Mobile wifi dongle

[squid4b]

I was bitterly disappointed after losing half an hour of my valuable time in the EE  store in Sevenoaks today, trying to purchase a mobile wifi device for use where there is little or no alternative.

I am looking for a wifi dongle for occasional or irregular use, so he suggested a 5Gb rolling monthly deal for £15. Sounded great - except that the guy in the store then couldn't find said deal anywhere on the system. He went out of his way to find it or similar, but the only one he could find was 15Gb for £22 - not what I want.

Do I have to return to O2 to get  what I want? I also spoke briefly to Vodafone who said that they could do similar. Can EE not step up to the plate?

[EssexBoyEE]

You mentioned returning to O2, so does that mean you already have a Dongle or MiFi Device, if so is that Networked Unlocked, a lot of O2s Data stuff can be, so worth checking.

That then leaves you going down a SIM Only route, a Pay Monthly Phone SIM will work just as well as a Data SIM and may give a better options on the amount of Data you will end up with, and sometimes cheaper.

If you are hardly going to be using it, another option would be a PreLoaded Data SIM package which depending on the Package will be X amounts of prepaid Data that last for X amount of months.

[mikeliuk]

Hi @squid4b ,

Having used mobile dongles in the past and currently using a mobile cellular router with WiFi functionality, I think the best play is to enhance your main mobile contract with a little data and use the hotspot/tethering function to give other devices internet access via WiFi.

I am on an overlap month between my previous provider and new provider, and have found 4K UHD streaming from a mobile to a Roku device (watched essentially the entirety of "The Boys" in 4K via this method) to be absolutely fine so it should also be suitable for laptops. You could also tether a phone by USB to a laptop for even lower latency. (I have a dual-SIM phone so can have my main SIM, and the expiring SIM in one device.)

More in line with your original plan, you could separately purchase a cheap mobile 4G LTE router (in-built battery for portability) which gives you a lot of flexibility regarding tethering by USB, or accessing by WiFi depending on the model. I currently use a Netgear MR1100 which is perfectly suitable for travel usage and home usage (GBP 150 from Amazon Warehouse). You would then require a SIM-only arrangement and this is the disadvantage compared to the previous idea. uswitch.com is a good place to find a suitable SIM-only plan.

A mobile dongle, to my understanding, would be less flexible than a 4G LTE router, so others may consider that option for you. Good luck! 😀

Rolling one month data SIM, 5 GB, GBP 15, top of this page for me: https://shop.ee.co.uk/sim-only/pay-monthly-data

Doesn't strike me as all that great given that my main SIM is GBP 6/mth for 3 GB with data roll-over (so can accumulate 6 GB on most months).

A quick mention that you've had a lucky escape as well as there is no right of cancellation if you purchase a device in-store, whereas making the purchase online gives you additional cancellation protection.

[squid4b]

Hi EssexBoyEE,

Thanks for the response. I do have a dongle, but it is getting on a bit. I thought with advancements in technology, something around today might be a bit better.

Oddly, I have previously tried a Pay Monthly Phone SIM, but this didn't want to play as well with data (bizarre, but true).

Still odd that EE just can't do a deal which suits.

Thanks anyway.

[squid4b]

Hi Mikeliuk,

Thanks for response. 

"Rolling one month data SIM, 5 GB, GBP 15, top of this page for me: https://shop.ee.co.uk/sim-only/pay-monthly-data": 

this is exactly the deal that the sales guy was referring to, but then couldn't find to offer me. He did find one with a 2GB monthly, but the dongle was then going to cost £300!!!

I might go down the LTE router way. Sounds another option.