In car wi-fi?

Iamzod · 19 Jul 2015 at 12:35

Not 100% sure this is in the right area of the forum as it could maybe come under internet or mobiles?

I'm looking for an in-car wifi solution that will take a payg 4G sim card & has to be powered via a standard car cigarette lighter, not really sure what I'm looking for and only seem to be able to find things from EE that involve contracts.

For some background it is to be installed in a caravan (yes I know, I'm evil and should burn in hell :eek:

) which is used several times a year but often where there is no electricity supply so it is powered by a 120W solar panel set up which charges a large leisure battery for the night time.

We can't use our phones and tether either like we used to as the data signal in rural areas on Vodafone which we recently switched to is utterly useless.

I do have a small 75W inverter that we use for the TV but would like to avoid using it as it uses lots more juice to run stuff off the 240v sockets than off the 12v ones.

Any suggestions?

MichaelAwkward · 19 Jul 2015 at 12:45

Something like this?

http://www.tp-link.com/lk/products/details/cat-4692_M7350.html

With an adapter to use the 12V outlet? The battery will probably be handy if you're running it from a solar panel.

Minstadave · 19 Jul 2015 at 12:54

You just need a mifi, you can even connect an external antenna to some to improve the signal. Most are USB charger so should be no problem with a cigarette lighter adaptor.

Jim99 · 19 Jul 2015 at 13:26

I think Minstadave is on the money - the EE device is just an all-in-one that's trying to create a market. The technology in there is nothing new, just it's in a single package.

ubern00b · 19 Jul 2015 at 15:27

Iamzod said:
We can't use our phones and tether either like we used to as the data signal in rural areas on Vodafone which we recently switched to is utterly useless.

I am assuming you will be getting a PAYG sim card on a different network for this project? Or, a couple on different providers since the caravan is mobile and there isn't a single provider that has complete coverage.

Iamzod · 19 Jul 2015 at 23:06

ubern00b said:
I am assuming you will be getting a PAYG sim card on a different network for this project? Or, a couple on different providers since the caravan is mobile and there isn't a single provider that has complete coverage.

Thats the plan yeah. Any provider must beat Vodafone though, Three were far better.

Bluecube · 20 Jul 2015 at 05:49

The data signal in most rural areas is poor. I wouldn't get your hopes up too high. Suppose it depends on how rural you're talking about!

Diddums · 20 Jul 2015 at 06:28

Even an old phone could do this. I have an old Galaxy S3 with a cracked screen which would be perfect, don't know if it's network locked or not. Don't think it's 4G though. Let me know if you want it, been gathering dust in my drawer for years.

Rybo89 · 20 Jul 2015 at 08:10

^ that

When we go up to the static we just use my phone as a tethering device (WiFi).

Giffgaff have good prices for the internet but have been limited by o2 on the signal. Very hit and miss.

o2 also do a WiFi device that is PAYG and takes batterys. Plenty of same kind of stuff on eBay too for the fraction of the price.

Jim99 · 20 Jul 2015 at 09:21

Three with a payg sim might be a nice option - 1p per MB and 4G compatible AFAIK.

Diddums · 20 Jul 2015 at 09:34

1p per mb? So a tenner a gig? Blimey :confused:

Jim99 · 20 Jul 2015 at 09:35

Diddums said:
1p per mb? So a tenner a gig? Blimey

Depends what you're using it for - if it's just emails and the like it'll be far cheaper than any contract.

Obviously if you want to stream video etc then you'll get screwed fairly quickly. But with these intermittent type usage scenarios contracts are rarely the best solution.

savagesam117 · 20 Jul 2015 at 09:53

Three do a £10 a month unlimited internet. I know you didn't want a contract but it's sim only and it's only a tenner.

Fourstar · 20 Jul 2015 at 11:06

savagesam117 said:
Three do a £10 a month unlimited internet. I know you didn't want a contract but it's sim only and it's only a tenner.

Where did you find that? The cheapest I can see on their website is £15 for unlimited internet and that is phone only so no tethering or use in a mifi.

The cheapest payg data I've found are the preloaded 6GB 4G EE sims that last 90 days from activation. I buy them for £15 from eBay though I think they are the same price on Amazon.

Havana_UK · 20 Jul 2015 at 11:17

I have a Three mobile BB SIM, pay monthly, 1 month rolling contract and it's a 10GB limit for £15/month. Signal is pretty decent most places and I've had up to 25mbit/s from it too at times, but as others have said signal in some rural areas can be poor to non-existant, so don't get your hopes up too much.

You cn get multi-network SIMs that will connect to whichever network has the strongest signal, but they're pretty pricey.

Myshra · 20 Jul 2015 at 11:26

Iamzod said:
We can't use our phones and tether either like we used to as the data signal in rural areas on Vodafone which we recently switched to is utterly useless.

(disclaimer - i work for vf but not for the UK part) Just to pre-warn you, all networks are horrendous in rural zones - no one puts masts up in places that don't make money

Networks that use 3G @ 900 Mhz are nearly always the strongest for data (VF and o2). Three is likely to be the worst as their network is metro focused but EE should be almost as good as VF/o2 on the range front, they will be better for certain 4G zones but their strength is metro right now. check on open signal if you know where you're going. This is strictly technical, it's just how the tech works. Lower frequency has a direct relationship to range.