Mobile internet

[Kristian]

T-mobile is the one to go for, Ive had a dongle over 7yrs and really cant fault it at all, and a £5 per month its great!

Kristian.

[smileypete]

Thanks Pete, I might do that to get an 02 sim. I did have an antenna but I sold that with the dongle that fitted it as we use mifi now, due to having an ipad. My friend who moors below a really tall building in central London had my antenna and she says it really has made a difference to her signal strength.

OK, there are 3g routers around that will take a USB dongle to give the same as Mifi:

 

http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=218&model=TL-MR3020

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-MR3020-Portable-Wireless-Router/dp/B00634PLTW

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

[nb Innisfree]

Went into an EE shop this morning to have a look at their Huawei 5332 mifi and noticed it didn't have an ext aerial socket, this model usually boasts one in the specs. Seems odd, maybe EE buy cheaper versions. Assistant, who looked to be in his 40s and would, I assume, be up to speed technically was totally perplexed by any idea of a socket.

[Rich]

Went into an EE shop this morning to have a look at their Huawei 5332 mifi and noticed it didn't have an ext aerial socket, this model usually boasts one in the specs. Seems odd, maybe EE buy cheaper versions. Assistant, who looked to be in his 40s and would, I assume, be up to speed technically was totally perplexed by any idea of a socket.

 

I have just bought an E5332 off Ebay and it certainly has a socket for an antenna. I've had to go to China to buy a pigtail/adapter/connector to attach my antenna but at the moment it is in the boat window and working well on 3 Mobile.

 

ETA an extra f

Edited February 25, 2013 by Rich

[nb Innisfree]

OK, there are 3g routers around that will take a USB dongle to give the same as Mifi:

 

http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=218&model=TL-MR3020

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-MR3020-Portable-Wireless-Router/dp/B00634PLTW

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

 

Double check that any router is compatible with your dongle. When we got a later faster dongle from 3 we found it wasn't compatible with our old Huawei D100 router so we bought the TP link router a few months ago which but we never did manage to get it working, not with any dongle, so we carried on with the old dongle (Huawei E169G) which works great.

 

In future we will only buy mifis, we have one at the mo without an antenna socket which is great when out and about but we will wait until 4g is well established and then see what 4g mifis with sockets are available.

 

I have just bought an E5332 off Ebay and it certainly has a socket for an antenna. I've had to go to China to buy a pigtail/adapter/connector to attach my antenna but at the moment it is in the boat window and working well on 3 Mobile.

 

ETA an extra f

 

I find it amazing that some service providers don't seem to consider aerial sockets, EE must either be oblivious of them or the need for them or have decided to go for ones without, thinking it's too small a market to justify the expense. I tend to think they just don't investigate enough, maybe they need to employ a few anoraks to do their research.

Edited February 25, 2013 by nb Innisfree

[smileypete]

Double check that any router is compatible with your dongle. When we got a later faster dongle from 3 we found it wasn't compatible with our old Huawei D100 router so we bought the TP link router a few months ago which but we never did manage to get it working, not with any dongle, so we carried on with the old dongle (Huawei E169G) which works great.

 

In future we will only buy mifis, we have one at the mo without an antenna socket which is great when out and about but we will wait until 4g is well established and then see what 4g mifis with sockets are available.

They've got a compatibility list here, with support for some extra dongles with download:

 

http://www.tp-link.com/en/support/3g-comp-list/?model=TL-MR3020&location=1162

http://www.tp-link.com/en/support/3g/

 

Another way to get Mifi is with an inexpensive Android phone that can do tethering, some have an FME antenna socket under the batt connector so an external antenna is possible.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited February 25, 2013 by smileypete

[Rich]

In future we will only buy mifis, we have one at the mo without an antenna socket which is great when out and about but we will wait until 4g is well established and then see what 4g mifis with sockets are available.

 

I think the E5332 is 4G capable.

[nb Innisfree]

I think the E5332 is 4G capable.

 

Yes, but by the time 4g is widely available and reasonably priced the E5332 might be old hat.

[Rich]

Yes, but by the time 4g is widely available and reasonably priced the E5332 might be old hat.

You're just trying to cheer me up.

[nb Innisfree]

You're just trying to cheer me up.

 

It'll be alright, I promise, don't worry, I'm sure it will work ok for many years to come, honest, anyway why bother with the latest new fangled gadget, nothing wrong with older stuff, that's what I say, just take my word for it....

[Jo_]

Continuing on nbInnisfree's theme:

 

3 are rolling out DC-HSDPA (Ultrafast) which will, they say, give you double the speed you get with HSDPA and match/better 4G. And it's happening now.

 

But, at the moment the only device from 3 that is Ultrafast ready is the E3256 plug-in dongle. I gather that in a couple of months there will be a new Ultrafast MiFi. I've asked the question (and explained the reason) about an aerial socket.

[nb Innisfree]

Continuing on nbInnisfree's theme:

 

3 are rolling out DC-HSDPA (Ultrafast) which will, they say, give you double the speed you get with HSDPA and match/better 4G. And it's happening now.

 

But, at the moment the only device from 3 that is Ultrafast ready is the E3256 plug-in dongle. I gather that in a couple of months there will be a new Ultrafast MiFi. I've asked the question (and explained the reason) about an aerial socket.

 

Let's hope they can deliver but lwhat we really need instead of occasional ultra fast speeds is a wider coverage at reasonable speeds and/or devices better able to pull in weak signals. I'd prefer more consistency throughout the UK instead of glitzy promises.

[Tommo]

Went into an EE shop this morning to have a look at their Huawei 5332 mifi and noticed it didn't have an ext aerial socket, this model usually boasts one in the specs. Seems odd, maybe EE buy cheaper versions. Assistant, who looked to be in his 40s and would, I assume, be up to speed technically was totally perplexed by any idea of a socket.

 

Its hidden under a litle blanking plug next to the USB port.

 

Ian

[nb Innisfree]

Its hidden under a litle blanking plug next to the USB port.

 

Ian

 

I looked carefully for anything that could hide one but I will nip in again to double check.

[talisman]

Some interesting posts, think i will try a newer dongle/sim and possibly an antenna. Its strange i have friends 300yds away who use Vodafone and others who use T.Mobile for data. My phone is 02 [not smart]and the signal is good-ish. Another clever chap [seriously] said to use 3 mifi,he uses it at Caen Hill,again 300 yds away. I got a mate to bring in his 3 mifi and it indicated ,no signal. I know its not rocket science, but its still bloody confusing lol.

[Rich]

I looked carefully for anything that could hide one but I will nip in again to double check.

 

I can't imagine Huawei making two versions of the same device. If you find there is a socket, for a TS9 plug BTW, and show the salesperson you may well get a quite common phenomena known in mobile phone customer circles as "steps back in amazement".

[nb Innisfree]

I can't imagine Huawei making two versions of the same device. If you find there is a socket, for a TS9 plug BTW, and show the salesperson you may well get a quite common phenomena known in mobile phone customer circles as "steps back in amazement".

 

Looking at pics of a Huawei 5332 the one in the EE shop labelled as such is different, I don't think they know what they are selling.

 

No wonder folks have issues with these places.

[smileypete]

Could be the socket is intended for factory testing so may not be mentioned in the manual, which may explain the salesperson's lack of knowledge about it.

 

cheers, Pete

~smpt~

[nb Innisfree]

Could be the socket is intended for factory testing so may not be mentioned in the manual, which may explain the salesperson's lack of knowledge about it.

 

cheers, Pete

~smpt~

Thinking about it I think the mifi they had labelled as Huawei E5332 is actually a Huawei E586 in TMobile garb (known as a 'Pointer' I believe)

 

There really is no point asking any staff, take the time to get genned up beforehand.

[topiman]

Hi

 

Our set up is:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-E586-21-6-Mbps-Mobile/dp/B005LDRP18

 

which is a 3g MIFI - also 4g-ready

 

...with a 10gb monthly rolling contract on 3

http://store.three.co.uk/view/searchSimOnly?tariff=3031

 

so not the cheapest but high broadband speeds - iplayer etc no probs

 

River Lea / Springfield area

 

cheers

[ditchcrawler]

Hi

 

Our set up is:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-E586-21-6-Mbps-Mobile/dp/B005LDRP18

 

which is a 3g MIFI - also 4g-ready

 

...with a 10gb monthly rolling contract on 3

http://store.three.co.uk/view/searchSimOnly?tariff=3031

 

so not the cheapest but high broadband speeds - iplayer etc no probs

 

River Lea / Springfield area

 

cheers

You would do better to buy Three sim cards on ebay for £11 that last up to 3 months then if you didnt use all your data in a month it would keep going. also if you use more than your 3Gb it costs a lot on contract see ebay

[bottle]

Am I to close ?

 

I am within 1kilometre of a transmitter (yes it is my providers and I can see it) sat here with download speeds of almost zero, it did hit 5kbs.

 

 

Don't you just love mobile broadband.

[MyLady]

Ive got a t mobile sim and I've had the fastest connection speeds with them, out of all of the sims that we have. For some reason it works brilliantly on the upper Thames where I cant even connect with the other 2 sims. 3 works most places but if you do lots of downloading or uploading it can be unreliable, constantly disconnecting. Vodafone is really expensive but it wont disconnect you half way through an upload but we are convinced that there is something fishy with the usage - we seem to burn through our data allowance when uploading.

The only sim I dont have is 02.

Agree with Chris, line of sight affects your signal - hills, trees, windy stormy weather can all affect it. Worst place we've been for connecting or attepting to connect being the more remote parts of the Oxford Canal. I'm the one standing on my roof swearing at my laptop because I'm trying to do a big upload for a client.

 

We're 90% through buying a boat. The plan is CC. On a daily basis we want to use email and access our online banking.. I accept that sometimes we won't be able to get a signal, but we want to minimise the number of days that happens. We've been told that going for 4G - that will fall back to 3G if 4G isn't available - is a good plan. I've also read about 'external aerials/antennae' - the signal must be better outside the steel box of the cabin - but what about weather-proofing - it rains in Brittain!

 

Can anyone recommend specific hardware (brand and model) to buy - and how to weather-proof it? It seems a no-brainer to get SIMs for several networks, but paying for a contract for any one network seems daft, usually we'd be using a different SIM, so it seems we want a pay-as-you-go deal.

 

The principals seem obvious. Can someone help with the paracticalities giving specific details?

 

Roger (Milady of Norfolk - now at Whilton, in the first instance cruising to Rochdale)

[Ex- Member]

There are aerials apparently which can be fitted externally and of course would be waterproof. however we just use our MiFi on a 3 Metre USB charge lead and put it outside the boat if we can't get a signal through a window. The Mifi is sealed in a small Tupperware type container so doesn't get wet. If we need to plug it in for charging when battery goes low, the usb lead runs through a small hole at the bottom so water can't get in.

 

I will say though mostly we get a good enough signal through a porthole window.

[bottle]

4G is only available in a few cities, a waste of time on the cut, in my opinion.

 

Signal strength is no guarantee of a good speed, that depends on how many people are connected and also on the provider.

 

A 'Mi-Fi' connected to an external aerial (mag[netic] mount), lead through a mushroom works for me most of the time.