Smarty consistently inconsistent, help?

Hi, sorry but I am not really technical at all when it comes to specific broadband technology etc but I am having major problems with SMARTY.

I use a Smarty sim in a Huawei B310s router and it is rarely working perfectly. Sometimes I might get a good hour or so where everything is loading nicely, no problems...but more often than not it gets extremely slow and inconsistent even doing the most basic online browsing.

In theory I should get good Three/Smarty signal as I checked my coverage but it just doesn't happen. The router is absolutely fine as a VOXI sim works amazingly in it. I've also tried tethering the Smarty sim from a mobile device and the same connection issues persist. Here are some of the things I've tried so far...

* Use a VPN (noticed very minimal difference)
* Changed APN settings (nothing)
* Changed DNS server (nothing)

It's extremely frustrating and when I brought this up with Smarty's customer service their advice was to look for a different provider if I'm not happy with the service. I know VOXI do unlimited data for £35 per month but I would really like to try and make Smarty work as it's such excellent value (on paper at least) for £20 per month

Any suggestions would be massively welcome

I have no first-hand experience, but reading others' similar tales of woe, I think Smarty traffic is de-prioritised on the Three network. It's also possible they use packet shaping that discourages people using permanent router installs (e.g., if long session, then slow throughput to a crawl).

In reply to a post by richi:

I think Smarty traffic is de-prioritised on the Three network.

I think you are right. I have been using Smarty for the past 6 months in a spare phone and tethered. I have noticed that latency has gone up massively recently.

I have a Smarty sim in another phone of the exact same model, and it performs fine. So I suspect they're massively de-priortising devices they see as using data only etc.

Edited by deleted (Wed 07-Oct-20 09:09:01)

In reply to a post by Anonymous1337:

So I suspect they're massively de-priortising devices they see as using data only etc.

Would you be surprised? Smarty is a cheap option, to compete with Voxi (from Vodafone) and GiffGaff (from O2).

I wouldn’t even really use VOXI for this purpose long term. Getting a native Vodafone sim is probably the best option as you’re not on a network designed to compete with the bottom segment of the market ie GIFFGAFF SMARTY TESCO mobile etc.

Any reason you are using a mobile sim, no FTTC etc available?

I'm wondering if you have got this sorted, as you haven't posted since asking the question over a fortnight ago, but I would suggest buying a £1 Three 3-2-1 PAYG SIM from a convenience store, or maybe get one direct from Three.

Put it in a phone to register it and put a few pounds on it, then if it works well move it to the B310. (I assume that's what you have being doing with the other SIMs). Buy a data pack if it works OK.

Three has major issues, but my area just had some network upgrades completed recently and I now get 50+ in the day and tonight around 10-20mbps which is a lot better than the 0.1mbps I was getting every evening prior to today. So their big network build does bring improvements massively.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

Any reason you are using a mobile sim, no FTTC etc available?

No FTTC and only Virgin HFC (wouldn't touch them with a 10ft pole), and don't want a 12-24 month contract.

I get 50mbps + with Smarty however... it's just the latency is terrible of late due to depriortisation. It's 'good enough' for now. Still need to use a VPN however to get around this issue:

https://forums.thinkbroadband.com/mobilebroadband/f/...

Edited by deleted (Thu 08-Oct-20 11:06:02)

You can get 30 day contracts with Virginmedia just pay a setup fee.

https://www.virginmedia.com/shop/broadband/30-day-ro...

I’d take a fixed line service over mobile data, might be worth considering on a 30 day plan. Mobile is never going to be perfect over 4G there’s so many variables and ultimately it’s a shared medium highly dependant on local usage etc.

I don’t think there’s a fix for smarty and even network 3 have issues with pages delaying when loading... it’s either accept it, use the vpn or switch network and see what you get.

I would seriously consider Virginmedia over a mobile broadband.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

You can get 30 day contracts with Virginmedia just pay a setup fee.

Yeah... but for 18 quid a month (for 50mbps) vs 45quid pm, I'll deal with the pain of Smarty and the fact I have essentially an unlimited portable router.

In any case, found my ultimate solution to the Smarty Issue... Just installed cloudflare WARP on my PC.

https://1.1.1.1/

Problem solved, and internet snappy at that!

Edited by deleted (Fri 23-Oct-20 13:34:17)