Wireless Broadband - No contracts, no Installation & Immediate use

Hi,

Over the last few years, variations of wireless internet has been available and this is the latest from 3.

http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices/Huawei/HomeFi?memory=0&colour=Black

Perfect for those who arrive into the UK and need to be online - which is pretty much everyone really!

I can see this being a big help for trying to sort things out once newly arrived here - no need to worry about credit checks, no need to worry about getting a land phone line and then having to get it internet enabled etc and being able to use it rightaway saving a lot of headache!

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Looks neat and £24 a month is not crazy. I wonder how much data you get for that?

Looks neat and £24 a month is not crazy. I wonder how much data you get for that?

Where I live, 0GB.  I'm always looking for alternatives because I live in a broadband black hole.  Sadly, this doesn't help me. I also don't get mobile signal here.

But the offer says 40GB per month for £24, and either £60 up front or with a 12 month contract.

What?? No broadband?  How are you talking to me now?    Do you spend all your time standing at the end of your driveway holding your phone? 

The last holiday in Wales we had in a static caravan was exactly like that.  There was wifi at the end of the street and the kids would mysteriously disappear all the time .

What?? No broadband?  How are you talking to me now?    Do you spend all your time standing at the end of your driveway holding your phone? 

The last holiday in Wales we had in a static caravan was exactly like that.  There was wifi at the end of the street and the kids would mysteriously disappear all the time .

I should amend my statement.  We get "broadband", but it's over copper, and our top speed is 4Mbps down, 0.6Mbps up.  It is isn't as bad as it could be, but trying to upload is rather painful... I had to lower the image quality of my phone's camera, because I don't have time to send those big files (and with no mobile signal here, it has to go over our internets).

And yet, it's slightly faster than what we had where we lived in England.  We waited years for BT's rollout of Superfast to reach our area there... it came in right before we were going to move, so we didn't get it.  But they were promising speeds of up to 76Mbps down.  I don't know how fast the upload speed is, but a fast upload is the thing we really want.  I think I saw 10Mbps upload as a possibility?  Heaven!

Could you get one of those satellite line of site thingies?

Could you get one of those satellite line of site thingies?

It would be similar to what we have now, only less reliable and slower ping.  I think the answer is to put up a giant aerial in our back garden so we can catch the mobile signals that can't get down to us in our little valley.   

Edited to add:  Or we could invest in some fiber optic cable and get a bunch of land owners to agree to let us bury it between here and the nearest cabinet, which is apparently too far away from our house for copper.

That second option sounds pretty good.  Maybe then you could even get one of those personal mobile towers so that you'll have a good signal as well. 

That second option sounds pretty good.  Maybe then you could even get one of those personal mobile towers so that you'll have a good signal as well.

I don't mind the lack of mobile signal, except that we were aware superfast missed our house here, so we took contracts with EE before we moved because they claimed to offer 4G service at our address (we foolishly did not verify this for ourselves, because we bought our house after one walk through while living 150 miles away), and EE were the only ones suggesting they could supply our address.  We got plans with high data allowances, because we were going to tether to our computers, and that would be our internet and phone, all in one.  It's almost funny to think about how naive that plan was.

What I don't understand is, we're not the only house here... I don't understand why we seem to have been overlooked by the first pass of the superfast rollout.  There's a whole village here that don't get superfast.  But when They started making noise about further improving the speeds in the cities, while some of us are still clamoring for anything, it is a bit frustrating.  I think, like the postal service, internet access should have a universal service obligation, no matter the cost of implementation.  It shouldn't have a profit motive.  It should be a basic societal right, with equal access for everybody.

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I feel your pain, jfkimberly. Like you, our copper speeds are 5MBps down and about 1MBps up, and because we're one of 4 cottages in the middle of a farm, BT says it's not cost effective to run fibre to us. You know those articles where they say their goal to get 97% of the country covered by superfast broadband? We're in the other 3%.

Happily, EE has a good 4g signal in our area. 30MBps download and 10MBps upload. Yay! Sadly, there's no unlimited data plan available (read the fine print of the ones that claim they are), so until there is, we're stuck with the slow broadband, too.

I feel your pain, jfkimberly. Like you, our copper speeds are 5MBps down and about 1MBps up, and because we're one of 4 cottages in the middle of a farm, BT says it's not cost effective to run fibre to us. You know those articles where they say their goal to get 97% of the country covered by superfast broadband? We're in the other 3%.

Happily, EE has a good 4g signal in our area. 30MBps download and 10MBps upload. Yay! Sadly, there's no unlimited data plan available (read the fine print of the ones that claim they are), so until there is, we're stuck with the slow broadband, too.

Oh, you do feel my pain!  You know exactly how it is.  But you could at least use the mobile signal occasionally for uploading things, to get around that really slow speed (which is twice the speed we get!).  Or are you with a different mobile provider?

I feel your pain, jfkimberly. Like you, our copper speeds are 5MBps down and about 1MBps up, and because we're one of 4 cottages in the middle of a farm, BT says it's not cost effective to run fibre to us. You know those articles where they say their goal to get 97% of the country covered by superfast broadband? We're in the other 3%.

In the very small town I live in BT brought fibre to the street. The last mile is copper but we get good speeds. The fibre program was partially funded by the EU through it's rural development fund. After the Brexit vote someone went around town and ripped the EU flag sticker off all the fibre boxes...

Oh, you do feel my pain!  You know exactly how it is.  But you could at least use the mobile signal occasionally for uploading things, to get around that really slow speed (which is twice the speed we get!).  Or are you with a different mobile provider?

Yeah, when I need to upload something, I'll use the mobile signal. It's more the annoyance of knowing there's an option available that's nearly 6x faster.

In the very small town I live in BT brought fibre to the street. The last mile is copper but we get good speeds. The fibre program was partially funded by the EU through it's rural development fund. After the Brexit vote someone went around town and ripped the EU flag sticker off all the fibre boxes...

Brilliant. 

Funny, I live in a tiny countryside village in the Scottish Highlands and we have cracking BT super duper fast broadband.   But I have no mobile phone signal where I live. Whee.   

Mobile phone signal is getting much better in the Highlands and I can find 4G a lot of places., including very remote places.  Broadband improving as well. But the Scottish Islands, I think that's quite a different story. 

Funny, I live in a tiny countryside village in the Scottish Highlands and we have cracking BT super duper fast broadband.   But I have no mobile phone signal where I live. Whee.   

Mobile phone signal is getting much better in the Highlands and I can find 4G a lot of places., including very remote places.  Broadband improving as well. But the Scottish Islands, I think that's quite a different story.

The BT rollout has already rolled out to our area.  Our house is just too far away from any cabinet for it to benefit us.  So we're on old-school ADSL and wondering if we'll ever get a nearer cabinet or fiber to the premises (doubtful... I genuinely think they are satisfied with the coverage they have in our region).