Anyone using a MiFi to watch Netflix/Amazon/iPlayer etc.?
Anyone using a MiFi to watch Netflix/Amazon/iPlayer etc.?
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FurtiveFreddy

Original Poster:

8,577 posts

261 months

Thursday 31st January 2019
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A friend of mine cannot get wired broadband cost-effectively into his home.
I've just tested a MiFi unit there and with a 3 SIM he had already I got >20Mbps DL speed and was able to get HD content from iPlayer on his TV no problem.

Before I set him up with a Netflix subscription, are there any hidden drawbacks using mobile broadband for streaming TV, apart from the limit and cost of whatever SIM plan he might be on?

Who much data is likely to be used if he watches HD content for a couple of hours every night?
What are the best data only SIM deals around currently?

gr1340

984 posts

227 months

Friday 1st February 2019
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Netflix uses around 1GB per hour for SD and 3GB for HD.

Source:
https://help.netflix.com/en/node/87

There are settings to reduce this to 1GB per 6 hours if needed.

Three offer a go binge add on for sim plans of 12GB and above. This allows unlimited streaming of Netflix, TV Player and a few others and plans are about £23 upwards for 1 month contracts, a bit less if you sign up for 12 months:
http://store.three.co.uk/view/searchTariff?viewAll...

gr1340

984 posts

227 months

Friday 1st February 2019
quotequote all
For £20 a month I see they do an unlimited data offering:
https://store.three.co.uk/view/content/mbasket?ID=...

There are no hidden drawbacks to using mobile data over wifi unless the network goes down but that can happen with wifi/landline.

Slushbox

1,484 posts

129 months

Friday 1st February 2019
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I've run a Three Mifi for a few years now, got a 20GB/month plan for £12. It's fine on Netflix/Amazon/YouTube.

The Go Binge offer also works on the TV Player app, so I have an Amazon Firestick. The downside is that although 'Go Binge' is listed as included in my plan, I stll get debited for Netflix data. Three are investigating.

The current Huawei Mifis will operate while charging, so you can run it like a mini home router. The 3G Mifis give about 20 Mb/s down, the SIM will also work in a 4G Mifi or dongle, I get about 40Mb/s down with 4G.

Other downsides are that 'advertising' on NetFlix or TV player 'isn't included ' in the plan so an eye has to be kept on data usage. There's a usage meter in the Mifi, and also an option on the Three Login page to disable data usage outside of the plan allowance.

FurtiveFreddy

Original Poster:

8,577 posts

261 months

Friday 1st February 2019
quotequote all
I've had a look at the 3 plans and they they do look good for what he needs.

I think that's why I told him to get a 3 SIM before, but he wasn't trying to stream TV then.

Can't work out why they want so much up front for their PAYG deals though.