Getting rid of cable

[Burgerman]

I am sick of being tied to Virgin. The bill is too big, they force a landline on you that you do not need. And when that cable goes down you may be a day with no internet Which feels like a month!

So as a few know I have been experimenting with a wifi router, that only needs a DATA phone SIM card, and a AC power supply.
I bought a Huwawei 4G LTE one capable of 100bps down and 50bps upload. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-unlocke ... s9dHJ1ZQ==
Those were 114... And if you want to wait around 50 from china on eBay.

Obviously this is experimental.
There are a few companies offering ALL YOU CAN EAT data at various prices. I ordered a SIM card from, 3, giff gaff (O2), and vodaphone. Theres others like EE, etc too.

3 network. Its the cheapest. A totally unlimited card, 10 pounds for 6 months, and 20 a month ongoing. That includes calls, and the router has a phone socket...
Problem is that the network is only fast with a good signal, nd that means a mast on my roof where I live, and in tests, data was very slow... Unless at night. Massively oversubscribed... So no good here.

O2 network, is around 15mbps, and theres a strong signal. When its not busy at night, its 25mbps. They dont offer a proper all you can eat card, and buying 5 or 10GB of data at a time or getting restricted when you download too much (which I do daily) is no use to me.

Vodaphone. Router reports 5 bars, and thats anywhere in my room. 4 bars in most of the house. You can plug the router in anywhere of course as it is not cable... It gives me a rock solid 50mbps, for most of the day. Or night. It did drop to 28mbps for a while around 6pm. When you consider that you only need 10mbps to watch youtube, surf, and 2x 4k movies at the same time, then thats way more than you actually need. Downside, the ALL YOU CAN EAT, NO LIMITS, Vodaphone card is either 32 pounds monthly no contract, or 30 pounds on a 12 month contract. That includes everything, including a phone (your landline will be a mobile number) with unlimited calls...

Way cheaper than the typical cable bill + phone. And so far in 2 days its completely bomb proof and reliable. So in a month time, when I have tested thoroughly, I will tell Virgin to go f**k themselves. Advantage 2. The phone network is more reliable than the cable network. But even if it has a day where its down, I just stick an O2 PAYG (GiffGaff) card in it for a few hours or a day and we are in business 10 seconds later. I LOVE backup!

Better still, Vodaphone will have 5G in grimsby next year. So we should be able to go massively faster than cable. At the same price as now. In fact it will get cheaper as more and more people move to unlimited sim cards.

I may be an early adopter. But once 5G is here, the cable companies will all go bust. And they wont be needing to dig up all the streets. Better still this can work out in the country where there IS no cable. A high gain antenna on your house externally, will get you a signal 30 miles away.
Note 50mbps, and Vodaphone..

[Irving]

I'm watching with interest as I may follow you...

BTW, I O2 now offer unlimited data sim only @ £33/mo

What's your monthly download?

Mine was just over 700Gb last month

[Irving]

The router offers a land-line connection, which will be a mobile #.

If I plug my DECT base station into that I'll get free outgoing calls, and if i redirect my BT line to the mobile # people can still call my land-line # (I want to retain a physical land-line in case of emergency)

[Irving]

I may be an early adopter. But once 5G is here, the cable companies will all go bust. And they wont be needing to dig up all the streets. Better still this can work out in the country where there IS no cable. A high gain antenna on your house externally, will get you a signal 30 miles away.

There'll still be some places, as with 4G, where there's simply nothing to point the antenna at... But Elon's going to solve all that, isn't he

[Burgerman]

He is garanteeing that his system is going to begin operating by the end of 2020. At least in the US initially.

[Burgerman]

I'm watching with interest as I may follow you...

BTW, I O2 now offer unlimited data sim only @ £33/mo

Isnt it subject to fair use? I can also only get 25 to 30 bps on O2.

What's your monthly download?

Mine was just over 700Gb last month

Mine on the laptop ALONE was 1139 GB, plus 700mb plus on the O2 card checking mail etc when away from home.
My desktop is a little more than the laptop.
And theres 2x 4k televisions, that are running at least 6 hours a day on either 1080p or 4k... So I dont dare add it up! But it will be well over 3000GB total I think

Just the laptop:

[Burgerman]

So...

I found this on the O2 site...

Unlimited available on Custom Plan on selected handsets and selected SIM Only tariffs. Fair use policy applies, personal and non-commercial usage only. If you regularly use 650GB of data per month or tether 12 or more devices we may consider this to be none permitted use and have the right to move you to a more suitable plan. For full terms see o2.co.uk/terms.

So I live alone, and use 4x that! So O2 wont work for me. Vodafone and 3 (and EE?) have no limits at all. No AUP. All you can eat.

EE untried. 3 too slow, at least where I live, and its not signal strength thats the issue. Your mileage may vary. But on many comparison tech sites, vodafone comes out top for reliability and 4G lte speed.

[Scooterman]

If a company has a fair use policy they'd probably let you exit a contract penalty free, just to get rid of you?

It's clever idea BM, something I never thought of when I recently renewed my BB + phone package.

I don't have a house phone but got BB + phone as it's cheaper than just BB wtf

But I guess they hope to make money from house phone use???

[Burgerman]

Well my new router has a phone socket. That same all you can eat sim card has free calls too. And free SMS if you can find a way to do that with a landline!

[stevelawiw]

I guess the only way for anybody else in different areas to see if 3 works is to get a sim card and one of those routers and to try it? If it's fast enough I could save 30 quid a month.....

[Burgerman]

Well right now, only O2 and so giffgaff, and Vodafone are fast enough where live. Vodafone was actually faster than virgins 50mbps cable. Which is actually fast enough for a very internet savvy user and the odd guest without any trouble.

But O2 / GiffGaff has AUP to comply, and limits you to 650gb per month or slows you to a trickle if you download a few GB a day...

3 is speed limited by having way too many users per tower. Slow...

Vodafone 60mbps (I get 50 with no added antenna day of night) and no limits at all. So 30 a month. Includes a phone socket on the router and free unlimited calls. So for me Vodafone the only option.