Your thoughts please on broadband v mobile data

MikeJXE

I have been on broadband it seems forever but costs are soaring so I'm thinking unlimited mobile data, unlimited calls and text that I pay for now although I don't make many. 

Is that a possibility ?

I am on wifi most of the day, this site, reading the news, banking, YouTube videos, don't watch tv, no film downloading, no gaming. I use WhatsApp for messages. 

When I'm out I use free wifi in the town or the pub

Would it work as well using my iPhone as a hotspot for Mac and iPad ?

Thinking next year when my broadband contract expires. 

Your thoughts would be very much appreciated 

Thank you for looking 

oldernonethewiser

Do you get a good mobile signal where you live?

Mobile broadband is perfectly possible. 

How much are you prepared to pay and how fast do you need the connection to be?

I pay about £25 p/month for about 60Mbps which is more than enough for me. 

MikeJXE

oldernonethewiser said:

Do you get a good mobile signal where you live?

Mobile broadband is perfectly possible. 

How much are you prepared to pay and how fast do you need the connection to be?

I pay about £25 p/month for about 60Mbps which is more than enough for me. 

Thank you for the reply.

Currently I'm on talk talk 120 I think although I was on talk talk 35 which was fine. 

My mobile signal is poor with most of the providers although I have only tried EE and Vodaphone, I currently connect through wifi assist with Asda (Vodaphone network)

I'm paying talk talk £25+ And that will go up by inflation + 3.5% next April Plus sim only unlimited calls and texts for £5

I have done a signal check online and 3 is the best option at £17 unlimited, obviously have to check that out for signal strength. 

Newcad

Tethering to the phone or using it as a mobile hotspot is perfectly possible.

I fact I did just that months during lockdown,
I used to use the free wifi from the pub next door to where I lived then, but of course durimg lockdown it was shut, no more free wifi for me. so I simply turned to using my phone as a mobile router, either by connecting it to USB or turning on the hotspot wifi.

I was actually going to continue doing that when I moved to this flat, but I got a dual-fuel plus Broadband package that cost less then the mobile data would have done, and I've since moved to BT's social broadband/phone at £15 a month.

Something to remember is that while using the phone as a hotspot it is draining the battery.
If you tether through USB that isn't a problem as the phone gets charged while connected.

Other that that it's just weighing up the relative costs, remembering that you are probably already paying for included data if you have a monthly phone contract whether you use that data or not.

km1500

given your usage profile ieu don't watch Netflix etc and it would be perfectly possible for you to use your phone as a hotspot and use your mobile data that way and it ditch your landline broadband

MikeJXE

Thank you for all your replies, very helpful

I guess I could try switching wifi off and using the 3Gig of mobile data included with my sim only and see how it goes 

fordyms

Buy yourself a 4G router (or if flush a 5G router) and try out the 1 month contracts on Smarty, Lebara etc until you find one that works best.  I have been doing this for the last few years since Virgin bumped up the broadband costs, it works well.  Please don't be tempted to take out the 24 month router/unlimited sim contract from Three - like I did, not if you value your mental health! 

Bonhomie

fordyms said:

Buy yourself a 4G router (or if flush a 5G router) and try out the 1 month contracts on Smarty, Lebara etc until you find one that works best.  I have been doing this for the last few years since Virgin bumped up the broadband costs, it works well.  Please don't be tempted to take out the 24 month router/unlimited sim contract from Three - like I did, not if you value your mental health! 

If they were flush, they wouldn't be thinking of dumping their BB contract.
An issue with most inexpensive routers, is that they are not capable of carrier aggregation, whereas many Smartphone will have this function. This is where you can receive output from more than one band at a time. Usually when you see high potential speeds quoted, they are achieved when more than one band is being utilised.
For example, take EE; 

CA_3C (B3+B3)

CA_3A-7A (B3+B7)

CA_3A-7C (B3+B7+B7)

CA_1A-3C-7C (B1+B3+B3+B7+B7)

If your equipment is capable, you can have up to four lanes of traffic combined in order to achieve higher speeds.

Newcad

MikeJXE said:

Thank you for all your replies, very helpful

I guess I could try switching wifi off and using the 3Gig of mobile data included with my sim only and see how it goes 

Go for it. There is nothing like seeing for yourself how it works.
Switch off your broadband router for a couple of hours and use your phone as a hotspot instead. (or tether it via USB).

 That will give you a good idea of how it would work if you ditch the landline broadband altogether, and how much data you would then use on the phone.

Many who monitor their data usage are surprised, and reconsider if they really need to pay for a large data allowance.
(I just looked back at my own records and between 16 Aug 2020 and 20 June 2021 while I was tethering/hotspot via my phone during lockdown. For just general surfing, fora, etc.  on the laptop all day everyday, I averaged just under 10GB data use a month - it's watching TV,Netflix,YouTube etc. that tends to eat the data and I wasn't doing any of that).

Something to note is that phone data is usually more expensive per GB than landline broadband, or even mobile broadband througn a mobile router.
But if you have a good phone data plan/PAYG data price it can still work out more economical in certain circumstances to do it through your phone.
(Again remember that many are already paying for that phone data each month whether they use it or not).