Van WIFI & Mobile Data -- How I Done It --
- Thread starter Dellmassive
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@True Romance. Thanks for that. I think I might wait until the prices come down a bit before taking the plunge! I'm also conscious that I've got to splash out on a new mobile soon as I've managed to put a crack all the way across the screen of my now quite old Samsung Galaxy S9 (just got to unpacked my tight ar**. The replacement will almost certainly be 5g and dual sim capable so I can always use that if I need a faster connection - we don't actually have 5G at home yet but by coincidence our local mobile mast is currently in the process of being upgraded.
That's my current phone. No issues Been good as gold. Great camera.
I've had an Oppo X5Find 5G for couple of months now. Must say I'm totally impressed. It charges in no time whatsoever. Hotspot seems stable. Moved from being long term Samsung advocate to Huawei and now Oppo. Only slight niggle .... Keyboard letter quite close and even without chubby thumbs need to check over! I bought mine outright from Argos and use my Vodafone red SIM in it....
If you don't require the power and all the functions of the S21 ultra and want to save a few quid check out the Samsung A32 5G. This is my work phone and tbh its pretty good. Large display decent camera and good battery life.
SallyCamper
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I've heard some good reviews regarding them too. Not tried it myself but definitely worth having a look
Thanks for sharing that @SallyCamper , will definitely look into them.
We are off to France, Spain, and Italy in a little over a week for 8weeks. I’m going to get a mifi unit this time as my EE contract limits me to 12gb data in the EU. Can anyone recommend a data sim with say 30gb monthly that I can get without a contract. I just want to top up or add another 30days as we go along.
Have a look at Lebara
Yup, we’re on Lebara, 30gb/month, rolling 30 day contract, EU/USA/India roaming £8/month.
Many thanks. Lebara currently have an offer for 30gb at £7.5. ID is very similar.
I assume it’s best to set it up before we depart. I did also wonder if you can pick up sims in French supermarket etc but it might be easier to have it up and running beforehand.
I assume it’s best to set it up before we depart. I did also wonder if you can pick up sims in French supermarket etc but it might be easier to have it up and running beforehand.
If you are travelling via the tunnel there is a Free mobile shop in Cite de Europe shopping mall Free mobile the best SIM card for Europe travel and France unlimited data and call SIM card
So I'm needing a 'cheap', usb powerable, 4g router/mifi box, but with an ethernet socket. There's not much choice!
This one seems ok
But if I could get one that has the option of using an external antenna, that'd be better in case I upgrade and route in an external antenna at a later date.
Ethernet is required as my Cerbo GX WiFi is very unreliable, I think the heat is affecting it badly. I could add a WiFi dongle to the Cerbo but ethernet will be more reliable than that. I'll also use the 4g WiFi connection for any laptop or tablet that doesn't have it's own SIM.
This one seems ok
But if I could get one that has the option of using an external antenna, that'd be better in case I upgrade and route in an external antenna at a later date.
Ethernet is required as my Cerbo GX WiFi is very unreliable, I think the heat is affecting it badly. I could add a WiFi dongle to the Cerbo but ethernet will be more reliable than that. I'll also use the 4g WiFi connection for any laptop or tablet that doesn't have it's own SIM.
I've got some Tenda gear and it's generally cheap without being nasty. My only concern with it in general is I don't have full confidence in how secure stuff is but it tends to be temporary as hoc use so I don't worry too much.
I've yet to get it myself but folks from the day job recommended travel routers from this manufacturer, in this case because I can put OpenWRT on it and have a firewall/ad blocker on the move and also register only 1 device on hotel WiFi but share it.
I've yet to get it myself but folks from the day job recommended travel routers from this manufacturer, in this case because I can put OpenWRT on it and have a firewall/ad blocker on the move and also register only 1 device on hotel WiFi but share it.
Yeah that's looks interesting but tbh for my use I only need a simple 4g WiFi and ethernet router.
I've just ordered that tenda along with a correct usb to DC cable, I'll temporarily mount it in my passenger seat base pocket until I get a high level cupboard built where it'll live permanently.
I'll probably go for a smarty SIM, I'm already with them for my phone and have zero issues. They're doing 50GB for £8 a month at the moment!
Oh and this is a primary reason why I want the Cerbo GX to be on a wired connection. This morning, it was completely fine and was allowing real time updates.
Now it's gotten a bit warm in the van, the WiFi is very intermittent.
The Bluetooth on the Victron devices isn't strong enough to let me connect when in the house so I've been using Victron VRM to monitor. But it's no good if it doesn't connect for several hours like it did last night.
I've just ordered that tenda along with a correct usb to DC cable, I'll temporarily mount it in my passenger seat base pocket until I get a high level cupboard built where it'll live permanently.
I'll probably go for a smarty SIM, I'm already with them for my phone and have zero issues. They're doing 50GB for £8 a month at the moment!
Oh and this is a primary reason why I want the Cerbo GX to be on a wired connection. This morning, it was completely fine and was allowing real time updates.
Now it's gotten a bit warm in the van, the WiFi is very intermittent.
The Bluetooth on the Victron devices isn't strong enough to let me connect when in the house so I've been using Victron VRM to monitor. But it's no good if it doesn't connect for several hours like it did last night.
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And done.
I'll find a more permanent place once I've built somewhere for it!
All working perfectly, real-time updates working on the Cerbo GX now too. And I'll be able to use a laptop etc without resorting to phone WiFi hotspot.
Oh and it looks like the router is using 0.2a max. My idle usage has gone from 0.3a with the Cerbo GX to 0.5a with the router. 12Ah per day draw, or about 5% of battery capacity. Which will easily be replenished once I have solar installed.
I'll find a more permanent place once I've built somewhere for it!
All working perfectly, real-time updates working on the Cerbo GX now too. And I'll be able to use a laptop etc without resorting to phone WiFi hotspot.
Oh and it looks like the router is using 0.2a max. My idle usage has gone from 0.3a with the Cerbo GX to 0.5a with the router. 12Ah per day draw, or about 5% of battery capacity. Which will easily be replenished once I have solar installed.
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