Unlimited Data SIMs - are they really unlimited?
Discussion
I pay around £35/month for home broadband and get around 40mbps down and 10mbps up.
Usage is around 300GB perhaps on an average month and that isn't anything crazy just web and streaming Sky and iPlayer and the likes.
I've noticed the likes of Smarty are offering unlimited data SIMs for "only" £20/month so with a cheap mobile router that starts to look an interesting option.
Does anyone do this and if so have you found any issues around "unlimited" not really meaning unlimited?
Usage is around 300GB perhaps on an average month and that isn't anything crazy just web and streaming Sky and iPlayer and the likes.
I've noticed the likes of Smarty are offering unlimited data SIMs for "only" £20/month so with a cheap mobile router that starts to look an interesting option.
Does anyone do this and if so have you found any issues around "unlimited" not really meaning unlimited?
£35 p/m for fixed line BB is fairly typical and there wont be any huge cost savings by switching to 4G. Smarty however currently do unlimited for £20 p/m and providing you can get a good strong signal on the Three network then it's a great deal. I'm currently using Smarty 4G and Vodafone VDSL via a load balancer and it's a nice setup.
kinda similar to the Rooney...
EE with a phone sim -unlimited data in it. Its been happily providing the internet throughout my house / home office for the last 5 months.
Lots to read in the long thread here, but I would be wary about going all in with Three. it seems they are a throttler? (and their Customer services are just abominable)
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
EE with a phone sim -unlimited data in it. Its been happily providing the internet throughout my house / home office for the last 5 months.
Lots to read in the long thread here, but I would be wary about going all in with Three. it seems they are a throttler? (and their Customer services are just abominable)
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I use mine in conjunction with a fixed wireless broadband connection (40/10). I thought it would be used as a backup but actually it’s faster (50/30) and the generally more reliable. At the moment I use WAN link load balancing on my router - outbound TCP connections are distributed evenly across the links - so traffic is split pretty much 50/50 with seamless failover if either link dies.
Works pretty well... all I need to do now is setup some policy based routes so certain devices on the network have a preferred WAN path.
Works pretty well... all I need to do now is setup some policy based routes so certain devices on the network have a preferred WAN path.
Funk said:
Thinking that as long as the latency isn't too horrendous it might be worth adding a 4GEE unlimited data SIM to my existing account...
IME latency on 4G tends to be around 25 - 50ms. VDSL is usually just under 10ms. FTTP is 3-4ms. Despite this it sometimes feels like general web browsing is faster on my 4G connection than VDSL!The only other notable downside of 4G is not getting a public IP address, but that wont be an issue for most people.
As above, you don't get a public IP address with 4G BB, this means any CCTV or Dynamic DNS remote viewing etc won't work.
It has made me rethink my next move as I was determined to try 4G as an ISP option. I run dynamic DNS services and have a couple of web servers and CCTV which need to work.
It has made me rethink my next move as I was determined to try 4G as an ISP option. I run dynamic DNS services and have a couple of web servers and CCTV which need to work.
Bikerjon said:
£35 p/m for fixed line BB is fairly typical and there wont be any huge cost savings by switching to 4G. Smarty however currently do unlimited for £20 p/m and providing you can get a good strong signal on the Three network then it's a great deal. I'm currently using Smarty 4G and Vodafone VDSL via a load balancer and it's a nice setup.
Should be able to get fixed line BB for ~£20/month for superfast unlimited.I'm with Vodafone for that price for but there are others.
Well one cheap and bloody obvious lesson is don't run too many 4G speed tests on your mobile phone using your PAYG SIM
I seem to be able to get around 40mbps down but anything from 1-10mbps up depending when I try.
Not sure what might be the constraint on upload and if there is anything I can do about it but I expect not.
Any thoughts on a cheap and cheerful way to try this out "in production"?
A Smarty unlimited SIM seems cheap enough but any thoughts on a suitable router where if I stick with it I wouldn't be chucking it away?
I seem to be able to get around 40mbps down but anything from 1-10mbps up depending when I try.
Not sure what might be the constraint on upload and if there is anything I can do about it but I expect not.
Any thoughts on a cheap and cheerful way to try this out "in production"?
A Smarty unlimited SIM seems cheap enough but any thoughts on a suitable router where if I stick with it I wouldn't be chucking it away?
megaphone said:
As above, you don't get a public IP address with 4G BB, this means any CCTV or Dynamic DNS remote viewing etc won't work.
It has made me rethink my next move as I was determined to try 4G as an ISP option. I run dynamic DNS services and have a couple of web servers and CCTV which need to work.
3 gives you a proper nattable public IPIt has made me rethink my next move as I was determined to try 4G as an ISP option. I run dynamic DNS services and have a couple of web servers and CCTV which need to work.
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