4G routers

[guerney]

All support for Giffgaff is forum based. Positive Tp-link Archer MR600 result:

https://community.giffgaff.com/d/33163042-giffgaff-sim-in-a-4g-router/9


...but not with the Tp-link-6400:

https://community.giffgaff.com/d/34009104-giffgaff-sim-in-tp-link-6400-4g-router-not-working/11

For me it was a small low risk gamble with Smarty. I simply would have used £20 unlimited data on some other device for a month, and got refunded for the router from the Cex shop if some other network SIM didn't work.

 

[guerney]

Some TP link routers have ISP APN config updates available:

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/download/tl-mr6400/v5.30/

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/download/archer-mr600/

...but install the wrong version for your hardware version and there will be problems.

Since the WiFi hotspot feature rolled out for Android, I think SIM internet connection sharing is less of a problem than it used to be.

 

[Benjahmin]

Yeh, there seem to be a few older dated posts on gg forum that show problems with 4g routers or tethering. It looks like, from 2023 onwards, this got sorted. As you say probably new tech pushing the issue. Still can't find a definitve answer though.
Currently looking for a voip service. Found this one for £5/month. Don't know if 100 minutes of calls will be enough and it's not that clear if they inform you when you reach this limit before charging an arm and a leg.

Voipfone Plan Comparison

Our ready-made plans start from as little as £5.00 per user per month, or take complete control over your plan with Voipfone Flex.

www.voipfone.co.uk

They say they will port my existing number despite plusnet's ascertation that it's not possible.

 

[guerney]

SIMs will need testing: If your phone can create a WiFi hotspot which can share internet with other phones or devices, the router should be able to share the same internet connection via WiFi using the same SIM. Unless your phone is locked to some other network...

 

[Benjahmin]

So I've activated the 4g router and it seems to be working fine. Good 4g signal strength and better wifi than the plusnet router.
Here's the rub. On signing into my account I was asked to activate two factor authentification for any further sign ins. They said they would send a text to the number of the giffgaff card. Of course I have no access to this since the sim is in a router not a phone.
I've gone to the forums to see if they will send it to my regular number.
They alsomwant me to download their app for account access. This is from either applestore or google something or other. Can I do this on a windows pc?

 

[guerney]

Great! How much faster is it than:

2.3mbp

An app isn't necessary for Giffgaff, it allows them to collect data from your phone. I don't use the app, AFAIK their website has all account functions.

Once set up with Giffgaff, you can set up automatic payments (mine are all via Paypal), not sure why you'd need to login often. Some routers receive SMS messages, viewable in the browser when you connect to the router's configuration page, which you can have open in another tab. Smarty requires email authentication to sign in, if it required 2 factor authentication by text, removing the SIM to put into an unlocked phone, would of course be a pain. Fortunately once set up, there's no reason to make Smarty account changes. The Giffgaff SIM in my bike's GPS tracker light has to be put into a phone to receive and display the text.

 

[Benjahmin]

Seems like they're e mailing it - works for me. Haven;t done a speed test yet. Been busy setting up voip phone service. My head is spinning. Time for a glass of Merlot methinks.

 

[Benjahmin]

Ok, done a speed test on the 4g and it's come in at 9.3Mbps. That's over 3 times faster than the best previous speed.
Plusnet are falling over themselves trying to get me to go to full fibre but they can't match the prices and I no longer believe anything they say about prices or speeds.
Open reach are messing about saying they've had an unsolicited request from an unknown company for number porting. So they've rejected it. At least that's what they've said to plusnet.
Today plusnet download speed has collapsed to a mighty 0,3Mbps, if I can get connection at all. The synic in me says well yes they would do that wouldn't they?

 

[guerney]

I simply blocked all calls from VirginMedia Customer Retention, a lot of which were from sneaky witheld numbers. There were also texts, which I also blocked. Calls and text harassment stopped eventually.

9.3Mbs should be fine for most things (mine was about that speed to start with at peak times, was ok for all but HD Youtube streaming, but only sometimes), if not you could install an external antenna, but that would reduce WiFi speed and coverage because you'd be down to one antenna indoors... in which case a WiFi repeater indoors situated as close as possible to the exterior antenna on the other side of the wall, could be worth trying?

 

[Benjahmin]

WiFi signal from 4g router is better than plusnet one has ever been.
Just done a download speed test to my ethernet connected pc and it's over twelve.
Since talking to plusnet yesterday their speed has gone to 1.1 at best, but I can't get it to connect in actuality. The robbing barstewards are still charging me for something that just doesn't work. One reason they gave for dropout was that openreach have stopped repairing copper network. This, I suspect, was just to push me to full fibre. Which can only get to cabinet here and the price was a joke.
I'll be phoning them again tomorrow.

 

[guerney]

VM connection kept going dead for no apparent reason, umpteen engineer visits couldn't resolve it - there had been rather a lot of digging up of cables near my home for months, which coincided with months of VM uselessness. Glad to be rid of VM. The plan was to sign up with Zen Internet and use the SIM router as a backup, but Smarty is reliable and seems to improving in terms of speed, therefore currently there's no need. If the router craps out, phones laptops etc. are on standby to share Smarty or Giffgaff.

 

[Benjahmin]

And that, I now see, is the point of this excercise. To remove oneself from the blackmailed position of being reliant on whichever current isp one happens to be using. Just swapping sims to change provider is a far easier process than the majors make it. Of course it all ultimately relies on the cell network but that seems more multifaceted and accessable than the mysterious open reach network.
The data usage I've had over the first few days of using the gg sim, would seem to indicate that 20Gb/month is going to be ample for our requirements. This despite the dire warnings from isp's.
Plusnet was an unlimited data usage package, but I had to pay for 'free' phone calls. Now I have metered data but unlimited calls within the package. My current line of enquiry is to find if there's a way to access this calls and text's provision, whilst the sim is in a 4g router. I've asked the giffgaff community.

 

[guerney]

Plusnet was an unlimited data usage package, but I had to pay for 'free' phone calls. Now I have metered data but unlimited calls within the package. My current line of enquiry is to find if there's a way to access this calls and text's provision, whilst the sim is in a 4g router. I've asked the giffgaff community.

You could solder an external antenna to a phone (very fiddly) and use the phone as a (poor comparatively) WiFi hotspot instead of the router? I wouldn't try it, too small and fiddly a soldering job for my skills...

Supposed to be possible with the Samsung Galaxy S6 somehow.

Samsung Galaxy S6 - Full phone specifications

www.gsmarena.com

SOLVED: Samsung Galaxy S6 G9208 Midfram (Housing) antennas - Samsung Galaxy S6

Top left antenna is for Wi-Fi, top right is main cellular 4G / 3G. Bottom left is GPS. - Samsung Galaxy S6

www.ifixit.com

The S4 had ports for external antennas, but is old unfortunately:

Samsung I9500 Galaxy S4 - Full phone specifications

www.gsmarena.com

 

[Benjahmin]

Seems like the only way is to put the sim in a phone and tether to the laptop. Doesn't help witht the pc though. Hey ho! Shall have to see how the 100 minutes of calls that come on the voip deal work out.
Broadband wise it seems to be working really well. Quick response and no buffering on the few youtubes I've watched.

 

[guerney]

Seems like the only way is to put the sim in a phone and tether to the laptop. Doesn't help witht the pc though.

You could get a WiFi dongle for the PC, but it'd be slower than ethernet of course. I keep one handy just in case, because I can't ever afford to be without internet if the router goes t*tsup. In fact, I have two spare SIM routers and two MiFis. I also bought two WiFi PCIE cards, but haven't needed to use them yet. I've got so much techno junk forgotten about, I have to remind myself to look through boxes first to see if I already have something, before buying something new.

 

[Benjahmin]

Wow! The 13th was changover day. 4g router was already working but plusnet was due to cut off. It did so around 10am, so we lost the phone. By the time I had plugged in the voip adaptor and it had set up (around a minute) we had the old landline number up and running on voip. Painless. Shout out to Voipfone.uk for seamless service.
Download speed on 4g is consistantly 11Mps+(plusnet was only ever 2.3 at best) and wifi signal is stronger than before. Monthly charges look to settle around £20-25 instesd of being in the 40-50.
Why did I wait so long to ditch the isp bullies?