Mifi

[hc4361]

I see mifi is getting cheaper - has anyone ditched their traditional broadband for mifi?
Any real disadvantages?

[boxtops]

what is mifi? - I don't know the expression.

[mccfluff]

http://www.uswitch.com/broadband/guides/what_is_mifi_mobile_broadband/

never heard of it....

[boxtops]

cheers, fluffy - never even heard of the concept.

[mccfluff]

sounds like it could be good for students, maybe business meetings on the go

[mccfluff]

i thought hc was suffering from an attack of the typos or it was something rude....... (sorry hc)

[hc4361]

No problem, fluff :)

3 is offering 15gb a month for £17, mifi wotsit included. 15gb is enough for me.

[mccfluff]

that is good

[mccfluff]

but you need to be somewhere, where the coverage is good, ideally 4g. for me here, its only 3g and that can be hit and miss

[rockyracoon]

I don't think it can realistically replace home BB, I pay £21 a month for line rental and unlimited BB, that's only £4 more but without the restrictions, and possible unreliable connections. If you're on the move a lot it's probably a good thing.

[hc4361]

4G isn't in my area and is not an option anyway as my computers, tablets and phones are 3G.
I do get good coverage in my house and when I tether my pc to my phone I get a speed of 8-12MB. BT can only offer me a speed of 3MB.

[rockyracoon]

Bloody hell HC that's excellent, I get about 4.5mb.

[Old_Geezer]

Yeah but doesn't it mean my desktop would lose Internet as soon as I put my mobile in my pocket and walked down the road ? I mean, it may be bearable but one couldn't for example, leave any Net interaction running whilst away, surely ?

[hc4361]

But you wouldn't put the mifi in your pocket and walk of with it, OG. Not unless you intended to use it elsewhere and certainly not if somebody was using the internet on the desktop.

[Old_Geezer]

Maybe I don't understand the concept. New fangled tech. Isn't the idea you use the mobile comms ? Or does the kit come with it's own SIM ?

[hc4361]

The kit comes with it own sim card, OG. Like this one:
http://store.three.co.uk/view/product/ql_catalog/threecatdevice/2432;jsessionid=9D9E5E2E76014AA8D4A1D25E535AFFA1?crossSellParent=2293

It is a wireless router than can connect up to 5 devices at a time.

[Old_Geezer]

Thanks. Well one learns something new every day. Now if only I could recall what yesterday's info was .......

So.... looks to be another rival in the same market then. Not sure I'd trust the reliability of wireless over cable though, but maybe that's me being cautious.

[hc4361]

I have got a PAYG dongle that I use when away from home. It works as expected, OG.

[bazwillrun]

"MiFi mobile broadband provides standard 3G connection speeds of up to 21Mb, depending on location. "

yeah right, of course it does !

see those two phrase "up to" and "depending on location"

3g is slow, 4g for most people in most locations is rubbish so to make Mifi useable at decent speeds is a big leap of the imagination.

I wonder how much more its slowed in multi user situations

The way things are going it will be 5g and upwarsd or whatever new fangled tech is on the way before systems like this are really "useable"

[bibblebub]

I upgraded to a Mifi dongle on the 3 network a couple of months ago; it's still 3G until next year. Their network doesn't seem quite up to it so far because it can slow down to a crawl all too often. Using one of the standard speed tests my average speed is 5.5 Mbps with a maximum reading of 22Mbps, and a test I have just done was at 11.2 Mbps.

[hc4361]

So you regret it, bibblebub?