Mobile WiFi

[DiandCas]

Hello everyone, this is our first post! Very excited about our new (old) van. Can anyone recommend options for the above? We just need to use phones, possibly laptop, no gaming or heavy duty usage. We have read some very helpful advice on this forum, looking forward to reading lots more!

 

[Lenny HB]

Here is my install.

Lenny's Modding the new Gin Palace

Blimey its turned into a "Toilet Thread":eek:

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Brockley]

Here’s my cheap white thingy. Hasn’t let me down yet.

 

[bjandlin]

Lenny, we use Voda 50gb /MTH. Enough for us as full time usage. Obviously depends on your needs.
100gb I thought would be more than enough.
Incidentally, I know watching TV uses around 800mb/1gb an hour but not sure of radio, any ideas please ?

 

[Brockley]

Not sure if Lenny’s about, but if it helps, I know Netflix uses up about 1GB/hr compared to 1/2GB for iPlayer. Radio about 60MB/hr.

Depends on the resolution as well, Netflix looks fine on a 23” Avtex screen set to the lower resolution.

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[bjandlin]

Thanks Brockley, it was more that I was wondering about use on radio & Spotify etc.

 

[Brockley]

Thanks Brockley, it was more that I was wondering about use on radio & Spotify etc.

Well radio is about 60GB/hr & Spotify about 40GB/hr.

 

[2657]

Well radio is about 60GB/hr & Spotify about 40GB/hr.

Methinks someone has got their Mega's and Giga's mixed up

 

[Brockley]

Methinks someone has got their Mega's and Giga's mixed up

Ooops! You’re right it’s the Giga’s

 

[Lenny HB]

Not sure if Lenny’s about, but if it helps, I know Netflix uses up about 1GB/hr compared to 1/2GB for iPlayer. Radio about 60MB/hr.

Depends on the resolution as well, Netflix looks fine on a 23” Avtex screen set to the lower resolution.

I've always found iPlayer uses 800mb-1GB an hour.
With Netfilx you can only alter the download quality not the streaming quality the same with Prime.

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[Lenny HB]

Lenny, we use Voda 50gb /MTH. Enough for us as full time usage. Obviously depends on your needs.
100gb I thought would be more than enough.
Incidentally, I know watching TV uses around 800mb/1gb an hour but not sure of radio, any ideas please ?

I think I could get away with 100GB a rough estimate we probably use 80- 90 GB a month.

 

[Stewen]

.... a pointing mimo antenna only has a small hole required and the provide two different length sleeves to accommodate thicker roofs.

Memo to self - “ research a bit more before spending £££’s “ . What is the pointing model you are referring to please?

 

[PeteH]

I have never had an issue wth the wifi signal because I am usually about 2 foot away from the mifi. Any performance issue is because of the phone reception and this doesn't appear to improve that in any way.

But the ability to use an external aerial in marginal signal areas to bring in a weak signal is what I am intersted in

 

[Speve]

Memo to self - “ research a bit more before spending £££’s “ . What is the pointing model you are referring to please?

I have a puck 2 type But others have used a different type still by Poynting

 

[Lenny HB]

But the ability to use an external aerial in marginal signal areas to bring in a weak signal is what I am intersted in

That is why I have a MIMO on the roof. Several times up in the mountains no telecom or data signal on the phones but the Mifi with the MIMO has pulled in at least a 3G signal, only had one spot where we couldn't get a signal in the last 2 years.

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[Bolti]

Here’s my cheap white thingy. Hasn’t let me down yet.View attachment 420521

What's the aeriel?

 

[Brockley]

What's the aeriel?

Just a bog standard antenna for the Huawei 5577c.

 

[Brockley]

That is why I have a MIMO on the roof. Several times up in the mountains no telecom or data signal on the phones but the Mifi with the MIMO has pulled in at least a 3G signal, only had one spot where we couldn't get a signal in the last 2 years.

Snap.

 

[Brockley]

I've always found iPlayer uses 800mb-1GB an hour.
With Netfilx you can only alter the download quality not the streaming quality the same with Prime.

That isn’t what I’ve found Lenny based on use before going unlimited. With iPlayer in particular. Aunty B claims 250MB/hr but I think it’s closer to 500.

 

[PeteH]

That isn’t what I’ve found Lenny based on use before going unlimited. With iPlayer in particular. Aunty B claims 250MB/hr but I think it’s closer to 500.

That may vary with SD as opposed to HD?. HD is generally more Data Hungry. I find that on my home broadband. To be fair it`s quite watchable on SD I find?.

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[2657]

That isn’t what I’ve found Lenny based on use before going unlimited. With iPlayer in particular. Aunty B claims 250MB/hr but I think it’s closer to 500.

I have tested this many times and I agree with @LennyHB, streaming iplayer in SD or downloading uses around 800 Mb/hour, can't explain your figures.
For 2 winters I have had a 60 Gb/month and this gave me around 2.5 hours a day TV

 

[kevenh]

....each time we open the ipad we need to set the wifi again. Nuisance!
I wondered whether there is a portable solution for home and way? When we are at home we are not using our broadband.

1. Wait what? The iPad should / could have a persistent state for WiFi.
Have you enabled “auto join”?
Is the iPad the hotspot provider or joinee?
2. Other funsters have switched to a Mifi for home & travel.
You’d have to make sure your home had a good mobile carrier provider & make that the choice. Imo
I am not there yet. I’ve still got a sky package for home & a 3 driven Mifi for travel.

 

[kevenh]

FYI
When you are talking about streaming video and trying to compare data rates you need to know what each other are viewing on. Smart TV or little smart phone.

Prime & Netflix you ABR (adaptive bit rates) for their steams.
For example, BT and the champions league coverage will have full uncompressed streams available at the football ground.
Then they’ll take a high data rate for regular broadcast methods like Sky & Virgin set top boxes.
For people viewing on portable devices, i.e. over IP/internet they will encode that high data rate rate into about 6 different lower bit rates & screen resolutions. These are listed in one manifest.
Then when your client side player gets the manifest for the video stream it’s chosen it starts playback with the 1st listed stream.
If your player struggles to play that, then lower bit rates in the manifest are selected,

Some broadcasters/streamers pick a high quality 1st stream & hope you’ve got the bandwidth or screen to cope. Others will pick a middle quality steam and let the client player negotiate up to higher bit rates.
<pause>

 

[kevenh]

<resume>
This is an example manifest for an HLS steam with 5 different bit rates defined.:

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=150000,RESOLUTION=416x234,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
<Broken link removed>
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=240000,RESOLUTION=416x234,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
<Broken link removed>
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=440000,RESOLUTION=416x234,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
<Broken link removed>
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=640000,RESOLUTION=640x360,CODECS="avc1.42e00a,mp4a.40.2"
<Broken link removed>
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=64000,CODECS="mp4a.40.5"
<Broken link removed>

So what you’re watching on is important for comparisons.

 

[Mike and Ann]

Those of you that use Three/Smarty or any sim on the Three network can I ask how well does it perform when streaming in France, Spain, Portugal & Germany?

I am looking at getting rid of my landline and getting a 4 G router and I want to put the sim in my Mifi when we travel.
Vodafone 100GB would be great as you get the full 100GB when roaming but will a 100GB be enough at home.
Three unlimited although limited to 20GB roaming they include Go Binge in roaming now so I could use Netflix as much as I like when traveling. So if Three now works well roaming that would be the cheapest answer.

Are you sure you get Go Binge when roaming. I used up all of my roaming data in a few days a couple of years ago. It was confirmed by 3 at the time that there is still a 20gb cap when roaming

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[Littleoldman]

This is in no way a scientific experiment but I’m in my van at the Baltic Wharf site in Bristol. On my first venture out 2 weeks ago to Cardiff campsite I struggled to have a good internet connection. It kept stopping all the time. In the time between that trip and today I signed up to a 30 day rolling contract sim card from Vodafone. Tonight I had the original Smarty card in my iPad and used a speed test to check it. It was giving me mostly under a gig. Hopeless, I exchanged it with the Vodafone card and that gave me 20 gig plus! When I get home I will cancel smarty and keep the Vodafone. To be honest it’s better than I get with EE in my bungalow. If it’s as good in the house as it is in the van I will be better off financially. And I like that!

 

[Chris CM]

The problem we have here in the U.K. is that each provider uses their own cell towers, so a Vodaphone sim won’t work on an EE tower, even if your right underneath it, this is why EE tend to have the best coverage, they have the most towers. When we go to Europe (for the time being) our phones, sims go into roaming mode and lock onto the nearest/strongest cell signal regardless of supplier. Some time ago there was talk of enabling roaming in the UK to get over this problem but I don’t know if anything ever came of it.

 

[Brockley]

The Isle of Man is not in the U.K. (technically), as far as I’m aware the monopoly over here consist of Manx Telecom & Sure. There is one other company called Blue Wave, but despite putting up a new mast they aren’t yet competitive.

I have a smarty sim (3network), the only sim that treats the island as part of the U.K. and coverage over here, so far Northern France and the Netherlands has been splendid using a huawei 5577c mobile modem with antenna. Even the old blind spots over here are now well covered. I don‘t understand this thing about providers not supporting each other because ours seems to latch on to anything available?

 

[Lenny HB]

Are you sure you get Go Binge when roaming. I used up all of my roaming data in a few days a couple of years ago. It was confirmed by 3 at the time that there is still a 20gb cap when roaming

It was originally but they now say you can use Go Binge when roaming and another Funster reported he had been using it.

Just had another look and boy is it confusing, one sentence they say you can use it in the next they say it comes off your data allowance.

 

[Littleoldman]

Sounds a bit like the system we had when a phone was locked to a provider and you would have to pay to have it unlocked. If the towers were available to all then we could chose a company that provided the best service at the most competitive price. It’s a wrong that needs addressing by some government intervention. Thanks for replying.

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[Brockley]

“Fair use policy“ seems to be the key phrase Lenny. That use to apply here but not since smarty included us. Don‘t understand the19GB bit as I thought it was 20GB’s?