Mini, WiFi and best deals

[matty40s]

It's finally happened, the latest Google Android update has allowed 3 to see my tethering from mobile and I'm now limited to 4gb a month on what was the One contract.

So....

 

What's the latest best deal on data sims and what is the best piece of kit for hosting it.

It will need to have an option for an external ariel connection.

Thankyou in advance.

Daily visits to Costa are not an option.☺

 

That said MiFi until I posted it not Mini!!!!

Edited February 1, 2017 by matty40s

[WotEver]

Best I could find was Three on a 4G mifi. I eventually talked them down to £14/month for 30GB, but I had been with them for 4 years at the time. I think the best 'standard' deal for that contract is low £20s but you have to agree to a 24 month contract to get that deal.

 

Edit to correct allowance.

Edited February 1, 2017 by WotEver

[cereal tiller]

Best I could find was Three on a 4G mifi. I eventually talked them down to £14/month for 20GB, but I had been with them for 4 years at the time. I think the best 'standard' deal for that contract is low £20s but you have to agree to a 24 month contract to get that deal.

Have got 3 Sim card only.£20 for 30 GB

 

CT

[Naughty Cal]

Liam is on a 3 sim only deal with unlimited 4G data and 30GB tethering at £11.50 for six months and then £23 after that. 12 month contract.

[JohnO]

Matty,

 

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/Plans_for_phones#?contract=All&data=All-you-can-eat&minutes=&type=alltype

 

i got this one, all about the minutes you use.

 

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/SIM-size-select?step=confirmplan&planid=1400624190965&

 

why you going from "fone"sim to data sim. 3 allow 30GB tethering now on fone sim. No need for extra kit.

?

Edited February 1, 2017 by JohnO

[matty40s]

I would rather buy a MiFi or other kit and get a sim only deal, far easier to get one off specials like the recent EE ones.

Matty,

 

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/Plans_for_phones#?contract=All&data=All-you-can-eat&minutes=&type=alltype

 

i got this one, all about the minutes you use.

 

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/SIM-size-select?step=confirmplan&planid=1400624190965&

That 30gb personal hotpot deal is what I'm paying for 4gb!!!!

[Dave_P]

I have an EE mifi with 50gb per month for £27.50 per month.

 

I also have a 3 mobile contract with 30gb per month(includiing tethering) for £18 per month.

 

Both were 12 month contracts.

 

I got my 3 deal last month when they had their january sale on. Looks like the 30gb contract has gone back up to £26 now. http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/SIM-size-select?step=confirmplan&planid=1400624181328&

 

It was £18 a couple of weeks ago.

Edited February 1, 2017 by Dave_P

[john6767]

Are you certain it is 4gb, I recently switched from the One Plan the all you can eat data one which gives you 30gb of tethering. I guess if when your contract was taken out it was 4 you are stuck with that but can't you upgrade to a new one? When I changed the per month cost went down by £12 a month and they gave me 3 months free as that was the correct promotion for upgrading

[john6767]

Liam is on a 3 sim only deal with unlimited 4G data and 30GB tethering at £11.50 for six months and then £23 after that. 12 month contract.

Mine is basically the same over a year £23 a month, with 3 months free

[ditchcrawler]

Best I could find was Three on a 4G mifi. I eventually talked them down to £14/month for 30GB, but I had been with them for 4 years at the time. I think the best 'standard' deal for that contract is low £20s but you have to agree to a 24 month contract to get that deal.

 

Edit to correct allowance.

When my renewal came up I thought I would try for a better deal, no luck, they said I wouldn't get it cheaper anywhere else.

[pearley]

Just upgraded with EE. 30gb for £21.60 a month with a Mini MiFi device.

[matty40s]

Are you certain it is 4gb, I recently switched from the One Plan the all you can eat data one which gives you 30gb of tethering. I guess if when your contract was taken out it was 4 you are stuck with that but can't you upgrade to a new one? When I changed the per month cost went down by £12 a month and they gave me 3 months free as that was the correct promotion for upgrading

It is most definitely 4. When they forced the switch I agreed to a £28 a month as I knew they couldn't see the tethering. Use has been shared with kathys home and work laptop, my daughters phone and my laptop and tv.

In November there was an Android update and they shafted me for an additional £20 (Due to a month where Netflix on the TV had been hammered watching the entire series of Breaking Bad . Since November it has stopped point blank at 4gb and informed me I should purchase additional data. £28 is not a good deal - even though I can still watch the TV through mirroring the screen of the mobile.

So its time to do it properly.

£

[Bewildered]

These days it seems silly to sign up for a 12 or 24 month contract, you get nothing for customer loyalty now.

You are far better off getting a pay monthly contract as new cheaper deals are always coming out.

I recently took out an EE 32gb deal for £14.50 monthly contract, if they bring out a better deal it only takes 30days to get out of the contract. When I changed to the new deal I ended up with 64gb to use up in the overlap month which was still a lot cheaper for the extra data than topping up.

[matty40s]

It seems the Huawei 5577c is the best MiFi unit with external aerial capabilities????

[ditchcrawler]

It is most definitely 4. When they forced the switch I agreed to a £28 a month as I knew they couldn't see the tethering. Use has been shared with kathys home and work laptop, my daughters phone and my laptop and tv.

In November there was an Android update and they shafted me for an additional £20 (Due to a month where Netflix on the TV had been hammered watching the entire series of Breaking Bad . Since November it has stopped point blank at 4gb and informed me I should purchase additional data. £28 is not a good deal - even though I can still watch the TV through mirroring the screen of the mobile.

So its time to do it properly.

£

Would it be cheaper to buy an old phone see http://www.narrowboat-waiouru.co.uk/2017/01/interesting.html

[bozlite]

I got a 64GB deal (including mini wifi router) with EE for £30.50 pm for 24 months. We've ditched our home broadband and just take the wifi router back and forth to the boat.

[matty40s]

Would it be cheaper to buy an old phone see http://www.narrowboat-waiouru.co.uk/2017/01/interesting.html

i will still need a separate sim card to my existing phone so might as well go for a data only sim in a mifi which will give better reception/signal,can be fixed with power supply and forgotten about, and can be linked to an aerial on the roof

[WotEver]

When my renewal came up I thought I would try for a better deal, no luck, they said I wouldn't get it cheaper anywhere else.

I don't know what the magic formula was for me but I'd been on a 15GB contract for years and when I ran out of data yet again I phoned to ask how I could buy more. They told me I couldn't because my contract was well expired. After a confusing 5 minutes to and fro I ended up with the deal I mentioned.

[john6767]

It is most definitely 4. When they forced the switch I agreed to a £28 a month as I knew they couldn't see the tethering. Use has been shared with kathys home and work laptop, my daughters phone and my laptop and tv.

In November there was an Android update and they shafted me for an additional £20 (Due to a month where Netflix on the TV had been hammered watching the entire series of Breaking Bad . Since November it has stopped point blank at 4gb and informed me I should purchase additional data. £28 is not a good deal - even though I can still watch the TV through mirroring the screen of the mobile.

So its time to do it properly.

£

When did you switch, once you have done 12 months on the SIM only you should be able to switch to a new plan that has 30 tethering.

[Edders]

These days it seems silly to sign up for a 12 or 24 month contract, you get nothing for customer loyalty now.

You are far better off getting a pay monthly contract as new cheaper deals are always coming out.

I recently took out an EE 32gb deal for £14.50 monthly contract, if they bring out a better deal it only takes 30days to get out of the contract. When I changed to the new deal I ended up with 64gb to use up in the overlap month which was still a lot cheaper for the extra data than topping up.

I had an email from EE yesterday offering me an upgrade to a minimum 12 month contract of 64GB / £16.10 per month and applies to existing customers only.

 

I have only recently upgraded to the same rolling contract deal as Bewildered took out and I currently don't get anywhere near using 64GB of data (let alone 32GB) a month so won't be upgrading any time soon. However, if it can be had as a monthly rolling contract for the same cost it would be worth taking up.

 

Tony

[mrsmelly]

Remember Matty. 3 are often the cheapest but as a for instance there is NO signal within 2 miles of my location. Only o2 works and occasionaly ee but vodafone and 3 are non starters, giff gaff works. Its ok getting 84 billion megga jobbies for fifty pence a month but worth diddly squat without a signal ALWAYS buy an unlocked dongle/fone

Edited February 1, 2017 by mrsmelly

[cuthound]

Remember Matty. 3 are often the cheapest but as a for instance there is NO signal within 2 miles of my location. Only o2 works and occasionaly ee but vodafone and 3 are non starters, giff gaff works. Its ok getting 84 billion megga jobbies for fifty pence a month but worth diddly squat without a signal ALWAYS buy an unlocked dongle/fone

That is true of any fixed location, some networks will have a signal and others won't.

 

Given the amount of travelling that Matty does, I suspect any network will work for him.

[matty40s]

Remember Matty. 3 are often the cheapest but as a for instance there is NO signal within 2 miles of my location. Only o2 works and occasionaly ee but vodafone and 3 are non starters, giff gaff works. Its ok getting 84 billion megga jobbies for fifty pence a month but worth diddly squat without a signal ALWAYS buy an unlocked dongle/fone

That's OK, if we come to visit your cafe, no doubt we'll be chucked in the cut if we get a phone out anyway...... ☺

[Bewildered]

I had an email from EE yesterday offering me an upgrade to a minimum 12 month contract of 64GB / £16.10 per month and applies to existing customers only.

 

I have only recently upgraded to the same rolling contract deal as Bewildered took out and I currently don't get anywhere near using 64GB of data (let alone 32GB) a month so won't be upgrading any time soon. However, if it can be had as a monthly rolling contract for the same cost it would be worth taking up.

 

Tony

That is a great deal; right up until they bring out a better one in the middle of your contract. However I doubt they will top that particular deal any time soon.

It would be nice if they did those deals on a rolling contract but they prefer to tie you up.

I could easily use 64gb of data streaming movies, I use the EE app to check my allowance and make sure I use every last bit of it every month. I begrudge paying for something only to be told as I didn't use it I've lost it.

Any phone company that wants to steal customers only needs to bring out a good deal where the unused data rolls over onto the next month, so the customer actually gets what they have already paid for.

[blackrose]

I got a Vodophone sim only contract (no free phone upgrades) about 6 months ago. It includes unlimited calls, unlimited texts, free European roaming (but not free calls to Europe) and 20GB of data all for £20/month inc vat. I can't remember if it was an 18 month or 2 year contract?

 

I just switch on Wi-Fi hotspot on my phone and wirelessly tether my laptop to the phone placed in the window of the boat. 20GB is loads for me, but perhaps not if you're downloading movies or something. Anyway, it works well and seems to be fairly fast depending on the signal strength.

Edited February 1, 2017 by blackrose