb of data will give you about fifteen minutes of TV. The top ups will probably be expensive I suspect. As others have suggested, have a good look at the contracts available but if you want to use the device for TV you will want a minimum of say 10Gb of data a month, and that won't even give you an hour a day.

 

[Al-Di]

no tv etc,

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[DBK]

no tv etc,

You mentioned a MiFi in your OP. Why not leave that running all the time and use a cheap tablet? I've just ordered a Vankyo 7" tablet which is only £50. I'm intending to use it as a dedicated satnav but you could use it for all the things you mentioned. Keep the old phone for your two calls a year. The Vankyo has limitations but it may help you identify what you need in the longer term.

 

[Hymie]

My last Android update was 4.3 gigabytes, make sure you haven't got automatic updates switched on.

I pay£21 pm for unlimited calls/text/data in UK, 19gb pm in Europe, I'm a "legacy" customer, but the boss lady has 100gb pm, unlimited calls/texts in UK + 19gb in Europe for £20 pm, both with 3

Hymie.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Plusnet do 30 day contracts, might be more acceptable? I pay £8/month for 3gb 1000min and unlimited texts. They use the EE network.

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[MyrtleGuru]

If you are a light user you definitely don't need to bother with dual SIM. One SIM will be fine for calls, texts and data.

Light users are well served by pay-as-you-go providers such as Asda and GiffGaff (and maybe Three as well).

You can pick up an Asda of GiifGaff SIM for free, then add some credit to it (say £10). That will allow you to make calls, send texts and use data at their standard rates, which aren't too bad if you use very little.

Then, using the same SIM, whenever you know you are going away and likely to use the phone more, you can buy a 'bundle'. This buys you 30 days' worth of calls, texts and data at reduced rates. The catch is that if you don't use your allowance in 30 days, it's gone.

Another option for light users is to buy a Three PAYG SIM that costs about £45 and lasts for two years. It gives you 24GB of data which, if you just use email and a bit of web browsing is quite a lot (i.e. no audio or video streaming).

 

[Riverbankannie]

Look at ID (carphonewarehouse) too. Hubbie has £5 month contract which includes calls and texts and 1gig data which rolls over up to 6gig so that’s what he has when we go away. He uses my old phone. Maybe you have a friend or relative who has an old phone you could try.

 

[Spanner]

Plusnet do 30 day contracts, might be more acceptable? I pay £8/month for 3gb 1000min and unlimited texts. They use the EE network.

Same here, Plusnet £8/month rolling contract works fine for us in the Uk and Europe

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[Camping Gaza]

I have the same problem with mobile phones, dont want a contract, and what a minefield of gobbledegook, 100 this 1000 this, rolling unrolling, unlimited this and that Oh Please!! 3GB 100GB I DONT KNOW HOW MUCH I USE OR WILL USE, !!!!

 

[Hymer 1961]

Plusnet do 30 day contracts, might be more acceptable? I pay £8/month for 3gb 1000min and unlimited texts. They use the EE network.

Absolutely works a treat. I bined our expensive contracts yonks ago, Plusnet use EE and if a better deal comes along you just switch to it.

 

[chaser]

On my reserve phone I have 1p SIM and although it can work out dear if you use it a lot , you get a free SIM put it in and put £10 on it and it lasts for four months and for ever if you use it once in a while, then everything is 1p , 1p a minute, 1p per text, 1p per mg data, if you don't use it , it never runs out, it's on ee and I can confirm it works fine.

UKs cheapest PAYG mobile tariff

1pMobile offers great value with 1p a minute, 1p a text and 1p a MB. Excellent coverage, free SIM and you can keep your existing number.

www.1pmobile.com

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[Al-Di]

thank you some useful info there,will have a look at some of them,

 

[busby]

we use a smartphone to
find camperstop
find gas
sat nav
traffic updates
settle arguments
google for every query
places to visit
carparks
its a learning curve but once you get the hang of it its invaluble
if you need a bigger screen get a tablet
i pay £13 per month on a monthly contract for 10 gig of data unlimited texts and 2500 mins of call i use less than a hundred

Vodaphone,,100 gb £20 a month,,enough to watch tv on aswell as everything else..BUSBY.

 

[the1andonly]

As a v light user dual sim phone. Phone on giff gaff ( as is rest of family) £10 top up 2ce a year) data on 3 12gig for 12mth £27 . Wife on £5 goody bag 200mb. Even sussed tethering using a tablet.

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[UKen]

Plusnet for me with no contract £10 month unlimited calls and texts + 6gb. 4g data. But I do have Plusnet fibre at home so get a small discount for mobile sim.

 

[busby]

Only internet we use home and away is my Vodaphone 100gb..Does all we need at home,,smart tv etc and and great for everything when in Europe including watching tv,,£20 a month.BUSBY.

 

[TheCaller]

Have a look at smarty.co.uk

£6.25 a month including 1GB of data. You can suspend any time if you want a month or more with nothing.

Extra data at £1.25 per GB. All data rolls over to next month.

An ideal solution for anyone who's use fluctuates wildly. Would also work well in a dual SIM alongside a basic PAYG for calls while smarty is suspended.

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[Al-Di]

I have gone down the voxi route with a smarty my son donated, just getting use to all the bits and bobs, thanks for all the help, maybe this dinosaur can move forward,

 

[Ingwe]

£24 per month Virgin. Unlimited data, texts and calls.

 

[Motorhome-dude]

Hi,



looking for advice re WIFI, total thicko here



I do not have a smart phone but a very old samsung, phone/text



so looking to upgrade to a dual sim smarty, 1sim for phone/text/pic's 2nd sim for internet/wifi



we don't watch tv, download films, youtube.



We do browse the web, post to furums email and use to find stopovers, but to do all this we need to stop/parkup get the laptop out and mifi and faff about unless I do it the night before or at lunch,



we would like to have something up front with us and a bit more immediate, that we could both work,



also the phone is on android, so please dont start the debate about which is best os



over to you



and thanks for any input,



Alan,

Hi Alan and Diane,

Yeah, I totally agree this phone contract stuff can be an absolute nightmare for us who grew up with A-Z and it worked perfectly fine problem is, everyone and everything is going web based so we need to get to grips with it. It's actually not that hard when you break it down in to small chunks you can get your head around.

I'm going to break your post down and answer in smaller chunks


looking for advice re WIFI

WiFi is is a signal your phone or laptop picks up from another internet source. A mifi is a WiFi source.

A phone contract with data isn't WiFi. It has it's own source of data so doesn't need WiFi.

Sometimes, you can 'tether' your phone (you give it permission to talk to your laptop) so the phone gives it's data to the laptop at no extra cost.
I do not have a smart phone but a very old samsung, phone/text

You can get a really good brand new modern phone for £120 that runs Android. I use Android so understand you want to stay with what you know and understand.

so looking to upgrade to a dual sim smarty, 1sim for phone/text/pic's 2nd sim for internet/wifi

There really is no reason to have two SIMS for what you want. One SIM will do everything far cheaper.

The usual reason people have two SIMS is because they want two phone numbers on one phone. I used to have to carry two phones around with me (one for work and one for personal stuff - Karen ringing me!) Now I have one phone that has two SIMS which gives me two completely different telephone numbers but both ring on my phone.

we don't watch tv, download films, youtube.

And that's absolutely fine. What I would say is, you might in the future.

Back to your point.....I think you mean you won't need much data?

Trying to work out how much data you'll need is really tricky. It's always best to get more than you think you'll need. Do you know how much data you use?

There's a facility in your phone that will show you how much data you've used each day, week, month. You can also check your old bills t see what you used.

We do browse the web, post to furums email and use to find stopovers, but to do all this we need to stop/parkup get the laptop out and mifi and faff about unless I do it the night before or at lunch,

So you're using data and technology. That's brilliant!

I think you might like a tablet. Not that sort of tablet! A tablet is like a slimmed down version of a laptop. It's just a screen with no keyboard. They're lightweight, run on Android, and are like a large phone or small laptop. You tap the screen to type but it has a bigger screen like a laptop so it's easier to see and use and it's great for watching videos and posting on Motorhome Fun. I'm doing this from a tablet now!


we would like to have something up front with us and a bit more immediate, that we could both work,

Got it! now I'm definitely thinking you'd both love a tablet.

also the phone is on android, so please dont start the debate about which is best os

There's nothing wrong with Android. It works and if you're comfortable with it, why change. I use Android. I've had Apple and must admit I prefer Android. I started with it so feel more comfortable using it.

over to you

I hope I've helped. I'll happily talk you through a few more things if you want to go deeper down the rabbit hole!

I take my hat off to you for wanting to get to grips with all of this stuff. It can be a bit complicated!

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