UK Mobile WiFi - Question

Information and help in the IT field of computers, internet, ISP's, mobile and fixed line telephones plus satellite TV systems.
telboy
Resident
Posts: 845
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2004 2:40 pm
Location: Fuentes de Cesna/Granada Province

UK Mobile WiFi - Question

Postby telboy » Sun Aug 23, 2020 4:09 pm

Not really sure which topic this request should go under.

We need to visit the UK in a weeks time to be nearby to my 89yr old mam who’s hospitalised after a bad fall, we’ll be staying at mams house during our time there, she has no internet facility whatsoever so in view of this we’d like to arrange a contract of one month in the UK for a 4G WiFi mobile aircard type service. With us we'll have 2 cell phones and 2 iPads (non cellular, no usb ports). Our 2 4G cell phones (Motoraola and LG) are low end models, our internet/cell phone contract came as a package with Movistar Fusion Radio.

Can anyone recommend a provider of such a service, any advise would be appreciated :?:

I understand that roaming charges are not so expensive these days though we’d like to refrain from using the cell phones.

cheers :thumbup:
Terry

User avatar
chrissiehope
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3668
Joined: Sun May 07, 2006 7:52 pm
Location: Cheshire & near Antequera

Re: UK Mobile WiFi - Question

Postby chrissiehope » Sun Aug 23, 2020 10:05 pm

Take a look at Giffgaff - they have fairly flexible packages, tho' I don't know if they do what you need
Alexandr for President (Squire for PM !)

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read (Groucho Marx)

elusive
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3275
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2012 11:49 am
Location: East of Malaga

Re: UK Mobile WiFi - Question

Postby elusive » Sun Aug 23, 2020 10:18 pm

Theres no roaming charges so you can use your phone there as you do here for the same price

User avatar
costakid
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 5752
Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2005 11:55 am
Location: malaga este

Re: UK Mobile WiFi - Question

Postby costakid » Mon Aug 24, 2020 7:42 am

As said no roaming so use your current phone or by a Lebara sim. Mega cheap calling.

olive
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 4494
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2005 7:13 pm
Location: Poniente, Granada

Re: UK Mobile WiFi - Question

Postby olive » Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:59 pm

Have a google of BT FON. We used that in the past in similar circumstances.

Hope your mam makes a recovery. My Elderly dad had Several falls in the Spring. I talked to his doctor about it and we had a home visit from a physio from falls clinic during lockdown! He has a suite of six exercises to do each day to improve balance. They have worked really well

telboy
Resident
Posts: 845
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2004 2:40 pm
Location: Fuentes de Cesna/Granada Province

Re: UK Mobile WiFi - Question

Postby telboy » Wed Aug 26, 2020 9:52 am

Thanks to all replies and advice :thumbup:

We've since discovered that '3 Mobile' do a month contract with next working day delivery for the plugin router (£39 for the plugin device and £25 the 4G per month unlimited data). I'll keep you posted on how it went.

Olive - difficult time to have any family member in hospital and all concerned and especially if they're elderly.

Thanks again
Terry

User avatar
patricia
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2514
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2004 7:56 pm
Location: torrox Costa

Re: UK Mobile WiFi - Question

Postby patricia » Wed Aug 26, 2020 12:30 pm

Lobster is meant to be good and you can cancel anytime you like and they are English speaking. Google Lobster.
Torrox Costa "El mejor clima de Europa"

telboy
Resident
Posts: 845
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2004 2:40 pm
Location: Fuentes de Cesna/Granada Province

Re: UK Mobile WiFi - Question

Postby telboy » Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:13 am

Update - I was in the UK for over 2 weeks, whilst there I attempted to register with 3Mobile WiFi using my Spanish info (address, mobile phone, landline etc) the online form wasn’t having it, I needed a UK address, a UK mobile phone number and they also needed to do credit check for the UK address etc. Basically in the end I used my mothers info to register, the device arrived the next day and worked perfectly. I took out a one year contract which cost £19 one-off payment for the device and £24 per month for unlimited data, once connected I did a speed check - 75mbps download and 20mbps upload - happy days!

The device can be used almost all over the world however once you leave UK shores the data is limited to 20Gb per month in Europe and 10Gb in the rest of the world. I visited a 3Mobile store in the city to see what options were available with a view to buy one for use in Spain and maybe ditch my Movistar Fusion Radio as I am paying over €65per month for this service which gives me a pathetic download of 20mbps and upload of 0.7mbps. I was told if I did use the device in Europe then anything viewed on Netflix would not use any of the 20Gb data allowance. 20Gb per month is not a huge amount.

I did a search for any similar device/service in Spain but it turns out Movistar are the only company that do anything similar with an ‘unlimited data’ option.

There’s a price to pay for living in the campo!!!

terry

User avatar
patricia
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2514
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2004 7:56 pm
Location: torrox Costa

Re: UK Mobile WiFi - Question

Postby patricia » Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:28 am

Did you try Lobsters everyone says how wonderful it is!!
Torrox Costa "El mejor clima de Europa"

olive
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 4494
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2005 7:13 pm
Location: Poniente, Granada

Re: UK Mobile WiFi - Question

Postby olive » Mon Sep 28, 2020 1:15 pm

A few observations telboy.

20 meg download of Movistar Fusion product. Surely that is adequate for anything like tv streaming?

75% of Spain will be covered by 5G by end of this year. My hope is that Movistar “ upgrade us 2nd class campo citizens “ for free.

We still have a mifi we use(d) a lot on our travels these last 12 months. We broke the 20 gb monthly roaming limit and got charged quite heftily by 3

Gerryh has an unlimited 4G option from Vodaphone ( I think) . They are available but not widely advertised. Despite me asking each time for Radio Fusion , the first two times the install failed because astonishingly we had no fibre or copper to the property. Even the Movistar staff don’t know much about their own less popular products.

Netflix. Can’t see how that wouldnt use your roaming allowance if the device is in Spain.

telboy
Resident
Posts: 845
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2004 2:40 pm
Location: Fuentes de Cesna/Granada Province

Re: UK Mobile WiFi - Question

Postby telboy » Fri Oct 02, 2020 9:22 am

Patricia - I think Lobster’s about mobile phones with calls to and from UK and Spain. I was after a standalone router device with a SIM card and unlimited data use, this would enable me to work from the UK using a tablet/laptop.

Olive - Our gripe is the amount Movistar charge us for a dismal service, yes, up to 20meg is sufficient for streaming TV but 0.7mbps is dire especially since FaceTime needs 2mbps but luckily Skype doesn't need that much. The 3Mobile store told us accessing Netflix (if you already had a Netflix account) wouldn't eat into the 20Gb data allowance, don't know the science of how this is achieved.

terry

User avatar
Enrique
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 9484
Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:47 am
Location: Mytchett/Alcala La Real

Re: UK Mobile WiFi - Question

Postby Enrique » Fri Oct 02, 2020 10:43 am

Hi telboy,

FYI
Having a UK SIM and package with GiffGaff we bought a 80GB add-on so we could use phone to connect to the Web and then connect the computers for support work and video chats with Family and Friends as we are in 14 days self-isolation having finally travelled out of Spain.

Use around 3GB a day.
All my best learning experiences start with a problem I need to solve.


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests