tablet tethering query

[Nightwatch]

The new rules don't allow it and if they do you can jump ship without penalty.

 

http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/2014/01/protection-against-unexpected-mid-contract-price-rises/

 

ed to add linky.

 

Further ed. - but as ever the enforceability of these seem dubious and they refer to them as 'guidelines' rather than rules which is not how it was portrayed in the news report I saw.

 

Already increased their prices. We are still January. I suppose they must have access to this site and saw me coming!!!

 

Hey ho! Won't have to buy now, before I was ready.

 

Martyn

[Guest]

Already increased their prices. We are still January. I suppose they must have access to this site and saw me coming!!!

 

Hey ho! Won't have to buy now, before I was ready.

 

Martyn

 

... and by a whopping five pounds too. The One plan is now £20 a month up from £15!

 

http://store.three.co.uk/SIM_Only/Voice_Pay_Monthly

 

I don't think I will be going there in September they can stick it.

[Nightwatch]

... and by a whopping five pounds too. The One plan is now £20 a month up from £15!

 

http://store.three.co.uk/SIM_Only/Voice_Pay_Monthly

 

I don't think I will be going there in September they can stick it.

is there an alternative though Martin? With 3 it's true unlimited.

 

Mind you,I've no idea what Mbs and all that jazz means. I just like the idea of unlimited and tethering.

 

Martyn

[Guest]

is there an alternative though Martin? With 3 it's true unlimited.

 

Mind you,I've no idea what Mbs and all that jazz means. I just like the idea of unlimited and tethering.

 

Martyn

 

When I have had look at my usage on my bill my data usage rarely gets any where near 500MB per month - sometimes it's only in double figures, my phone is more often than not connected via my router at home. My data usage does increase when we are on the boat though and if we lived on our boat I probably would go for it (as you say little choice) but as we don't I doubt I could justify it now.

 

Tethering is handy agreed but not crucial to me.

 

In fact I could probably get away with their essential internet 200 plan at half what I am paying now which is the way I think I am likely to go now.

 

Essential Internet SIM 200 12 months.

> See plan details.

• 500 MB
• 200 minutes
• 5,000 texts

From

£6.90

a month.

Select.

[Nightwatch]

I think it's fair to say that we are moving onboard in,hopefully, May/June this year. Hence my fixation on this subject.

 

Martyn

[Alan de Enfield]

My average usage over the last 12 months is a 'tad' over 20gig / month (always between 19 and 21 gigs)

 

After 3 months of trouble free usage with the "3 one-plan" I have cancelled our land line which was costing £49.95 / month (unlimited calls to mobiles and land lines,& unlimited broadband)

My land line / mobile usage was less than 2,000 calls per month so they are more than covered by the "3 One-Plan"

 

£15.00 / month with unlimited data use on the boat (didnt get that on the landline) a no-brainer

 

Phone stays on and tethered all the time, either on charge via the mains at home, or, on the boat, via the cigarette plug charger.

[Nightwatch]

Exactly. Sad it's gone up though, all the same.

 

Martyn.

[Guest]

Cancelling our home phone and bb is not an option for us at present as it is still needed while we are boating or on holiday sometimes for weeks.

Edited January 31, 2014 by The Dog House

[Jim Batty]

Hi Jim,

 

Not an expert, but my experience based on my IPHONE 4 is.......

 

1) if only used as a phone (no tethering, photos, surfing etc) full battery charge lasts approx. 5-6 days

2) full battery charge when used for constant tethering, lasts approx. 4-6 hours

3) to fully charge from pretty much empty takes approx. 1 & 1/4 hours (on house mains electric)

 

our plan when ccing is using the phone to tether to devices in the evenings, when we may have multiple devices in use (we also have a dongal which can be used for single use during the day if one of us want internet access while cruising). Charge the phone during the day while we are cruising along with any other devices which need a recharge for evening use.

 

I'm not a "Apple holic", but have both a Iphone and Ipod; we also have a nexus 7 note pad & a non Apple lap top and a Dell home pc......I ended up with the Iphone because I used the wrong terminology when discussing my upgrade last time I meant to say I wanted a smart phone and said Iphone instead - happy with the result though

Thanks Bettie Boo

 

That's useful information. There seem to be some good deals on iPhone 4s at the moment. I certainly don't need bleeding edge!

 

 

I originally tethered with an old Sony Ericsson Xperia X8, via a third party app and the fully charged battery would give a couple of hours tethering before it needed a recharge. Day to day used as a phone, the battery lfe was about 1.5 days.

 

I now use a Star S7189 (basically a Chinese clone of a Samsung Galaxy Note 2, but at a quarter of the cost ) which has a tethering app built in. I get a good evenings tethering with this, probably due to the battery being a much larger capacity than to my old X8. I also notice the newer phone doesn't get as hot as the old - which I'm led to believe is what kills the battery.

 

I use a 3 dongle which has given me decent reception everywhere (so far, knock on wood), so no need for tethering. = £15/mo with 10gb data. WAY better than previous Vodafone dongle (which ALWAYS gave rubbish connection, even everywhere in Newbury where their HQ resides.

 

yeah, me too, but i find that bi am being pushed towards getting a smart phone because all the deals include data.i dont need a smart phone and dont really want one.i dont use a phone very much because every body hates me and i have no friends but am finding that i have no choice and that is why i am thinking about getting a tablet. the wife has had blackberrys and iphones but to me ,i cant be bothered with the internet on such a small screen.AAAh! the hell of living in the first world.

 

Why not use boating as an EXCUSE for having, what I call, an 'intelligent phone' rather than a smartphone ... if you need one.

 

Intelligent phones (such as my old Nokia) are intelligent enough to only pester me with phone calls and texts and nothing else. I do all my email, web browsing, research, image swapping and such through my laptop at my own leisure. (I tend to focus on people when I'm with people, and data when I want to engage with it).

[Pykebird]

i treated myself to an experia z1 on the 3 plan and although i still haven't got a clue how to use most of the tech stuffi love it. I am pleased to say i have finally worked out how to tether my cheapo tablet from china and my laptop. The speed is much quicker than the dongle i used to use. Just need to get used to using fat fingers!!

[DaveGood]

Correction to Betty Boos post,

 

Yes we do have a Dell computer, but our main computer on which I'm typing, is a huge Cyberpower unit, upgraded, that can run NASA and has an electrical appetite to match.

 

DaveGood

Edited February 4, 2014 by DaveGood

[nb Innisfree]

We have just ditched our BT phone line and signed up for TalkTalk home BB. We soon had an email asking us to call them as regards any disconnection fees, it turned out to be just a ruse to get us to talk with a salesman who asked us why we were changing providers and reminding us that TalkTalk had the highest number of customer complaints, all this interspersed with sorrow that they were losing us (my bullshit antenna was overloading) also they could match any offer. When I said we were getting unlimited BB for £2.50 pm he proceeded to offer me the same for £5.00!?

Edited February 4, 2014 by nb Innisfree

[sueb]

I used to connect my phone to my laptop by cable. This charged my phone and enabled me to surf on the laptop at the same time

[georgie girl]

About tethering your internet stuff. Make sure which device is using the data. I tethered my phone to my laptop and ended up with a huge bill.

[pquinn]

About tethering your internet stuff. Make sure which device is using the data. I tethered my phone to my laptop and ended up with a huge bill.

can you elaborate on that, georgie?

[Guest]

can you elaborate on that, georgie?

 

Presumably she didn't have an unlimited data plan (like the One plan) on her phone and went over her monthly data allowance by a good lump.

 

I know you can avoid this with 3 (possibly others) by having your account set so that you don't incur additional 'out of bundle costs' - you have to ring them to set it up though.

 

You would then just not be able to access the internet using your phone once you have used your allowance until your new billing month starts. It also stops you going over your monthly text and calls allowance - basically you can't get anything beyond what your monthly payment covers. (including roaming)

[Alan de Enfield]

Our Cheapy LG phone (£50) tells you when you are approaching a preset level of usage, I didnt know this until it flashed a 'warning approaching your Data limit" - as we were on the One-plan the girl in the shop had set it to 10gig/month even though I had told her I used 20gig / month.

 

The phone 'didnt know' we were on the one-plan it just recorded usages.

 

Just go into settings and set whatever level you want - I set it a 100 gig, if you have 250 meg just set it accordingly

 

Presumably other phones have this option ?

[Guest]

Presumably other phones have this option ?

 

Indeed some apps can do it too.

 

This is a good one for the iPhone

[Nightwatch]

Yesterday I gave 30 days notice of termination of my Orange service. After a number of telephone calls they couldn't match Three's The One Plan. They could offer nearly everything but not the unlimited tethering.

 

Today, I get a call from orange offering, yes you've guessed it, 2000 mins, unlimited texts, unlimited Data with unlimited tethering. No slow downs or unexpected price hikes. Including VAT, £15.50 a month on a rolling monthly deal. Sim only.

 

If they fanny about I will go to 3 as planned anyway.

 

Seems after seven years I am, after all a loyal customer. Perhaps they are seeing the light and considering matching 3.

 

Martyn

[Bettie Boo]

That sounds like a pretty good deal Martyn; I'm with T-Mobile and pay £38.00 (plus VAT) per month for two phones, unlimited texts, unlimited data & tethering, reduced charges for calls to Canada & 750 free minutes on each phone. 24 month contract

[Nightwatch]

They made it clear that it was a one off offer, and I had to agree right away as I may not get the same person again. Yeah! Right.

 

However, it is sim only, no phone involved.

 

Threaten to leave, give notice and see what happens. I'm chuffed as it's never happened to me before. They must really like me. Heart smiley.❤️( Edit to add. That's the first smiley I've been able to do on my ipad. Where that lottery site.)

 

I'm about to give notice to Virgin in the next few days. I gave slowly reduced our services from them and there's been no counter offers. We are actually leaving them and perhaps they realise that. I told them a year ago that I am leaving so I didn't want any more entrapment tricks into prolonged contracts etc. they have backed off since. I am out of contract now just using their internet and telephone now.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Nightwatch

[cotswoldsman]

 

The quick and easy answer is yes. Most modern smart phones allow them to be used as a wireless hotspot just like using a wireless router at home or in Maccy D's.

 

However it is important to get a plan that allows it with the phone. Not all plans do and the providers do have systems in place to detect you are tethering and can cut you off in your prime if they detect you are doing it when you shouldn't be. (Some claim to have been able to circumvent these restrictions though).

 

One plan to allow this is 'The One Plan' from Three. It allows unlimited data and importantly tethering too. Three do other unlimited data plans BUT not all allow the phone to be tethered unless you buy a 'tethering add on' each month. It is important to note that buying one of these add ons whilst allowing tethering it does not allow the data to be unlimited whilst tethering, only the 'phone only' data usage remains unlimited. This is why the One Plan is popular because it allows both.

 

Note however that some users on here report their connection regularly gets 'throttled' at certain times leading to problems when they are doing such things as watching something on iPlayer.

 

I seem to recall EE have introduced a similar plan to Three's One plan recently too.

As said elsewhere there are loads of Apps that allow you you to tether without your supplier knowing you are therhering.

[carlt]

As said elsewhere there are loads of Apps that allow you you to tether without your supplier knowing you are therhering.

Would that be "non-compliant" tethering?

[cotswoldsman]

Would that be "non-compliant" tethering?

Could be I think it could be "no home tethering" it is something as a member of Association of Compliant Tetherers I would not be part of.

[Guest]

Would that be "non-compliant" tethering?

 

Possibly, today this is the first time in two and a half months this thread has moved.....