[martin85]

I am going to be staying with my parents for a few weeks next month as my dad has a knee replacement.

Their Internet speed reminds me of the 90s and waiting on the dialup bar everything you try and open a Web page.

I will need decent interest access to work remotely whilst there. Does anyone have any recommendations on a temporary solution (they don't want to starlink etc as a longer term solution)?

I'm aware of hotspot and tethering options, but I dont have any experience with them so am unsure how useful/reliable they are in practice.

Work is largely just the use of cloud based accountancy software, though it would be handy to be able to put Netflix etc on in the background.

[Watsey]

If you've got a decent data plan and cellular signal strength then just tether to your mobile ?

Data is cheap these days and Cloud services such as accounting platforms will not consume much.

[Tengocity]

We live in a rural location where the phone based internet would be incredibly slow like you describe, so we use 4G data as a permanent solution. We do have a 4G router and a Mesh network, but just wanted to reassure that if you get the right 4G data package then you shouldn't have any issues. My wife and I both work from home, using MS Teams, internet or cloud based systems and don't have any issues.

[Ennoch]

Like Tengocity, my dad uses 4g broadband through EE in the far north of Scotland, and they do PAYG options so for short term it could be a good option. For that you'd need to buy a router with a SIM card slot, and they've definitely increased in price in recent years, but it's absolutely fine for streaming/download/upload etc. I was getting c80mbps IIRC last time I was up. I've been using Spotify, two work laptops and my dad's been watching stuff on Prime and not even seen a blip, it really is rock solid and what I'll be doing when I move further north and into a rural area.

The other option is of course using your phone to tether to as you mentioned. I've used this quite a bit and find it pretty reliable and fast enough for work/download etc. The downside is that the receiver on the phone isn't so strong as on a dedicated 4g/5g router and so any signal quality issues won't be so easily masked.

[robbiep]

Not wishing to hijack this thread at all, but we're considering the 4G solution.

Can anyone recommend an 'unlocked' 4G router ? We would want to go that way and test out the different networks via PAYG initially, as even our 4G isn't that great

Many thanks !

[Ennoch]

This is the 4G one my dad has, although I think it's been superseded by the 5G one as it's one of their top line 'home' ones: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 You could probably pick one up elsewhere as old stock. They used to be £180!

This is the 5G version I was looking at before I stupidly re-signed with Virgin:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SmartHome-D...ers,204&sr=1-1

[F30Andy]

Originally Posted by robbiep

Not wishing to hijack this thread at all, but we're considering the 4G solution.

Can anyone recommend an 'unlocked' 4G router ? We would want to go that way and test out the different networks via PAYG initially, as even our 4G isn't that great

Many thanks !

We have some sites that are pretty remote in very rural areas and require broadband for staff, CCTV, etc.

After a quick WhatsApp to my IT guy, he tells me the one they rolled out was the tp link mr6400.

I have never had to moan at them about anything being down, so can vouch that the kit must be pretty bulletproof.

[martin85]

Thank you for all the responses.

I've never had cause to tether my phone before, I wasn't sure if it could handle streaming something like netflix/YT alongside working.

My work phone is on EE and I believe the signal is okish where they live.

I may look into the 4G option recommended by Ennoch as I want to be sure it's bullet proof, even if I have to pay a bit more.

[robbiep]

Originally Posted by F30Andy

We have some sites that are pretty remote in very rural areas and require broadband for staff, CCTV, etc.

After a quick WhatsApp to my IT guy, he tells me the one they rolled out was the tp link mr6400.

I have never had to moan at them about anything being down, so can vouch that the kit must be pretty bulletproof.

Thankyou - I've managed to get that TPlink model for under £70, delivery tomorrow !

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by robbiep

Thankyou - I've managed to get that TPlink model for under £70, delivery tomorrow !

That's a damn site cheaper than the Huawei ones, if it works as well as you need it to (ie all the things you'd want from reliable internet) then that's a much better option and probably worth going for as an initial test even if you do end up going for a more expensive one.

[robbiep]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

That's a damn site cheaper than the Huawei ones, if it works as well as you need it to (ie all the things you'd want from reliable internet) then that's a much better option and probably worth going for as an initial test even if you do end up going for a more expensive one.

Yeah, it's as a test unit - I'll get PAYG data sim cards from the networks and see how they each work, what the real-world figures are for them.

I also purchased an exterior wall-mounted antenna, for if that makes an appreciable difference - only cost £25

Where we live the internet speed is horrible - we never see over 1Mbit/s rate. Annoyingly, BT Openwound ran fibre on the poles in the area about 3 years ago, but have never connected them to the cabinet half a mile down the road, which is where the 20Mb fibre ends.

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by robbiep

Yeah, it's as a test unit - I'll get PAYG data sim cards from the networks and see how they each work, what the real-world figures are for them.

I also purchased an exterior wall-mounted antenna, for if that makes an appreciable difference - only cost £25

Where we live the internet speed is horrible - we never see over 1Mbit/s rate. Annoyingly, BT Openwound ran fibre on the poles in the area about 3 years ago, but have never connected them to the cabinet half a mile down the road, which is where the 20Mb fibre ends.

Yep, external arials make a big difference to speeds. https://www.cellmapper.net/map?MCC=234&MNC=30&type=LTE&latitude=55.9517139266 7126&longitude=-3.3101533393009213&zoom=16.986666666666668&showTow ers=true&showIcons=true&showTowerLabels=true&clust erEnabled=true&tilesEnabled=true&showOrphans=false &showNoFrequencyOnly=false&showFrequencyOnly=false &showBandwidthOnly=false&DateFilterType=Last&showH ex=false&showVerifiedOnly=false&showUnverifiedOnly =false&showLTECAOnly=false&showENDCOnly=false&show Band=0&showSectorColours=true&mapType=roadmap is useful for working out what direction it needs to be aimed in.

1mbps is almost as bad as Virgin are for me at times, but at least I do get ever so slightly higher peaks. Connection to the boxes is always the frustration in rural areas, up here the Scottish exec spent a ton of cash laying the big undersea cables and connecting them to the boxes but then didn't do the last bit to get it to homes away from a few towns. Bloody useless really. It doesn't help that all the copper lines up north still have signal attenuators clipped on to help reduce poor analogue line quality on calls, which have the opposite effect when it comes to sending digital data packets for the internet!

[Tengocity]

We have an external aerial and it definitely improved things.

We had a visit from a planning engineer from the contractor who is working for BT to install the new high speed fibre that the Scottish government are paying for. Looks like we will have up to a 200MB connection by end of 2023 if all goes to plan.

We get away with 4G as it's just me and MrsT; if we had kids that all wanted to stream then I think that would be a challenge. Also, Ultra HD streaming isn't feasible much of the time, though that's saving me going buying a nice new 65 or 75 inch TV!

[MY340i]

https://www.starlink.com/

[F30Andy]

Originally Posted by robbiep

Thankyou - I've managed to get that TPlink model for under £70, delivery tomorrow !

Let us know how you get on with it

[robbiep]

Originally Posted by MY340i

https://www.starlink.com/

£90 per month is a bit hefty

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by robbiep

£90 per month is a bit hefty

It's also not 100% online at the moment so if they do what they did in the states and oversubscribe you may find the performance takes a massive hit. I think once it's totally operational then it will be a decent option if you don't have any cell coverage but I'd be reluctant to move somewhere on the basis of using starlink for work until it's stabilised.

[MY340i]

virgin media are delaying the cable repull for me, so no internet service for a few weeks.

popped into my local vodafone and got unlimited data sim for £33 a month. seems to be working really well as put it in an amazon 4g tp link router.