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Mifi Router

wooster
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grendel

grendel

Posted
Posted

I run a pair of huawei dongles, (one with antenna,) one is on o2 and the other on 3 with this combination I have pretty much full coverage, however I dont believe I have ever moored in the brundall bay area so cant guarantee coverage there.

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oldgregg

oldgregg

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, wooster said:

Hi all

I'm looking for a 4G router to use on my boat moored at Brundall Bay. Anyone any experience of Three/Smarty in this area?

 

Thanks

I remember switching from Three to Vodafone and then my phone started to work when I was at Brooms... That's five years ago now, but I don't think it has changed much having looked at Three's own coverage map.

Red is good, would you believe. The patches of 'normal map' are dead spots. I used the postcode for Broom but you can see Brundall Bay on there and it's a bit mixed.

With a router and a good (external) aerial, you'll fare better. But it's the aerial that makes all the difference.

image.png

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chrisdobson45

chrisdobson45

Posted
Posted

We are berthed in Cove Marina. We have found that pretty much anywhere south of the railway station & The White Heron into the Riverside Estate appears to have pretty poor reception on both Vodafone & O2. There are a few small random windows of reception, including at the end of the old ferry jetty opposite Coldham Hall but even then its only good enough for making & receiving calls and texts. 

 

 

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addicted

addicted

Posted
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We moored at brundall bay for 10 years we never had a mobile phone issue

We have vodaphone. However we were moored at NBS last season literally a few hundred yards as the crow flies from our previous mooring and the signal was diabolical.

 

Carole

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Mouldy

Mouldy

Posted
Posted

Strange the Vodafone’s signal in Brundall is so patchy.  I was told a few years ago that the mast opposite Brian Wards is for Vodafone.  I wouldn’t like to guarantee that is fact, but the info was passed to me by someone who should know.

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oldgregg

oldgregg

Posted
Posted

Definitely. It's so variable all over the Broads that really you have to try it and see how you get on.

A big (and good quality) aerial helps a lot, though, as does a half-decent router.

The Huawei B535 seems popular with narrowboaters (where the whole boat is a signal blocker) and they'll often have an external aerial mounted on a small mast. You've also got ethernet ports so you can connect a TV or laptop etc to it without having the additional hassle of WiFi woes.

The main issue with the Broads is that as it's a national park the mobile transmitters are only at the very edges and so sometimes you can be a really long way from one.

Vodafone is generally what country-dwellers in Norfolk have but there are some dead spots (Neatishead in places there is nothing). Three has plenty of dead spots but where it works it works really well, and O2 is much the same. We had a router on Three and download speeds were excellent where there was signal.

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oldgregg

oldgregg

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Strange the Vodafone’s signal in Brundall is so patchy.  I was told a few years ago that the mast opposite Brian Wards is for Vodafone.  I wouldn’t like to guarantee that is fact, but the info was passed to me by someone who should know.

The geography is quite complex, that's the problem. Elevation is a factor, too.

Transmitters are designed to 'chuck' the signal a decent distance so they aren't pointing the signal right underneath them, though you should have decent coverage if near one.

Vodafone always used to work for me at Brooms. It was quite noticeable when I changed networks as my wife was able to send me to-do lists when I was at the boat.... When I was on three, I didn't get reception until I came back up into the village. I'm not sure which was better. :default_norty:

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Heron

Heron

Posted
Posted

With reference to the post by  oldgregg 3 hours ago I do not understand the reference to the Broads being a National Park, as it is not a NP.

The use of the term National Park is for marketing purposes only and this may be by the Broads Authority although others also seem to use it.

Happy to be corrected if the legal position has been changed.

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Woodie

Woodie

Posted
Posted

I think the perceived need for a complete network outweighs the location. Earlier in the year there was a temporary mast in the ullswater valley in the lakes, near Hartsop/ Kirkstone pass.

Not sure if it’s been made permanent, or if it was to test the location.

Powered by a very smokey diesel generator too.

Dont think National Parks-real or pretend, are exempt from mobile masts.

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Mouldy

Mouldy

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, oldgregg said:

Ironically, Three and Vodafone have today announced plans to merge 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65842845

That'll be an interesting one as Vodafone and O2 have been sharing a lot of network infrastructure in the past few years in order to save costs.

Should be easy merging their customer services.  Having dealt with both in the past, there was little to choose between them, they were both pretty dire.  That was a few years ago, mind and they might have improved.

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