Ditching fibre broadband for mobile tethering - opinions

[StevieM]

Here's one for you.

 

I'm currently paying £26 per month for 50Mbps broadband from Virgin. As of 31st October, this will rise by another £2 per month to £28.

 

To be honest, I really don't think it's worth it. I don't use the Internet much at home other than to watch a few films (say 6 a month - 8 max) and the occasional bit of browsing. Virgin currently has an offer on a pay monthly SIM offering 100GB of 4G data, 5000 minutes of talk-time and unlimited texts for £20 a month. If I cancel my broadband and switch my mobile tariff to this one, it will almost halve my bill as I'm also currently paying them £10 a month for 2GB 3G data and 1000 minutes.

 

I'd be interested in other people's opinions on this. I've looked over all the T&Cs and I can't see any limits to how much of the data can be tethered.

[FishCustard]

Check what speed you're likely to get if you can.

[steveg]

Does the contract definitely allow tethering? A lot of the cheaper mobile contracts with large amounts of data don't.

 

Steve

[abillybob]

That's a good deal compared to me living out in the sticks I get 20mbps down and 5 up for £34 a month so think yourself lucky

 

I do however get full 4G signal where I live and tried to do the same as you although it's not viable. 4G isn't stable enough and does drop out often throughout the day, you won't notice it on a mobile phone but if you're using it to game etc it does. You'll also be browsing the internet to find out that when you try to load a page it will intermittently kick you out and say it has no internet access.

 

Don't get me wrong I'd definitely argue the price and shop about my in laws currently have Infinity highest package and spend around £21 a month as they argued the price. 4G isn't the way to go, EE do a good home broadband which doesn't drop out although you'll pay a premium of around £50 for 100GB.

[StevieM]

Does the contract definitely allow tethering? A lot of the cheaper mobile contracts with large amounts of data don't.

 

I've looked through the terms and conditions, as well as the acceptable use policy, and I can't see any mention of tethering anywhere.

 

Check what speed you're likely to get if you can.

 

If I decide to go for it (offer ends today...apparently) I've got the obligatory 14-day cooling off period to test the speed.

[dhicks]

I don't use the Internet much at home other than to watch a few films (say 6 a month - 8 max) and the occasional bit of browsing.

 

I'm on Relish broadband at home, entirely 4G-based - a separate 4G network from the phone system, so probably not comparable from a tariff point of view. It works fine from a technical point of view, although latency time is probably a fair bit greater than most other broadband provision, and that (I think) can affect VPN usage and SSH connections - I've found that SSH connections seem to stop working if I don't type anything for a few minutes.

[gtg93]

I used to do this on my 3 mobile contract, tethering from my phone. Worked fine for me and I'd say I had similar browsing habits.

 

Only reason I stopped was because 3 stopped offering unlimited data plans (probably because of people like me doing this).

[AlanD]

I pay £23 a month - for land line and 30Mb/s broadband from sky (which is £5 less than you are paying....and money is money...it all counts....).

 

But yes - you can get large amounts of data on your mobile - without a need for a landline...and even 4K Netflix is rarely over 4Mb/s...but that is 14GB of data to watch a single hour....

 

I've often thought I could come to an agreement with our neighbours to share a connection....

[psydii]

For what it is worth, we consume 300GB Of data a month (no terrestrial cable or satellite tv) 1hr a day OTT Video streaming , plus a film or two a week. Plus app and OS updates. In September we often break through 500GB.

 

Sometimes updates break and download multiple times, repeatedly. Overnight. Then consumption can go into the 500-1000GB region.

 

Be very cautious, the out of budget charges for mobile data are punitive.

[XiJ]

It’s nothing something I’d look to do. The stability is likely to be an issue, lack of options (ports, access to sites) and the potential to go way over data allowance / needs. Is there nothing FTTC wise that you could consider ?

[Meldrew]

I use 4G to supplement my 1.5Mb ADSL broadband. I use it mainly for higher bandwidth stuff like netflix and it seems to work well. I've used EE who block access when you run out of data. If it helps, my setup is a 4G router with external antenna.

 

Meldrew

[jinnantonnixx]

Well I've just cancelled my Virgin (broadband-only) - their price rises just were the last straw.

I've got a month to sort out a new provision, I don't need very high speed as I mostly stream.

I use Netflix a lot so my usage is way over a sensible amount for mobile/4G.

 

Or so I thought.

 

I found this

SIM Only Contracts | Unlimited Data SIM Contracts | Three

 

100GB per month for £20. One important detail is a feature 3 call 'binge' which allows unlimited Netflix (among other) streaming service.

Terms & Conditions | Three.

 

If I omit Netflix from the equation, I certainly don't average 3GB per day so this Netflix-included deal might actually work for me.

 

 

Hot spot function appears to be allowed, so I'm considering putting this SIM in a Mifi device and trying it.

"Personal Hotspot

If you're taking out one of our plans, you can use all of your data allowance as a Personal Hotspot in the UK." (my emphasis)

 

Thoughts?

Edited October 13, 2018 by jinnantonnixx

[mavhc]

So you're against net neutrality, and for providers favouring one service over another with zero rating?

[StevieM]

I found this

SIM Only Contracts | Unlimited Data SIM Contracts | Three

[\QUOTE]

 

That does look interesting. Especially when you appear to be able to cap usage.

 

Unless I’m actually using it, my broadband router is turned off most of the time. So far this month, on my PC I’ve streamed one film from MUBI, played a 6 minute YouTube Video of a piece of music maybe 10 times (as I practise playing along) and installed some updates (because Microsoft insisted upon it). On my phone, which I don’t bother connecting to WiFi, I’ve used less than 250MB.

 

I’ve already got a spare 3 SIM, so it might be worth my while to try it for one month to see how it works out.

 

So you're against net neutrality, and for providers favouring one service over another with zero rating?

 

Huh?

[jinnantonnixx]

Quote Originally Posted by mavhc View Post

So you're against net neutrality, and for providers favouring one service over another with zero rating?

 

 

Huh?

 

@mavhc is pointing out that, in this case, not all data is treated equally (Netflix traffic is not metered, but (as an example) Hulu traffic is metered)

 

It's a valid point.

Edited October 14, 2018 by jinnantonnixx

[denzal2k4]

This thread has got me thinking....My plusnet bill is £38 a month for unlimited fibre getting about 68Mbps, my 4G gets around 45Mbps just depends on whether I can get the same speed with 3 at home which is doubtful and tolerate the latency in games.

[Ma2]

It depends.

 

Some areas get very contended at certain times, such as near hub roads at rush hour, but sometimes these areas have the fastest mobile transmitters. Sometimes signal is terrible, but stick the phone in the window and it's 4g+ with 3 bars. Wait for a major sporting event and you could find latency shoot up as highlights are streamed.