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Nothing to do with WiFi but I noticed you said Marie keeps writing books. I have her first 2 and would like to know if she has anymore published (bit of a fan)

Phil

 

The third 'narrow' book is called 'Narrow Escape' and is coming out in paperback next month. It's already available in electronic form from Amazon.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just in case someone else finds this thread and wants to know what the final solution was.

 

I used an ALFA R36 repeater/extender/router type thing and now have wifi throughout the boat. It wasn't the easiest thing to set up and I had to update the firmware before it would recognise our wireless receiver. It can also be connected to our dongle for when we are out and about. However, having checked how much bandwidth my son's online gaming devices used I don't think I'm going to tell him about that :).

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Just in case someone else finds this thread and wants to know what the final solution was.

 

I used an ALFA R36 repeater/extender/router type thing and now have wifi throughout the boat. It wasn't the easiest thing to set up and I had to update the firmware before it would recognise our wireless receiver. It can also be connected to our dongle for when we are out and about. However, having checked how much bandwidth my son's online gaming devices used I don't think I'm going to tell him about that smile.png.

Thank you for posting your solution.

 

A word of advice, my 13 year old son was disparaging about his school's IT adviser's ability to maintain a secure network. After repeatedly breaking in to their network with no publicity he decided to "make a public statement"; he was caught (and excluded for a day) only because his mates shopped him. Old-fashioned trust is the best way to deal with teenagers who often know more about technology than their seniors.

 

Alan

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Thank you for posting your solution.

 

A word of advice, my 13 year old son was disparaging about his school's IT adviser's ability to maintain a secure network. After repeatedly breaking in to their network with no publicity he decided to "make a public statement"; he was caught (and excluded for a day) only because his mates shopped him. Old-fashioned trust is the best way to deal with teenagers who often know more about technology than their seniors.

 

Alan

 

I do have the advantage of a 20 year career in the IT industry to keep me one step ahead of my son, even if the small size of that step has to be somewhat covered up by careful editing!

 

However, you are quite correct that a good relationship is a far better way to prevent bad behaviour than attempting to control a teenager's actions. The ability to turn a blind eye can come in very useful :)

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  • 1 month later...

I just got a wifi (portable modem) device from EE. It's great and my teenage son is very happy. I was looking at expensive ones first, thinking there were no other options, this was only £5.99 plus a monthly subscription depending on how many Gigabytes you want per month. You can't go over it either, as it stops you. Really pleased with it. I take it with me to other places too and it's small, but more powerful than a dongle.

Edited by Rambling
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I just got a wifi (portable modem) device from EE. It's great and my teenage son is very happy. I was looking at expensive ones first, thinking there were no other options, this was only £5.99 plus a monthly subscription depending on how many Gigabytes you want per month. You can't go over it either, as it stops you. Really pleased with it. I take it with me to other places too and it's small, but more powerful than a dongle.

These WiFi units are widely available from all phone network providers, likewise also from Ebay. I have a 3 one on a rolling monthly contract which I got gratis simply by asking for an upgrade to my dongle, cost is circa £12 a month inc of 5gigs. I also have a PAYG O2 WiFi which I can use if we are out of range of 3 or if their service is down, been using them for a couple of years now with no problems. The nice thing is they will run upto 5 devices at a time so Chris can use her tablet or Kindle while I'm on here.

Phil

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These WiFi units are widely available from all phone network providers, likewise also from Ebay. I have a 3 one on a rolling monthly contract which I got gratis simply by asking for an upgrade to my dongle, cost is circa £12 a month inc of 5gigs. I also have a PAYG O2 WiFi which I can use if we are out of range of 3 or if their service is down, been using them for a couple of years now with no problems. The nice thing is they will run upto 5 devices at a time so Chris can use her tablet or Kindle while I'm on here.

Phil

It is worth noting that some networks provide only capped usage for mifi devices but provide genuine unlimited use for smartphones including hotspot/tethering use. Might be worth using a cheap smartphone just as a hotspot device rather than a dedicated mifi device in some cases. (They can detect what kind of device their sim card is installed in.)

 

I have unlimited data including tethering (up to 5 devices) from Three for my phone on a monthly rolling contract of £18, if I signed for 12 months it would be £15 a month. Given Three works on higher frequency than others, might want an external aerial on your boat.

 

Just a thought.

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It is worth noting that some networks provide only capped usage for mifi devices but provide genuine unlimited use for smartphones including hotspot/tethering use. Might be worth using a cheap smartphone just as a hotspot device rather than a dedicated mifi device in some cases. (They can detect what kind of device their sim card is installed in.)

 

I have unlimited data including tethering (up to 5 devices) from Three for my phone on a monthly rolling contract of £18, if I signed for 12 months it would be £15 a month. Given Three works on higher frequency than others, might want an external aerial on your boat.

 

Just a thought.

 

AFAIK the situation is the complete opposite. I.E. the unlimited data connection on the 3 smartphone is seriously throttled at times of high demand, whereas the capped connection on a mifi gets full bandwidth at all times. That is why it is impossible to get a mifi on contract from any supplier that will give unlimited/uncapped amounts of data.

 

In practical terms, you cannot stream TV through a 3 smartphone on the one plan at times of high demand - i.e. most evenings in most places. Whereas if you use a PAYG 3 mifi, it is possible - but expensive! I have tried it!!

 

Can you expand on the bit about 3 working on a "higher frequency" please.

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AFAIK the situation is the complete opposite. I.E. the unlimited data connection on the 3 smartphone is seriously throttled at times of high demand, whereas the capped connection on a mifi gets full bandwidth at all times. That is why it is impossible to get a mifi on contract from any supplier that will give unlimited/uncapped amounts of data.

 

In practical terms, you cannot stream TV through a 3 smartphone on the one plan at times of high demand - i.e. most evenings in most places. Whereas if you use a PAYG 3 mifi, it is possible - but expensive! I have tried it!!

 

Can you expand on the bit about 3 working on a "higher frequency" please.

I think mifi and dongle sims do get throttled (called 'Traffic Sense' I believe?) but only after phone sim throttling still leaves heavy traffic. In other words a dongle/mifi sim will take priority.

 

3 works on the highest frequency of all the providers so has less range and is less able to penetrate walls and the like. The upside is 3 tend to have the best overall national mobile broadband coverage.

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In practical terms, you cannot stream TV through a 3 smartphone on the one plan at times of high demand - i.e. most evenings in most places. Whereas if you use a PAYG 3 mifi, it is possible - but expensive! I have tried it!!

My personal regular experience is more positive. Perhaps I have been lucky in choice of locations, but most weeks working away from home I have found my Three phone sim hotspot more reliable for BBC iPlayer and Netflix use most evenings than the WiFi in many hotels (and for a while, better than a heavily congested Virgin Media service in a house I lodged in).

 

Often, my work laptop is connected and using a VPN to some office network, and a personal VPN is operating on my tablet so I can see Netflix content from another country.

 

There have been times when I have had poor signals, but not so often (other than really too deep within a building) but whenever I have had a good signal, my streaming has been largely uninterrupted. It has been a while since I have used a Three MiFi, perhaps it is unfair comparing older technology with a 4G smartphone (Samsung Galaxy Note 3).

 

Until June last year, I had a corporate O2 service with streaming, and found better coverage overall for phone calls but much poorer data services. Not tried EE or Vodafone.

 

As an aside, I am now working in Helsinki every other week or so, and have installed a dual sim adapter in my phone and switch to a DNA sim when in Finland which turns in a excellent performance (easily >20Mbits most of time, 17 Euros a month unlimited inc tethering).

 

YMMV.

Edited by kyber
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Bought a remote wifi thingy here called a webtrotter from sfr in France,you can run multiple computers off it and switch it off at will.E30 for 4gbs a month,has been going good so far bit will see how it goes further south when we get away from bigger towns.The battery doesn't seem to last too long but it can be plugged in to the computer.

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Bought a remote wifi thingy here called a webtrotter from sfr in France,you can run multiple computers off it and switch it off at will.E30 for 4gbs a month,has been going good so far bit will see how it goes further south when we get away from bigger towns.The battery doesn't seem to last too long but it can be plugged in to the computer.

Sounds identical to the WiFi unit I have from 3 only more expensive.

Phil

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I think mifi and dongle sims do get throttled (called 'Traffic Sense' I believe?) but only after phone sim throttling still leaves heavy traffic. In other words a dongle/mifi sim will take priority.

 

3 works on the highest frequency of all the providers so has less range and is less able to penetrate walls and the like. The upside is 3 tend to have the best overall national mobile broadband coverage.

I have just found a spot on the K&A with no 3 coverage, Froxfield

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There's no solution for a zero signal.

 

................well you say that.....

We have a multitude of gizmos to deal with obtaining wi fi. The WiBe is marvellous, it's not cheap, but we've been in the middle of nowhere with no mifi or phone signal on any network, we've got them all, and the WiBe has pulled in a signal good enough to stream TV without buffering. They're about £350 and you still need a data sim

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................well you say that.....

We have a multitude of gizmos to deal with obtaining wi fi. The WiBe is marvellous, it's not cheap, but we've been in the middle of nowhere with no mifi or phone signal on any network, we've got them all, and the WiBe has pulled in a signal good enough to stream TV without buffering. They're about £350 and you still need a data sim

How can you get a signal if there's no signal? You can improve a weak signal but you can't improve it if it's not there in the first place, that would be magic!

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How can you get a signal if there's no signal? You can improve a weak signal but you can't improve it if it's not there in the first place, that would be magic!

I think he is saying that the stuff he sells will pick up a signal when the likes of you and me cant detect one.

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I see, so there is a signal.

Probably but the equipment I was using would not detect it. I am sure there is a signal everywhere, even the North Pole but it would probably be to weak as to be any use to most people. What GCHQ, CIA etc can pick up will be far beyond what my 3 MiFi will latch onto.

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We have a yogi aerial on the roof to a phone signal booster the phone is then Tethered to a asus router and thst powers the wifi on the boat. We are on a three unlimited contract and have no problems streaming things works really well

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We have a yogi aerial on the roof to a phone signal booster the phone is then Tethered to a asus router and thst powers the wifi on the boat. We are on a three unlimited contract and have no problems streaming things works really well

Is it in the lotus position?

Edited by nb Innisfree
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We have a yogi aerial on the roof to a phone signal booster the phone is then Tethered to a asus router and thst powers the wifi on the boat. We are on a three unlimited contract and have no problems streaming things works really well

Have you got UK links for your kit? The aerial, the booster, and the router? Does it do 4G?

 

Thanks

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