Holiday Home BB - there must be a better way

tombrown

I have a holiday home in Donegal, and am currently using a Three prepay service to provide broadband. Three provide me the most consistent bandwidth (anywhere from 3 to 15 mbps depending on time of day) &, from what I can see, the most flexible pricing package.

The package I normally get is €35 for 30 days with 20GB limit. The 30 days part of that is irrelevant, as two kids who love HD video on iPads, iPhones etc burn through the download limit at about 5GB per day or more! 3 weeks here in the summer costs me a small fortune

There is a phone line in the house, but it has never been active since I have been here, so dont have a number, and I am not sure if any DSL providers will provide short term access. That said permanent DSL access may be worth it if the monthly fee is low enough

Wonder if anyone out there has any suggestions?

ED E

Buy a prepay 3 simcard
Topup by 20E
Get unlimited data for 30 days
Place sim in your current mifi device/4g router

FAQ:
1. Is this allowed?
Not officially.
2. Is it enforced?
No.

tombrown

I believe there is a fair usage policy of 15GB per month on the all you can eat data limit

ItHurtsWhenIP

tombrown wrote: »

I believe there is a fair usage policy of 15GB per month on the all you can eat data limit

As ED_E said...

ED E wrote: »

2. Is it enforced?
No.

Search this forum and the mid-band forum and you will see plenty of people talking about using the AYCE in this way.

tombrown

Thanks guys - might try that

One other dumb quesiton (I did a quick search & couldnt find the info, so apologies if this is out there): The AYCE package comes if you top up €20 every 30 days. As there are only certain times of year I will be needing it, I dont particularly want to do be paying 12 months a year (although it may still work out cheaper than the BB only deal), how regular do I need to be and how many months in a row do i need to top up to get the AYCE (or is this another non enforced condition?)

R P McMurphy

Just but a new SIM as you need it

ED E

tombrown wrote: »

Thanks guys - might try that

One other dumb quesiton (I did a quick search & couldnt find the info, so apologies if this is out there): The AYCE package comes if you top up €20 every 30 days. As there are only certain times of year I will be needing it, I dont particularly want to do be paying 12 months a year (although it may still work out cheaper than the BB only deal), how regular do I need to be and how many months in a row do i need to top up to get the AYCE (or is this another non enforced condition?)

Three sim cards *may* be deactivated after 6 months of no chargeable use. Send one text message every 6mo to keep it alive.

There is no contract/mandated use, you can top up in July, use it for 30 days, send a text in December and top up again the following June and be just fine.

Ireland Records

Hey Ed_E I'm really intrigued by this option and interested in setting it up. Can I ask:

a) Do you know anyone that is actually doing this?

and

b) I consider myself a bit of a tech head but I'm in the dark as to what's the best 4G router for this option?

Any help / advice is much appreciated.

Cheers

ted1

5Gb in a day while on holidays sounds quite excessive. Can you not download content before you go?

NIMAN

Are you using Feels Like Home on 3?

tombrown

ted1 wrote: »

5Gb in a day while on holidays sounds quite excessive. Can you not download content before you go?

Try telling the kids that As far as I can see its all Youtube & Facebook video which tends to be HD by default.

COmpared to just 2-3 years ago, our download capacity seems to have gone through the roof. I never measure it at home as it is AYCE there (Sky BB)

I should send them up a mountain instead

tombrown

Ireland Records wrote: »

Hey Ed_E I'm really intrigued by this option and interested in setting it up. Can I ask:

a) Do you know anyone that is actually doing this?

and

b) I consider myself a bit of a tech head but I'm in the dark as to what's the best 4G router for this option?

Any help / advice is much appreciated.

Cheers

I use Huawei B593, its excellent

ED E

- Everyone is doing it, why did you think I suggested *FREQUENTLY* asked questions.

- Use the new sim in the B593, not rocket science.

Ireland Records

Thanks for the help and advise guys. I normally jump at any recommendations when it comes to gear and that Huawei B593 looks like the biz but I'm a little strapped for cash to splash on an broadband at the moment (hence why I'm looking for cheaper alternatives) and that router is priced at £144+ on amazon.

Any cheaper alternatives that won't break the bank but will still offer a reasonable speeds?

Much appreciated

ED E

Grab a spare phone, enable "Hot Spot" or "Tethering" mode. Job done. Wifi range may be a little shorter this way.

How are you doing it currently as described in the OP where the kids are churning through data?

tombrown

Thanks for all the advice - ordered my regular SIM & will replace the BB only one next week.

Ireland Records

Hey thanks for that Ed_E, sorry to be so awkward about this but I understand I can use any SIM featured router - what I was wondering is what the next best router to the B593 might be? Something specific that might not be as expensive but something I might pick up easier on Adverts.

No worries if you can't recommend anything specific. Thanks for all your help.

ED E

Have a read of the "Midband" Subforum(under this one), plenty of discussion there.

tombrown

ED E wrote: »

Buy a prepay 3 simcard
Topup by 20E
Get unlimited data for 30 days
Place sim in your current mifi device/4g router

FAQ:
1. Is this allowed?
Not officially.
2. Is it enforced?
No.

Followed this advice & it works a treat. I just top up just before I travel to the house & get all the connectivity I need. My only issue now is what to do with the credit ... I now have a balance of 60 on the SIM, and its never going to get used. Even if I set the router to send a text message every now & then, I wont use up the free text limit. Maybe I can configure a call to the Australian speaking clock
Can I exchange it for airmiles?

DavyD_83

tombrown wrote: »

Followed this advice & it works a treat. I just top up just before I travel to the house & get all the connectivity I need. My only issue now is what to do with the credit ... I now have a balance of 60 on the SIM, and its never going to get used. Even if I set the router to send a text message every now & then, I wont use up the free text limit. Maybe I can configure a call to the Australian speaking clock
Can I exchange it for airmiles?

Donate to Charity?
https://api.likecharity.com/charities/

tombrown

Awesome - and that just deducts straight from your phone credit?

Thanks for the advice, thats exactly what I'll do

ED E

You can also buy stuff on Google Play (Movies, games, apps, Play Music Subscriptions) or Games on G2A/WoT/LoL if anyone in the family is a PC gamer.