Internet for office - minimal use - recommendations

Grumpy_chap

tikkitakki said:

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?

There are technical details, as alluded to by QrizB but, on a practical level, my experience has been that using the phone tends to drop the WIFI data if a call comes in.  I simply think the phone is not capable to do both at the same time to an acceptable standard.  The MiFi hub does not have the ability to receive calls and text etc, nor browse the internet / WhatsApp within the device so all the resource capacity is directed at the sole function of providing the hotspot.

tikkitakki said:

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

The old MiFi might not have current "G" rating?

tikkitakki

I am back! Family member generously donated their TP Link device, which I loaded with a Smarty SIM, it was okay for a couple of months BUT now it's not, speeds drop to 0KB/sec. 

My computer is an elderly MacBook Air, 11 years old now. What is the most likely issue? Smarty and the 3 network? An old laptop? An old TP link device?

I've had a look and every network, theoretically, offers the same coverage. However, I think EE have more masts in and around the town where I work.

Any recommendations for a better router? I think the one I have is TP Link MR600 but it's not new. 

Or do I need to bite the bullet and pay for business broadband, even though I only need internet to power 3 video calls a week, max.

Any replies from the more technologically savvy, please explain like I am about 5 or 6 years old!

flaneurs_lobster

Assume you have an unlimited data plan on the Smarty SIM?

You say your speed has dropped to 0, how are you measuring this? Is this what the MacBook is reporting?

Can you connect your MacBook to the router with a cable? Any difference?

Can you do a speed test with your phone? Airplane mode, switch on Wi-fi only, connect to router, go to fast.com in a browser and see what it says.

tikkitakki

I have about 70GB on SMARTY monthly plan which is more than enough for maximum 15 hours of zoom meetings a month.

Measuring speed using the MacBook. I have tried connecting the router to the router with 3 different cables, doesn't make a difference.

I did speed test with phone today (GiffGaff for phone) and it was great until 5 minutes before I had to enter a zoom meeting. Just tried fast.com (thank you) Tells me my internet speed is 4Mbps. MacBook tells me it's 0KB/sec!

Fast.com details (which I don't understand) Latency Unloaded 65ms / Loaded 1.1s & Upload speed 16Mbps

tikkitakki

Sorry, I have tried connecting the router to the laptop using 3 different ethernet cables

flaneurs_lobster

Best guess - your Three/Vodafone/SMARTY coverage is rubbish. You might try putting the router closer to a window but that's not likely to make a huge difference.

You said you had a sudden slowdown of speed? Wasn't at chucking-out time at a local school was it?

What speed are you showing on your phone when using Giffgaff? 

tikkitakki

Thanks for your questions, yes have been keeping window open and router by it as well. Followed some directions and inputted DNS server directions (I don't know what any of this means) and seemed to be better with ethernet cable. I have now brought an EE sim to experiment with, so fingers crossed.