Wi/internet how do you get it in van

The laird

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Looking to get a set up for when we eventually retire in the van for months what system do you use and how good is it?Rough costs etc many thank in advance
 
Huawei mifi with a three sim. £8.00 month @ 20gb. Excellent coverage and cannot recall the last time I didn’t have a signal anywhere in the UK.
Only used for internet as have satellite for tv.
 
Giffgaff mobile gives me unlimited calls & texts, plus "always on" data for £25 a month. Think 20 quid gives me 80gb plus calls & texts. Great service works nearly everywhere. Not sure about outside UK cos I don't do abroad at the mo....👍😉
 
I use a 3 sim in a Huawei router, the sim is on offer for £20 per month on a 24 month contract with unlimited data, calls and texts, first six months is half price and if you go through Quidco you get cash back.
Phil has posted about this on motorhomer
I am getting 50Mbps most of the time which is more than enough for my use, you can get a Huawei B535 router which is 12v with an unlimited data sim for home use for £20mth and take it with you in the van
 
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Unlimited 3 data on my iPad £18 a month and on the rare occasion that I cannot get a signal my phone is on Tesco I use that.
 
Definitely 3G/4G mobile data. I use a Huawei MiFi with an external antenna on the roof, but other brands are available. Much better to use a mifi than just to tether your phone, for reasons too complex to explain here.
As for the network to use, I would suggest EE is by far the best, both for coverage and for data speeds.
Having said that, I use Three, simply on the basis of cost.
At home, I use Three mobile broadband, which costs £20 per month for unimited data, texts and calls. Don't use the texts or calls much, but there you are. It is easily good enough and allowed me to cancel the FTTC broadband and the phone line it needed. Three mobile is much faster than the FTTC was.
When away in the motorhome, I put a prepaid Three sim into the house's router and take the unlimited sim into the motorhome.
If you use a lot, Three is much better value, but if no more than 20GB per month will do, I suggest getting EE because it is so much better.
GiffGaff and O2 are utter crap in my experience.
Yes, GiffGaff is cheap, but almost unusably slow with terrible coverage. I chucked away the last Giffgaff sim I had with a lot of credit left on: not wortth wasting time on it.
I've not much recent experience of Vodafone: too expensive.
 
I have a 3 sim with unlimited data in a Teltonika router, a bit more expensive than a mifi but for me the extras it offers are worth it this is connect to a omnidirectional antenna on the roof with wifi, 4G and GPS in it. I also use this setup to access campsite and other open wifi networks if I don't get a 4G signal so it has also replaced my home made Motorhome Wifi kit, which now sits in the loft at my son's house :)

Regards,
Del
 
Horses for Courses. The advantage of post #10 is that all your devices will work ! (from your on-board Router and its Aerial to extend the range)
I find a Giff-Gaff simcard in my phone does a good job.
I also have a Chinese Aerial which (USB) plugs into my laptop and finds wi-fi signals further afield
(in essence a range extender)
Not able to try it yet but I will see if and OTG connector will allow my phone the same extended range.
With most simcards there is a limit to Out of UK usage and roaming does not apply (Mainly) in Switzerland.
I like the Giff-gaff pricing structure !
 
you can get a Huawei B535 router which is 12v with an unlimited data sim for home use for £20mth and take it with you in the van
This is what I've used for the last 12 mths at home and away having cancelled our home landline (19 gb limit while roaming on all three devices) worked fine at home and in Germany France Spain an Portugal this year just lost signal when in remote areas in Portugal but had no external aerial which may have helped http://www.three.co.uk/discover/devices/huawei/B535?memory=0&colour=White
 
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Which external aerial would you recommend? Really want one which I can use on van parked near home in remote Portugal to get better signal in house yoo. Or is that not doable? I am a bit of a technophobe!
 
I,ve not looked into aerials except a quick look on ebay perhaps someone might recommend one to us. Reading your post again do you want to boost signal from van to house as my router does not have a aerial connection for out going wifi signal only for incoming mobile signal
 
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Plus one for the Huawei /. 3 combination. I’ve loaned that out for my next trip, so will be depending on iPhone/ Vodafone data this time. Suck it and see. I’ll let you know how I get on.
 
another one ditched the home wifi now use huawei cube at home & in van with 3 unlimited sim in it , posting this using it on the mar menor , going back just ten years would never have dreamed this possible , facetimed the grandkids this evening watched the rugby used 2 gb of the 19 that 3 allow me abroad but had only used 1gb over last 4 days i carry an internet with legs sim as back up not used in last 2 years
 
I like the Giff-gaff pricing structure !
They are doubling the price for payg texts. I had a gifgaf sim in my mobile but didn't ever use a mobile at that time unless away then gifgaf turned it off because of their fair usage roaming policy only made perhaps 6 calls but because it was more than I'd used at home they turned it off with no warnings so beware
 
Phil did a video showing his setup using a Teltonika router and external antenna, my set up is the same except I used a LPMM-7-27-W-SMA antenna one thing Phil didn't mention ( I dont think) was the router is also dual sim. The Huawei B535 will do the job for most people but when I went full time I wanted to have something a little more robust and the RUT955 fit the bill, the only thing better is a Cradlepoint but at £731.00 plus VAT it was just not worth it for me. They do come up on eBay from time to time but are still £400 plus.

Regards,
Del
 
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We have a HUAWEI MiFi connected to an antenna from these people. https://www.motorhomewifi.com/catalog/3g/

when we bought it they were offering a Vodafone data sim, 50GB a month for £15 a month. Unlimited use in the EU. Beware of the 3 data sim If you are travelling abroad. it doesn’t pick up 4G in Europe and also cuts the amount of data you can use.
 

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