Mobile broadband options (no phone line for forseeable future)

hargru

Hi everyone, I'm in a bit of a quandary and hoping somebody with more expertise than myself may have a recommendation or solution. 

I'm due to be moving house next week (into a property exchanged on before lockdown, cannot delay for contractual reasons), which does not have a working phone line. Given the current climate, we need internet in the property not only for the usual usage (browsing, emails, video streaming, Netflix etc) but because I'm a freelancer that's entirely reliant on internet in order to work from home. With no internet, I can't earn any money. The problem is, engineers are (quite understandably) unable to enter properties to fix/install phone lines at the moment due to coronavirus and no installations are taking place until June at the very earliest.  

Therefore I'm looking for temporary mobile broadband options that do not require a phone line. The ideal solution would:

• Allow multiple devices to connect at one time (i.e. not a dongle or anything that 'plugs in' to a computer)
• Be comparable to home broadband in terms of download speed/reliability
• Have either unlimited data or enough that I don't have to worry about it running out midway through the month. I'd guess we are mid to high users as we regularly stream videos and my work often involves downloading/uploading videos to the internet
• Ideally be payable month-to-month, or maximum 12 month contract (as I don't want to be tied in for years if engineer visits become possible again!) 

Is there anything I can do? Three and Vodafone both appear to offer mobile broadband routers with unlimited packages - does anybody have any experience of using these as a replacement for home broadband? Are there any other solutions that might work? Unfortunately we don't know our new neighbours so asking to poach theirs wouldn't be the best first impression! 

I didn't even know mobile broadband existed before finding myself in this situation, so any other ideas or experiences welcome. Thanks in advance. 

cranford

You need to do a coverage check for the property you are moving to before you decide on the network to use.
http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Network/Coverage
https://www.vodafone.co.uk/network/status-checker
Then look to see if they can supply the mobile modem next day delivery as time is short.

tehone

In terms of hardware, either get something like a MiFi (around £40) think of it as a self powered dongle so allows multiple connections, of a full blown 4G router (over £100) but like a normal router will also allow ethernet connections too.

If you get decent coverage from 3, then choose their sub brand Smarty (unlimited is £20pm, 100GB is £15pm), no contract, month to month, a referral code is available on this forum (or me) that will give you the second month free.

I use Smarty as its fine as a replacement with a MiFi, but would be more convenient with an actual 4G router

Peter999_2

I wouldn't trust the network coverage map if I were you, they are very unreliable.

I think the best thing would be to buy a 99p/£1 pay as you go Three SIM from Tesco etc.  and test that in a mobile phone to make sure you can get a reasonable speed.

pallyman

If nothing else available maybe something like this, https://www.broadbandconnect.net  What were the previous owners using.

hargru

tehone said:

In terms of hardware, either get something like a MiFi (around £40) think of it as a self powered dongle so allows multiple connections, of a full blown 4G router (over £100) but like a normal router will also allow ethernet connections too.

If you get decent coverage from 3, then choose their sub brand Smarty (unlimited is £20pm, 100GB is £15pm), no contract, month to month, a referral code is available on this forum (or me) that will give you the second month free.

I use Smarty as its fine as a replacement with a MiFi, but would be more convenient with an actual 4G router

Thank you for the heads up on Smarty, that sounds an ideal option to start out with. I'll be glad for the referral code if you're happy to share. No idea yet whether the property gets decent coverage on Three, but I'll order a 200MB sim card to test first as Peter999_2 suggested. 

You mention Smarty would be more convenient with an actual 4G router than a MiFi - how so? Is it just the ethernet connection or are they better equipped for home broadband for other reasons? I'm loathe to spend an arm and a leg for what I'm imagining will be a temporary solution, but I also don't want to cut corners and end up with something that isn't fit for purpose if we do end up using it for 6+ months. Pay peanut get monkeys, and all that... 

tehone

So minor issues with a MiFi device is that they aren't designed to be an always on connection, so they will go into sleep mode everyone now and then and it will take a little while for them to wake up and reconnect to the internet if nothing has been using it for a while - not a big deal to me, but occasionally you have to wait that extra 30-60 seconds or so [not whilst streaming, but say first use of the day]. They don't cope will with more than about 4 devices or so connecting simultaneously [a rare occurrence for me so no big deal]. The biggest one is that they don't have as good a range in terms of wifi broadcast, you want them as close to a window as possible, plugged in to get the most mobile signal, but then this might not be the best location in terms of the wifi broadcasting to the whole house (again not a big deal for me, but if you have a big house then maybe).
A proper router obviously works better, and I would normally connect my main desktop PC / smart TV / games console via ethernet if the option was there, if only to reduce the load on the house wifi.

I'll PM you a referral code for Smarty, and feel free to ask any other questions (you also get unlimited calls/texts with the plans if that's of any use)

mnbvcxz

Sims;

smarty as mentioned for monthly three
voxi for vodafone. Low data amounts available for testing.
12 months from carphonewarehouse or fonehouse and others, quidco etc, can result in 12 months unlimited sim on three or vodafone from £10-£25 a month depending on how much cashback risk hassle you want to take.
02 does unlimited but has a low 500mb? acceptable download quota.
EE do unlimited for about £35, 12 month contract. Claim to limit devices using it, not clear if this is enforcable.

DEVICES;
Smartphone- any spare phone from last few years has a hotspot function. Turn it on and you have wifi pretty much as good as a mifi. Cheapest option if you have one around.

Mifi, basically wifi and a battery. Can be cheap, lots second hand around. The EE ones can often be picked up cheap and unlocked. Rarely have ethernet of external antenna.

Mobile router, now entering proper features. Can have ethernet ports and sockets for external antenna, which some people need to get a good signal/speed. D-link or tp-link for around £100 perhaps. Huawei bundled with many services, often available on ebay. B310 or better b311 maybe £40-£50 second hand. Faster B525 £75 second hand maybe. Some are unlocked, some, mainly vodafone are locked and hard to unlock.

But if you can pass the credit check on your new address three will sell you a huawei b535 for £59 with the first months unlimited data. Cancel after the first month and it's yours. Not sure if its unlocked but probably, better check. 

So suggest try sims from three/smarty voxi/vodafaone and EE and see what the speeds are like at your address. Start off with a smartphone hotspot and consider getting the above three huawei b535 to get closest to home broadband later. It has ethernet and options for external attennae.
http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices/Huawei/B535?memory=0&colour=White  (cashback may or may not be available too)

Good luck.

mwarby

Does property have cable at all ? When I moved in I didn’t need a engineer to get virgin media broadband

hargru

mnbvcxz said:

Sims;

smarty as mentioned for monthly three
voxi for vodafone. Low data amounts available for testing.
12 months from carphonewarehouse or fonehouse and others, quidco etc, can result in 12 months unlimited sim on three or vodafone from £10-£25 a month depending on how much cashback risk hassle you want to take.
02 does unlimited but has a low 500mb? acceptable download quota.
EE do unlimited for about £35, 12 month contract. Claim to limit devices using it, not clear if this is enforcable.

DEVICES;
Smartphone- any spare phone from last few years has a hotspot function. Turn it on and you have wifi pretty much as good as a mifi. Cheapest option if you have one around.

Mifi, basically wifi and a battery. Can be cheap, lots second hand around. The EE ones can often be picked up cheap and unlocked. Rarely have ethernet of external antenna.

Mobile router, now entering proper features. Can have ethernet ports and sockets for external antenna, which some people need to get a good signal/speed. D-link or tp-link for around £100 perhaps. Huawei bundled with many services, often available on ebay. B310 or better b311 maybe £40-£50 second hand. Faster B525 £75 second hand maybe. Some are unlocked, some, mainly vodafone are locked and hard to unlock.

But if you can pass the credit check on your new address three will sell you a huawei b535 for £59 with the first months unlimited data. Cancel after the first month and it's yours. Not sure if its unlocked but probably, better check. 

So suggest try sims from three/smarty voxi/vodafaone and EE and see what the speeds are like at your address. Start off with a smartphone hotspot and consider getting the above three huawei b535 to get closest to home broadband later. It has ethernet and options for external attennae.

Good luck.

This has been a huge help. Thanks so much. 

matelodave

The other benefit of using a wifi router like the Huawei B535 over a MiFi unit or mobile phone hotspot is coverage within your house. The smaller units probably don't cover the same area as the wifi router,so you may be restricted to one room. 
There is also have the advantage that the wifi router has Ethernet ports which would allow you to use Powerline adapters or wired connections to the TV, Sky box etc if they aren't wifi enabled.