Is wifi a waste of money (android related!)

tupac_healy

Been thinking as of late....

With 4g apparently on the way (eventually) is there a point in paying both a phone contact AND wifi?


I was thinking I might go for the note 2 (or 3 when its out) and ditch my ipad and s3, I'm wondering is there a data plan out there, say a proper unlimited data plan that I coukd use to replace my internet bill???


I mean, why have 2 bills when I can have 1?

Yes it can be a waste. I'm on 3 with unlimited data and got rid of my wifi years ago. Haven't looked back. Depends on your needs.

tupac_healy

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Yes it can be a waste. I'm on 3 with unlimited data and got rid of my wifi years ago. Haven't looked back. Depends on your needs.

And what device are you using if you dont mind me asking..... see my laptop broke and ive been using my ipad and that has prompted me to think I dont really need a laptop, which in turn has prompted me to think can I replace my ipad and ditch my internet bill alrogether??

I have an s3 and tether to my laptop and tablet. (I need my laptop for work purposes.) I'm not sure I quite get what you're saying though. Why would you have to ditch your ipad in order to ditch your internet bill?

Sofiztikated

By WiFi, do you mean your home connection?

Not likely.

desaparecidos

No internet over the air (3g, 4g, fixed wireless, satellite) will be unlimited.

You'd also want to be in a good coverage area for 4g to be a proper replacement for broadband.

What about other devices in your house?

desaparecidos

desaparecidos wrote: »

No internet over the air (3g, 4g, fixed wireless, satellite) will be unlimited.

What do you mean? I have unlimited internet?

Jarren

Deleted User wrote: »

What do you mean? I have unlimited internet?

Who are you with ?

jd83

Yes it would be a waste but not when you live in ireland and most internet service providers can barely reach a third of the bandwidth their advertising.

Jarren

Jarren wrote: »

Who are you with ?

Three. They got rid of their 15Gb cap a good while ago.

tupac_healy

Sofiztikated wrote: »

By WiFi, do you mean your home connection?

Not likely.

Yes my wifi at home, I dont have a wired connection at home.


Im tied into my mobile contact till next year anyhow so im just considering possibilities at the moment more than pressing ahead.


If there is TRUELY unlimited data plans out there then my mind is practically made up by that

Renegade Mechanic

tupac_healy wrote: »

Yes my wifi at home, I dont have a wired connection at home.


Im tied into my mobile contact till next year anyhow so im just considering possibilities at the moment more than pressing ahead.


If there is TRUELY unlimited data plans out there then my mind is practically made up by that

In the cities, Home wifi may well be made redundant. Out here however, where we still burn witches every thursday, I dont see Wifi budging from its top spot for quite some time.

Sofiztikated

It all depends on your use.

I couldn't, gaming, streaming hd, downloading games, all too much for mobile data to cope with.

Sofiztikated

Sofiztikated wrote: »

It all depends on your use.

I couldn't, gaming, streaming hd, downloading games, all too much for mobile data to cope with.

I game on Xbox Live and stream HD at the same time fine. It all depends on your coverage and network.

Mimikyu

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Captain Morgan

Captain Morgan wrote: »

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I use ~ 200GB a month for 2 years now and they don't seem bothered. They got rid of throttling for high usage too.

I'm starting to sound like I'm advertising Three but I'm pretty sure there are other networks that offer truly unlimited internet too.

desaparecidos

What plan do you have? 60GB is the max here:
http://www.three.ie/products_services/broadband/billpay-broadband.html

Mimikyu

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Captain Morgan

Captain Morgan wrote: »

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Yeah they used to be less lenient but I think unlimited data is their main selling point these days. Whether they keep it unlimited when they roll out 4g is another thing.

Aristotle can correct me if I'm wrong but I presume he's talking about one of the "All You Can Eat" mobile data packages, either PAYG or bill.

Right you are.

desaparecidos

Deleted User wrote: »

Right you are.

Interesting they have an unlimited data addon but for dedicated "broadband" the max is 60GB.

How much are you paying. Prepay / Billpay?

I'm on the €20 topup deal.

Columbia

Deleted User wrote: »

I have an s3 and tether to my laptop and tablet. (I need my laptop for work purposes.) I'm not sure I quite get what you're saying though. Why would you have to ditch your ipad in order to ditch your internet bill?

Isn't tethering against the terms and conditions? Do they not pay any attention to it?

tupac_healy

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I use ~ 200GB a month for 2 years now and they don't seem bothered. They got rid of throttling for high usage too.

I'm starting to sound like I'm advertising Three but I'm pretty sure there are other networks that offer truly unlimited internet too.

200gb!!!!!!

Im getting on to them in the morning!!!!!! Thats unreal, I am on the 60gb broadband plan and after hearing that I feel violated!!!!!

Columbia

Columbia wrote: »

Isn't tethering against the terms and conditions? Do they not pay any attention to it?

They can't tell if you're tethering on an Android phone. If it has 3's bloatware on it they might, I have no idea.

Sofiztikated

Deleted User wrote: »

They can't tell if you're tethering on an Android phone. If it has 3's bloatware on it they might, I have no idea.

I'd imagine that they'd cop, 200Gb a month on a phone would be chronic.

Sofiztikated

Sofiztikated wrote: »

I'd imagine that they'd cop, 200Gb a month on a phone would be chronic.

Most of that has been through Netflix, Skype and Teamviewer, all of which I can use on my phone just as much.

listermint

Not a chance, I've used meteor and O2s offerings and the are nothing in comparison to UPC. Just couldn't keep up with my multiple home uses.

da_hambo

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Yes it can be a waste. I'm on 3 with unlimited data and got rid of my wifi years ago. Haven't looked back. Depends on your needs.

Would three be ok for xbox live consistently? Ive used it a few times when my regional broadband was down. Tethering is awesome alright.

Yep, for me it is anyway. Depends on your signal etc. You should try cutting out wifi for a week and see how it goes.

bumper234

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Yes it can be a waste. I'm on 3 with unlimited data and got rid of my wifi years ago. Haven't looked back. Depends on your needs.

This is only good if you get decent coverage. I am with 3 on an s4 and if i didnt have wifi at home (north county dublin) i wouldnt be able to get online hell i have to go out the back garden to make a call when am home.

bumper234

bumper234 wrote: »

This is only good if you get decent coverage. I am with 3 on an s4 and if i didnt have wifi at home (north county dublin) i wouldnt be able to get online hell i have to go out the back garden to make a call when am home.

Yep. I've been saying you need good coverage in a lot of my posts in this thread!

bumper234

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Yep. I've been saying you need good coverage in a lot of my posts in this thread!

Sorry

Sunday morning half open eyes = only half reading posts

mad turnip

Wireless technology will never have close to the same latency of a wired connection, for that reason WiFi will not disappear. People presume now when you click something it instantly loads this will only get worse as time goes on.

SpaceTime

jd83 wrote: »

Yes it would be a waste but not when you live in ireland and most internet service providers can barely reach a third of the bandwidth their advertising.

To be fair if your in an urban area that's not really true.

Some long line ADSL services don't work very well but it's not the norm.

UPC's speeds are excellent and a lot of ADSL customers are moving to eFibre and other FTTC products.

Even my up to 24 mbits ADSL line is drastically better than 3G.

It's reliably fast, not bursty like 3G can be and it has much better ping times (20 times better)

Several providers including eircom and UPC do genuinely uncapped Internet too. The unlimited packages on mobile networks are usually 15GB fair usage.

A few Netflix or Sky on demand shows will burn through that (assuming they will stream reliably over 3g)

Even a good quality, unlimited 8Mbits NGB connection will beat 3G in terms of quality of connection, reliability, ping and is widely available uncapped now.

irishpancake

Vodafone at Home are also offering unlimited usage [300GB FUP]....

on most plans, except their starter Simply Talk or Simply Broadband plans.

Those are separate broadband packages though. OP wants to pay only one bill, his phone bill.

Mimikyu

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bumper234

Captain Morgan wrote: »

Hardly unlimited with a 300GB FUP.

I have always thought of so called fair usage policys as a cop out. If you are advertising as unlimited then thats exactly what it should be. I know some people take the piss but if you have a fair usage cap then you are not offering unlimited service and therefore you should be prosecuted for false advertisement.

SlickTalker

Does anyone have a link to where Three have announced that the 15gb limit has been removed?

http://shop.three.ie/terms/prepay-price-plan-terms-conditions/

Should your data usage exceed 15GB in a 30 day period and your usage affect other network users, we reserve the right to limit your Service.

It used to be a lot stricter than that. I also read on some thread on Three that they hardly ever enforce that. More scaremongering than anything.

OI

bumper234 wrote: »

I have always thought of so called fair usage policys as a cop out. If you are advertising as unlimited then thats exactly what it should be. I know some people take the piss but if you have a fair usage cap then you are not offering unlimited service and therefore you should be prosecuted for false advertisement.

I couldn't agree more with this. How are companies getting away with this

smee again

Oh, the irony, 3 offer all you can eat data and their network slowly goes to pieces. They don't care, they have no interest in providing a good service, all they want is subscribers (they are actually operating at a loss) and then route the unhappy customers to the the Engrish speaking fella in Mumbai to add to the frustration.

They're in the process of moving their customer service to Ireland last I heard.

But yeah, the way it is right now is awful.

tupac_healy

Deleted User wrote: »

They're in the process of moving their customer service to Ireland last I heard.

But yeah, the way it is right now is awful.

I point blank refuse to deal with their pathetic effort of a customer service via phone.....

I had an issue with them, it took 6 months (not joking) to upgrade my account to,the 60gb plan, they obviously don't like more money coming in or something, but utterly useless, eventually got it resolved via email, email and three customer service should always be used in the same sentence

irishpancake

Deleted User wrote: »

Those are separate broadband packages though. OP wants to pay only one bill, his phone bill.

Sorry Ari, they're not, except the Simply Broadband, as I indicated in my post.

Vodafone at Home are also offering unlimited usage [300GB FUP]....

on most plans, except their starter Simply Talk or Simply Broadband plans.

.....

I think you misunderstood???

There is only one Bill, and it covers both Wi-Fi and phone calls, local, National, Mobile and International, within the same plan.....one price.

For example, Vodafone Home gives this:

What you get with this plan

• up to 70Mb speed*
  
• Unlimited usage allowance**
  
• 100 minutes to Irish mobiles, landlines & 23 top international landline destinations
  
• Free PC Protection for the first three months
  
• Vodafone Mentor
  
• Choose from a 12, 18 or 24 month contract
  

for €37 (existing VF mobile customers) or €40 for everyone else :P

Also, I don't get this complaining about the 300GB FUP...

God......

up to now my limit was 40GB.. :eek: and I thought that was OK, when they raised it to 50 it was great....

unlimited[300 FUP]......

was a pipe dream...

pardon the pun!!

SpaceTime

Eircom dropped their FUP entirely as of 13 June unlimited actually means what it says according to their reps on their own forum.

RE: Irishpancake, these packages are for internet from a dongle and for calls from your landline. Has nothing to do with your mobile phone unfortunately.

irishpancake

[Deleted User] wrote: »

RE: Irishpancake, these packages are for internet from a dongle and for calls from your landline. Has nothing to do with your mobile phone unfortunately.

Ari ..if you don't mind ne saying so, this debate is not just about you and your particular circumstances.

The clue is in the title.

"Is WiFi a waste of money."

I am merely pointing out that most fixed bb packages are now trending towards unlimited usage....

other ppl have mentioned eircom and UPC.

I gave info about my provider as there is no possibility of mobile data at all where I live.

It is not a dongle.....just normal fixed BB and home phone.

If it was just about your mobile internet service I would not have bothered engaging at all as your situation us unique to you, but does not apply to egeryone else.

Why do you feel the need to "correct" my posts all the time?? Generally, you are wrong or misunderstand my position.

My information is as good as yours and I gave it in good faith, without comment on your particular situation, which is your business, but not applicable to everyone, for obvious reasons.

OP asked if there was any a point in having both a phone contract and broadband contract. People have mentioned their broadband suppliers like UPC as they are arguing that they need both. You have mentioned good deals on broadband packages, which is irrelevant to OPs question. I'm sure it will he helpful to others though.

irishpancake

[Deleted User] wrote: »

OP asked if there was any a point in having both a phone contract and broadband contract. People have mentioned their broadband suppliers like UPC as they are arguing that they need both. You have mentioned good deals on broadband packages, which is irrelevant to OPs question. I'm sure it will he helpful to others though.

And I am saying exactly the same as those UPC ppl. as there is no reliable mobile supplier in my area, which is also a designated and NBS area.

So, my examples were referring to home phone and broadband. Using "phone" when you mean mobile or cell is slightly ambiguous. There simply is no other alternative for me.

For you obviously there is the option of just one supplier as you have acceptable download speeds and your supplier apparently does not enforce a FUP. That is all good.

BTW.....Your quote showing the so-called change in FUP policy by your supplier is not very clear, to me at least.

irishpancake

SpaceTime wrote: »

Eircom dropped their FUP entirely as of 13 June unlimited actually means what it says according to their reps on their own forum.

Very interesting...this is what is on the eircom site:

What does unlimited usage mean?

Unlimited means that there are absolutely no limits the amount of data you can download or upload in a month.

So you can stream, download, chat, browse and game online with no worries about any usage caps

https://secure.eircom.net/bundles/

These plans are for fibre enabled areas, but I think the unlimited may apply in non-enabled areas also??

Superfast Fibre Broadband, Home phone and Mobile

So, is this a first, and will all other providers follow suit?

Some are already nearly there, like Voda 300GB FUP for their "unlimited" packages. That's a lotta data, IMO!!