Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => Ctrl-Alt-Del => Topic started by: velosam on 15 November, 2019, 04:45:06 pm
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I currently don't have home internet and simply use the hotspot on my phone. It just about suffices for work but its a little slow.
I don't really want to have cable installed as they put holes in the wall etc.
Is there anyway I can wireless connectivity to my home without it costing a bomb, or I am just better off getting the cable put in and a home hub.
The connection will be used for netflix and downloading stuff. Note the former will only happen if it can be done from a hub as opposed to needing a connection. I also will not be getting a tv licence
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Don't you have an existing phone line to the property?
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You could get a 4G/5G router. That just connects to the mobile network, then you connect your devices to the router with wifi or ethernet.
Speed will depend on how good your phone signal is. You could connect an external antenna to the router, which could help. eg if you put the antenna on your roof, or at the window pointing towards the nearest mast.
Cost will depend on the network, and how much data you need. Some networks offer 'unlimited' data, but will slow it down if you use too much.
Cheapest is probably Three, but rubbish coverage.
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I plugged all the holes in the wall. I am on 3 now but in this house it really is rubbish!!
May just have to get cable sigh
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Vote Labour and wait 10 years ;)
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Vote Labour and wait 10 years ;)
Vote tory and, well, just wait ...
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The connection will be used for netflix and downloading stuff. Note the former will only happen if it can be done from a hub as opposed to needing a connection. I also will not be getting a tv licence
Bad news about the TV Licence. If use any broadcast, catch-up service, streaming service, etc. including Sky, BT Sport, Netflix and Prime You should have a TV licence for you home. The device and source are irrelevant if watch moving pictures in a british home you need a TV Licence. Watching BBC is not the only reason the TV Licence is imposed. Governments like taxes.
There are grey areas. Does a coffee shop need a licence if a customer walks in and watchs a bit of youtube while they drink their latte.
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You only need a TV Licence for watching or recording "live broadcast TV" and BBC streamed on-demand TV (Iplayer).
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There are grey areas. Does a coffee shop need a licence if a customer walks in and watchs a bit of youtube while they drink their latte.
You don't need a licence to watch Youtube, unless it's a live stream of a *broadcast* TV channel. (Eg. the NASA TV stream, which is broadcast by satellite in USAnia.)
I'm not sure of the legal status of an internet stream that gets picked up live by a broadcaster. But I expect neither is anyone else.
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You only need a TV Licence for watching or recording "live broadcast TV" and BBC streamed on-demand TV (Iplayer).
And ITV player, and All 4, and Virgin Media, and etc. etc.
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Don't you have an existing phone line to the property?
I see Sam didn’t reply to this, but assuming he does, that would be my choice, especially as he’s likely to be able to get FTTC.
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Yes, I was wrong. Sorry. Netflix and Prime do not require tv licence. (unless watching a bbc programme, maybe tricky not to)
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You only need a TV Licence for watching or recording "live broadcast TV" and BBC streamed on-demand TV (Iplayer).
And ITV player, and All 4, and Virgin Media, and etc. etc.
You don't need a licence for non-BBC catchup streaming including:
All 4, Sky Go, Virgin Media, Now TV, BT TV, Apple TV, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video and ITV Hub
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https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one
You need to be covered by a TV Licence to
watch or record programmes as they’re being shown on TV or live on an online TV service
download or watch BBC programmes on iPlayer.
https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/watching-online-and-on-mobile-devices-TOP14
Do I need a TV Licence if I only ever watch on demand or catch up TV online?
It depends what you watch.
You don’t need a licence if you only ever watch on demand or catch up programmes on services other than BBC iPlayer (and you also never watch live TV programmes on any channel, including on iPlayer). You also don’t need a licence if you only ever watch S4C TV on demand or listen to radio on iPlayer.
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Sorry just catching up
There used be a phone line but I had it all ripped out when they decorated- still some sockets in certain rooms.
I really just want decent net access so that my son can watch Netflix when he is over
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The fibre option only needs a single master socket for the phone line. If you've had it disconnected then Openreach will charge you (a fortune probably) to reconnect.
The cost of a 3g/4g router will not be trivial.
You might find that a new cable installation (Virgin usually) is the cheapest upfront cost, and might use your (? existing) phone master socket.
As regards ongoing costs - for irregular heavy (streaming) use (when your son comes round) the 3g/4g router might be the most cost-effective of all of these.
But there are some occasional very good fibre deals around, but you tend to have sign up for 18 months.
The fastest speeds (needed for streaming) are with cable, although fibre is generally more than good enough depending on where you are in relation to the street box & exchange. I'd guess that the 3g/4g will give the flakiest service, depending on distance to mast and the number of users of it.
Swings and roundabouts, only you can balance up the sums and practicalities.
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I am sure there are phone sockets but I have no idea where the master is. I was thinking cable and I know the neighbour has cable - it runs on our shared fence
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The cost of a 3g/4g router will not be trivial.
Some networks will give you one for free, if you sign up for 18 month contract. Or you can buy one for £70 or so, and put in whatever SIM you like. eg https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016ZWXYXG/
Though more expensive if you need to upgrade the antennas etc.
Virgin may have some good deals, though they will probably try to sell you a bundle with a phoneline and dozens of TV channels. Seems it could be cheaper to sign up for a bundle, even if you never use the phoneline/TV.
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The previous owner of my flat didn't have a phone and a new master socket and cabling up the stairs was installed at no cost to me when I signed up to Sky Broadband. Might be different if you have a real house, of course.
I don't think you need fibre or anything fancy for Netflix. Bog standard ADSL should be fine.
Cable means Virgin, who are terrible terrible company for customer service and to get out of a contract with. At least with ADSL you get to choose your enemy.
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Cable means Virgin, who are terrible terrible company for customer service and to get out of a contract with. At least with ADSL you get to choose your enemy.
Apart from my tech-savvy neighbour I don't know anyone personally who has had a good experience with Virgin Cable.
I refuse to deal with them -quite irrationally - based on my experience with their predecessors NTL who threatened me with balliffs for a bill when I wasn't using their service.
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Was a satisfied customer of Virgin for many years, but since sold to an American company they keep jacking the price up and reducing customer service. The last straw this year was losing access to my email for nearly four weeks. Every day I called them to be told it would be fixed the next day, it never was. Also the call centre is now outsourced to India; I can cope with an Indian accent, or a poor quality line, but not both together.
As soon as the expected price rise letter arrived, I took the option to terminate the contract without penalty.
Now with Zen, so far so good...
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We have had Virgin here for getting on 4 years now, moving away from BT because of intermittent pauses with their Infinity 2 product. So far its good: fast and reliable.
Broadband seems to be something of a lottery, and by the time you find out that the one you signed up for doesn't work for you, its too late....
The Facebook group for our road is interesting on this subject. For every ISP, there's someone who has had a bad experience with them, and there's someone else who'll tell you it works perfectly. And thats probably using just two cabinets for each provider, so not like there's really any major difference in how the service is provided.
Customer service from Plusnet and Talktalk is poor (Plusnet long waits, Talk Talk just useless). Customer Service from Sky is variable, I had to wait 25 minutes one day last week to get through to them, but to be fair to them, when I got disconnected, the Customer Service person did call me back, and they did sent out the required new router). I've not had need to call Virgin Customer Service. BT can be dreadful, getting passed from one team to another and none of them call you back.
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There are grey areas. Does a coffee shop need a licence if a customer walks in and watchs a bit of youtube while they drink their latte.
That sort of situation – watching a licence-requiring source on a phone, slab or laptop – might be covered by the rules about portable TVs, assuming said rules still exist. Your home licence covered a portable distascope in a caravan or boat.
Apropos the OP, I've been with Freeola – part of Entanet – for many years for regular ADSL and their tech support has proven æxcellent. Although they reckon my current slow speed and occasional dropouts may be due to the antediluvian sockets installed in Larrington Towers which, were it proven to be the case, would cost the thick end of £200 to GAMI. This1 has put me off upgrading to fibre from both my current mob and The Usual Suspects even though Murdoch and Branson don't own $ky and Virgin any more.
The lovely boys and girls at Andrews & Arnold offer various options with their Home::1 service, including one where they install a "phone" line. I opted for FTTP, techo-weenie that I be.
1: Well, that and the tempting prices that suddenly jack themselves right up after a year or two.
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The lovely boys and girls at Andrews & Arnold[1] seem to be an effective way of stacking the odds of the lottery in your favour. They can't solve the inherent poor performance of long lines, but they can diagnose and harass our-favourite-telco into fixing most actual faults. Of course, you pay for what you get...
[1] Only one of them's called Andrew[2] and none of them are in Arnold, Nottingham - whatever the GeoIP databases might insinuate.
[2] And I'm suspicious that he may be a bot, on account of his uncanny habit of popping up and fixing things for people outside office hours.
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I have Three's mobile broadband and it's OK. I get c.20Mbps up and downstream on 4G. It's £17/month on a 2-year deal. No cables required other than a mains lead.
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I currently have 3 on my phone but the coverage is awful in the house (I use my phone as a personal hotspot).
I think I will probably go ADSL and see what the costs are.
Thanks all
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For starters, bung your postcode in https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/postcode_checker/ to see if you can get fibre to your house, ADSL, or fibre to the cabinet.
The hole required for fibre or fibre to the cabinet is tiny. Same size as a phone cable and it will be covered by a socket on the inside. You'll want it to be near a power socket so that you can plug a router in.
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I currently have 3 on my phone but the coverage is awful in the house (I use my phone as a personal hotspot).
I think I will probably go ADSL and see what the costs are.
Thanks all
Would a mobile wifi thingy help with poor service, as you can move it around to find an area of good reception.
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Not sure - will the signal be better with a mini hub rather than phone- I guess that is the issue
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Not sure - will the signal be better with a mini hub rather than phone- I guess that is the issue
Might be no idea. Think I have a 3mii thingy that I can lend you.
Edit : It is a Huawei E5330.
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If you're going to use 4G, try to get a 4G hub with an external antenna socket. Then you can get a high gain antenna and experiment to find where the Gs are coming from. Once you've found that out, mount the antenna accordingly. Phones have really rubbish antennas as a rule.
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That sounds like a plan - getting a mini hub.
Thanks for the offer G, but I unless it got data how will I check the signal?
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That sounds like a plan - getting a mini hub.
Thanks for the offer G, but I unless it got data how will I check the signal?
Put your sim card in it and watch the signal strength reading on a computer/internet device
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That’s handy will have m you
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My favourite quirks with tv licencing...Students living away from home do not need a separate tv licence to watch iPlayer on a laptop ... unless the laptop is plugged into the mains at the time of watching.
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My favourite quirks with tv licencing...Students living away from home do not need a separate tv licence to watch iPlayer on a laptop ... unless the laptop is plugged into the mains at the time of watching.
Indeed, and that applies to anyone, not just students.
Also applies to mobile phones and tablets, not just laptops.
If the device being used to watch whatever is plugged in to the mains to charge then a license at that property is required. If it's running on battery power then your own TV license is good enough regardless of where you are in the country.
Anyway the TV licensing thread is elsewhere...