Broadband options in rented house

We’ve just exchanged contracts for the sale of our house and we’re about to go into rented property for 6 months until we find a house we want to buy.

I’m coming off lovely fast Virgin cable broadband. 20Mb means we get Netflix in HD, and Walt White’s fast becoming one of the family.

We’re moving into countryside. Upside is – less than half a mile to Cannock Chase. Downside – we get a mighty 1.8Mb (projected) as there is no cable and we’re a loooong way from an exchange. So gawd knows what the speed will really be.

The cheapest deal I’ve got so far is a 6 month contract through an outfit called Home Telecom, £69 install and £23 per month = £207 for 6 months.

We don’t need a phone line and according to EE’s map the house is in a 4G area. I’ve got a number of questions:

Does it make sense to get a 4G dongle for the PC?
Will we be able to get wireless so we can watch digital TV through our Roku box?
How do I test to make sure there’s really 4G coverage before spending money on something that doesn’t work
Is this the opportunity to get a proper 4G tablet to replace the one that really only functions as a photo frame and a very slow XP laptop?

get a 4G dongle

I had been using a 3G one as it was so cheap in comparison to getting full broadband. Should be able to provide wifi to any device at 4G speed

Buy the dongle and a month’s worth of data – if it works then great, keep on paying. If not then sell it. no point buying a 4G tablet though (for the 4G capabilities) if you’re paying for a dongle…unless you want it on a separate contract. Just get a wifi one (unless you intend to take it away from the home)

shame 3 have just taken unlimited tethering off their One Plan. Although that does depend on you being in a 3 4G area.

If you can share the internet from the tablet to the Roku box and would continue to pay for the 4G plan later on then go that route.

If not then just get a 4G Mifi type wireless router (ie not plugged into a PC) and a monthly 4G price plan. You have to get specific dongle plans normally.

I hadn’t heard Mifi before. I thought you’d done an M for a W until I googled it. And it looks good.

EE is the only network that covers the area and their map says outdoor only. If I stick it near an upstairs window will that help, or can I get an antenna? (Thinking a long bit of wire there)

With lower bb speed you are more likely to get that speed, as the infrastructure is easily capable of providing that.

1.8MBps is enough to watch iplayer SD and netflix.

Good luck finding an unlimited 4G dongle – the best I could find was 5Gb/mo and that’s nothing like enough to watch a decent amount of streamed video.

There is a company that does satellite based BB for people in Rural areas (saw an advert for it down at Mole Valley). You would probably have to mount the dish in the garden though.

Zen do rolling monthly contracts, no cheaper but I bet it will be better.

There is a company that does satellite based BB for people in Rural areas (saw an advert for it down at Mole Valley). You would probably have to mount the dish in the garden though.

A friend has this. She lives miles up a hill in North Wales so no phone line at all is connected up there. Apparently download speeds rival dial-up for slowness and your download limit is in MB.

We’re on zen for the rolling contract. Good service getting it set up (dodgy wire, not their fault). Looked into satellite, but it seemed like a last resort.

I hadn’t heard Mifi before.

I’ve been using an Huawei for several months and it’s been great – did use 3 data-onl sims whilst they were dirt cheap but have been using a 30-day rolling contract from T-Mobile at £7.50/month for 1GB. Has been really handy; the most random use was listening to the Wimbledon finals last summer, in the car, as it was only on 5Live AM/MW and we had crystal clear sound through the car stereo!

Don’t actually need it for much longer as I should be able to tether my tablet to my new mobile phone.