Advice please

Heres my setup. 3G aerial on roof to '3' USB dongle socket into TP-Link router then powerplugs to other routers round the house. Signal strength ~ 34% after much fiddling about.

No BB via phone line (7Km from exchange (Field - WMFIE)) and attached to 'Cabinet 1'!!

Currently on '3' 24 month contract with 15Gb download limit. Get about 1.5Mbps.

Contract up for renewal in May and Staffordshire CC likely to sign with BT for BDUK developments at the same time which will hopefully improve the situation but timescales are vague.

As often happens I have about 8 - 10gb of programme upgrades (Logic/Kontakt content etc) to download. Clearly this takes ages and busts my 'allowance' for the rest of the month for any other download requirements.

AYCE is only available with a phone (which I don't need) and I can't think of a way to connect my 3G aerial to a phone to use as a WiFi hotspot anyway. The '3' dongle has a CRC 9 socket but phones don't. I have tried those 'sleeves' that fit over phonesbefore to pick up their wireless signal and was underwhelmed.

So the question is what to do next. I need more dowload capacity than I can get on their monthly contract, AYCE seems a non-starter and BDUK changes may be round the corner (my FOI requests seem to suggest that FTTC is a serious possibility).


Phil

you can get AYCE £15 "officially no tethering" and The One Plan £25 (tethering allowed) on a monthly or 12 month contract (at lower price) without a phone, but you can't use it in an dongle

the one plan with an phone at most is £36 an month with an S3 4g version that supports 42mb 3g as well (DC-HSPA+), the none 4g version does not support DC-HSPA+ only singla 21mb

they have mobile broadband data plans that give 15gb a month i am assuming thats what you are using now

BDUK for FTTC is unlikely to help you unless they are doing FTTP (how far away are you from the cab)

Edited by leexgx (Fri 29-Mar-13 01:04:16)

Thats my problem. Cabinet 1 is in the village 7km away My system works specifically because I can feed the aerial signal to the dongle because of its CRC 9 port and then its inserted into the router.

If there was a phone with a similar socket I could link it to the aerial and use it as a WiFi hotspot I guess but I don't think they exist.

Whatever BDUK funding brings it will not be soon and with the contract running out I don't want another 24 month contract only for BDUK to come up with a local fast solution.

I presume the One plan with tethering without a phone would be for use in an unlocked phone or tablet which doesn't solve the download problems cos I can't attach it to the aerial.

I have no idea if 3 have upgraded the mast I connect to yet - certainly the speed has not changed over the last 2 years.

Sign in may but first delivery spring 2014. You line sounds likely to only be in the 2 Meg USC type.

So mobile it is or satellite if latency not important

I recently attended a CLA (Country and Land Business Association) Rural Broadband Conference down in Winchester. There were a number of providers exhibiting.
If you PM me your email address, I'll send you some of the presentation slides we were sent.

Have you looked at Satellite Internet, I can't see you being much of a gamer with your current setup, so latency shouldn't be too much of a problem.

TooWay Satellite has 10/20/30 GB allowances, with the 20/30 plans having a 23:00-07:00 night-time unlimited allowance. They also have an "Absolute" plan which is totally un-restricted.
They quote 20Mbps down/ 6Mbps up.
Prices for the above 4 plans were (roughly), £25,£35,£45 and £65
(for the Medium/Larges/X-Large/Absolute)
http://www.avonlinebroadband.co.uk/ was the link of the people presenting.

Other satellite providers :
http://www.satelliteinternet.co.uk/
http://www.superfastruralbroadband.co.uk

I know you say you are using a 3G aerial, but have you seen the WiBE(r)
http://www.wibebroadbandrouter.com/
Basically it's a high gain aerial unit (with multiple antennae)

There is also: http://www.wiber.co.uk (which is actually http://click4internet.com/)
(Am not entirely sure if wiber.co.uk uses the WiBE(r) units or if that is just a naming coincidence - I didn't stay for that part of the presentation !)

Hope that can be of help,

Chris

A Samsung Galaxy S2 has a connector in the battery compartment.

See the video on this website for a demo:
http://telcoantennas.com.au/site/patch-lead-samsung-...

The only way I can get unlimited internet at a reasonable speed is to tether.

"One Plan" is the only way I have been able to do this as tethering is limited to 1GB if you get it as an add-on with any of the other tariffs apparently. Found that out today.

The tethered phone can then be used as a wifi hotspot or used via a USB cable and a router like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapido-RB-1733-Wireless-Comp...

I have not found any other kinds of router that allow a USB tethered phone to be the WAN input.