Mi-fi routers

Carrerasax;n33192 said:
Is this one any good! can any techie out there give any advice/suggestion.

TP-Link 300 Mbps 3G/4G Wi-Fi Router, 1 UBS 2.0 Port, WPS Button, No Configuration Required, UK Plug (Archer MR3420) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003WK62..._toC3Ab8N2QBFX
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Hi. We use this same router in our motor home with an EE data only SIM.

It is supplied with a mains transformer with 12v DC output, so simply cut the lead off and fit a suitable 12v plug for your motor home 12v socket.

This has worked fine all over Europe for a couple of years now.

Hope that helps.
 
Is anyone using WorldSIM? I have just got an unlocked Huawei E5577C* and they throw in a roaming SIM with a small amount of free data for £59 including P&P which was the cheapest I could find new last week. I have a 35db gain antenna arriving today for another £19 so fairly pleased with costs so far.

I have 30GB data monthly on my phone contract then Caz has another 12Gb on hers but we are both on 3 so I wanted something I could use for when there is no 3 signal (as we have experienced a couple of times recently in mh) if there is anything around. I noticed my works EE phone roamed on to an Isle of Man signal when we were in South West Scotland at Easter when we had nothing on 3 with roaming on.

*Noticed last night that WorldSIM have run out of the E5577C deal I got but they may get more or do other deals so worth a check.

Anyone who doesn't know about this stuff if you buy an antenna to get a better signal check the connection for the aerial leads and make sure they match, the one I will link is TS9 but you may need SMA or other, you should be able to get the right connector without adaptors but if not check for adaptors before buying one.

Antenna link; https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0711Z7THD/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

WorldSIM link: https://www.worldsim.com/portable-wifi
 
I seem to remember looking at WorldSIM data prices fairly recently and discovering that their data is very expensive. The Huawei and aerial prices are fine but see if you can find out from their website what they charge per Gb of data and how long it lasts. I can't seem to find it this time!
 
Minisorella;n33829 said:
I seem to remember looking at WorldSIM data prices fairly recently and discovering that their data is very expensive. The Huawei and aerial prices are fine but see if you can find out from their website what they charge per Gb of data and how long it lasts. I can't seem to find it this time!
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Well its okay to buy the Huawei from them but forget Data. Was in a black hole in Anglesey this weekend and found one spot half way along a cliff walk where I got enough signal on my 3 phone to open web page, couldn't really see what I was getting but put £10 credit on the roaming SIM they sent me. Turns out a tenner gets you around 120Mb data, what a rip off. It only gave me enough access to log on the worldsim web site, won't be doing that again :)

Here is the response to my query on why I couldn't connect after spending my tenner:
Regarding to your query, We have checked you consumed data with your 10 pounds on 05/05/2018 you consumed 64 MB two times and 21.512 one time and you were charged for this 10 pounds. You can check it by yourself. Kindly login into your account. If you have any problem kindly contact us back.
 
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nabsim;n34203 said:
Regarding to your query, We have checked you consumed data with your 10 pounds on 05/05/2018 you consumed 64 MB two times and 21.512 one time and you were charged for this 10 pounds. You can check it by yourself. Kindly login into your account. If you have any problem kindly contact us back.
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All those words and what they meant was **** you, thanks for the update

 
nabsim;n34203 said:
Well its okay to buy the Huawei from them but forget Data. Was in a black hole in Anglesey this weekend and found one spot half way along a cliff walk where I got enough signal on my 3 phone to open web page, couldn't really see what I was getting but put £10 credit on the roaming SIM they sent me. Turns out a tenner gets you around 120Mb data, what a rip off. It only gave me enough access to log on the worldsim web site, won't be doing that again :)

Here is the response to my query on why I couldn't connect after spending my tenner:
Regarding to your query, We have checked you consumed data with your 10 pounds on 05/05/2018 you consumed 64 MB two times and 21.512 one time and you were charged for this 10 pounds. You can check it by yourself. Kindly login into your account. If you have any problem kindly contact us back.
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That's appalling Nabs... even worse than I'd remembered! Shocking customer service attitude too. One to chalk up to experience I guess and a good warning tip for others.
 
I am definitely not using them for data again that’s for sure ha ha

the £10 wasn’enough To find out if it had even been applied to the SIM
 
The Trio data sims from 3 are pretty good value. Around £25 for 12GB that's valid for up to a year, depending how quickly you use it, or £45 for 24GB valid for 2 years.
 
My phone is with 3 so it’s an alternative for when I don’t have a signal on phone I need, looking like it may be best to just get a few different ones and put a top up on whichever will get a signal where we are going. Which others do you use, or don’t you?
 
Hi all, here's our thoughts/experiences/comments on this topic.....as we spend more time in van than home (winter in Spain) we also ditched our landline and got an EE mifi on contact...50GB £22 per month. £17 of which paid for by not having landline ! Then we paid (EE) £7.99 to unlock it so can use all above mentioned sims abroad. We have streamed films/football (via firestick) uninterrupted with just one bar of signal....no buffering, no bother. The box doesn't have external aerial but if necessary we put it in skylight...nearly always have signal...but then we don't go to very remote areas much. If you are starting from fresh I'd get an unlocked Huawei 4G (3G too slow nowadays) box that takes an aerial, pay a bit more for a 300mbs one if you serious data user streaming a lot. Then you can choose sim deal best for you and where you are based mostly.
On the wi-fi booster aerial front we have a £15 one which connects to laptop and it definitely pulls in more networks, great for if we are at far end of pub carpark having had a pint to get the password LOL !! Great for you BT Fon users. When on sites in Spain we have used it to get free wifi from bar/reception instead of paying extortionate fees. Oh, you turn on laptop wifi hotspot to connect all devices. Ours can be a little fiddly as you have to switch between it's and the laptops network adapter, easy when done it once....can't think of anything else...enjoy yours Jenny !!!!! Maja07
 
After returning home from Spain and Portugal, one of my 3 mifi's was out of contract - 15gb/month for £15, went to local 3 shop and signed up for a Homefi router which does not require a landline connection. As I was finishing one contract, I am now paying £30 per month for 100GB but saving on not having landline and rental as using mobile for calls.
Tried to renew Sky basic TV, line rental, phone and unlimited broadband which I got last year for around £23/mo but no go - tried to tell me I couldn't get broadband in my area. I asked him why I was paying Sky for the last year.!!
Downsides of Homefi - only get around 3/4 Mbits/second at home but when away in Kelso/Peebles and Dumfries was getting 50+ Mb/sec so good for touring.
Also using Netflix does not use your data allowance except for adverts but yet to try it.
At the moment, using a Now box which does use quite a bit.
The power lead is 12v/1 amp so works fine in motorhome.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Alan
 
In France you can get a free.fr sim from a bourne in the bigger tabacs. I have one in a spare phone at €19.99 per month which gives me 20gb a month free calls free texts throughout the EU, still including GB. I can tether my other devices to it. As a back up I have the Hawei mifi and a 3 24gb which can last for two years. Look out for offers on the 3 data sim as it is sometimes on special offer on Amazon. With the 3 sim it thinks you are in London and you can watch bbc iplayer abroad. Whatever you do don't use a virgin mobile as they limit you to 1gb on roaming - no matter what plan you have.
 
Have been looking at EE home broadband after speaking with Phil but not decided anything yet. It would give me 100GB a month with speeds of 31Mbps which is 10x quicker than our landline broadband. That is £45 a month and you just take router with you in mh. I have the 5577C so will use pay/go sims in that along with tethering for this year then see what suits best for going to France in new year
 
At last, a topic I know something about, long story but at new house there was no phone signal whatsoever and less that 1mb of phone line internet so Worcestershire Council gave me a grant of £450 to install Satellite internet, however I chose to use a 4G installation from a Company called 'Hotspot' based up in the peaks, they offered a 'no work no fee' installation and promised a minimum of 10gb, remember no phone signal whatsoever at home so I took up their offer. So they fitted a pringle tube size ariel outside and voila 30gb plus!!!, outstanding, anyway, the secret is in the ariel AND it must be a 'MIMO' router with 2 ariel connections and the best ariels work with 2 internal antenna too. So now BT have upgraded my internet to 6gb I take the unit with me and use a smaller MIMO ariel placed on the roof and get internet everywhere I've been so far, not cheap but I can watch Amazon prime on my dongle if nothing on telly. BTW always switch off an Amazon fire stick as they eat data at an alarming rate.
 
Yes the 5577C has two aerial sockets, I got a memo aerial but a flat panel directional one. To be honest I am not certain how effective my aerial is yet as when I have used the Huawei on its own I have had signal but still tethering to my phone mostly.
 
Minisorella said:
Probably teaching my grandpa/ma to suck eggs with this reply but I figured other people may read your topic who don't know anything about mi-fi or what's available :)

A mi-fi unit works on exactly the same principle as mobile phone data, ie connecting to the internet via a sim card. The main difference was that a mi-fi device connects itself to the internet and then puts out a wi-fi signal, so you can connect a phone, laptop, tablet, etc, all at once, usually up to 5 devices. These days though, most phones will allow you to set them up as a 'hotspot', so that you can share the connection in the same way. Personally, I've found that my mi-fi unit usually gives me a better internet connection than my phone but it's possible that could be about the mobile provider rather than the device I guess. You can buy mi-fi devices that have an aerial socket... stick the aerial outside the skylight for an even better signal. When all's said and done, it's still a sim connection but if your phone is 3G and a mi-fi is 4G, then you'll gain speed using the mi-fi's wireless signal.

The big drawback with using your phone as a wi-fi hotspot is that you're stuck with your own phone sim and whatever data allowance you get through your provider. If you can't get a signal somewhere on your phone, then that's it, no signal. With a mi-fi unit, provided you have an unlocked one, you can switch to a spare PAYG data sim from any other mobile company... and could even buy a local one abroad if that looked like a better bargain. Personally, I don't think it's worth getting a data sim on contract, a) because you're stuck with one company again and b) because you can pay around £2 per GB for PAYG data and that's far cheaper than with most contract data sims, plus you don't have to lose any data if you don't use it within a month. For example, Trio sims from 3 are really good value and have good coverage in the UK and Europe. The 12GB one is valid for up to a year (depending how quickly you use the 12GB) and the 24GB one is valid for up to 2 years. They're currently £28 and £45 respectively... see links below.

https://www.mymemory.co.uk/3-payg-4g...12gb-data.html

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Mobil...+trio+sim+24gb
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This is what I do and up to now have not had a problem DH and I can both be on internet at the same time, so for us is brilliant. Works very well all over France :)
 
Hi carrerasax this time we have used a MiFi router on our trip up to Scotland on EE and we have always had a signal no matter where we’ve been. I’ve been on my iPad and Malcolm has been on his tablet with no problems
 
I wish I understood what you are all talking about!! We go to Europe next year for the winter and I would like to be able to use the internet on my laptop but I don't understand how to. Normally we go to the nearest McDonalds and use their free wi-fi connection - Can anyone please explain in simple language for me how we can do it otherwise?, thanks Alison
 
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