[Wylug-help] Mobile broadband

Tue Oct 1 09:26:05 UTC 2013

Hi Roger, all.

By and large, I've found mobile providers really shocking for customer
service.  This actually makes the choices easier as if you accept that bad
customer service is inevitable then you can focus on important things like
coverage, caps and the dreaded "fair use policies"*.

Given that the machine you will be using to access the internet (I'm
assuming a laptop of some kind) is unlikely to be IP65 water resistant, I
wouldn't be too concerned about the resistance, and mobile data travels
pretty well through thinish steel (as I recall upstairs at EMW we had
signal but down below we didn't), so a standard dongle or hotspot inside
the boat should be fine above water level.  They work fine on buses and
trains so I can't see a narrow boat being worse.

In terms of providers, only Three's One Plan seems to be the only contract
that allows tethering and unlimited data.  That works out at about £15 per
month sim-free (just buy a device, no point spreading the cost as you pay
more eventually.  If three lack coverage and you want O2's coverage,
giffgaff is the sensible option.  Much as Orange and T-Mobile have
"sort-of-merged" to create EE (Which I'm sure stands for Extremely
Expensive), O2 and Vodafone are creating "Cornerstone" so hopefully
giffgaff's coverage will increase because of this. Personally if I'm
travelling I have a few sim cards with me, pay as you go ones, and test the
signal on them, then chuck £10 on the one that gets best signal and use
that.  I use the Virtual network providers - Ovivio for Vodafone, giffgaff
for O2, and t-mobile doesn't seem to have one - as they are usually cheaper
(or free ad-supported in the case of Ovivio).

For devices I'd use either a mi-fi type device (a wireless router that
takes a sim card - this is what people often refer to as a 3g hotspot), a
modern mobile phone that provides usb or wifi tethering (hotspot) or simply
a USB Dongle. It's worth noting that mobile phones doing this job seem to
be slower than dedicated devices.  Unlocked generally means able to connect
to any network, where rooted means full access to the software running on
the device.  A lot of phones require rooting to enable tethering/hotspot
ability if they are purchased through a network (e.g. Orange branded and
then unlocked), but a sim-free phone (a term for not locked at point of
sale) generally will tether without being rooted (which generally voids
warranty).

Last point, sorry for rambling, if you want 4G (for when you're floating
past a large city that has canals like Manchester or Leeds), check the
roll-out but pricewise, EE and Voda are charging a massive premium.  Three
(sound a bit fanboyish, but I hate them as much as any network) are going
to give it free to anyone on their plans anyway, so getting a 4G device
might be worth it, depending on how many years you intend to be floating
about.

Hope that stream of consciousness helps.

*Fair use policies as I'm sure you're aware mean "we say unlimited but if
you use a lot of data, we'll put limits on it".

Cheers,
--
Martyn

On 1 October 2013 09:29, Christopher McLean <C.J.McLean at leeds.ac.uk> wrote:

> Hi Roger,
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > Sent: 01 October 2013 01:56
> > Subject: [Wylug-help] Mobile broadband
> >
> > Having retired, I'm planning to buy a narrow boat and to spend a couple
> of years cruising the inland waterways.
> > However, I need to remain connected!
>
> If you need a live-aboard sys admin, I'm happy to dig out my resume - will
> work for beer ;)
>
> > Google searches suggest either a "3G data only dongle" or using a mobile
> phone to create "a 3G hotspot" (whatever that might be). There's also a
> firm offering a 500 quid marine water proof 'solution' that still needs a
> 3G data-only SIM.
> > Keeping in mind that I'll be cruising inside a steel hull with
> relatively small windows, on which rain will inevitably fall, does anyone
> know practical details of how I can stay on-line.
> > Cost is, of course, a factor, but when the boat will cost 33k, *almost*
> any cost will be in proportion.  I'm still a tyke, so unnecessary expense
> is still to be avoided.
>
> I've found giffgaff to be a very cost effective provider. It's community
> run as well. However, they piggy back on O2, YMMV compared to the coverage
> of the big providers. That being said, I've never had an issue with them.
>
> Your main concern here would be the fact that you will inevitably be
> outside of towns and other built up places. I don't think the environ of a
> boat will play a big part (external antenna?). I'd check the coverage maps
> of the main providers to see who has the best rural coverage. Once you've
> decided on one, you should be able to get a 3g/hspa/4g repeater thing (no
> idea what they are called, but they are basically a wifi access point with
> a sim card in it).
>
> > Incidentally, can anyone recommend a network monitoring tool that is
> Fedora compatible, so I can measure my current (land based) usage and
> select an appropriate contract?
>
> http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/Tools.html ?
>
> Chris
>
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>
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