Internet Devices??? Not broadband.

C1ueless

Hello everyone,

Due to my current circumstances, not living in my own place, I do not have broadband/ WiFi.  I need to be able to access Internet on the computer. I cannot tether it via my mobile as my mobile company have told me that they do not allow this. 

Can somebody please recommend any good devices where I can connect a laptop to the internet? I don't need much Internet.  It is literally just to do job applications and to download/ upload forms to send through emails.

I would like something cheap and ideally pay as you go as I don't really want to be tied into a contract and don't t need much Internet anyway.

Thank you

[Deleted User]

A wifi dongle.

JJ_Egan

Where will op get wifi from ??

C1ueless

Thank you for your posts.  I wasn't clear. What I am asking if anyone knows of any good deals out there on any devices where I can get Internet at a good price. Ideally, pay as you go, and just for doing basic tasks not watching videos or anything so don't need lots of gigabytes of Internet,  really.

JJ_Egan

You may qualify for BT Basic + Broadband .
PAYG do you mean mobile network ?

C1ueless

I don't have my own place to live so I can't connect to broadband.

I mean something similar to an Internet dongle, but I know these days there are also other devices which connect the computer to the internet in a similar way.

matelodave

A MiFi dongle or router would do the job - here's what Three offer - http://www.three.co.uk/Store/Mobile_Broadband%3Fintid%3Dtopnav?+Dongles other suppliers are around and they are available on Amazon and other vendors. A data sim card can be bought from most suppliers - I get prepaid ones from Three (frequently cheaper on the internet)
Some of the Three sims have much longer validity periods than some of the other vendors - this one from Three has 12gb of data and last for 12 months https://www.mymemory.co.uk/3-payg-4g-trio-data-sim-pack-with-12gb-data.html. Other deals from other suppliers are around.
Just make sure that you have 4G or 4G availble where you are intending to use it.

mnbvcxz

You could double check you actually can't tether on your existing contract in practice if you haven't already.

If you are out of contract you could take out a cheap deal with someone who does allow tethering. Saves ending up paying for two sims. 

You could buy/find almost any unlocked smartphone from the last four years or so and use that with a different sim as a wifi hotspot mifi device. Old android phones on ebay can be less than £20, look for a 4g unlocked one obviously. This is why the mifi market is in decline, everyone just uses a mobile.

You could buy a dedicated myfi device to make a wifi mobile hotspot. The  basic EE ones are often unlockable if you don't mind fiddling and buying a 99p unlock code on ebay. They often go for for £15 or so second hand on ebay. 

You could get a proper mobile router from three on a thirty day contract for about £60 with ethernet and wifi and external antenna options.

You could get a router for free by paying £20 or so a month for a year and get unlimited internet from three,  but probably more than you want. 

But if you get one of those what sim plan to put in them? Depends partly on who gives you a good signal at your location of course;

Three do a data reward sim with 200mb free a month and then 1p a mb over that which is ok if you use tiny amounts. Easy with a pc for it to run updates or something and use lots.

Both EE and Three will give you a sim with a 1gb a month for a year preloaded for around £30.

The MSE cheap sims page has a bunch of plans. Carphonewarhouse and fonehouse both do cashback offers. You can get 8gb a month and unlimited calls/texts from three for £4 a month for 12 months if you jump through cashback redemption hoops and it all works.

So its a complicated world out there but some food for thought I hope. In theory if you switched to a cheap sim and made use of the unlimited calls/texts and tethered to the internet allowance you might end up saving money, depends on your situation.

Best of luck.

531063

If your phone is unlocked pop 1 of these in it & tether to it:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Three-3-Pay-As-You-Go-Mobile-Broadband-SIM-Card-With-24-GB-Data/224083890754?hash=item342c70d242:g:8cMAAOSwRPJfA0II

jamesperrett

I read somewhere that phone companies cannot stop you from tethering nowadays. Certainly Giffgaff have changed their policy on tethering sometime over the last couple of years and all their tariffs now allow tethering. Three (or their Smarty brand) are probably cheapest for data if it works in your area.

JJ_Egan

Link to this advice please regarding tethering .