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Lord Percy
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Joined: 03 Aug 2012
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PostPosted: 20:19 - 21 Jan 2020    Post subject: Internet Dongles Reply with quote

Anybody got experience with these?

I simply can't be bothered with the rigmarole of getting broadband wired into the house, when there's the option for "plug and play" internet via a simple USB stick* (which as a bonus can be taken out of the house and used wherever I have signal).

I don't use the internet for much, I don't do online gaming and for videos I barely go beyond the likes of Youtube. I really just want a permanent 'thing' for connecting to the internet because right now I'm tethering off my phone and only have a 6GB limit per month (if I get an internet dongle I'll be finding a contract with unlimited data). I've seen a couple of offers with Three which claim 14mb speeds. That would probably be enough, given that my mind has forever been stuck to the time when broadband was new and anything over 1Mb was eye-wateringly fast Laughing

Just looking for thoughts, input and experiences really.

(And yes I know it'll depend on the signal I get in my area)

Thanks Karma

*Hmm, looks like these days USBs aren't the norm. Every offer includes some kind of transportable mini-wifi box thing?
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 20:41 - 21 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Last thing I did like that was a diddy little PAYG wifi router from EE About the size of a matchbox.

It would plug into your USB for power if you wanted but would connect by wireless (which in fairness, is probably going to give you a faster connection to the router than wired USB anyway).
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P.
Red Rocket



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: 20:55 - 21 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Expect data caps and terrible latency. Just get a fucking connection Laughing it's like fill in form, job done.
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 20:57 - 21 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Seems the only things currently available are:

--- 4G routers which are pretty much the same as wired routers, i.e. they just sit in the house, so no plug and play, and you can't really use them outside. (£20 / month, unlimited data)

--- 4G dongles which are plug and play but there don't seem to be any options offering unlimited data. (£50/month, 500GB data)

I suppose I could just upgrade my mobile contract to unlimited data (£30 a month) and carrying on tethering with it...

I think I may actually go for the mobile phone tethering option for now, with unlimited data. Download speeds have been fine enough so far, plus it's a rolling contract so I can change it any month I please. Nothing to lose really...
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WD Forte
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PostPosted: 21:01 - 21 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I find my £20 a month EE sim only plan sufficient for my needs
unlimited calls/texts and 25Gb of data
Its dependent on signal & traffic of course but generally it's all i need
as I dont stream or do big downloads.
I can tether by wireless hot spot, Bluetooth or USB
one device, one bill keeps it simple.
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 21:03 - 21 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Right sod it I'm definitely going with the mobile phone tethering.

Just done a speed check and it was 14mb, same as the 4G router dongle things all offer, so there's no point using theirs. This nicely consolidates the mobile phone and internet bill into one lump too, and is the cheapest option.

/thread! Laughing
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xX-Alex-Xx
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Joined: 12 Sep 2019
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PostPosted: 22:00 - 21 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Why bother with tethering?

https://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices/Huawei/E5573bs-322_4G_Mobile_Wi-Fi?memory=0&colour=White
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Hawkeye1250FA
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PostPosted: 00:05 - 22 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have some experience in these things.

Been contracting all over the country and have needed mobile broadband for it.

Started with EE mifi @ 35pm and got speeds around 30mbs in cities and around 20mbs in more rural areas

Moved on to Vodafone now and get 50gbs in cities and 30ish in rural areas. @ £30pm

Works pretty good. The EE one was better indoors than the Vodafone, and I'd have to request a high floor room when staying in hotels (with both) to make sure I had a good connection.

Not tried three yet, maybe next year.
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Riejufixing
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PostPosted: 00:10 - 22 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Paddy. wrote:
Expect data caps and terrible latency. Just get a fucking connection Laughing it's like fill in form, job done.

I agree with this psot.
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P.
Red Rocket



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: 00:32 - 22 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have 'unlimited' 3 data.
I have a 30GB limit.
I use 20GB a day.

I bought a proper net connection for £13 a month.
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Easy-X
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PostPosted: 01:08 - 22 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Unless you're aiming to move out in the next 12 months get a fixed line Rolling Eyes
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 20:24 - 23 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Honestly I don't see the point in a fixed line for the time being. Just because most houses have one, that doesn't make it the mandatory best option...

Fixed line is an extra cost and I'm tied in for 12 months or more.

As it stands I'm paying less, and it's a rolling monthly thing so I can change my mind any time I want.

As for sneaky data caps on so-called 'unlimited' plans which aren't actually unlimited, the T&Cs of mine state clearly that it's unlimited, and the data cap (25gb) only exists if I go into other parts of Europe. The network provider is VOXI (part of Vodafone).

I shall go ahead with this for now. I'll know in a month or so if it's no good.
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seeyalater
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Joined: 15 Sep 2019
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PostPosted: 11:23 - 28 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

there much better now you can get unlimited data, which is pretty new.
I know a mate who live streams videos from shows we work at and its great. I think he has an EE one.

Most now with the main companies will be good. EE, O2 but your area will decide which is best
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Polarbear
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PostPosted: 11:53 - 28 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm interested in this as well as I would like a permanent internet connection for my boat with enough data to stream Prime and Netflix and have Alexa to sing me to sleep at night.

At the moment I am using my phone as a hot spot but I have no where near the data to stream anything.

I also want an internet connection so I can connect a security system to it for when I am away from the boat. Cameras, alarms and remote notification etc.
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seeyalater
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PostPosted: 12:06 - 28 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/test-centre/internet/mobile-wifi-3656619/

this may help, for your areas though do searches with mobile providers, more so on the boat if far from towns etc or at sea whichever you do
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bugeye_bob
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PostPosted: 14:21 - 28 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ive recently taken to the 4Gee wifi router,
Get one from Currys and get it sent to you(important if you want to save a few quid) you are buying a pay monthly router not the PAYG one, £14/15 quid for the Pay monthly one and £49 for a PAYG,

When the pay monthly router arrives head for ebay, pay 99p and send the IMEI of the router to the seller, the unlock code then allows you to use any sim card in the router.
hth
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Polarbear
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PostPosted: 15:59 - 29 Jan 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have just gone and got a 3 mobile network thingy.

Unlimited data and a Huawei 535 router for £22 a nonth.

I got that router because I am only going to use it on the boat and its 12 /240v and has an extension aerial socket.

For the same money I could have had a router that has a battery and can be carried with you and used anywhere but the extension aerial is more important to me.

So, set it up in my house and it works fine. Maybe slightly slower than my fibre broadband but I will see how good it really is when I get on the boat and start moving around.

£22 a month is ridiculously cheap though. Once I'm happy with it on the boat I might bring it home, see how it copes with all the streaming and whatnot I do at home. If it copes I might junk the land line.
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 14:57 - 03 May 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thread update:

My original choice, VOXI, had great connection speeds and good signal, but they screwed up my account when I attempted to upgrade to unlimited data. After about 3 weeks of waiting for a fix that never seemed to be coming, I switched to Three.

Three is cheaper but the signal round here isn't quite as good.

Either way, it's now May and I have coped perfectly well so far with tethering off my phone for internet.

So that's a good hundred quid or so saved for the year Very Happy
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P.
Red Rocket



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: 15:47 - 03 May 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lord Percy wrote:
So that's a good hundred quid or so saved for the year Very Happy


Maybe I'm just not a jew with money, but £10 for unlimited everything on phone and £12 for home internet @70Mb... thats the same as the current offering from 3?
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 22:22 - 03 May 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Paddy. wrote:
Lord Percy wrote:
So that's a good hundred quid or so saved for the year Very Happy


Maybe I'm just not a jew with money, but £10 for unlimited everything on phone and £12 for home internet @70Mb... thats the same as the current offering from 3?


Currently I'm on £16 a month and if I could Jew more I would.

I presume you're either a long term customer on loyalty rates or it's fantastically cheaper in that there London, because all I can find for internet deals when hunting online is stuff around the £200 per year range, and that's for the shitty slow stuff that isn't any better than phone tethering. Cheapest fibre connection is £260.

No point spending an extra 200 on something I don't feel I need. I'd rather put that on the new sound system I want.
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P.
Red Rocket



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: 22:27 - 03 May 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Why new sound system when active headphones are better and cheaper Wink

But no, I use cashback in multiple places and business lines are cheaper than consumer.
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