Short contract Broadband Options

honeysaving101

Hi all

is there a company who offer short term Broadband contracts?

So, month by month rather than 12 or 18 months.

Thanks very much

Steve

Peter999_2

I have looked into this as I temporarily moved.

I couldn't find anyone who would do a month by month contract (Now broadband used to offer this but don't anymore).

Instead, I have gone for a mobile broadband solution.   I took my phone to the new property and stood outside checking the signal.   Three mobile was full bars on 5g.    

When I moved in I bought a £100 5g modem from CEX and used a Smarty mobile SIM card in it which was £15 for unlimited data.   It has worked like a dream and I get on average 500Mbps which is great - apparently it isn't so good for playing online games because of the ping but I don't play games so it didn't affect me.

Before I bought the 5g modem I used an old 5g mobile that I've got and just used a hotspot which also worked fine.  However, I bought the modem as it enabled me to use my existing home router (with all my settings) so I thought it was worth it.

Smarty is a month by month contract which is very flexible (I even took it to a hotel when away last week and it was great).    Obviously you need to have a good three mobile connection, but if not, try £1 SIM cards from supermarkets to see which network you can get a good signal to.

I went through Uswitch for Smarty as they seem to be cheaper than directly from Smarty themselves.

Hope this helps.

honeysaving101

Brilliant! Thanks for the info.

Does the 5g modem plug in to the phone line?

I'm in Cirencester with GiffGaff at the mo and they don't have 5G in my area unfortunately.

Will look in to possibly switch providers.

Cheers again

Peter999_2

No, you put the SIM card into the modem and it connects like a mobile phone.   I then have a network cable going from the modem to my router and set the modem to "Pass Through".   It works really well and means you can put the modem whereever you can get the best signal (usually upstairs at a window)

Edit  - The modem I have bought is Zyxel NR5103E 5G Dual Band Indoor WIFI Router, 3 - CeX (UK): - Buy, Sell, Donate (webuy.com)

honeysaving101

Cool, cheers for the info Peter.

Ah, I don't have a router either. Any recommendations there too please.

Thanks again. Really helpful.

flaneurs_lobster

Peter999_2 said:

No, you put the SIM card into the modem and it connects like a mobile phone.   I then have a network cable going from the modem to my router and set the modem to "Pass Through".   It works really well and means you can put the modem whereever you can get the best signal (usually upstairs at a window)

Edit  - The modem I have bought is Zyxel NR5103E 5G Dual Band Indoor WIFI Router, 3 - CeX (UK): - Buy, Sell, Donate (webuy.com)

Could you explain why you use/need a second router please? 

Peter999_2

honeysaving101 said:

Cool, cheers for the info Peter.

Ah, I don't have a router either. Any recommendations there too please.

Thanks again. Really helpful.

Hi honeysaving101,

You don't need to have a router at all if you don't need it.    The 5g modem is actually a router as well and will work completely fine unless you need specified things.     You literally put the SIM card in the bottom of the router, turn it on, wait a couple of minutes and you're connected.     You just then connect to it via wi-fi or using a ethernet cable to your PC (there are two ports on the 5g modem).

If you are just needing to do some normally internet browsing and work from home it will be fine as it is.    The only downside is that you must make sure there is a good strong signal.

The 5g modem I linked to is unlocked to all networks (Three didn't lock any of the modems).   It will automatically work with three mobile, smarty or ID mobile SIM cards.    Other networks work but you have to make a small change (need to set the APN) but that's very easy.

Peter999_2

flaneurs_lobster said:

Peter999_2 said:

No, you put the SIM card into the modem and it connects like a mobile phone.   I then have a network cable going from the modem to my router and set the modem to "Pass Through".   It works really well and means you can put the modem whereever you can get the best signal (usually upstairs at a window)

Edit  - The modem I have bought is Zyxel NR5103E 5G Dual Band Indoor WIFI Router, 3 - CeX (UK): - Buy, Sell, Donate (webuy.com)

Could you explain why you use/need a second router please? 

Hi.   I think I have overcomlicated it a bit.   You don't need to use your own router at all as the 5g modem is also a router.     I work as an IT contracter and have quite specific requirements where I need a quality router (I use things like tailscale and it makes it a lot easier if the router supports tailscale natively).      

Because of this I would not even entertain a 5g modem previously as I thought it wouldn't work in my situation easily.  However, when I had to get one due to temporarily living somewhere I looked into it and realised I could use it with my own router.     To be honest it's been fab - now whenever I'm in a hotel etc.   I just plug it in and it works as if I was at home/in the office without making any changes.      Like I say though, I have overly complicated things for which I apologise.

The only thing really is that you MUST make sure you get a great connection - where I moved to it was down the street from a dedicated three 5g mast (they call them POWs as in Pole of Wonder which makes me smile).  There is also a chance that it gets oversubscribed and becomes slow which is why you use a SMARTY sim which is a month by month contract.   You just cancel it and either find another network or another solution without been locked into a 24 month contract.

honeysaving101

No worries at all.

Thanks for all your info. Great to hear how and why you use your setup.

I think, like you say, I need to check 5G coverage (in Cirencester so might no be too good🙄) and then get 

the Zyxel modem.

Cheers again.

flaneurs_lobster

FWIW I bought one of these today 

https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=smongen100mifi3&categoryName=mobile-broadband&superCatName=phones&title=&queryID=beeb77f2f0bddf5b79459c37e50a4ed8&position=14

Away from home for a month and need to share a hotspot.

Stuck a Superdrug (runs on 3) £20 Unlimited SIM in it (cheapest unlimited I could find for immediate OTC purchase).

Working just fine, getting 40-60Mbps. 

honeysaving101

Brill, cheers for the link.