remote location with need for internet access

[joe90]

As some of you know i am building in a remote location on the Devon Cornwall border, a great spot but the down side is I have been quoted a working broadband speed using a landline of between 1 and 2 Mbit !, the mobile signal is not much better and my builders recommend EE or Vodaphone for this location but still not very good. My question is what would the boffins out there recommend, I tried using my current mobile as a mobile hotspot (thanks SteamyT) but with little success( it is O2 which is rubbish around here). My electrician uses EE and his phone automatically uses a wifi signal if its available. I have heard of Dongles and MIFI but know very little about them. Any suggestions welcome 

[oranjeboom]

I guess it depends if you are looking for a long term solution or just short term whilst you are in the building stage. I was recently forced to visit the MIL who has no internet access in south wales and had no choice but buy a dongle thingey in order to get any work done. It worked surprisingly well (the dongle that is, not the visit itself to the MIL....). All providers have 'coverage maps' which of course are just for indicative purposes so take those with a pinch of the saltey stuff. Most dongles are limited to x-months with x-amount of download, so choose carefully. I didn't want to be tied into a contract either where you easily pay over £30/month, but found one that is valid for 12 months with IIRC 12GB downloads. If your sparky has good EE signal then maybe go for a dongle wongle that uses that network.

 

As for a long term solution, maybe connect to some satellite provider in Africa that gets the signal re-routed via a company in Luxembourg...

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-40745533

 

 

There are also wireless operators now who have set up there own regional wi-fi networks - there may be one in your area? "fixed wireless bb" I think some call it.

[Temp]

Ask your electrician/anyone on other networks if they can get 4G at your house. If they are happy ask them to visit the web site www.Fast.com

for a speed check. There are only 4 networks, other suppliers resell them :EE, Three, O2 and Vodafone.

 

 

 

 

[sussexlogs]

im in west sussex and get 0.5 mb on a landline

[ragg987]

1 hour ago, joe90 said:

My electrician uses EE and his phone automatically uses a wifi signal if its available.

This is likely to be limited to wi-fi that the phone provider has access to. With BT every wi-fi BT router has the potential to be connected to by a BT broadband provider - it requires an App on your phone which will intercept the wi-fi network and recognise your BT credentials. Vodafone have the same arrangement, I don't know about the others.

 

This is only useful if you are in a built-up area - out in the sticks there is no wi-fi.

 

Dongles also use a SIM card, so if you have a 'phone and use that as a mobile hotspot it is essentially the same. If your mobile package has a generous data allowance use that.

 

One thing to watch out for, what are you connecting to the mobile hotspot? if it is a Windows PC, then you can be sure that will gobble up your data allowance rapidly even when you are not browsing. You can reduce this by setting Windows to treat the hotspot as a "Metered Connection" - this will reduce background services from connecting to the internet.

[Construction Channel]

I signed up to Fibrewifi.com yesterday and so far im very impressed, 15mb/s up and down (was only getting 6 down and 0.3 up on the land line) 100gb monthly allowance for £15/month, yet to see how good it is in adverse weather but they claim it should only lower the speed, not cut out....

 

the box is fairly small (about the size of 200 fags) but they can use a dish if the signal is worse. it all depends if you have line of sight to a mast

 

I realise they dont operate in your area but possibly there is a company that does.

 

https://home.airband.co.uk 

might be worth a look

[joe90]

Thanks guys, i have registered interest in airband (due dec 2019),till then keep the suggestions coming.

[Guest Alphonsox]

Check the mobile providers (EE, Vodafone, O2, Three) 4G coverage maps for your location. If you can get 4G then you have a solution.

We were quoted 0.5MBit by for a BT landline. Luckily we have 4G coverage, so I installed a broadband router and pay Vodafone £25 a month for 50G. Currently I get around 7MBit, With an external aerial I should be able to get around 20Mbit.

[reddal]

As others said - check out 4G coverage for your area. If its not great you can install a high gain directional antenna to boost a weak signal.

[MikeSharp01]

I use EE with a 4G modem system from Alcatel  on site. It's about twice as fast as the phone on hotpot and much better at pulling in weak signals. I paid £25 for the modem on eBay and a few quid a month for a couple of gb.

[SteamyTea]

Try this app and see what it shows.

https://opensignal.com/

 

Several years ago I read in my weekly comic about some rural Indians that cobbled together a couple of old satellite dishes and wifi transceivers.  They used them for line of sight communication.  Seem to remember that they could cover a distance of 30 km.

Anyone tried this?

Edited September 21, 2017 by SteamyTea

[asklair]

Last resort is satellite internet.

We got a government grant to cover the installation and equipment supplied by Notspot and uses Tooway internet.

Our package is £44 per month for 25GB and unlimited between midnight and 6 am.

[Gone West]

We have 1.5Mbps on our landline and 17Mbps on our WiMax connection.

[Grosey]

@joe90 i’ll PM you.