Mobile hotspot recommendations

[Andy_con]

Looking at spending 3-4 weeks in the isle of wight next year, which would involve me bringing my work laptop and working for a few weeks.

Where we stay has Internet but it's around 5mb which isn't enough for teams calls or working.

Whilst I get 4g on the caravan site it's not mega quick.

Would some kind of mobile hot spot be an option? Pay for a months data etc, may need something that can take an external aerial to improve reception.

All suggestions welcome.

 

[dangerous dave]

Might be worth joining a Facebook group on 4g mifi.

I run Three unlimited £22 a month or something..

I have a three router, but choose to run a mikrotik router instead for cell locking.

I also run a directional aeriel on a pole.

With no aerial I had like 8mb and it was erratic.. With omni directional it was like 20mbps and erratic.

With a directional its 30 down, 30 up and pretty stable all weathers.

 

[dangerous dave]

Check the maps and see how many towers are near the site...

You might get a good result with bunny ears, but I ended up spending more and more as each step failed..

My aerial was £120 Kaser LPDA 4G 5G LTE Mimo Outdoor Directional

See the results from other people in those areas..

 

[Andy_con]

Check the maps and see how many towers are near the site...

You might get a good result with bunny ears, but I ended up spending more and more as each step failed..

My aerial was £120 Kaser LPDA 4G 5G LTE Mimo Outdoor Directional

See the results from other people in those areas..

How do I check the towers?

 

[dangerous dave]

How do I check the towers?

www.cellmapper.net

 

[dangerous dave]

If you look on that site, pick a provider and it'll tell you towers and coverage..

Your router will try and find the best signal regardless, but if it's miles and miles away and over a hill, you might need to plan a better aerial.

It's your time and money, I don't know if you think dropping £70-120 on an aerial is dumb.

A friend had one of them 4g dongals and it's was useless.. It was vodafone and had no signal, while all the iphones on Vodafone had 100mbps.

 

[Andy_con]

How do I check the towers?

I'm where the red dot is, looks like there is a tower not to far either aide.

 

[Andy_con]

If you look on that site, pick a provider and it'll tell you towers and coverage..

Your router will try and find the best signal regardless, but if it's miles and miles away and over a hill, you might need to plan a better aerial.

It's your time and money, I don't know if you think dropping £70-120 on an aerial is dumb.

A friend had one of them 4g dongals and it's was useless.. It was vodafone and had no signal, while all the iphones on Vodafone had 100mbps.

Having decent Internet is a deal breaker, working remotely is a must in order for it all to work.

As I'm in a big dip I'm 99% sure an aerial will be a must.

I'll spend what i need to spend on a setup that works.

 

[McGherkin]

Would Starlink work?

EDIT: they even do a 30 day free trial, get it, use it for the 3 weeks, return it, full refund 👀

 

[charltjr]

Starlink is a good shout, if expensive.

I've been using this for my home internet connection for the last year, can't fault it, 4k streaming, work meetings, all good. Way faster than the poxy fixed line broadband I can get here. I do have a strong 4G signal with EE though. It takes an external antenna if you need it to. I've no idea what the other options are like, there may well be a better choice, but it's worked for me.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B8DHX7RQ/?tag=cliospnet01-21

 

[McGherkin]

Starlink is a good shout, if expensive.

It’s free if you return it.

 

[charltjr]

It’s free if you return it.

Fair, I missed your edit

 

[Andy_con]

Would Starlink work?

EDIT: they even do a 30 day free trial, get it, use it for the 3 weeks, return it, full refund 👀

id want to keep the setup for future visits and camping trips

 

[Andy_con]

Might be worth joining a Facebook group on 4g mifi.

I run Three unlimited £22 a month or something..

I have a three router, but choose to run a mikrotik router instead for cell locking.

I also run a directional aeriel on a pole.

With no aerial I had like 8mb and it was erratic.. With omni directional it was like 20mbps and erratic.

With a directional its 30 down, 30 up and pretty stable all weathers.

The top group?

 

[dangerous dave]

I'd join them one at a time.. Most Facebook groups are auto accepted so just have cnuts spamming sht and scamming.

Join. See if it's genuine, if not leave.

I can't remember what I joined

 

[Andy_con]

I'd join them one at a time.. Most Facebook groups are auto accepted so just have cnuts spamming sht and scamming.

Join. See if it's genuine, if not leave.

I can't remember what I joined

ok, didnt know if it was the one you joined thats all.