3 mifi?

[paulstoke1975]

I've just moved into festival park marina and the my 3 phone has terrible reception would it be the same for the 3 mifi?

 

Or can anyone recommend a good provider. ?

 

 

Thanks

 

 

Paul.

[Nightwatch]

I've taken up Three 15mg of data with a free 5573 Dongle. 15.99 a month. 24 months.

 

So far I have been really pleased with the signal. Even had 4g which was really really good. Presently in Leicester with tall buildings. Not as good but still satisfactory. Would buildings make a difference?

[jenlyn]

After being with three since they started, I took up an ee contract dongle. Bye bye three. I've been running both dongles alongside each other. The ee one is on average 15 times faster, even when it gets the odd moment on 3g.

Three can get lost.

[OldGoat]

I've just moved into festival park marina and the my 3 phone has terrible reception would it be the same for the 3 mifi?

 

Or can anyone recommend a good provider. ?

 

 

Thanks

 

 

Paul.

 

Technologically, I'd expect YES - the signal strength would be the same - but you'll be using more 'data' - so it'll perform worse.

I have found in many places that sticking the unit on a pole gets better results. If that improves things then you can by an antenna to stick up the pole instead - assuming that the MiFi unit has a socket, otherwise you'll need a waterproof plastic box and a long USB lead.

[Bunny]

Dont even bother with Vodafone. Bunny

[Paul C]

1) Get a decent mi-fi unit with an external aerial

2) Be prepared to try out a bunch of different networks to find one that actually works and provides a reasonable speed.

 

Three, in my experience, is generally okay on the rural areas where canals go but in urban locations, basically its network gets congested at peak times and it slows to a crawl. O2 and EE are less good in rural areas but in specific locations can outperform Three.

[trackman]

Never needed an external aerial for our 3 mifi. It normally got a far better data signal than either of our mobiles too. However I got angry with 3 over data usage issues earlier this year and looked for an alternative. I got a deal for 15GB/month 4G data from EE for £15 with one of their Kestrel wifi dongles.

It's far faster than the 3 unit and again we've yet to feel any need for an external aerial.

[Bloomsberry]

After being with three since they started, I took up an ee contract dongle. Bye bye three. I've been running both dongles alongside each other. The ee one is on average 15 times faster, even when it gets the odd moment on 3g.

Three can get lost.

 

I think speed depends on time of day and the location you are to a transmitter.

 

I use a B&B in Bury located in an industrial estate with few homes nearby and a 3 mast very close by. I can get between 10-12 meg quite consistently from there although at home I get nowhere near that as the nearest 3 transmitter is a good distance away.

[jenlyn]

 

I think speed depends on time of day and the location you are to a transmitter.

 

I use a B&B in Bury located in an industrial estate with few homes nearby and a 3 mast very close by. I can get between 10-12 meg quite consistently from there although at home I get nowhere near that as the nearest 3 transmitter is a good distance away.

I think they are oversubscribed. I've been with them from the start, and noticed after big promotions, the speed drops for a few months.

This ee one is working everywhere so far, and I Cc.

Running both together gives clear factual evidence to me that the ee system is far superior.

[Nightwatch]

I'm hijacking this thread for a mo.

I'm in my second month of having a 3 Miri dongle with 15 gb of data. The first month I was okay and had about four lefty at renewable. This month I have 6 days to go and I have run out and am being charged £1 a mb.

 

I have not used my data any different this month, nor any different from when I was on all you can eat contract.

 

Questions.

Should I be switching off my dongle when not in use?

Does the dongle use allowance when stood idle?

Anyone know how I can save data, ie. Location services etc. running in the background!

[Paul C]

Did yuor computer download windows 10 or any other updates in the background?

[Seti-Yeti]

My son works for Carphone Warehouse and recommends EE as the best coverage as they have all four frequency bands, unlike Vodafone for instance whom only have one. Therefore you are more likely to get a signal. I haven't looked into a data dongle contract/PAYG yet but they will be top of the list.

 

I would switch off the dongle when not in use and make sure your equipment is NOT set to automatic update as an OS or application download can run into megabytes. For email I'd view on-line and only download those of interest. Attachments you don't want or need will always take data.

Edited September 29, 2015 by Seti-Yeti

[Nightwatch]

I have an iPad. There has been a update. That could well be the problem.perhaps,maybe.

 

Thanks yo the two of you. I suspected it was operator education. Drat. Can't play on the forum now.

Edited September 29, 2015 by Nightwatch

[trackman]

I had a similar issue with 3 a few months ago and couldn't get any answers. I'd been with them years. I left them and got a Kestrel from EE. I found a deal for 15GB for £15 a month.

So far it's been great, good speed wherever I've tried it.

[Nightwatch]

Sadly I'm in month two of 24. It's probably me that is misusing the dongle. Hey ho!

 

I did look at EE and the Kestrel. But for some reason I was set on wanting a Huawei dongle.

[bottle]

Will not make any difference to your usage but you can buy your own Huawei (as I have done) and then go for a sim only deal, that can work out cheaper.

[Richard10002]

Too late for some but I bought a new unlocked Huawei mifi, and a sim on its own from EE.

 

My movements are limited to a small bit of The Bridgewater, but EE has much better reception than Three.... which is probably to be expected when you see how much bandwidth EE were able to buy, as against how much Three have.

[Nightwatch]

Will not make any difference to your usage but you can buy your own Huawei (as I have done) and then go for a sim only deal, that can work out cheaper.

not sure if this equates to a good deal or. Not.

 

Supposingly free dongle and 15 gb of data. £15.00 a month. Now the catch. 24 month deal. Seemed okay to me six/seven weeks ago.

[Justme]

Phone three up and put your account on to a zero credit basis.

 

Then when you run out you dont get any big bills.

 

True you also dont get any internet.

 

We have just had a new three mifi. Its a 4g one so has twin antennas & twin external antenna ports.

 

With no external antenna it gets one bar, with a single directional antenna(cost £50 a few years ago) it gets two bars but with a £10 twin antenna it gets 4 bars.

[nb Innisfree]

I'm hijacking this thread for a mo.

I'm in my second month of having a 3 Miri dongle with 15 gb of data. The first month I was okay and had about four lefty at renewable. This month I have 6 days to go and I have run out and am being charged £1 a mb.

 

I have not used my data any different this month, nor any different from when I was on all you can eat contract.

 

Questions.

Should I be switching off my dongle when not in use?

Does the dongle use allowance when stood idle?

Anyone know how I can save data, ie. Location services etc. running in the background!

When we first moved onto our boat in 2005 the kids bought us Vodafone mobile Internet for the laptop. Wait for it... £3 per mb! that's right, it's not a typo, £3 per megabyte

[Boredrider]

Buying a 3 PAYG mifi can be a relatively cheap way of getting an unlocked device with aerial sockets (Three no longer lock new devices to their network AFAIK). You can then use PAYG sims from other networks to compare reception at your site, and maybe try cheap aerial (you'll need two for 4G). If you conclude that EE gives you the best speed, then see if there are any offers on free data sims, as the most recent provided 100GB a month for two months. Or consider a sim only PAYG contract with your chosen provider.

[Arthur Brown]

The way to determine which provider is best locally is to ask your neighbours! Different locales have different choices.

[Richard10002]

Buying a 3 PAYG mifi can be a relatively cheap way of getting an unlocked device with aerial sockets (Three no longer lock new devices to their network AFAIK). You can then use PAYG sims from other networks to compare reception at your site, and maybe try cheap aerial (you'll need two for 4G). If you conclude that EE gives you the best speed, then see if there are any offers on free data sims, as the most recent provided 100GB a month for two months. Or consider a sim only PAYG contract with your chosen provider.

 

As far as I know, no provider yet uses MIMO, (multi in/multi out), as they dont have enough bandwidth for one - so you dont need two aerial feeds at present.

 

(Having said that, I have a 4G aerial with 2 feeds, but my mifi has only one aerial terminal).

 

There's a lot of info on the Solwise site about all this.

[Justme]

Well mine def works better with both plugged in.

[nine9feet]

Interesting how peoples experiences vary so much. I have both 3 and EE 4G mifi. The 3 service seems consistently better. I suppose it depends a lot on where you travel. I am lucky that I can travel across large parts of the system rather than being constrained to, for example, the GU.

 

The one thing I have noticed a lot more recently is that I often get a better signal for data (mobile broadband) than I do for the phone. A couple of days ago there was no service at all on the phone yet the broadband was full strength 4G!! On three there is an app called "3 In Touch" which enables you to utilise the broadband connection (via wifi from the phone) for SMS txt messages and voice calls when the phone signal is very weak or non-existent.

 

The one complete dead spot I have found so far is at Lower Heyford (Oxford Canal) - a real comms blackhole!