EE or 3 for tethering

[chml]

Hi all,

For reasons that are too complicated to go into, one of my in-laws cannot have broadband but is looking to get a firestick for her tv to watch iPlayer and such like. Can I buy a 100gb/unlimited sim and chuck it into an old Samsung smart phone and just tether the firestick to that? Do any of the two networks above limit the amount of tethering etc?

Thanks

[chml]

Bumpy bump

[rigga]

3 say its unlimited on some of their plans, but I still think they have a fair usage caveat. ..

As always the devils in the small print.

[DaveE87]

I had to use BT (EE) last year for a few weeks using a little mobile router until a phone line was installed. My mate uses his phone on the 3 network when he travels around the UK. Streaming is fine but any gaming can be slow at times in peak periods for both networks.

[eltawater]

We have an EE data sim in either the second sim slot or a spare mobile phone which acts as a mobile hot spot for tethering.
It has been hammered constantly by a mix of 4 phones / amazon fire tablets whilst on holiday around the UK or driving on long journeys. In fact, we managed to drain 20GB of a 100GB allowance in 7 days on a seaside holiday with no issues thanks to youtube and netflix streaming.

Smart phones have a habit of doing too many things in the background for me to trust them as a 24/7 internet connection device as there's always the risk of a crash, battery issue or an unexpected reboot. You may wish to consider a dedicated mifi device instead.

The only issue has been when one of us is "the chosen one" and wanders off with the phone in their pocket to the toilet at a restaurant, only to return to faces which would put a meths addict in withdrawal to shame as we've forgotten that the wifi hotspot signal doesn't extend beyond the toilet...

Edited by eltawater on Thursday 28th October 20:36

[anonymous-user]

Is that no good https://www.threebroadband.co.uk/

Pretty much a phone just sat in the corner.

[Tyre Smoke]

I did just this, this week in my caravan.

Hotspot on my phone, Firestick tethered. No issues.

I've also got an unlimited sim in a router at home from EE. Never had an issue with running Sky Q, Firestick and XBox. Is actually faster than the local Openreach offering.

[chml]

Thanks all. Anything other than a mobile phone isn’t going to work… family dynamics are a bit difficult at the moment.
My thought is basically an old mobile that will only be used for tethering and then just using that. Sounds like the EE/3 offering could work - would be streaming for maybe 2 hours a day so not sure how much data that would be.

[sly fox]

you just need to check if the Tethering allowance matches the data allowance.

I have 20gb/month of data on 3 but seem to remember that the tethering portion was 2gb/month.

[Zag_a_muffin]

My only internet access is via 3, sim only deal, 2 year contract, 6 months £15 per month, then £20 plus some inflation calc. Use it for everything, work from home, don't have TV lisence so stream everything. Can't fault it, totally unlimited, currently use a 4g mifi but have used phone as 4 / 5g hotspot. No issues with speed but if using phone as hotspot battery usage and heat may be an issue which is why i got a 4g mifi for £50. Use around 500gb a month and not had an issue with speed slowing down on the fair useage policy.

[boxst]

chml said:

Thanks all. Anything other than a mobile phone isn’t going to work… family dynamics are a bit difficult at the moment.
My thought is basically an old mobile that will only be used for tethering and then just using that. Sounds like the EE/3 offering could work - would be streaming for maybe 2 hours a day so not sure how much data that would be.

Both three and EE are good for streaming for me. I had a deal with EE so chose that. When it ended I swapped to three as it is much, much cheaper. I use a “phone sim” even though it never gets put in a phone.

I quoted your post as tethering (for me at least) is a bit erratic. Much better to use a MIFi or a 4g router. Just grab one from eBay.

[chml]

Thanks all - went into EE today and got a MiFi device and an unlimited data sim - seems to be spot on for what she needs so far. Thanks again