Device limits still present on data only sims being used for 4GEE home internet?

[camy252]

Essentially an updated post from my one earlier in the year. 

Due an upgrade soon and I'm currently running a 4GEE internet package (however using my own router) which has been working great but its £50 and only for 500GB data limit.  I'm seeing much better deals and even as low as £36 for unlimited data sims or £55 for unlimited 4GEE sim (with router but I'd ditch the router).

My concern is always around the device limit set on the data only sims.  Last year this was 11 which is by far not enough for me.  Last count, I have approx 22 devices using my home internet.  For that reason I've stuck with the 4GEE sim.  

TLDR Questions:

Is there still a device limit on the data only sims?

Is the FUP still 600gb for the unlimited sims?

Is there a device limit on the 4GEE sims or is that just set by the router?  I assume its higher than 11 because my network has worked great with over 22 devices.

Have they improved/fixed the issues around putting data only sims into 4G routers? 

My ideal scenario would be getting the £36 unlimited data sim only deal, saving a bit of cash, getting more than 500gb download limit, not being limited to 11 devices and not paying for a router I dont use.  But I suspect EE are still putting stumbling blocks in the way to stop people using these in routers and getting unlimited data on what would normally be their 4/5GEE packages.

[Kirigaya_Kazuto]

That 11 device limit is probably set in the router that EE give you, so it's a good job you use your own router

[camy252]

According to the Terms and Conditions (last year at any rate) its restricted on the sim/account.  Part of the FUP I believe to stop a business taking advantage and having lots of devices connected?

I find it hard to believe that the 4GEE routers are also only limited to 11 devices as they are designed for home internet.  Most homes now having so many smart devices would likely exceed that.  I'm currently using a 4GEE sim and thats why I'm not having issues using more than 11.  But if i switched to a data only sim I'd likely have issues?  But i want to check thats still case because obviously I'd rather pay £36 than £50 and end up with another EE router.

[EssexBoyEE]

Your cheapest option would be to do an upgrade to a 4/5G All Unlimited Phone SIM (SIM Only). This should come in to you at around £29 with 1 Smart Benefit or approx £33 with 3 Smart Benifits, this will get you Unlimited.4/5G Data with the normal 600GB FUP.

Only Devices connected to the Router that actually use Internet Data should count towards your Device Count, are you sure all your 22 Devices for Internet Data use ?

[XRaySpeX]

@Kirigaya_Kazuto : The 11 device limit is not imposed by the router but is detected by EE whenever more than 11 data consuming devices are regularly connected at the same time.

[camy252]

@EssexBoyEE

Yeah I found the same deal but the main issue is the device limit which doesn't appear to be imposed on the 4GEE sims that come with router deals.

At least 22 devices are drawing from the Internet yes. It isn't that much when you add them all up: 3 echos, 2 laptops, desktop PC, ps4pro, 3 smart TVs, 1 firestick, 2 unifi access points, 3 mobile phones, ring doorbell, 3 smart plugs, 2x tablets. Probably more I havent thought about. And that's a household with 2 adults and one child. Must be even more for bigger families so I'm not sure why they thought having such a low limit was a good idea.

I would never risk getting a sim card that limits to 11 devices because I've heard it randomly disconnects them and limits bandwidth. No idea how it disconnects individual devices but thats what Im reading. Maybe the router sends the mac addresses to EE and the sim is then told to jitter the connection. Either way, that would completely ruin my setup. 

[Davidchen]

really good  a ieadss

[camy252]

@Davidchen ??

[mikeliuk]

Hi @camy252 ,

If your 4GEE package included a router, it's likely a premium would have been added to provide that hardware so moving to an equivalent SIM-only offer may be better for you.

I think most of the terms and conditions have a device limit specified but I would recommend that you disregard any device which may count as an IoT (internet of things) device such as an Alexa device and below as you could reasonably justify in a court of law that these devices are insignificant in terms of network usage.

As you use your own device and NAT, it would be a waste of time and highly invasive for the service provider to perform deep packet inspection on your traffic to discover how many devices you've connected behind your own router so they will likely concentrate on customers who exceed the FUP first.

SIM-only and equivalent current have a 600 GB FUP as far as I can tell. Some of the 4GEE terms specify a 1 TB FUP as I was browsing but those could be out of date and the terms should be checked for the product/service you wish to purchase.

The main thing to try if an issue is seen with a SIM in a third party router is to add an APN for IPV4-only as there are reports on here with IPV4V6 related issues that are solved with that simple change.

[XRaySpeX]

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@mikeliuk wrote:

SIM-only and equivalent current have a 600 GB FUP as far as I can tell.

Not all of them, only the "Unlimited" data plans.