Advice on buying a pay monthly dongle or MIFI - any experiences?

[#1]

My BB is currently down and won't be "repaired" until early next week at the earliest. Even then there is no guarantee that it will be fixed - they are not really sure what the problem is.

Regardless, I need access to do work in the evenings so I was considering shelling out for a dongle or MIFI in the interim. I know this is going to be costly, but I can't hang around waiting for the BB to be fixed unfortunately. 

I an looking for a monthly one not a 24 month contract, but I'm unsure a) what data limit I should get (I don't think 5G a month is going to be much use though) and b) whether a MIFI might be better - is that going to be more cost effective? 

I also some some Tapo dongles on Amazon but they need me to buy a separate sim card - would that be easy to do on a monthly basis? My mobile phone plan is not for unlimited data so I wouldn't be able to use that.

[#2]

@Portoman 

For instances such as this I have a Huawei E5577 MiFi unit. These are unlocked so work on all networks. I also have a GiffGaff SIM, which I load with a 1 month pay as you go Goody Bag (https://www.giffgaff.com/sim-only-deals/pay-as-you-go).

If you want to keep it for fast response future use, simply add a few pounds extra to your GiffGaff account, for example if you want a £15 Goody bag add £20 to your account. To maintain the number all you have to do is access the account every 6 months, I just switch it on then once it's connected switch it off again, it will make small a charge from your account at the out of contract expensive rate. If you need to use it in earnest all that you need to do is log in to the account and buy a new monthly goody bag.

Not the cheapest solution but it works for me.

[#3]

Thanks for your reply - how much gig would you use a month on it e.g. would 20gb be enough to have the laptop on all the time, your phone and watch stuff on TV?

Also, is this cheaper than the deals people like Three have? 

[#4]

@Portoman 

It all depends on what you are doing with the laptop and what resolution you are streaming at. If you were to buy a 20GB Goodybag and run out after a few days, all that you need to do is buy another.

I will leave you to do your own price comparison.

[#5]

Ah right, so you can't top the sim up if you run out of data?

[#6]

@Portoman  I have been using a 4G LTE router to connect to the internet   for the past 4 or 5 yrs... It works on a "sim only"  sim... you can search the main suppliers, or use  go compare.. compare the market . etc. to find "cheap monthly sim". most of the main suppliers are on the "high cost".. end.. so you need to find who your best signal is... i.e. same as your phone...  if it is on (say) EE then you can find what is called a MVNO that uses EE  ( many of the compare to .... sites say which  provider the MVNO`s run on...   

I am on a monthly sim... no contract.. can change or stop any time   no penalty... no annual increase in charge.. I am running on the EE network... but using 1p mobile which costs me £12.50 per month for 100GB data..   it is possble to make calls on the router... and get texts... but... it needs some tricky setting up.. and an external phone plugged in to the router..

 Another reasonably cheap  provider is SMARTY who run ont THREE network...they vary their sim/data offers each month.. but once you are on a data set... that will not go below what you have started with... in fact. when i was on SMARTY. for   £10 per month 100GB... when they promoted 120GB they upped my limit to equal it... and when it dropped back to 100GB  they did not revert it back..

I am on the laptop most of the day and evenings from about 0800 to 2300... just "doing stuff"... sometimes it is less than   2GB for a day... sometimes it is   as high as 7GB for day... if I am using youtube.. or downloading stuff..

100GB equates to 3.33333GB per day...

The router I have now is a Huawei B715- 23c...  which I bought from Eternal communicatons  ( ebay seller ) recommended... good service excellent quality items.. for £49.99

  You might find one cheaper. on ebay...

 hope that helps...

[#7]

@Portoman  regarding "topping up the sim...... most of the MVNO`s have some ways to top up via you logging into their site and accessing your account.. there you can usually select a "top up" according to what you  need to keep you going.. until the next month is due... 

you need to check out each supplier to see what "bundles" they have and what you can do with it.

[#8]

Thanks a lot for that - really useful. I've had a look at Money Saving Expert and they list ones like Lebara and ID mobile which are compatible with Vodaphone and Three - but to use them would I need to buy a Vodaphone or Three router from those companies? My phone is with 02 and Giff Gaff seem to piggy back on them, so maybe that's a decent sim to try.

[#9]

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@Portoman wrote:

Ah right, so you can't top the sim up if you run out of data?

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Yes you keep the SIM, the Goodybag is the data that’s loaded on to the SIM

The point of getting an unlocked MiFi is that you can use any SIM card. 

[#10]

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@Portoman wrote:

Thanks a lot for that - really useful. I've had a look at Money Saving Expert and they list ones like Lebara and ID mobile which are compatible with Vodaphone and Three - but to use them would I need to buy a Vodaphone or Three router from those companies? My phone is with 02 and Giff Gaff seem to piggy back on them, so maybe that's a decent sim to try.

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No!  you do not have to buy from or be tied to. VODAFONE or THREE... my router is "unlocked"  ( most 2nd user`s are ) but you should always check by asking the seller...

 I have used sims from ID mobile... Vodafone. Smarty, 1p mobile and EE and spusu ( take a look at them for cheap sim`s too.. (they run on EE ) . in my router with no problem.

The thing is, with O2 as main supplier.. there is limited choice of MVNO ..also those that do use O2, are more expensive per month for (usually) less data allowance.. 

Check out ALL the compare sites ... just google .. cheap monthly sim only deals.. and see what comes up... AI results are not so open in what is presented.. the old way used to list ALL of the compare sites..

They do not all have the same information or choices... so you need to do your research carefully to get the best deal for what you need.

Here is a list of mvno`s....

https://simonly.co.uk/guides/uk-mvnos/

[#11]

If you have the data allowance on your phone, can you not just tether instead of buying something else? 

Mark

[#12]

My data isn't unlimited but I tried to tether using bluetooth to see if it worked - the connection kept dropping and would connect and disconnect regularly.

[#13]

@Portoman 

If you have the option have you tried creating a 'WiFi- hotspot' on your mobile rather than use bluetooth?

Basically it turns your phone into a MiFi device

HTH

[#14]

@Portoman   Wrote: "My BB is currently down and won't be "repaired" until early next week"

If there's af ault on the line shouldn't BT or Plusnet supply a loan device ?

[#15]

Well from their end the phone line is fine - but from my end it's like someone is crunching foil in the receiver.