Ray Posted April 6, 2023 Share Posted April 6, 2023 I know this has been discussed before but it's possible the answer changes over time. We currently use BT/EE for the complete home package but this month's bill is a joke and our contract is expiring soon. So while onboard a boat does anyone have a recommendation please for a different provider with reasonable signal access? Given, of course that it's going to be patchy. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MargeandParge Posted April 6, 2023 Share Posted April 6, 2023 Marge uses Labara Vodafone network as good as my BT. Only cheaper. Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpnut Posted April 6, 2023 Share Posted April 6, 2023 I use Vodafone network for the Broads and have just swopped to lebara. I must say it’s been a brilliant breath of fresh air to pick up the phone, press a couple of buttons and then have the phone answered within half a minute - 3 times yesterday while I got myself in a muddle and once today. It therefore looks like their customer service is excellent. Coverage over the last couple of years with the Vodafone network seems better than what I used to get with O2. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouldy Posted April 6, 2023 Share Posted April 6, 2023 Hi Ray. We too are with BT/EE. I’m not impressed with their price increase either, but I’ve been with them for many years, since an absolute nightmare with home broadband from TalkTalk. As Deb is still working, largely from home, reliability in the service is paramount, so we’re going to soldier on with them, as they’ve proved to be very reliable, both where we used to live and now in Norfolk. We have full fibre to the home, with good speeds guaranteed. As far as mobiles are concerned, we’ve been with EE for a long time too. Their customer service is good, when needed, as opposed to Vodafone who were a nightmare. You might get a good sim only deal from one of the secondary suppliers, like Lebara or Smarty. Their service piggybacks on the major networks and are generally quite reasonably priced. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted April 6, 2023 Author Share Posted April 6, 2023 Lebara is looking like the way to go so far, their sim only prices easily beat BT even after the Broadband discount. I'm intending to drop the landline and TV packages altogether, they are pretty much redundant for us as long as we still buy a TV licence we can get what we need. BT offered me a deal... for only £10 more a month I could have exactly what I have now with a more exciting description 🙄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrundallNavy Posted April 6, 2023 Share Posted April 6, 2023 I have a Smarty sim, unlimited month by month contract £10 per month. Works most places ok even Horning. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouldy Posted April 6, 2023 Share Posted April 6, 2023 29 minutes ago, Ray said: Lebara is looking like the way to go so far, their sim only prices easily beat BT even after the Broadband discount. I'm intending to drop the landline and TV packages altogether, they are pretty much redundant for us as long as we still buy a TV licence we can get what we need. BT offered me a deal... for only £10 more a month I could have exactly what I have now with a more exciting description 🙄 We don’t bother with BT TV and I may well drop the landline. All we ever get are cold calls, which do provide some great entertainment if you engage with the person on the phone. We have Amazon Prime, which even with the forthcoming price increase, is still good value for what it offers. I gave Sky up a loooong time ago - another company that talked the talk, but with lamentable customer service. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted April 6, 2023 Author Share Posted April 6, 2023 21 minutes ago, BrundallNavy said: I have a Smarty sim, unlimited month by month contract £10 per month. Works most places ok even Horning. I was just looking at them (an ad popped up just as I was looking at sim contracts... go figure!) Good prices 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81011 Posted April 6, 2023 Share Posted April 6, 2023 I've recently switched to talkmobile (part of Vodafone and therefore uses their network) from Sky.... a seamless switchover, very well priced for SIM only and a bonus of EU roaming included for when holidaying abroad..... Highly recommended! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldBerkshireBoy Posted April 6, 2023 Share Posted April 6, 2023 Another here with a Smarty monthly card in a router on the boat. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grendel Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 I have 2 wifi dongles, one is on )2 PATG data and the other is on 3 (who I believe use the EE network) the O2 one is a 20Gb data sim that lasts until run out or 12 months, the 3 one was 25gb and lasts for 2 years 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grendel Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 Loddon and Rockland are the 2 places that I have difficulty, ok at high tide, but at low tide you drop below the signal, a long pole helps (one of my dongles has external antenna and getting this high up helps at these locations 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouldy Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 3 minutes ago, grendel said: I have 2 wifi dongles, one is on )2 PATG data and the other is on 3 (who I believe use the EE network) the O2 one is a 20Gb data sim that lasts until run out or 12 months, the 3 one was 25gb and lasts for 2 years Fairly certain that 3 use their own network. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS2021 Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 BT do seem to offer you broadband 'deals' which are more than you are paying, but with added extras... which you probably don't want. If you keep asking they will offer deals without the extras. My deal ran out just before their infamous 14% price increase. I waited until the last day and managed to get a deal £2 less than what I had been paying before (still more than 'brand new customers only' though). I think they are starting to realise they will lose loads of customers if they don't reduce prices. I see their 'brand new customer only' deals are now lower than March. So negotiate before you leave. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikertov Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 You can get some great Labara deals - have look on HotUKDeals I have a 'spare' phone with a Lebara SIM. 3GB for £5, but discounted to 5p for 6 months. Reports say you can often extend or renew the discount. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairTmiddlin Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 3 do a good deal on data sims 24gb lasts 24 months £34.99. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M3VJ2B2?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karizma Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 Just gone through this thread again as I would like Santa to treat Karizma to some sort of 'mobile phone signal booster' ......... I have a EE mobile phone 'package' that has a massive 200gb of data per month (doubled up due to having BT broadband), and when on the boat we use this to hotspot to the laptop; to watch TV through Sky Go and films through Netflix. We can get a good enough mobile signal in most areas, but there are a few places where the signal is there but sometimes just not good enough! I've seen that you can purchase a Portable WiFi Router, where you insert a data sim, which then provides a wifi signal that I could connect the laptop to, but having so much 'data' available on my phone contract I'm reluctant to purchase another SIM card to use for wifi access - typical Yorkshireman !!!! Has anybody got experience of one of these mobile phone 'signal boosters' that have an external antenna, a signal booster and an internal antenna, which claim to boost voice connections, as well as improving mobile internet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MargeandParge Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 On 06/04/2023 at 18:37, MargeandParge said: Marge uses Labara Vodafone network as good as my BT. Only cheaper. Kindest Regards Marge and Parge I'm with Marge now 5 pounds for 5 gigs free roaming in Europe,America and India plus 100 International minutes. Lebara uses Vodafone. Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 I use lebara, cheap as chips. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFrench89 Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 We use Voxi (Vodafone), get 45mbps @ Loddon, pretty reliable all over the Broads, well apart from the known black spots. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karizma Posted December 14, 2023 Share Posted December 14, 2023 thanks for the replies guys - sound as though you are all using either a 'Mobile Wifi Routers' which take a SIM card (of your choice) to get Wifi, that you then connect your device to, or a call / data Sim package which goes in your mobile phone. I'm wanting to find something that booster a poor mobile phone signal i.e. something like a 'mobile phone signal booster' that amplifies a weak signal, that your phone can then connect to, for both voice calls and data usage - anybody used one / got any experience of one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted December 14, 2023 Share Posted December 14, 2023 With a mobile WiFi router to give data the right phone and provider will give the option of text and calls over WiFi. My old s10 samsung on a cheap lebara sim let's me do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldBerkshireBoy Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 On 14/12/2023 at 20:28, Karizma said: I'm wanting to find something that booster a poor mobile phone signal i.e. something like a 'mobile phone signal booster' that amplifies a weak signal, that your phone can then connect to, for both voice calls and data usage - anybody used one / got any experience of one? I brought a booster and the signal bars on the phone went from 0 up to 3 or 4 with it showing 5 bars on the odd day. It wasnt one in the link below but does look exactly the same. RV sites have 12v versions. https://www.docallboosters.com/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karizma Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 4 hours ago, OldBerkshireBoy said: I brought a booster and the signal bars on the phone went from 0 up to 3 or 4 with it showing 5 bars on the odd day. It wasnt one in the link below but does look exactly the same. RV sites have 12v versions. https://www.docallboosters.com/ Hi OBO, thanks for the feedback; thats one of the websites I've been looking at, but wanted confirmation that they do 'what it says on the tin'!! Do you know if they also pick up and boost Wifi signals (as well as mobile signals)? I'm assuming not, but you might surprise me Any recommendations on set ups, functionality, etc, based on what you found? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karizma Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 whoops - should have been OBB rather than OBO but couldn't edit quick enough !!!!!! anyway, would still welcome your thoughts ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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