Starlink .... thoughts?

[SteamyTea]

I have now got 5G with Smarty (3) and have had 4G with them for a few years now.

£16/months with no restrictions and never made a voice call, ever.

I use a new 90 quid phone as a hot spot. Works very well.

Edited December 14 by SteamyTea

[gc100]

Just for balance , my house is in to middle of fields about a mile from the local village. There was no way to get a land line and tbh I didn’t want to see a line of telephone poles coming all the way down the land :-).

Anyhow I have about 1-2 bar mobile reception here. I just got a good passive aerial/dish and pointed it towards the nearest mask (looked up online). It’s just plugged into the back of the router that has the sim. I have about 40mb/s down and same up.
 2 kids gaming etc , TV and two of us working from home with no problems. Been 5 years now. 

[Onoff]

33 minutes ago, gc100 said:

I just got a good passive aerial/dish and pointed it towards the nearest mask (looked up online). It’s just plugged into the back of the router that has the sim.

 

Just been told by our leccy supplier though they can fit a smart meter it will only act as a dumb meter as the phone signal is so bad down here. Means I can't take advantage of a lower EV charging tariff. Would the kit you use help?

Edited 21 hours ago by Onoff

[Adrian Walker]

56 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

Just been told by our leccy supplier though they can fit a smart meter it will only act as a dumb meter as the phone signal is so bad down here. Means I can't take advantage of a lower EV charging tariff. Would the kit you use help?

Do you have any mobile phone signal at all?  If so you can ask for an T3 External Aerial to be added to a smart meter. I wouldn't take no for an answer, the national network (DCC) is required to cover 99.25% of all premises. Demand a Technical Site Survey or a physical visit. Tell them you want an engineer to test the signal at the actual meter point, not just a desk-based estimate. Additionally, when a meter is faulty or reaches the end of its life, the law states the supplier must replace it with a smart meter unless there is a valid reason not to.

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Adrian Walker
Updated

[JohnMo]

14 hours ago, Adrian Walker said:

wouldn't take no for an answer

I had loads of trouble with signal, be a 'dog with a bone', keep calling them out to resolve the issue. It took 4 attempts before they got the correct kit in. They have to try 3x before they get permission  install some better kit.

[Adrian Walker]

2 hours ago, JohnMo said:

I had loads of trouble with signal, be a 'dog with a bone', keep calling them out to resolve the issue. It took 4 attempts before they got the correct kit in. They have to try 3x before they get permission  install some better kit.

In Scotland and in the North of England they often don't use cellular, instead, they connect via a dedicated Long-Range Radio network at 400MHz which travels futher.

[JohnMo]

4 minutes ago, Adrian Walker said:

Long-Range Radio network at 400MHz which travels futher.

Yep, I'm in Scotland and the radio link is pants near us. I am the only one in location with a smart meter, that works and it's connected via 4G. Everyone else tried once and then gave in. 4G isn't an option until they have tried 3x doing everything else.

[Alan Ambrose]

@gc100 >>> I just got a good passive aerial/dish and pointed it towards the nearest mask (looked up online). It’s just plugged into the back of the router that has the sim

 

Possible to say a bit more? This was a directional aerial? With gain? More than one (I see some router ads wasping on about multiple aerials and ‘Mimo’). 4G, I assume?