Internet for idiots

[pelicanafloat]

Varies, between 4 and 8 gb, depends on how many videos we watch, for instance, porn can suck up the data, if you follow my drift.

Trouble with 4G is the fast speed, handy but expensive and with a low allowance a bit pointless if it is used up quickly. When it's reliably available everywhere in large quantities and reasonably priced, like 3G is now, then I will welcome it.

On one point I agree, the higher speed is quite addictive! We might have to consider taking the 5Gb plan, and they do 8Gb too, but at moment we have a phone with T mobile as an unlimited Hotspot but for sheer convenience the mifi (with antenna) is great for all forms of porn

 

When they get their act together, one thing that appeals is the ability to be able to pay anything from 99p to £3.99 for a film to be streamed or downloaded, the download data included for free .... this seems to us to be quite A slick add on.

 

This month, the mifi package suffered some friction, and we have just been informed that our 3Gb package has been reset to zero .... can't be bad :-) As for going over the limit, you can't , so there aren't any hidden costs ....

[Phil Ambrose]

I'm just curious. What amount of data do you guys go through each month? I and wife between us have 2 laptops we keep updated, 2 android tablets, and 2 smartphones. We use Skype and we browse and email and check on the weather, and all this and we do not exceed 3Gb. I suppose if you wanted to stream live TV etc, that could be quite heavy usage, but we find that satellite and or digital aerials quite a good alternative ..... and we are continuous cruising. Just wondered because you seem very anti towards 4g, almost as if you to frightened to use it in case you got your fingers burnt :-) ....

Regarding 4G, I think most people fight shy of new tech advances until they become proven and as already been said wait till they settle down. just out of interest here is my timeline on connecting to the net over the years that we have lived aboard.

 

Phone connected via infrared (make your own modem)

 

Phone connected by Bluetooth (make your own modem)

 

Phone connected via a datacard (this came with software)

 

Phone connected via a dongle (this came with software)

 

phone connected via a dongle (this was plug and play)

 

phone connected via Wifi (this was plug and play)

 

So you see that even a grey haired old wrinkly like me does move on in terms of technology but waits to see how things pan out.

 

Phil

[matty40s]

Samsung s4 on ultimate internet plan ( new name for one plan). £35 p month and ssshhh £29 for handset.

It will automatically move to 4G network later this year when EE lose the monopoly.

Does all it needs to, streaming storm chasing, downloading movies and music,catch up tv etc.

 

 

oh, and I can phone people on it as well now that I have paid the bill.......

[Kiwidad]

oh, and I can phone people on it as well now that I have paid the bill.......

Still waiting :-)

[matty40s]

Still waiting :-)

theres a bit of a list you know and I dont think I owe you any money so you're not high on it

........a bottle of Jura perhaps...

[alan_fincher]

Ok so a good solution could be to get a smart phone with an all you can eat contract AND purchase a WiFi/MiFi thing that takes DATA sims and get a few pay as you go sims (is that poss?) to keep as a back up for when the phone can't get signal or when the speed gets too low. Would this be feasible?

I have not read the whole thread again. I'll admit, but to me the biggest disadvantage in trying to back up a contract with PAYG SIMs to use where the contract doesn't is cost.

 

I think very few PAYG now do anything other than expire any used data allowance after (typically) 4 weeks, so unless you can be very selective about loading them up, I think you could throw away more allowance than you use.

 

The '3' pricing structure for PAYG by the month means you always effectively pay £7.50 on top of the data at £2.50 per Gb, so can never spoend less than a tenner, even if you want it for just emergency use.

 

What has bugged me as a casual user lately is that I have paid to load an allowance onto a "3" SIM that has always worked at the locations I was trying to use it at in the past, but that the "3" service proved to be so crap, I had paid, but couldn't actually use it.

 

Talk about collecting money for something you can no longer provide!

[blackelle123]

Previously I used to have a traditional dongle which I had to suspend on a cable at which ever window gave me a half decent signal. It worked pretty well, well enough to get me through three years of UNI. However '3' have just sent me a new all singing and all dancing wireless version, which is absolutely brillient and so much faster and more convenient as I don't have to have my lap top permently connected. Apparently I can use my tablet with it!

[grahame r]

I'm no expert on this and may be imagining this but I think there is a difference between tethering and wifi. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and recently on the Upper Thames between Oxford and Lechlade the phone reception was very poor, to the point where emails weren't being updated from morning to evening, however on activating the wifi and connecting to my laptop the emails were immediately updated and I could stream live TV. It seems to me that I'm getting a far better internet connection through wifi than simply on the 3G phone connection.

Edited May 29, 2013 by grahame r

[nb Innisfree]

 

I'm no expert on this and may be imayt?gining this but I think there is a difference between tethering and wifi. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and recently on the Upper Thames between Oxford and Lechlade the phone reception was very poor, to the point where emails weren't being updated from morning to evening, however on activating the wifi and connecting to my laptop the emails were immediately updated and I could stream live TV. It seems to me that I'm getting a far better internet connection through wifi than simply on the 3G phone connection.

Tethering makes use of a phone sim and connects phone and device via wifi. Connecting via wifi using a dongle, router or mifi type device a data only sim is employed, which takes priority over a phone sim. A data only sim on 3G is generally better than a phone sim on 3G. Edited May 29, 2013 by nb Innisfree

[Phil Ambrose]

Previously I used to have a traditional dongle which I had to suspend on a cable at which ever window gave me a half decent signal. It worked pretty well, well enough to get me through three years of UNI. However '3' have just sent me a new all singing and all dancing wireless version, which is absolutely brillient and so much faster and more convenient as I don't have to have my lap top permently connected. Apparently I can use my tablet with it!

And your Kindle.

 

Phil

though I guess a Kindle counts as a tablet

[grahame r]

Tethering makes use of a phone sim and connects phone and device via wifi. Connecting via wifi using a dongle, router or mifi type device a data only sim is employed, which takes priority over a phone sim. A data only sim on 3G is generally better than a phone sim on 3G.

On the Galaxy tethering and wifi are separate options. So is my Galaxy ,in wifi mode, connecting in the same way as a data only device? it certainly appears to be better than the "ordinary" phone connection to the internet.

[Phil Ambrose]

I'm no expert on this and may be imagining this but I think there is a difference between tethering and wifi. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and recently on the Upper Thames between Oxford and Lechlade the phone reception was very poor, to the point where emails weren't being updated from morning to evening, however on activating the wifi and connecting to my laptop the emails were immediately updated and I could stream live TV. It seems to me that I'm getting a far better internet connection through wifi than simply on the 3G phone connection.

I took this up with 3 a while ago and they told me phone signal is different to Wifi signal so it seemed that you may well get a better signal and reception on Wifi than you do on a phone even if they are both the same network.

 

Phil

[nb Innisfree]

On the Galaxy tethering and wifi are separate options. So is my Galaxy ,in wifi mode, connecting in the same way as a data only device? it certainly appears to be better than the "ordinary" phone connection to the internet.

A tethered phone is acting as a relay transmitter, receiving data from a network provider via its sim and retransmitting via wifi, same as a mifi, but it receives data via a phone sim unlike a mifi which receives data via a data only sim that takes priority over a phone sim. If a phone is on wifi it doesn't use its sim to receive data but receives it from another source which may be a mifi or a router, speed depends on the speed of the source. It's not wifi that's quicker but the primary source of data from the network provider.

 

I think that's it, someone might be able to add or correct.

[grahame r]

I think the salient point is that, from experience, the galaxy S3 is hugely superior to a dongle. We cruise a lot and this year we have been able to stream live tv the length of the navigable Thames. We are now on the K&A with everything still working at Aldermaston. We've never been able to get any signal for TV, dongle or phone at Pewsey so time will tell just how good the Galaxy is. We'll be in a week or so.