Best solution for 3 month unlimited data

DM1983

Hi all, I have to move to a rural location in Wexford and wfh for 3-4 months. I can get broadband installed but it's a 12 month contract so will have to pay the full year when I cancel. I was thinking of Vodafone 4g wireless hub charging 20 euro for 20 gb PAYG option but again, this will be seriously expensive chewing through data. Anyone have any suggestions for what my best option might be? I know the short time frame makes this an unusual one.

DopeTech

DM1983 wrote: »

Hi all, I have to move to a rural location in Wexford and wfh for 3-4 months. I can get broadband installed but it's a 12 month contract so will have to pay the full year when I cancel. I was thinking of Vodafone 4g wireless hub charging 20 euro for 20 gb PAYG option but again, this will be seriously expensive chewing through data. Anyone have any suggestions for what my best option might be? I know the short time frame makes this an unusual one.

If 3 signal is good in the area you could use their 3 pay as you go sim in the router. That won't have speeds throttled whereas Vodafone is limited to 10MB. €20 topup per month

DUBLIN_person

DM1983 wrote: »

Hi all, I have to move to a rural location in Wexford and wfh for 3-4 months. I can get broadband installed but it's a 12 month contract so will have to pay the full year when I cancel. I was thinking of Vodafone 4g wireless hub charging 20 euro for 20 gb PAYG option but again, this will be seriously expensive chewing through data. Anyone have any suggestions for what my best option might be? I know the short time frame makes this an unusual one.

Depending on your coverage 3 do a 30 day sim only unlimited mobile broadband plan for €30 a month ( you’d still need to buy a mifi device or similar, probably could get one on the likes of adverts.ie)

If you have an old phone lying about you could use it as a hotspot on 3’s €20 PAYG plan which also has unlimited data, but I think they’re not fond of hotspotting on this plan, so while it might work for a while it, no guarantees it won’t just stop working one day.

Eir also do Mobile broadband packages, can’t remember the prices off hand, but I know it’s better value then the €20 for 20GB you quote above.

DM1983

Thanks for the quick responses guys. Sounds like a good option. I'll pick up a 3 sim card and see what the coverage is like hotspotting from my phone.

Will also keep an eye out for a 4g router.

Bummer1234

Was in the same situation as yourself op with been a heavy user, Got myself a 3 payg sim card and got a TP-Link Archer MR200 router and doing a great job, Im not far from a 3 mast so working well for me.

Ten Pin

As mentioned, 3 PAYG phone SIM in a spare handset should work, just be aware that phone will probably need to be charged regularly or continuously depending on usage so watch for overheating and battery degradation....that's why a spare phone is advisable. Router would be preferable to a phone depending on budget.

If 3 signal isn't good enough then Vodafone X is unlimited but throttled to 10Mbps

Eir PAYG phone data has fair use of 120GB and throttled to around 5Mbps over that.

Avoid mobile broadband plans as they are overpriced compared to phone plans, the only slight benefit is a router but that would be locked to a network and they might not unlock it after contract ends (three don't).

That Vodafone PAYG broadband 20GB plan is poor value, AFAIK it's not throttled but the allowance is too low.

DM1983

So the 3 coverage is crap ruling that out unfortunately. I might end up stuck with vodafone in the end. Also Vodafone tell me that the Vodafone X plan sim is somehow locked so you can't hotspot or stick it in a router. Haven't looked into Eir yet, thanks for the tip.

Ten Pin

Also Vodafone tell me that the Vodafone X plan sim is somehow locked so you can't hotspot or stick it in a router. Haven't looked into Eir yet, thanks for the tip.

Never mind what Vodafone say about hotspot, they just want to sell a more expensive plan. Get a SIM and try it in a phone, as long as you can set the APN to live.vodafone.com then hotspot/tethering should work (similar process with a router).


Either way, blocking data sharing (which VF are admitting to) is potentially in contravention of EU net neutrality regulations.

jimmycrackcorm

DM1983 wrote: »

So the 3 coverage is crap ruling that out unfortunately. I might end up stuck with vodafone in the end. Also Vodafone tell me that the Vodafone X plan sim is somehow locked so you can't hotspot or stick it in a router. Haven't looked into Eir yet, thanks for the tip.

LOL - locked how? On an Android phone, there is no way for the Telcom to know that you are tethering. If you are willing to believe them then I have a great opportunity for you. I have a very rich Nigerian Uncle who was a prince that died and has $100m in a bank waiting to transfer. I just need your bank details.

ED E

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

LOL - locked how? On an Android phone, there is no way for the Telcom to know that you are tethering.

Not quite true.

DM1983

In fairness to Mr Vodafone, I did ask would it work in a Vodafone 4g router. He said no. Perhaps you can't change the APN on this.

Ten Pin

In fairness to Mr Vodafone, I did ask would it work in a Vodafone 4g router. He said no. Perhaps you can't change the APN on this.

Possibly if it's a router locked to Vodafone but an unlocked router can be set up as needed by connecting to settings page in a browser.

Vodafone X SIM can be ordered on line for free so you can test whether or not APN can be edited in an unlocked phone and/or router.

Vodafone are inaccurate with the details they're providing because they want to sell a more expensive plan.

BigMoose

It is possible to block traffic if the IMEI of the device you put the SIM in isn't the one VF expect, but I doubt they are actually doing that... wont know until you try!

lotas

BigMoose wrote: »

It is possible to block traffic if the IMEI of the device you put the SIM in isn't the one VF expect, but I doubt they are actually doing that... wont know until you try!

They might not be blocking based on IMEI and SIM linking, but they might look at the MTU of the traffic coming though... if your phone is making a normal connection, MTU is usually 64 (or might be off by 1) by the time it hits the carrier network. this is expected, so its left as is... if that number is 1 less, it usually means your thethering or you are using a router (MTU comes from the machine making the call and goes down 1 though each hop). There are ways of telling Windows/Linux/MacOS to use an MTU of 65, which, then by he time it hits the next hope, will be what the carrier thinks it should be for mobile data...

I did some testing with GoMo on a Linux laptop and a tethered iPhone and didnt see a major difference in perf (iPhone got 30mb/s, MTU default on linux was 28, MTU set to 65 on linux got 29). but i have seen youtube videos showing big differences depending on carrier...

YMMV...

DM1983

Ten Pin wrote: »

Possibly if it's a router locked to Vodafone but an unlocked router can be set up as needed by connecting to settings page in a browser.

Vodafone X SIM can be ordered on line for free so you can test whether or not APN can be edited in an unlocked phone and/or router.

Vodafone are inaccurate with the details they're providing because they want to sell a more expensive plan.

Thanks for this

Ah-Watch

It is absolutely possible to tether on Vodafone X you just need to change the APN within the modem. Source: I have tested an unlock Huawei B535 that is used as a back up from time to time on Vodafone X. It automatically detects the apn as hs.vodafone.ie but it should be live.vodafone.com Once updated to that then you're sorted

DopeTech

Some versions of android definitely have APNs locked down. I've seen it on some first hand. You can see them but cannot edit or delete them. Vodafone also have the ability to push APNs to your device so even if you delete the HS APN then there is always the risk it'll reappear on your device.

Ten Pin

Haven't used it but Netshare app supposedly bypasses carrier tether/hotspot restriction.

https://netshare.app/


There's also a peer-to-peer wifi setting called "WiFi Direct" that might also work in a similar way to Bluetooth tethering. It's in the Advanced menu in WiFi settings.