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Post by X on Feb 7, 2015 15:27:58 GMT
So which network and what kit do you need to get a good signal ? I did speak to my old neighbour who tests networks for o2 and he said ee is the best all round he also said most are OK in towns but a different story in rural areas. Sent from my Nexus 4 using proboards
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2015 16:28:10 GMT
Definitely 3 network, but quite a few small providers piggy back on 3 and sometimes offer better deals than with 3. Vern and I both use www.mobi-data.com and very pleased with it - it uses 3 network, and reasonable rates for 1gb, 5gb and 10gb on a month by month rolling basi. However if you sign up for a 3 month contract you can get the double your data deal, so Vern and I are both on the 10gb for just under £20 which doubles up to 20gb therefore £1 per gb which is by far the cheapest deal I've found. At the end of the 3 months, just ring up to sign up again either for another 3 months or for a continual 3 month double your data deal. I've never yet come anywhere near using my allowance, only used about 11 gb max in a month, but I don't really do Youtube or videos online. I'm now trying to use as much data each month as poss so have been downloading (illegally!) various series of tv programmes for watching in the van and I'm still not getting anyway near using my allowance. Paying for the 20gb means that I don't really have to monitor my usage as it's so unlikely I'll go over my allowance. The downside of the deal is that the international rates are high and rates are high if you go over your monthly allowance. Good customer service everytime I've phoned, no call centres or being on hold for ages. Regular monthly invoice by email showing how much allowance has been used. Regards the actual physical mifi kit, have a look at Vern's - I think his is better than mine, longer battery life, perhaps a better reception too, he seems to get better reception than me a lot of the time. I'd pay an extra fiver or tenner to get the most up to date model which should have the best reception. Mine cost about £30 about a year ago, so look to pay around £40 to get a decent up to date one. Haweii seem to be pretty decent make. You may well need to put it in windscreen or rooflight for best reception - use some sticky back velcro to hold it in place. You could even put it in a small tupperware box or waterproof pouch outside on the roof in low reception areas. A brilliant bit of kit, enabling me to write this post at home - although mine is currently dangling from the front window curtain pole on a usb power cable, in a specific spot in the window, and it can't move half an inch otherwise I lose reception. But I do live in a U shaped valley in Cumbria. Got rid of landline so reliant now on it and quite happy. I can even get a connection on my tablet in my bathroom which is upstairs right at the back of the house and I couldn't get a signal there on my old broadband router. So it has a good range.
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Post by Firefox on Feb 7, 2015 18:53:53 GMT
All of the above spot on apart from recently, especially in built up areas l have been getting very poor performance from it. My guess is it is due to the popularity of the service. This is happening east home a lot. I need to ring them up and report it as I think someone local or maybe more than one is abusing it by webserving or streaming very large files.
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Post by X on Feb 7, 2015 19:02:10 GMT
So what is it I have seen where you have an external aerial?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using proboards
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2015 21:17:49 GMT
That's probably known as a TV Charlie...
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Post by X on Feb 7, 2015 21:19:17 GMT
That's probably known as a TV Charlie... What's that ? Sent from my Nexus 4 using proboards
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Post by Firefox on Feb 7, 2015 23:19:49 GMT
I've got the same as @wvw a Huawei Mifi (3/4G to Wifi) modem. I think you are picturing a wifi aerial?! I think it is the 5330 model. Her's is white and mine is black - you can get them in TV colours, maybe they do a silver No aerial, but you do sometimes get a better signal if you put them in the rooflight or a window.
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Post by Alec on Feb 7, 2015 23:37:06 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2015 23:59:17 GMT
I've got the same as @wvw a Huawei Mifi (3/4G to Wifi) modem. I think you are picturing a wifi aerial?! I think it is the 5330 model. Her's is white and mine is black - you can get them in TV colours, maybe they do a silver No aerial, but you do sometimes get a better signal if you put them in the rooflight or a window. Yours is a different model to mine, its a fraction bigger, and it just felt slightly more "modern" than mine which was in Curry's sale and probably an older range. I can't tell what model it is as I've stuck Velcro over the details on the back. Battery life is only about 2-3 hours which is a nuisance but it only takes about an hour to recharge fully.
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Post by Firefox on Feb 8, 2015 0:24:15 GMT
You are probably right then. I do get longer battery life than that. I think anecdotally about 5 hours. Hopefully the more recent models will give Mr X this performance or better.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2015 3:03:50 GMT
This is a review from a couple of years ago of mine - it claims to have 4.5 hour battery life but I've never had that long out of it. Not even half that when using it. Maybe it would achieve 4.5 hours just switched on but not sending/receiving data.
Otherwise I'd say it's ok, the only other disadvantage is that the reception icon is orange for poor reception and red for no reception and it's quite difficult to tell the difference between the 2 colours.
But unless you can get one dirt cheap, I'd definitely go for a more up to date model with more functions.
I think mine is classed as the value model and Vern's is the premium model.
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Post by Alec on Feb 8, 2015 12:13:29 GMT
I also use a Huawei E5776 4G on EE, pretty good on battery.
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Post by Firefox on Feb 8, 2015 18:52:17 GMT
I heard BT are buying EE subject to regulator approval. This will create a big network.
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