Poor signal - Netgear M1 mifi
Discussion
A friend is currently living in a static caravan, no landline.
She has a Netgear mifi box on contract with O2, which worked perfectly where she lived before - smaller caravan, on a different site.
At her current place, she only gets one bar on the display, so streaming video (iPlayer, Netflix) just doesn't work. Ethernet connection to her iMac is pretty much unusable too. Her phone (on 3) works fine, so the problem is just with the local O2 signal.
She's tried the Netgear in different locations, even hanging it out of the windows.
Is it worth her getting an external antenna?
She's found a pair on Amazon for £13.99 - Bingu TS9. Are these likely to help?
She has a Netgear mifi box on contract with O2, which worked perfectly where she lived before - smaller caravan, on a different site.
At her current place, she only gets one bar on the display, so streaming video (iPlayer, Netflix) just doesn't work. Ethernet connection to her iMac is pretty much unusable too. Her phone (on 3) works fine, so the problem is just with the local O2 signal.
She's tried the Netgear in different locations, even hanging it out of the windows.
Is it worth her getting an external antenna?
She's found a pair on Amazon for £13.99 - Bingu TS9. Are these likely to help?
If it's the service provider, then try the 3 SIM in the mifi device and see if it improves.
If it does then it's the O2 signal that's the issue - if not, then it's something else.
Although if the 3 SIM works fine in the phone, and has enough data on it, then would using the phone as a temporary 'mobile hotspot' work?
If it does then it's the O2 signal that's the issue - if not, then it's something else.
Although if the 3 SIM works fine in the phone, and has enough data on it, then would using the phone as a temporary 'mobile hotspot' work?
Thanks for the reply.
Using the phone as a hotspot works OK, she's just a bit miffed that she's paying £50 a month to O2 for something that doesn't work where she lives now.
Can you just swap sims like that, or are mifi devices locked to the service provider the same way as phones are?
Using the phone as a hotspot works OK, she's just a bit miffed that she's paying £50 a month to O2 for something that doesn't work where she lives now.
Can you just swap sims like that, or are mifi devices locked to the service provider the same way as phones are?
If she's in a contract (where the mifi device was included), then you may be stuck. If it's not a contract then cancel and switch.
Unfortunately it's not O2's fault that your friend moved to another area. My mate moved to Cornwall and he's got exactly one provider that he can get any service with....and that's only available for about 50% of the day....but that goes for his calor gas supply too
Unfortunately it's not O2's fault that your friend moved to another area. My mate moved to Cornwall and he's got exactly one provider that he can get any service with....and that's only available for about 50% of the day....but that goes for his calor gas supply too
She had the opposite problem where she lived before - her phone on 3 didn't work, so she signed up with O2 for the mifi device.
I know what you mean about Cornwall - that's where I live, and the only network that works in my house is Vodafone.
It's about time that the UK mobile networks co-operated to allow all networks to use all transmitters, at least for 4g.
I know what you mean about Cornwall - that's where I live, and the only network that works in my house is Vodafone.
It's about time that the UK mobile networks co-operated to allow all networks to use all transmitters, at least for 4g.
clockworks said:
She had the opposite problem where she lived before - her phone on 3 didn't work, so she signed up with O2 for the mifi device.
I know what you mean about Cornwall - that's where I live, and the only network that works in my house is Vodafone.
It's about time that the UK mobile networks co-operated to allow all networks to use all transmitters, at least for 4g.
Completely agree. Something like the Local Loop Unbundling that BT had to offer for telephone exchanges to allow other providers to use their equipment/network. I know what you mean about Cornwall - that's where I live, and the only network that works in my house is Vodafone.
It's about time that the UK mobile networks co-operated to allow all networks to use all transmitters, at least for 4g.
Looks like she has a solution, as long as it works.
She's going to try the 3 phone sim when she gets home. If that works, she will get a data sim from 3 to use in the Netgear, and reduce the O2 contract to the monthly minimum.
It will actually work out a couple of pounds a month cheaper.
She's going to try the 3 phone sim when she gets home. If that works, she will get a data sim from 3 to use in the Netgear, and reduce the O2 contract to the monthly minimum.
It will actually work out a couple of pounds a month cheaper.
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