has anyone had any experience using 3g/4g as a replacement for home broadband? does anyone have experience with - what routers/modems will i need?
my situation is i'm in an area where the landline is 6mb and there are no plans or fibre connections, but my phone can get 15mbps using H+ on 3 and they will soon be launching 4g in my area too, it maybe worth a shot to use this to replace my home broadband
To my knowledge there is no device that will act as a 3G modem for your phone, apart from your phone, which is called tethering. Here is a website which lists the in and outs. http://www.choose.net/media/guide/fa...one-modem.html
There are a few things you can do to 'hook up' your home to a 3G/4G internet connection. Here are some options in no particular order:
1) Use a phone to tether (as post above)
2) A router with a USB port and 3G/4G dongle capability. Lots of routers - even the low end ones have USB ports that are 3G (potentially 4G) capable nowadays. You'd also need a 3G USB dongle of course.
3) A 3G mobile hotspot - which you can imagine as a phone that's permanently tethering over WiFi without a screen or buttons. These are widely available, you can find these at most phones stores and can be supplied with data contracts.
4) A computer with a 3G modem (e.g. dongle) that shares its internet connection with the rest of the network.
Draytek do a bunch of routers that will allow you to use a USB cellular device for connectivity, but you'd be well placed to check compatibility of whichever USB device you were looking to plug into it. I used to use a 3G Vodafone dongle in my Draytek 2820n as a backup to my Be broadband, but it never got used so I ditched it.
That said: be sure that tethering is allowed under your contract, or they'll soon cut you off.
My girlfriend uses 3G instead of a landline for the internet. I took out a 10GB, £15 a month rolling contract, seperately bought a dongle (which was the same dc-hdspa as 3 supply anyway, it was just cheaper to buy seperately) then just used a TP-Link travel router as she only has a small flat. It works fine for her as she only uses it to upload short videos and pics from her phone for emails and facebook.Originally Posted by hardwareguy15
The most obvious disadvantage is that you couldn't use it for heavy iPlayer or YouTube streaming as you would eat up the monthly bandwidth allowance.
To my knowledge, none of the providers offer bigger packages than 3, certainly not for the price and the issue of them having poorer coverage is irrelevant if you know it's ok in your house.
Seeing as you can get these rolling contracts with 3, why not give it a go? If you went the same route as me, I'm sure you would find some use for the portable router or if you got a proper router, just make sure it's good enough to be used for other with normal broadband as well so it's not wasted. If you don't like it then just cancel the contract after the month is up.
i do have a usb dongo from 3 before, but i recall even for it to work on the pc it needed special software installed etc... am guessing we're saying there are routers out there with usb ports which will be able to interface with the usb dongo - or is there some wizardary required?
It will be different from model to model but in the manual for the router there will probably be a compatability list
I use a 3 mobile USB dongle to access the internet as i dont have cable or a telephone line. You do have to use their own software to log on but its no problem. Speed is fine for most things, but skype and youtube can cut-out/slow down at peak times. Was considering getting a TP-Link TL-MR3420 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
To allow more than one user to access.
btw do you think buying a normal sim from three with all you can eat data and tethering add on will work on these usb dongles or do these dongles use special sim cards?
i find it strange three would sell internet bundles but offer all you can eat phone contracts with tethering addon's surely at the end of the day they are the same thing?
I don't think you can add the tethering bolt on to the all you can eat data plans?
Either way, the all you can eat data plans tend to be pretty heavily limited on speed and have their traffic managed.
Be interested to know if you can get away with it though!
i can't post a link but if you google 'tethering three all you can eat'
three seem to say you can tether thou given you meet one of these criterias,
Tethering is included in (i) The One Plan; (ii) the One Plan SIM only; or (iii) By purchasing an Ultimate Internet Plan with the Tethering Add on
i wasn't aware of ''heavy traffic management'' does anyone in this forum have experience with three all you can eat?
Hmm I might switch my GF over to the ultimate internet plan with tethering then, will only work out a few quid more. Might switch to it myself once my contract is up!
Here is some info on 3s all you can eat plans including traffic management.
http://www.cable.co.uk/guides/is-3-mobile-any-good/
does anyone know if there are any routers with AC wifi standard that can support one of these usb dongles?
Yes, there are many. Look at the GSM secure range of 3G routers for just a start. I am pretty sure most Mobile companies offer standalone 3G/wifi routers as well now.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote