Cheapest SIM for home security

Morby

My parents have a holiday home and want to install a Ring doorbell for security and to keep an eye on the premises.

They'll need a SIM to work in a Huawei 4G router to provide internet for the Ring to work on.

Just wondering what the cheapest either PAYG or SIM only plan out there would be at the moment?

Not interest in any calls or texts as would be used for WiFi only and I reckon even 1/2GB would be fine.

I'm living abroad so a bit out of the loop on SIM deals at the moment.

Thanks

Ten Pin

Vodafone PAYG Addon €5 / 5GB / 28 days.

It should work in a router once the APN is set correctly.

https://n.vodafone.ie/shop/pay-as-you-go-plans/add-ons.html/

Morby

That sounds perfect, thanks so much!

Morby

As an aside, what does setting the APN involve, what APN settings would I need to use please?

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119280812#Comment_119280812

If you on are an Android phone go to settings and in the search bar put APN or Access Point Names and it will come up. In there is a number of adjustable settings. I dont know what they are for Vodafone but would guess they are on their website or support can give them to you if it doesnt work in the router out of the box

dotsman

How does the PAYG Addon work? Do you not need a Vodafone PAYG sim, and how much does that cost? On the website, the cheapest option to buy a PAYG sim that I see is to sign up to a €20 per month plan. https://n.vodafone.ie/shop/pay-as-you-go-plans.html

Am I missing something?

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119281077#Comment_119281077

I seem to remember something about a 5 euro per month Vodafone PAYG sim, there was a thread on it here before. Not sure if that offer is still available, sounds like it isnt if its not on their site

Morby

That would have been ideal. Thanks for letting me know. Will keep an eye out anyhow.

Ten Pin

 It's more like 'select' than 'sign up' for a plan.

If you go through the steps to order a Vodafone PAYG SIM, it should be free, they have to assign a plan to the SIM for whatever reason but it doesn't tie you in to anything.

Just make sure to top up by less than €20 when SIM arrives so that the top up amount is available to buy add ons. €20 top up in one transaction will activate a plan and take the credit leaving zero balance. Minimum top up is €5. IMO it's a good idea to only ever add enough for the add on as the out of bundle data rate is €2 per day and that will kick in automatically if the allowance is exceeded.

Morby

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the info, much appreciated.

I got the Vodafone SIM in the end and topped it up with €5 today to get the 5GB for 28 days.

Works fine in phone however nada when put in the router.

Have Vodafone blocked mobile SIMs from working in routers?

I see something above about changing APN settings but if I do that with the SIM in a phone that only affects the APN settings on the phone and not the SIM, right?

Or can you do it while in the router too? And if so, do you need a laptop as unfortunately I just have a phone at my disposal :(

xhomelezz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119322931#Comment_119322931

You should be able to change settings of your router with your phone.

https://www.lifewire.com/access-router-settings-from-phone-5215504

Ah-Watch

You'll need to change the APN settings within the modem for it to work. Which modem is it?

Morby

Hi there,

Thanks so much for the responses, much appreciated.

It's a Huawei B525

I have know idea what APN settings to use or how to go about it really though and it's for my elderly parents and they wouldn't have a clue

Shelflife

Make sure to either have it on a plan or to top it up on a regular basis even though you still have plenty of credit on it.

if its sim only and its inactive as in not being topped up regularly then it may be disconnected and you could be alarm less and therefore no insurance.

Ten Pin

Look for a label with the SSID and WiFi key (password) and connect to router with your phone. Activate router wireless with WPS button.

Then load the web UI with phone browser by typing 192.168.1.1 (or similar, check the label for a 192 address) in the URL bar.

Should be a setting in there for APN which is

live.vodafone.com

SIM PIN might also be needed in the router settings, that's the PIN1 code on the SIM package.

xhomelezz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119326273#Comment_119326273

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.apnsettings.org/ireland/vodafone-ireland-4g-apn-settings-for-android/amp/

That should do the job, unless I'm missing something.

You can use Huawei hilink app to change router settings from your android phone.