Mobile broadband,is it a viable option..?

C_Mababejive

I'm currently with VODAFONE and out of contract. They think its acceptable to apply the cpi plus increase AND another £3pm to try and bully me into signing a contract again.

I'm looking for new suppliers but it seems most are also applying the iniquitous RPI plus increases. I am hoping that some consumer action group will campaign to get this stopped by OFCOM.

Also of course 18m contracts are becoming the norm.


Meanwhile in Spain for example ,you can get full fibre for about £20pm,

Anyway back to the reason for posting,im looking at a mobile BB router and wondering if this is a viable option for me?

I think my nearest mast is not 5g enabled so 4g.

What typical speed/capacity might i expect and whats the latency like compared to FTTC..?

Maybe i could use a mobile router with an external antenna? Are there any that have an antenna connector?

Thanks

Joe

Swoosh84

You would probably get up to 20Mbs from 4G but it all depends. You could get even faster speeds if you close to the mass, disconnect your phone from the wifi and run a speed test and see.

You would need a mobile router to go with your setup, but honestly, not sure the price of 4G plans + router is really worth dropping your Fibre. There are still some providers out there not increasing cost. Think Shell one of them but I avoided them due to the reviews, unsure if they have improved since.

J

Swoosh84

https://www.choose.co.uk/guide/fixed-price-broadband/

A_Lert

A little while ago when I price compared, a truly unlimited mobile broadband plan was more expensive than a good value fixed line broadband plus a cheap mobile plan. But if you use a lot of mobile data anyway, it might be more cost effective to ditch the fixed line.

Watch out for punitive slowdowns and unfair "fair use" terms on mobile plans. If you watch a lot of streaming video you can get through hundreds of gigabytes in a month.

flashg67

I'm in a remote area with poor standard bb. I tested all the 4g providers and only Vodafone has a decent signal for me. I'm using a used Huawei B535 4g router from ebay with just its internal aerials and am getting 20-30 mbps up, 10-15 down and a ping usually under 50 ms.

The ping does vary a bit, so if you're an avid gamer, it might not work for you

Playing about with the router location can affect the speed, and an external aerial can help too - neighbours have tested to 50+ mbps

I'm using Lebara - £25 unlimited data, 30 day rolling plan, so no commitment. I'm using upto 200 gb per month and had no warnings or slowdowns 

I'd say whatever speed test results you get using mobile data on your phone will be bettered by a proper router, but use these speeds as a guide before you splash out on the kit.

james_smitha

check out 3 mobile but sign up to a term to get the pcm cost down, in CV37 where I live even without an external antenna a lot snappier than ADSL even with several users at the same time.