3 One Plan Sim-only in router - unlimited data or 2Gb cap?

Hi there, I have been going through all the options with 3 and its data plans for home use as my home broadband is rubbish basically, and was hoping this forum would be able to answer some questions please?

Currently I am on a mobile broadband 15Gb/month sim with 3 and am using it with a Netcomm wireless router situated in my loft. We use it for home broadband as our ADSL speeds are so slow with BT. Infinity is available today and will give us about 7mb download speeds so still pretty poor! We are in a rural area with slow broadband so hopefully mobile broadband will be the answer, it's just the monthly caps are the 'problem'. With the wireless router with the sim we can get about 10mb download, sometimes more. It can sometimes hit 15mb download speeds, and hopefully more when 4g (IF!) comes to our area.

What I would like to know is if I can ditch my 15GB/month sim mifi plan, and get a 'normal' phone One plan (sim only) which has unlimited data allowance and use it in my netcomm router? I know that there is a 2GB 'cap' on the one plan for tethering, but it seems that sim only plans aren't affected with this limitation? I have a phone contract with 3 currently and it has unlimited tethering, but the indoor coverage is rubbish which is why I use a netcomm with external aerial setup to get a better signal rather than just use my phone tethering.

Basically, will a normal sim only one plan (meant to be used for phones) work in a router? I won't be making calls with it obviously, but would 3 care and would it be able to use the unlimited data solely or would 3 see it as not being used in a phone and stop the sim from working.

I am hoping that this would work as it would mean I wouldn't be tied down to the 15GB/month cap I currently have with their mobile broadband sim? I know that's what that plan is meant to be for but I don't want to be limited to 15GB if they offer an 'unlimited' plan, (especially if it is truly unlimited rather than limited to 2Gb) if the sim only plans are truly unlimited.

Sorry if it's a bit complicated, just wanted to see if anyone knew if it would be possible?

Cheers!

Ash

99.9% sure the answer is no. One plan is for phones only and data plans for routers are not available as unlimited.

EDIT : Same discussion here last year

Edited by ian72 (Mon 07-Jul-14 14:00:55)

In reply to a post by Ash25:

Sorry if it's a bit complicated, just wanted to see if anyone knew if it would be possible?

Sadly no, Three detect it and cancel the SIM and account.

Some people have been known to buy phones with AYCE data and set them up as hotspots with a mains connection - this is one reason why Three are now limiting tethering to 2GB a month.

Have you searched around for wireless / 4G fixed line broadband providers in your area. You'd be surprised how many of them are around. Basically they would probably build the same setup that you have already done yourself, but the difference being a bigger data allowance than what you currently get.

I'm not sure how strict they are with the allowances, but i have been with my provider since October 2013 without any issues. I'm a family of 5 using a wireless connection and voip phones.

I think you will find the 2GB tethering limit is only if you buy the one plan with a handset, the sim only one plan still has unlimited tethering, but yes you are correct 3 will detect if it's in a router and cancel the account.

In reply to a post by janitor:

I think you will find the 2GB tethering limit is only if you buy the one plan with a handset, the sim only one plan still has unlimited tethering, but yes you are correct 3 will detect if it's in a router and cancel the account.

From a thread on a different site the expectation is that even SIM only One Plan accounts will be limited to 2GB tethering from next week. (and SIM only plans with AYCE add on).

if this is really what your wanting to do and you want to use a full router for your main network part might i sugest looking into this it lists the routers and the phone they support for USB tethering

so you could get one of those listed routers a supported phone and use a phone as the modem and then a asus router as the router part, obviously this comes with an bit of an upfront cost but at the same time its the long term benefits,

this get around the only used in a phone situation as you will still be using the phone to tether and not an actually 3g/4g modem.

the one plan unlimited tethering for new customers ends on the 14th of july though so need to look quick in signing up and securing one as previous customers wont be effected by the new limit

Ash

Get a cheap android phone then put sim in there and use that as the router connected to a charger, unlimited data and a bargain, be quick it ends soon.

I've managed to use my "One Plan" sim in a 3 branded MiFi and connected it to 2 phones and a tablet without any issues at all. I've looked on my iPhone and it looks like 3 now have their own APN for personal hotspot "3hotspot" so I'm assuming if you can, change the hotspot APN to "three.co.uk" and it should use the unlimited allowance.

Thankyou all for your replies, they have been very informative! I thought that it would most likely be the case that it wouldn't be possible to just put in a 'one plan' sim in my router and for it to work as I wanted but just thought I would check here. It seems that it won't be possible then.

Well as it seems that 14th July is tomorrow I don't think that if I order an new one plan sim tonight it would be activated for use before the cut off date for the truly unlimited tethering rather then to be limited to 2Gb? I had a quick look at the site and it doesn't specifially mention the 2gb limit on the one plan details so maybe it would be ok to order one now before tomorrow and see if it works? I don't mind getting a cheap android phone and using it as a hotspot if I cand efinetly get unlimited, but I would look into getting one of those routers mentions above that hooks up to the phone etc as I would ideally need to use the external antenna/aerial as this is the only way to get good speeds. Inside the house the signal isn't too good which is why I used a router with an external aerial in the first place you see.

I know it's late, but does anyone know if you place an online order does the contract start at that time, or when you receive the sim, so it would then be most likely under the 2Gb limit contract?

Speaking of the Asus routers above, has anybody attached a phone to it via usb and let it run indefinetly on the mains with any reliable results? It would most likely need to be an easy solution, and not needed to be rebooted or turned off and on repeatedly.

Anyway, thanks very much for your help in this, look forward to more suggestions.

Cheers!

Ash

theoretical if you order tonight or even tomorrow and get accepted it should still have unlimited as the order was places before the cut off point, but i belive you get so many days to change your mind so poss you could use that ?

i haven't personally used one but ive read reports in the past it dose work, as long as its one of the supported combos, and id presume it will also be fine with charging too as it would be no different to charging off a PC, and if its going to be used exclusively for tethering i cant see it needing more power than can be supplied as the screen ETC will be off

Ash

Thanks for the quick reply. Well it looks like it would be the best option using the combo phone and router, but that would still only give indoor reception which would severly limit the speed throughput to be honest. It looks to be the best option though if I find a good position in the house for the best reception?

Does anyone have any other info on the hotspot APN thing? I think my router uses three.co.uk already, rather than the hotspot one, so maybe if i try a one plan in the router/mifi first and if it doesn't work i could then try the phone/router option later (it would be additional cost so would want to try the cheapest way possible first really!).

What I might do is order a 1 month contract sim only one plan and see what happens, and then try a cheap android phone.

Cheers!

Ash

Edited by deleted (Sun 13-Jul-14 23:10:28)

it wont work in a mifi no matter what APN you use, you can use 3internet on phone as well as three.co.uk

the iphone has a different APN setting for hotspot mode because i devices support 2 different APNs so they use a separate APN as another way to identify tether traffic on those,

i think either way its going to require shelling out some money,

but at the same time you do seam limited in your options so i guess you need to weigh the pros and cons out in the next 24 hours

Ash

I'd be pretty confident that if you order in the next 15 minutes it will be the pre 14th July contract. It's at the point of sale that you agree your contract so go for it.

In reply to a post by acpsd775:

it wont work in a mifi no matter what APN you use, you can use 3internet on phone as well as three.co.uk

I've been using my sim in a MiFi whilst driving so my friends have internet on their phones and tablets. I use it for up to 2 hours at a time and it never cuts out (unless there's no signal obviously) but it's never stopped. I'm not sure if it's the same for everyone but it definately works in a MiFi for me. Haven't tried it in a dongle or directly in a tablet though.

Sorry for the late reply, and thanks for all the info! Well, I decided that I wasn't going to sign up for another SIM only contract just to try it out, as my particular situation really wouldn't work with the idea of using a phone as the 'router', mainly as I would have to have one sitting outside all the time! The indoor signal is just too rubbish here at home, so much so that we have to have a three home signal box for phone reception.

I guess I will stick with using a 'capped' monthly dongle in my router and rely mainly on BT broadband at their slow speeds for the foreseeable future. In the process of trying to 'upgrade' to an FTTC service through BT, but that is another headache as they are having trouble syncing the new hub. Hopefully they will have it sorted soon, but the initial test when installing the new homehub 5 showed a download sync speed of around 4.5mb (up from 2.5!), which to me is pretty rubbish. Ah well, good thing we have the 3G router working or we would have no internet right now!

Cheers for all the help. Looks to me that I would have just been in time though if I did get a new SIM only, as they did cap the new contracts the day after in the end. Ah the trails and tribulations of trying to get good broadband in a rural area (not really that bad compared to other world problems, but hey ho).

Ash