Mifi/Mobile broadband advice

ripplyuk

My home broadband is woeful, around 0.3mb and cutting out for hours or days. I've had two years of drama with openreach who have told me that the line needs replaced but it's not economical for them to do it as its so rural here.

So, I'm been thinking of a Mifi device as we do get 3G signal here, according to the coverage checker. At least it would give me some broadband when mine cuts out. I'm completely clueless about this sort of thing. I have a very basic phone and an iPad (not the 3G type, just wifi only). I've read that you can tether the iPad to a smartphone but it might use a lot more data then since there will be two devices running, so would the Mifi be better?

Is there any particular Mifi device that is easiest to set up and is more 'idiot proof' than the rest? I'm also wondering about the SIM card plans. My phone is on giffgaff so I've had a look and they offer a far bigger data allowance on their mobile phone sims than the data only sims, which seems strange as you don't get any phone minutes on the data only sims. They allow tethering on the phone sims (except the unlimited data one).

Could anyone guide me in the right direction, without getting too technical?

kwikbreaks

The thing with data usage is nothing to do with two devices it's just that it's a lot easier to chew through data on a PC or tablet than it is just using a phone. If you only have a basic phone and you are happy with that then it's unlikely you'd be able to use it for tethering and a MiFi would be cheaper than a smartphone. The problem with either solution is that the data allowances are not high and you may well only get very poor data rates anyway.

I have a holiday caravan in Norfolk. The phone company checkers all say there is coverage and that is just about true but only outside the van and data rates are abysmal.

I solved my internet access issues there by finding a MiFi that could take an external antenna (most don't) and mounting one on the van. The mast is just over 2.5 miles away and can't be seen as it is behind a small hill but the setup still works. A phone on the same provider (Three) is abysmal at the van.

This is my setup - http://www.digitalham.co.uk/mobile-broadband/

This is the Ofcom mast finder - http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/ - you'll need that to find the most likely provider to actually work

NiftyDigits

In general, you get more data on a 'voice' plan as they don't allow you to use it on anything but the phone itself.
You need to find which networks can supply 3G/4G to your location.
3 and EE and iD supply the largest data bundles, but how much data would you need each month?
Regardless, I would pick up a Huawei MiFi from here for £20.

Once received, pop the SIM in when it's up and running, you can decide as to whether it fits your needs. If not, call EE to give them your 30 day notice to quit the contract. You can then 'unlock' the Huawei E5573 MiFi for £0.99 using a code purchased via eBay.

That way, you can use any Data SIM on the market, PAYG or otherwise.

droopsnoot

I'm using Three mobile broadband, on a £15/month 10Gb 30-day contract. I picked that because I don't like long contracts, and as I was paying the same on PAYG for much less data, it seemed like an easy decision. It's been fine, except...


A couple of weeks ago I couldn't get a signal for three days. When I caved in and phoned them, they told me it was "routine maintenance" and would be back the next day - in fact it was out for three days. They gave me a small credit on the next bill, but couldn't explain why they hadn't had the good manners to warn their customers beforehand about the routine maintenance that would take the connection out completely.


Since then, I've had serious connection problems. I've had very poor performance when it does connect - this page took around 15s to open, for example, and so-called "responsive" sites like Facebook are virtually unusable. Except sometimes it's all fine, just as fast as it used to be, then it drops off again.


Support is not very good at all. You can raise a support issue by email, to which they will respond "within five days", but when they do respond they always prefer to phone, not reply by email. Their documentation says they charge 5.1p/minute from a BT landline, but we have a BT landline here, and happened to get the bill shortly after I'd called about the lack of connection. My 9m22s phone call was charged at £1.12, which doesn't work out at 5.1p/minute unless my maths is worse than I thought. I've raised a question about that as well, but had no response.


The problem I have now is that they won't deal with the problem until they've spoken to me, they phone at random times but can't say when it will be so I can make sure I'm available, and no-one seems to have enough sense to think that as all my problems started after their routine maintenance, it's probably related to that rather than my PC. But no, we've got to check some stuff on my PC first.


The only mobile broadband company that covers where I am, in case anyone wonders why I haven't dropped them like a hot coal.

kwikbreaks

I'm using that Three 30 day 10GB for £15 plan. I've been lucky and only had a short period of problems but I'll certainly agree that their support is pretty much non-existant. I'm amazed they were even able to tell you it was routine maintenance.

ripplyuk

I've checked the Ofcom mast finder and the nearest ones are 5 miles away from my house. There's an O2 one, an Orange one and a T-Mobile one. I know Orange gets a poor reception here for basic phone calls. I've also checked the coverage from some of the providers websites and O2 is the only one that says it will work indoors. With a couple of others, it was iffy whether it would even work outdoors.

Is the 5 mile distance likely to make the broadband really slow?

gjchester

ripplyuk wrote: »

Is the 5 mile distance likely to make the broadband really slow?

Generally its not distance is what may be in the way.I'm less than 1/2 a mile from the vodafone mast near my but there is a supermarket, block of flats and a hill in the way that makes the Vodafone signal weak.

O2 mast is visible to me and a lot better even though its a bit further away.

kwikbreaks

As above but at 5 miles you are probably going to need to follow the course I did and use an external antenna even if you have a clear line of sight to the mast.

I checked eBay and there are some MiFis the same as I use listed. They aren't cheap. Nor are the antennas and there is no guarantee it's going to work.

NiftyDigits

kwikbreaks wrote: »

As above but at 5 miles you are probably going to need to follow the course I did and use an external antenna even if you have a clear line of sight to the mast.

I checked eBay and there are some MiFis the same as I use listed. They aren't cheap. Nor are the antennas and there is no guarantee it's going to work.

The model to which I linked has antenna connectors. No need to pay more.

NiftyDigits

Forgot to mention that there will be no need to unlock it, as it is already unlocked.

redux

Another antenna possibility is by using a redundant satellite dish and mounting a dongle at the focal point, with USB lead back to a wifi router. Might be a bit tricky setting it up, getting the angles right (an offset dish will look like it's pointing downwards).