Recommendation for internet on boats

[Doodlebug]

For a change i'm not posting questions i'm posting something that might be of use to anyone looking for the 'best' internet plan for their boat.

 

I have just bought a data plan from three with a mifi router.

 

I bought the router as part of their 5gb 30 day rolling contract plan, and got that for £29 for the mifi unit, and then I am supposed to be paying £15.99 a month for the 5gb of data. - They gave me the first month free.

 

Furthermore they have a separate plan which is 10gb of data for £15 a month. I would have had to pay £49.99 for the mifi router if I took this route, and the man in the shop said after my first 30 days on the 5gb contract are up I can ring them and change plans so that I am on the 10gb for £15 a month.

 

I figure thats pretty good value, the mifi dongles are around £50 everywhere else i've been, and because the contract is only 30 days I now own the mifi router, and can change plans whenever I like.

 

And in terms of reception i'm impressed. I have no problems from inside the boat, I could put it on the roof if I wished and the speed is so much better than what I was using before.

 

I hope that info might help people out there looking for something better than tethering mobiles, which is what i've done for the last year.

 

Back to asking questions now

 

 

[c c]

coincidence - not ten minutes ago I was asking about the best way to get internet/computing/TV watching etc on the boat and a friend was recommending three as best and telling me to get an Apple iPad.

I basically know nothing and its all greek to me so am interested in further comments.

[Delta9]

coincidence - not ten minutes ago I was asking about the best way to get internet/computing/TV watching etc on the boat and a friend was recommending three as best and telling me to get an Apple iPad.

I basically know nothing and its all greek to me so am interested in further comments.

I would agree with your friend about using three mobile, but can't see any good reason to buy an iPad. There are much better options available, depending on what exactly you want to use it for.

[Psycloud]

I would agree with your friend about using three mobile, but can't see any good reason to buy an iPad. There are much better options available, depending on what exactly you want to use it for.

 

We have various laptops, smart phones and other internet devices but I use my iPad mini more than any of the above - it is so convenient in bed for reading, browsing, watching films from our server or even iPlayer. We also have 3 on the One Plan with our dongle connected to a router which allows for as many devices as we like to connect at once.

[Delta9]

 

We have various laptops, smart phones and other internet devices but I use my iPad mini more than any of the above - it is so convenient in bed for reading, browsing, watching films from our server or even iPlayer. We also have 3 on the One Plan with our dongle connected to a router which allows for as many devices as we like to connect at once.

There are plenty of cheaper and better products available to do the same job though, which is why I wouldn't recommend the iPad. Unless of course you have too much money and want to waste some of it.

[Richard10002]

We have various laptops, smart phones and other internet devices but I use my iPad mini more than any of the above - it is so convenient in bed for reading, browsing, watching films from our server or even iPlayer. We also have 3 on the One Plan with our dongle connected to a router which allows for as many devices as we like to connect at once.

 

You can do most everything an IPad mini will do on a Nexus 7. Similar in size, slightly different shape. My SWMBO preferred tha shape and "holdability" of the Nexus - bought the top of the range 32Gb & 3G for about £270. IIRC the equivalent iPad mini was a couple of hundred quid more. Just bought her a Nexus 4 phone that does all that my Samsung S3 and our previous iPhones do/did for £170.

 

Other phones and tablets will do similar stuff for more, or less, money. I can no longer see a reason to pay a premium for Apple products - they used to fairly unique, but not any more.

 

Both of us have 3's The One Plan.

[sueb]

I gave my Ipad to my daughter. I much prefer my laptop

[smileypete]

coincidence - not ten minutes ago I was asking about the best way to get internet/computing/TV watching etc on the boat and a friend was recommending three as best and telling me to get an Apple iPad.

I basically know nothing and its all greek to me so am interested in further comments.

 

Might be worth starting a new thread for tablet recommendations.

 

If you want something that 'just works' and with good retail backup iPads are great if budget allows, but there's a lot of alternatives these days.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

[Lady Muck]

Well I'm happy with ipad - saves me money, no need for expensive colour printer for work. Also it's very strong, judging by the amount of times the dog has sat on it and it still works.

[Delta9]

Well I'm happy with ipad - saves me money, no need for expensive colour printer for work. Also it's very strong, judging by the amount of times the dog has sat on it and it still works.

Your iPad can print stuff?

[Dave Payne]

Ipads are great i find, however you pay for this!

 

You can pick up tablets off all sizes from the web from £40..

 

I bought a £40 and to be honest it sucks, however if you dont want to spend much money then you can grab a simple one to watch streaming software.

 

things to watch out for...

 

1. Battery, a lot of the cheaper ones only last 2-3 hours when playing videos.

2. OS, Andriod is best, go for ice cream sandwhich 4.0 to 4.2 i think. Stay away from the ones offering 2.2, a lot of apps wont work and you will have to find a work around for flash which you will need for iplayer.

3. Screen resolution, The more the better obviously!

4. HDMI output, you can then plug it into your flatscreen.

5. Beware the ebay cheapos, ideally go into a store and play with one.

 

The one i bought does not like being on charge and using the screen, it goes nuts!

[CygnusV]

We've used '3' for more than 3 years now. I run a couple of websites from the boat and for under £20 we get 15 gigs a month. Absolutely excellent but something to remember. Under no circumstances exceed the agreed monthly download limit! Unless things have changed they charge an absolute p!ss taking fortune if you exceed your monthly limit. Properly read the instructions and reset the usage meter every month. That way you can keep an eye on things. Oh, don't forget that downloading video uses HUGE amounts of your monthly data allowance!

[Richard10002]

Ipads are great i find, however you pay for this!

 

You can pick up tablets off all sizes from the web from £40..

 

I bought a £40 and to be honest it sucks, however if you dont want to spend much money then you can grab a simple one to watch streaming software.

 

things to watch out for...

 

1. Battery, a lot of the cheaper ones only last 2-3 hours when playing videos.

2. OS, Andriod is best, go for ice cream sandwhich 4.0 to 4.2 i think. Stay away from the ones offering 2.2, a lot of apps wont work and you will have to find a work around for flash which you will need for iplayer.

3. Screen resolution, The more the better obviously!

4. HDMI output, you can then plug it into your flatscreen.

5. Beware the ebay cheapos, ideally go into a store and play with one.

 

The one i bought does not like being on charge and using the screen, it goes nuts!

£40 sucks - you get what you pay for.

 

£250 works fine - Nexus 7

 

£450 not much different to £250 tablet, but as long as some will pay a premium, apple will go on charging it.

[Ange]

Another vote for the One Plan with 3. The android phone hangs in the window and it's very rare I can't get a signal good enough to stream the iplayer and such like.

 

Previously we had a 3 dongle that gave me 15gb for £15 per month and a T-Mobile phone contract for £15 per month. Now we pay £25 per month for the phone plus unlimited data, so I'm quite happy - saved a fiver a month and no worries about exceeding data allowance.

 

It'll be interesting to see what's around next year when my contract is due for renewal.

 

ETA I just got chucked off at 2.46am - there you go - it's not all as simple as the "google makes me clever" peeps like to make out. I've found it happens often if I watch two or three programs in a row on the iPlayer or suchlike. Definitely within the terms of my contract with them and usually at silly o'clock so why throttle me?

 

Now where's Chris Pink - we need him for proper information rather than "I've got loads of time on my hands and can use google"

Edited October 1, 2013 by Ange

[smileypete]

£40 sucks - you get what you pay for.

 

£250 works fine - Nexus 7

 

£450 not much different to £250 tablet, but as long as some will pay a premium, apple will go on charging it.

 

Pot calling the kettle black, or near enough.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

[Richard10002]

Pot calling the kettle black, or near enough.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Not sure what you mean?

[smileypete]

Not sure what you mean?

 

Well some of the most expensive tablets actually leave out features like Micro SD, just so they can charge a ludicrous markup for the higher memory model. Including Nexus. And most of the cheap £50ish tablets include Micro SD.

 

Anyway surely a £200 tablet isn't much different to a £250 tablet. And a £150 tablet isn't much different to a £200 tablet. And so on, horses for courses

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

[nb Innisfree]

I just got chucked off at 2.46am - there you go - it's not all as simple as the "google makes me clever" peeps like to make out. I've found it happens often if I watch two or three programs in a row on the iPlayer or suchlike. Definitely within the terms of my contract with them and usually at silly o'clock so why throttle me?hands and can use google"

Maybe you were throttled back to give priority to data only sim users? There has to be a drawback to unlimited data when it's not available to data only sims.

[Ange]

Maybe you were throttled back to give priority to data only sim users? There has to be a drawback to unlimited data when it's not available to data only sims.

Possibly, but you wouldn't think it'd be necessary at 3am!

[nb Innisfree]

Possibly, but you wouldn't think it'd be necessary at 3am!

Lot of insomniacs out there!

 

Creepy...

[Guest]

Well I'm happy with ipad - saves me money, no need for expensive colour printer for work. Also it's very strong, judging by the amount of times the dog has sat on it and it still works.

 

Now I'm curious - interested to know how one fulfils this role, or did you mean something else?.

 

(daughter is an avid iPad user and has just ditched her smartphone to use it exclusively for all internet 'stuff', now just uses a cheapo phone for calls iPad for everything else).

Lot of insomniacs out there!

 

Creepy...

 

..... or early risers.... another 'dad's taxi' station run beckons!!

[Dave Payne]

2. OS, Andriod is best, go for ice cream sandwhich 4.0 to 4.2 i think. Stay away from the ones offering 2.2, a lot of apps wont work and you will have to find a work around for flash which you will need for iplayer.

 

 

Sorry the latest version is of Andriod is actually Jelly Bean, 4.3

[Doodlebug]

Its hard to argue that apple are at the top of their field. Indeed an ipad may not be affordable but for those who can afford one I can totally see why you would want it.

[Anniet]

Needing to get internet on boat for sons college stuff and potentially his games. New to all this WiFi stuff but mates have recommended Alcatel onetouch? Am curious to know if signal for any of these gizmos us affected by being used within 4 steel walls?

[bobbingabout]

We use a 3 mifi 15 gig a month for £18 can connect up to five devices at the same time it lives bluetacked to a window where it gets great connection can see a 5 meg download and 2 meg upload speeds great for gaming and fast surfing.

When I want to borrow a film from the interweb I download it using my 3 phone that has a unlimited data plan as the phone doesent have as fast speeds as the mifi I do this over night. If I ever run out of data on the mifi I can just tether my devices to the phone but connection can be a bit choppy and slow.

I did try swapping the SIM from the phone and putting it in the mifi to get unlimited data and got a sarcastic message on the laptop saying we know what your doing it won't work now put your SIM back in your phone lol