mobile data or landline DAK

[jackdaww]

DAK please?

my brother is moving to a house in the birmingham area, which has good 4G signal .

the house has no landline connected at present .

is it possible to get internet , low to moderate use , no streaming videos etc , via the mobile data network ?

this would save having any landline at all .

if so would any device use a sim , possibly on PAYG , or would a contract be better.

we have asked in the 'phone shops , but suspect they push for the best deal for them!

many thanks.

[Stonge]

There was a previous thread that might help

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=2856

[Julian]

There are plenty of solutions. I suspect that the choice will probably come down to a combination of network with best coverage at your brother's house and price.

I have Virgin cable into my flat so personally I don't use these solutions but my regular mobile is with 3 and I've always found their pricing pretty fair so that was where I looked just now, partly for my own interest just to see what the pricing is like.

This page seems to have 2 options that look decent to me (no idea how price-sensitive your brother is so can't judge if decent for him) ...

http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices ... lour=White

These things look like a router, it's just that instead of plugging into a land line (or cable/fibre) they accept a SIM card and connect over the airwaves. If he is a low user then £9 a month gets 20GB which might be enough. If it isn't though then the £22 is unlimited data. "Unlimited" is often subject to fair use policies where they (the provider - not necessarily Three) start throttling your speed if they think you're using an unreasonable amount of data but it's usually only heavy streamers, file downloaders etc who hit that. If he wanted to go that route maybe see if he could start on the £9 package and do a cheap and easy upgrade to the £22 package if necessary. Even at £22 with landline prices nowadays I'm pretty sure it's cheaper than a landline + 20Mbps internet service on top.

There's also an alternative router at the same price that has a wired connection as well. This one might be more appropriate for the home environment since that first one is geared more to portability and "road warriors" with their laptops I think (I probably should have introduced these links in the opposite order but can't be bothered to re-write this post now). Pricing on the data plans seems to be identical so it's just the router device itself that differs.

http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices ... lour=Black

Like I said, I'm pretty sure all the networks do similar solutions so you can probably find similar pages and pricing plans for Vodafone, EE etc.

- Julian

[AleisterCrowley]

...which has good 4G signal


Which network(s)? Based on actual use , or coverage checker tools online?

You don't absolutely need 4G anyway, 3G is fine for normal web surfing etc

[UncleEbenezer]

I got Virgin cable when I first moved here. Bought an EE 4G as an emergency stopgap when the Virgin service died. Then moved full-time to 4G when the Virgin died long-term (had been unusable for telephony and would routinely time out on mail and web maybe six months when I posted here).

The 4G service is good: speed as good as anything I've had, and reliability a whole lot better than Virgin. One big drawback: the little 4G router is temperamental. Typically a couple of times a week I'll have to hard-reset the thing (take the battery out). I looked around halfheartedly for something better, but alternatives seem to come with their own data contract and/or be much the same "secondary" thing. So I'm sticking with it until I move house and review everything.

Isn't Brum getting 5G rollout?

[wilbobob]

I've got the second Three modem that Julian links to. 100Gb package that I've not got near breaking. No problems at all in an area with less than optimum 4G reception. I dropped the land line about 2 years ago and don't miss it at all.

[jackdaww]

thank you all for these very helpful replies.

birmingham is indeed one of the early recipients of 5G , although 4G should be plenty .

something i forgot to ask ---

if the wifi router device comes with a sim , will that sim have a mobile number eg 07 ... ... ...

if so can anyone ring that number to a 'phone "hanging" from that router ?

thanks again.

[Breelander]

if the wifi router device comes with a sim , will that sim have a mobile number eg 07 ... ... ...
if so can anyone ring that number to a 'phone "hanging" from that router ?

I don't have a mobile router, but I'd expect its number to be permanently 'engaged' as it would always be connected to the ISP?

[swill453]

something i forgot to ask ---

if the wifi router device comes with a sim , will that sim have a mobile number eg 07 ... ... ...

Yes

if so can anyone ring that number to a 'phone "hanging" from that router ?

No. It would have to be the router that answers the phone, and they just don't do that.

You could divert the number elsewhere, or make use of its voicemail facility remotely.

Scott.

[swill453]

if the wifi router device comes with a sim , will that sim have a mobile number eg 07 ... ... ...
if so can anyone ring that number to a 'phone "hanging" from that router ?

I don't have a mobile router, but I'd expect its number to be permanently 'engaged' as it would always be connected to the ISP?

It wouldn't be engaged, in the same way that your mobile phone can make and take calls while maintaining a data connection.

Scott.

[UncleEbenezer]

thank you all for these very helpful replies.

birmingham is indeed one of the early recipients of 5G , although 4G should be plenty .

something i forgot to ask ---

if the wifi router device comes with a sim , will that sim have a mobile number eg 07 ... ... ...

if so can anyone ring that number to a 'phone "hanging" from that router ?

thanks again.

No. If you "hang a phone" from the router, the phone will want its own number. You can get that from a VOIP provider - with the advantage that you can then also install VOIP software on your mobile and use your "landline" number anywhere you have a data connection.

Note that if you want to hang a phone (other than a mobile) from the router, you'll need to be sure it's compatible. If you get VOIP phones with a base station that plugs into an ethernet port, then you'll need the router to have an ethernet port. Many 4G routers don't: mine is just wifi and USB.

[Infrasonic]

Depending on the setup and usage you can actually just use a smart phone with wifi hotspot for home internet access, I've been doing it that way for five years now with Three (unlimited 4G data/tethering deal).
I'm surrounded by masts and don't need multiple user access though, so for a family home situation the 4/5G router option would probably be better.