Internet for office - minimal use - recommendations

tikkitakki

I only need internet for one hour, sometimes 2, a week for zoom meetings in the office I rent for half a week. Is there any way I can do this more cheaply than paying business internet rate? Like phone hotspot or anything else? 

flaneurs_lobster

Phone hotspot would do it, as long as you've got a decent mobile signal and a package with enough data.

Zoom calls would use about 1GB/hour, bit more for group calls, if you are calling at HD quality.

Grumpy_chap

tikkitakki said:

I only need internet for one hour, sometimes 2, a week for zoom meetings in the office I rent for half a week. Is there any way I can do this more cheaply than paying business internet rate? Like phone hotspot or anything else? 

Hotspot to a mobile phone or a MiFi hub (here is one example - other brands and suppliers are available https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3425060 )

Alternatively, does the office place you rent for part of a week have an option to provide the service over a WiFi facility?

flaneurs_lobster

Grumpy_chap said:

tikkitakki said:

I only need internet for one hour, sometimes 2, a week for zoom meetings in the office I rent for half a week. Is there any way I can do this more cheaply than paying business internet rate? Like phone hotspot or anything else? 

Hotspot to a mobile phone or a MiFi hub (here is one example - other brands and suppliers are available https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3425060)

Alternatively, does the office place you rent for part of a week have an option to provide the service over a WiFi facility?

Broken Argos link, take the close elipse off the end.

Here's a link to a pageful at Argos

https://www.argos.co.uk/browse/technology/networking-and-wi-fi/mobile-broadband/c:30050/

Grumpy_chap

flaneurs_lobster said:

Broken Argos link, take the close elipse off the end.

Thanks - I have corrected my link now.

FWIW, I have used that device several times when needing to provide work internet for a short-time at a temporary work location.  The beauty of it is how easy it is to expense / charge the Client for a £65 solution and get thanked for it.

DorkingChicken

There's no important differences between a business broadband contract and a residential one.

A simple SoGEA broadband contract is easy and quick to setup if there is an existing phone line in the property

Here's a useful page I found on this service: https://www.businessbroadbandhub.co.uk/blog/sogea-broadband/

mlz1413

Definitely hot-spot.
If your own mobile contract has enough data just use that to connect your laptop too.
Otherwise look at getting a sim only plan and put it in an old mobile phone that you charge to ready for your zoom calls.

I use ID Mobile for my sim only plan as £5pm gets plenty of data.  Its a 30 day rolling contract so if you decide against you can cancel

tikkitakki

Thanks everyone...I am going to look at using my phone as a hot spot, initially.

What makes a MiFi hub a better option than a phone?

QrizB

tikkitakki said:

What makes a MiFi hub a better option than a phone?

Various things that might not concern you.

Better WiFi coverage, longer battery life (or mains powered), potentially a cheaper data plan (vs. a phone on contract), plus a dedicated device is designed specifically as a WiFi access point rather than a combination phone/text/browser/video/app/phone/flashlight/bottle-opener and so likely to be more reliable and less prone to falling over mid-call.

There are some suggestions for equipment etc. in this thread from last year:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6501133/4g-or-5g-lte-sim-router-hotspot-recommendations-please

tikkitakki

Thanks to everyone. Tried my phone. Managed a few zoom calls but as has been pointed out, drained my battery, which seems permanently impacted. Found an old MiFi we used when we moved many years ago and I recall watching TV and running computers on it, but it has been awful! Thank you for the link, I will now look into the recommended router