I have fairly poor fixed line broadband where I live (despite the neighbouring roads all having fibre, but that's another rant for another time) and can get speeds an order of magnitude greater on my phone, frustratingly. But it seems like all of the 4G plans are capped in some manner, or limited in how you can use the data. The most comprehensive plan I think I've found is a 50GB cap for £50/month on EE via 4G hotspot or 25GB for SIM only. I can't establish how unhappy (or not) EE would be with using my own modem to serve all of my home broadband needs with the former though, and I feel like the latter would leave me constantly swapping back to fixed broadband. The idea situation (well, ideal would be FTTC, but meh) would be a 4G wired modem plumbed in to my network as it stands and a properly unlimited SIM. A High cap (e.g. 50GB) would probably work out as I could configure alerts and simply swap back to fixed when I approach the limit, as more often than not I suspect there wouldn't be an overage, but things like PSN games could potentially gobble up data very quickly, and I need to be sure that up to this cap there's no restrictions on how the data is used, protocol restrictions, traffic shaping etc. I'm prepared to pay quite a bit for something that's truly unrestricted, however rolling monthly would be preferable, because as soon as I signed up to a long contract it's almost an ironclad guarantee that FTTC would be available the following month... just after the cooling off period ends. I'm pretty sure the short answer is "no", just wanted to be use before I once again settle for crappy broadband until who knows when.
I'm with 3 and they upgraded me to 4G @ no extra charge and unlimited data, would be worth you checking with them. I also have a internet hot spot thingy on a rolling contract ( can connect up to 6 devices via wifi ) with them for when I travel it gets a good signal even in places the phone can't get any
The introduction of 4G was taken by the mobile networks as the point to get rid of unlimited packages. There was some 'grandfathering' if you were on certain contracts that let you retain unlimited data alongside a bump to 4G (Three did this for existing customers), but otherwise they went out the window. The only unlimited data plans these days are 3G.
3 does unlimited data on 4G, however their 4G coverage is still leaving a lot to be desired, good thing is though you can just pick up a payg sim from their shops, then try out if you can get 4G where you are.
Problem with Three - unlimited so long as your SIM is in your phone and you're not tethering - unless I'm missing something?
That's nothing new and pretty much universal. Unlimited data with tethering hasn't been commonly available for a while, certainly not for a reasonable price. Networks realised that even on unlimited data there is only so much people tend to use within the confines of their smartphone, whereas on a desktop it's open season. Same applies to mobile broadband. Detecting unauthorised tethering use seem much more effective these days too.
Correct. I was referring specifically to mobile broadband packages, where there is no unlimited 4G on any network. TMobile is 3G, not 4G.
Yep, it does! I know several people with it still on fairly cheap contracts. Three do offer a single "unlimited" data plan these days, but it's for use only on mobiles rather than tethering/mobile broadband, and it costs about £50/month. Tad, how bad is the internet round you anyway?
It's not as bad as it could be, so this is a distinctly first world problem, at ~3mbit. It's just slow enough to have issues streaming video though, a bump to 5Mbit would sort things out and appease me for a short while. But only a short while. If it was the entire area I'd probably be more tolerant, but the neighbouring roads have FTTC and ~100m down my road has FTTC. There's just a few houses at the end of the road that do not. I believe it's because this last bit of road has yet to be adopted, so the cabinet hasn't yet been upgraded. Should be adopted fairly soon, but who knows when the cabinet will be upgraded following that :/
I got unlim data on my 3 phone and it's 4g - but, I can only do 4gb (I think) tethering, before they send me texts/emails to tell me I'm tethering too much.
Simple solution: approach a neighbour who has unlimited FTTC and offer to pay half their bill if you can piggyback. Stick a point-to-point Wi-Fi link betwix the houses - either a homebrew one using crappy $10 antennas from China, which will almost certainly be good enough, or spend a bit more and use a pair of Ubiquiti. Job's a good 'un.
My Three contract is the same thing but I get a fixed 3Gb allowance for tethering per month, I can increase it but it isn't really worth it for the cost unless I'm really stuck!
Exactly what I was gonna say - but heck, pay the whole bill for the inconvenience and be sure to not take the piss too much!
I actually popped some cards through a few months ago to try to instigate something like this, but no response - I suspect contributing to the internet cost isn't enough of a carrot (and I volunteered to pay the lot of it) - it certainly wouldn't be for me if it was the other way around tbh. There's one house where a wired connection could even work over a fairly lengthy and presumably ruggedised cable along with another 5 houses which should suit wifi, line of sight is obscured in the leafy seasons by some pretty dense trees, but should still be fine I would have thought. I'm not sure I'd call it a "simple" solution though - from a technical point of view relatively straightforward, but getting a stranger to do something for you when there's relatively little in it for them is rarely simple
I think it's because I have a legacy "bolt on" that I've had for yonks and yonks that I won't let them drop from my contract - I've been with them for over 10 years and at some point I got said bolt-on, and I keep making them include it when I get a new contract.
Easier than trying to convince a mobile network to rent you an unlimited 4G connection for less than a brazilian pounds a month, I'd wager!
TL;DR. I've been on 3's unlimited 3G package for 2 years now and I know they upgraded mine to 4G for no extra cost... Coverage has always been pretty good bar places like the middle of the New Forest and Aberdeenshire.
tl;dr skipped over the discussion of Three only doing unlimited data for mobiles, not tethering or mobile broadband Silly mankz.
