Mobile phones & Mobile Broadband data only sims

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mercalia
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Mobile phones & Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by mercalia »

the THREE network has some interesting 12 and 24 month deals 12 or 24GB of data that lasts for 12 or 24 MONTHS

http://store.three.co.uk/view/searchTariff?deviceType=SIM_ONLY_MBB&priceplan=&greatForServices=&manufacturerName=&payGPriceForTariff=50to99.99&payGPriceForTariff=0to49.99

or better prices here

https://www.mymemory.co.uk/mobile/mobile-phone/sim-cards.html

These deals seem to be a hidden secret as they are not widely publisized on the normal deal pages

could be useful if you have a laptop or tablet with a sim slot, like my HP elitebook, since the 3g/4g network is wider than wifi hotspots?

These sims are DATA ONLY sims, no text messages or voice and for mobile broadband only

just pop it in and bobs your uncle
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Last edited by mercalia on 11 Oct 2018, 11:12am, edited 1 time in total.
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Cunobelin
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by Cunobelin »

Have used these for some years in my MiFi

Went into 3, discussed my needs, and they identified these as my best option

Prior to the roaming changes, also used to use a similar local data sim when abroad
Greystoke
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by Greystoke »

We use that in our home Wi-Fi.
It's the only way we can get internet access....phone line can't provide it. The joys of rural living.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Only 24 GB - I wonder if they do a 50GB option (or what their topup and keep active policies are)


Need to go and research.


Hmm - 24GB for £60 - that's ~400Mb/£ or 0.25p/MB

Better than their 3,2,1 prepay plan (1p/MB) - but still not great compared with other offers for my particular needs (4 weeks of ridiculous data requirements a year) which are normally served by getting a high data contract for two months (the month join in the middle of the 4 week period, so I get two billing months' data inside four weeks...)
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
mercalia
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by mercalia »

[XAP]Bob wrote:Only 24 GB - I wonder if they do a 50GB option (or what their topup and keep active policies are)


Need to go and research.


Hmm - 24GB for £60 - that's ~400Mb/£ or 0.25p/MB

Better than their 3,2,1 prepay plan (1p/MB) - but still not great compared with other offers for my particular needs (4 weeks of ridiculous data requirements a year) which are normally served by getting a high data contract for two months (the month join in the middle of the 4 week period, so I get two billing months' data inside four weeks...)


slightly cheaper from MyMemory, esp the 12month/12gb. There doesnt seem to be any comparable top-up optons that eg give you another 12 months. just have to get another card? The cards are useful for the 12/24 months aspect and as you point out far better than the 321 payasyyougo.
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meic
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by meic »

Only better than 321 if you use that amount of data.

321 is great if you are only using the phone , texts or data for essential use.
Mine costs me about £1 a year.
Yma o Hyd
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by [XAP]Bob »

meic wrote:Only better than 321 if you use that amount of data.

321 is great if you are only using the phone , texts or data for essential use.
Mine costs me about £1 a year.


Yes - I have one in a tablet, and it gets swapped to a phone when I go abroad (the 'feel-at-home' aspect oft he plan is really useful)
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
mercalia
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by mercalia »

[XAP]Bob wrote:
meic wrote:Only better than 321 if you use that amount of data.

321 is great if you are only using the phone , texts or data for essential use.
Mine costs me about £1 a year.


Yes - I have one in a tablet, and it gets swapped to a phone when I go abroad (the 'feel-at-home' aspect oft he plan is really useful)



has any one done it the other way - put a data only sim in a phone? I very rarely make phone calls and it seems there are way to make text messages thru a data only connection
simonhill
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by simonhill »

Can anyone recommend a good mifi device to put this SIM into. Wondering about this for home WiFi use for someone who is only at home part of the year (as opposed to yearly broadband contract).
mercalia
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by mercalia »

what is a mifi device?
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Paulatic
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by Paulatic »

Device gives you WiFi from mobile data. = Mifi
Whatever I am, wherever I am, this is me. This is my life

https://stcleve.wordpress.com/category/lejog/
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meic
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by meic »

Asking this question will expose part of my vast ignorance about how these things work.
The 321 contract forbids "tethering" which I assumed was letting other devices have access to the internet through it.
Does that data only SIM card have the same restriction?
Could they tell if you were doing this, if so, how do they know?
Yma o Hyd
mercalia
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by mercalia »

meic wrote:Asking this question will expose part of my vast ignorance about how these things work.
The 321 contract forbids "tethering" which I assumed was letting other devices have access to the internet through it.
Does that data only SIM card have the same restriction?
Could they tell if you were doing this, if so, how do they know?


look here
http://www.three.co.uk/_standalone/PricePlan_Details?content_aid=1400690583815

download the pdf file mentioned in the above

Price Guide for our new Mobile Broadband plans
Mobile Broadband –it’s the Internet with legs.

http://www.three.co.uk/_standalone/Link_Document?content_aid=1214305748126

thing is I dont think it mentions these unique 12/24 month one payment plans as far as I can see.
if you can understand that all you are better than me - no wonder these sims have fallen through the cracks

You will have to ask them?

though on page 15 of the pdf it says

"How can I use my data units?
• You can use your data units in the UK or in any of our
Go Roam destinations, as set out on page 10.
You can also use your data units to set up a
Personal Hotspot if you want to connect more than
one device to the Internet at once, when in the UK
or in a Go Roam in Europe destination.



so I would assume applies to these sims also? you will have to ask them

The only "problem" I had with these sims was making an account so you can keep a tally of how much data you have left - You do that online but they have to send a text message with a tempoarary passcode to the phone number associated with the sim, but data sims dont have voice or text message capability.......it seems though that Windows 10 atleast has a one way messernger app that popped up the code. Also though the sim worked straight way kept on getting messages thru that app saying we are getting you ready etc and to restart your connection or some thing. I suspect all this nonsense was really to do with setting up online accounts for a phone
simonhill
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by simonhill »

mercalia wrote:what is a mifi device?


From Google search

A MiFi taps into 3G or 4G mobile phone networks and uses this connection to create a mini wireless broadband cloud or hotspot. This can then be shared between mobile internet-enabled devices — such as smartphones, laptops, tablets and even games consoles — that are within range of its signal.

As I asked, anyone got a recommendation for one.
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Cunobelin
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Re: Mobile Broadband data only sims

Post by Cunobelin »

Slightly Off the original topic, and a merger of some of the ideas above.

When I started using MiFi, tethering to your phone was very limited both in availability and the amount of data that you could transfer to other devices

With the advent of Tablets this has changed and many now offer the ability for phones to feed a number of devices and reasonable amounts of transferable data

Before investing in MiFi, it may be possible to increase your data for a short period of time.

3 have an international roaming option of unlimited data for £5 per day.

Not cheap, but (IIRC) something like 30GBq of data transferable with your phone as a hotspot, enough to keep a family happy
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