WiFi/broadband (1 Viewer)

[ukbill]

If you have a duel SIM phone,just use 1 for a data SIM,then tether

 

[Cheeses]

In the 3 months we have had our van we have covered a lot of ground and a lot of the more remote parts of Scotland, Wales, Peak district etc. I bought a Huawei 5785 for £99, faster network capability than some of the cheaper units, good battery life and the potential to connect an external antenna if I needed to in future. I have an EE prepaid data card in it, £60 for 24GB data that is valid for 12 months. In most of the remote locations, when our phones can't get data connections (on EE, 3 or Vodafone), the Huawei has in most cases got a data connection when I place the unit high up in the van. Next step for me is an external antenna as that will improve the situation further. So my thoughts would be while tethering from a phone might be good enough in areas with good strong network coverage, based on my experience, when it gets more remote the mifi improves the ability to get a data signal. Also EE seem to have better coverage in the more remote areas so factor that in. There is a really good article on this site written by DBK () about the merits of an external antenna that helped me decide on a device etc.

Paul

 

[pixer]

Used my unlocked smartphone (2 sims Three and GiffGaff Both PAYG) with Three in France last year 4G and 3G no problems. Three only 1p per mb PAYG. ie £10 FOR 10GB. Use as you want no monthly time out. Or you can use top up to buy 30 day add ons but calls are only 3p min txts 2p anyway. (Make one Call/Data every 6 months to keep sim active) use in 49 countries Europe. But check your phone Roaming settings and check if registered for roaming first. No tethering allowed on PAYG usually but see t&c as I notice Three PAYG sims can be used in tablets and dongles. Then I don't use for films or TV etc. Top up via app or online etc. Hope to use again later this year. Don't know if there is a Roaming time limit. Switch data on/off at phone for most economical use ie use only when you need to.

You could try looking at this

http://support.three.co.uk/SRVS/CGI...at=roaming,varset_subcat=4157,Case=obj(12332)

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[MitchandJenny]

Another vote for "whoarewe" (apparently thats how its pronounced).
We have a Huawei 5335 and have used it for years. On the recommendation of Mitzi maid (Mel) we got a cheap sim from 3 for 2 years with a Meg/ month, which is enough for us.
Good luck.
Mitch.

 

[Lenny HB]

Three only 1p per mb PAYG. ie £10 FOR 10GB.

I think you need a maths lesson.

 

[Cheshirecat57]

Diane Abbott school of economics I think

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[Paul and Pippa]

And has already been suggested. Check you are allowed to tether. Some contracts don't allow it - and they will know if you are.

In the 3 months we have had our van we have covered a lot of ground and a lot of the more remote parts of Scotland, Wales, Peak district etc. I bought a Huawei 5785 for £99, faster network capability than some of the cheaper units, good battery life and the potential to connect an external antenna if I needed to in future. I have an EE prepaid data card in it, £60 for 24GB data that is valid for 12 months. In most of the remote locations, when our phones can't get data connections (on EE, 3 or Vodafone), the Huawei has in most cases got a data connection when I place the unit high up in the van. Next step for me is an external antenna as that will improve the situation further. So my thoughts would be while tethering from a phone might be good enough in areas with good strong network coverage, based on my experience, when it gets more remote the mifi improves the ability to get a data signal. Also EE seem to have better coverage in the more remote areas so factor that in. There is a really good article on this site written by DBK () about the merits of an external antenna that helped me decide on a device etc.

Paul

Thank you this was very helpful..

 

[TheBig1]

i walked into the three shop locally yesterday as the best online deal was 40gb per month for £23 for 12 months. I left the shop after 20 minutes with a new 4g router and 40gb per month of data for £18 per month for 24 months

 

[TheBig1]

ooops forgot to say, been using three payg sims for a few years now without issue. unfortunately Brenda used up my 24gb (£43) payg sim in just over a month. Makes it silly expensive at that rate

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[Paul and Pippa]

i walked into the three shop locally yesterday as the best online deal was 40gb per month for £23 for 12 months. I left the shop after 20 minutes with a new 4g router and 40gb per month of data for £18 per month for 24 months[/….Just shows it pays to haggle ..well done

 

[Paul and Pippa]

ooops forgot to say, been using three payg sims for a few years now without issue. unfortunately Brenda used up my 24gb (£43) payg sim in just over a month. Makes it silly expensive at that rate

lol 24 Gb ...gulp!

 

[Apache]

I recently bought a huawei mifi and a 3 prepaid sim with 12 GB of data. The unit itself is brilliant , great signal without the aerial and dead easy to use. Only downside is we used up all our data in a fortnight and a couple of weekends and that was with two devices tethered to it and just surfing the net and Facebook use. I’m faced with a choice now of buying another prepaid sim and trying to be more careful , topping up my current sim ( extortionate for some strange reason ) and being more careful , or going on some form of contract which means paying for months when I might only use it for a couple of days . Decisions decisions .

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[mitzimad]

automatic updates is uaually the cause of excessive use

 

[Two on Tour]

automatic updates is uaually the cause of excessive use

For that very reason I loaded Linux 19 Mint operating system with the "Cinnamon" desktop on the laptop I use on the motorhome today.

I'll have a play with it, but for internet it comes with FireFox web browser so that will not be a learning curve.

https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_tara_cinnamon_whatsnew.php

 

[Cheshirecat57]

I recently bought a huawei mifi and a 3 prepaid sim with 12 GB of data. The unit itself is brilliant , great signal without the aerial and dead easy to use. Only downside is we used up all our data in a fortnight and a couple of weekends and that was with two devices tethered to it and just surfing the net and Facebook use. I’m faced with a choice now of buying another prepaid sim and trying to be more careful , topping up my current sim ( extortionate for some strange reason ) and being more careful , or going on some form of contract which means paying for months when I might only use it for a couple of days . Decisions decisions .

You must have either been (inadvertently) streaming or downloading / uploading images from facebook

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[Minxy]

Doesn't necessarily mean it was a 'hidden' download etc, as 6gb a week for 2 people doing a load of surfing etc, especially if watching videos, can soon eat it up.

You can get rollling 30 day contract ones which should give you more data for your dosh, you just have to remember to give them notice of cancellation 30 days before ... might be a better option for you?

Another option is to dump your home broadband and go totally mobile with it, then it doesn't matter where you are ... you could then sign up to a good data allowance contract for 12/24 months.

 

[Apache]

Minxy Girl , we don’t watch videos via mifi , or on mobile devices really . It could be automatic updates to blame , either fully or partially . It’s just sunk in that we have 2 mobile phones and 2 iPads which are all set to auto download when a WiFi signal is available so that won’t help will it ?
I have considered losing the home broadband and going mobile , but we get unlimited downloads at home for £7.50 a month ( Sky ) .

 

[Cheeses]

I would be wary of going from traditional home broadband to mobile broadband without a lot of research & testing first if you are a medium to heavy internet user. I have a friend who tried this, with a top notch mobile router and LTE / Mimo antenna, he tells me the latency was just not up to it for any streaming use / with the usual kids activity on the network. May be fine for the sort of use and streaming in a van....

Paul

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[Minxy]

Minxy Girl , we don’t watch videos via mifi , or on mobile devices really . It could be automatic updates to blame , either fully or partially . It’s just sunk in that we have 2 mobile phones and 2 iPads which are all set to auto download when a WiFi signal is available so that won’t help will it ?

Ah, sounds like you've found the reason your data has been gobbled ...

I have considered losing the home broadband and going mobile , but we get unlimited downloads at home for £7.50 a month ( Sky ) .

... if you NEED to keep sky and that's all it costs you for your broadband no point in giving it up at that price, but for us we went totally mobile many years ago, only going back to a land based system for a short while as there were issues with '3' in our area and no other mobile broadband providers could compete or provide a good service, however we went back to '3' nearly 2 years ago and are more than happy with them - we pay £20 pcm for 40gb and could also get 100gb for £24-£30 (depends on the offer at the time) if we need more. We find that 40gb is sufficient for our needs so we've stuck to that.

 

[Brakers]

Hi There
The sim free Huawei I have is E5786 which is the latest incantation of their WIFI units which can handle up to 300 Mbps Megabytes per second, dependent on signal strength etc. I use it with 4G antenna with the quick mount from these people, but without their Huawei MiFi unit as theirs is the old MiFi unit E5577.

https://www.motorhomewifi.com/product/4g-roof-antenna-e5577-mifi-save-25/

Data only sim with 3 at the moment is £16 for 40GB / Mth 24mth contract or £16 / mth for 30GB 12 Mth contract.
Best Wishes Tony

 

[Hils and Glenns]

The problem with a 3 contract is it doesn't matter how much data you buy you can only use 13gb whilst abroad. Fair usage We fell foul of this recently.

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[Brakers]

The problem with a 3 contract is it doesn't matter how much data you buy you can only use 13gb whilst abroad. Fair usage We fell foul of this recently.

That is true but most companies have a restriction on usage abroad and some do not allow you to tether either.
Best Wishes Tony

 

[Hils and Glenns]

What I didn't realise is the 13gb cap is for the whole trip not per month. They start charging you once you reach 13gb which I complained about. Long story short they should have texted me when I'd used 80% of the data. Of course I didn't receive a text because the sim is not in a phone. They ended up giving me £135 credit so I could watch the football. . They just couldn't get it that I couldn't receive a warning text I've still got to sort that one out. I want the contract for "go binge" so I can watch tv abroad. Providing I am within the 13gb allowance I can stream for no extra cost.

 

[DBK]

What I didn't realise is the 13gb cap is for the whole trip not per month. They start charging you once you reach 13gb which I complained about. Long story short they should have texted me when I'd used 80% of the data. Of course I didn't receive a text because the sim is not in a phone. They ended up giving me £135 credit so I could watch the football. . They just couldn't get it that I couldn't receive a warning text I've still got to sort that one out. I want the contract for "go binge" so I can watch tv abroad. Providing I am within the 13gb allowance I can stream for no extra cost.

You should be able to read SMS messages sent to the MiFi although it isn't as easy as on a phone. If you install the Huawei app on whatever you are using, eg a tablet, then use it to access the MiFi. On the home screen there are two buttons at the top, Device and Tools. If you click on Tools you will see another buttons called SMS. Click on this and any SMS messages will be listed.
If you are using a device such as a laptop which you can't install the app on you can access the MiFi using the browser and entering the web address 192.168.1.1. This method is also how you would check for SMS messages for a MiFi made by someone else which doesn't have an app, although the web address might be slightly different, for example 1.2 or 2.1 at the end.

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[ShiftZZ]

Tethering s problem? Why not screen mirror your phone to your PV, no tethering issues then..

 

[Paul and Pippa]

I recently bought a huawei mifi and a 3 prepaid sim with 12 GB of data. The unit itself is brilliant , great signal without the aerial and dead easy to use. Only downside is we used up all our data in a fortnight and a couple of weekends and that was with two devices tethered to it and just surfing the net and Facebook use. I’m faced with a choice now of buying another prepaid sim and trying to be more careful , topping up my current sim ( extortionate for some strange reason ) and being more careful , or going on some form of contract which means paying for months when I might only use it for a couple of days . Decisions decisions .

..that's what happened to me. used Data in no time ...I have know purchased a Huawei, but not yet used it ,,,I upgraded my phone contract with Tesco 20Gb for £18 per month and tethered my phone .,,I have not tried the Huawei as yet because phone signal is ok...may need the Huawei when we go to Scotland..fingers crossed

 

[manda3000gt]

Huawei unit with external antenna (Motorhome WiFi) fixed to roof of van best speeds seen over 80mbps !
60gb per month from EE £20.20 never failed to get internet so far around the UK

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[tacr2man]

huawei with ext antenna Vodafone 30gb permnth £21.25 4G in Europe not restricted . Monthly contract payg