Sim card portable modem thingy

[KiwiDave]

Was talking with Beany earlier this evening about how to provide myself reliable internet access in the UK for a phone and laptop and he mentioned something like this: clicky

He also mentioned some of you guys may have more experience or more to say about this than he did. Ideally need to be able to walk into a shop and pick a solution up on Monday.

Hotspotting of my mobile might prove a bit sketchy for use of the laptop, where I may need to do work remotely, as the phone isn't 5G. Need to be able to keep the NZ SIM in my phone ideally, so anyone who's messaging my WhatsApp tied to my NZ number reaches me. So current solution is something like the above to provide data to laptop and iPhone and a cheap as shit burner phone so Dad's hospice can call me on it.

Any further ideas very welcome.

[DeskJockey]

For WhatsApp you can change the SIM and still use your NZ number. When we were in Thailand we bought a local SIM, bit WhatsApp worked fine without any changes needed.

[mik]

Jobbo raised this topic recently here

[Jobbo]

As per Mik’s link, I thought the EE portable device looked pretty good. But because I don’t need a battery powered router and I wanted an Ethernet port, I went for a TP Link 4G+ router and a pre-loaded EE 120GB data SIM valid for a year, both from Argos.

Here’s the SIM link: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/2152310

And here is the router:
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3201136

It’s been rock solid since getting it so I’m pleased. I have no experience of the EE Mifi thing to compare though.

[Beany]

Honestly, it was just the first thing that came up on a quick search as we were gassing, although it has the advantage of being portable so it can be taken where-ever is required, although obviously it'd need to be charged regularly, etc.

That, and I'm pretty sure that wee thing will handle a bit of remote work, and a couple of devices tops, on it, whereas I think what you have there jobbo is more intended for perhaps a couple of dozen devices (easily feasible in a normal family household) and a more permanent/long term installation.

I think hotspotting from a phone might work, but for the sake of £50-100 to get a proper reliable setup, given the circumstance, it's probably worth the expense to not have the compromise, not having to worry about leaving the wrong SIM in the phone and being hit with roaming charges etc.

I also completely forgot Argos was a thing @KiwiDave , where you'll be - there's an Argos counter in the local Sainsburies for that sort of stuff, add it to the list of retailers we talked about in the area, going to collect some things might be easier than dealing with couriers, delivery/billing address mismatches, etc!

[Jobbo]

Yeah, the device I bought works just like a domestic router. It works from the mains and can cope with plenty of devices being connected.

You can get cheaper versions which have less simultaneous connections.

I think the EE Mifi is the real alternative because it’s basically your linked device with a bundled SIM.

[Ascender]

You can also get cheap but effective external aerials for those small mifi devices from eBay. We have one for when we're away with the camper van and it makes a big difference if the signal is patchy.

I've worked off both of those routers and either will do the job so long as you have a decent signal.