I don't watch much tv or use my phone a lot when away in the caravan but for checking weather/emails & local bit & pieces its handy to have signal. we tend to use CL sites & sometimes there's no signal / WIFI . I use an iphone & Ipad & the built in aerial in them must be microscopic, surely if your using one in a car you would imagine you should be able to link into a car aerial without having to pay for a 2nd sim & fancy hi tech router to fit in your caravan without spending £500 + monthly charges when you/ i only need it for a few days a year.

I have an unlimited data contract with EE on my phone. When we are away I turn my phone into a wifi hotspot and we use our laptops (2015 MacBooks) and iPad Minis through it. No problem. It generally says it's "low data mode" restricted, but have never noticed any problem in use. Worked well last year in France too (having paid the £10 per month fee for data roaming in Europe). Much easier than connecting to horribly slow campsite wifi (and at a cost too)...

I have also been experimenting with a rear facing camera (an old iPhone SE 2020) in the back of the Eriba and have bought a tiny 12v/USB powered wifi router (details: GL.iNet GL-MT300N-V2 (Mango) Wireless Mini Portable VPN Travel Router, Mobile Hotspot, WiFi Repeater Bridge, Range Extender, OpenVPN Client, 300Mbps High Performance, 128MB RAM) that sits in the back of my big estate car, providing wifi between my iPad Mini on the dashboard (magnetic air vent mounts) and the camera at the back of the Eriba. Works a treat... This also offers the ability to connect to the internet (whilst on site) in other ways - plug in wifi stick, mains ethernet connection etc. That router costs £33 at the mo from Amazon.

Here's some info on that mini router:

wow thanks for all the reply's, I'm going to have to try and get my brain cells round these options. As Colin says he doesn't use land line at home much I'm the same and the trouble in the hilly areas on some of the CL sites there is no wifi or signal for my phone or have to stand on one toe holding phone high up. If only the iPhone had a aerial port & just a simple aerial and piece of wire to plug in. I sometimes wonder if we have gone backwards or forwards with technology

I used to have an external aerial with a cradle attached for my Nokia 3310 - worked really well...! So last century.

perhaps the Elon Musk Starlink system is the way forwards? High speed internet beamed straight from the stars...
Apparently already available - £89 a month and all UK covered apart from far north of Scotland...

Colin

I think you have to return the router if you cancel within 30 days. After that you can probably keep it but incur a cancellation fee. For £20 Three have a 5g contract. If your on hook up you may as well take the home router with you. You can still buy a 4g mobile router and use the same SIM.

Note that they will increase the price every April by CPI + 3.9%

If you are happy with 4g , a 4g home router is loads cheaper to buy and you can get a Smarty SIM for £20 with no contract and none of those hidden rises.

Smarty uses the same Three network and I tried it out for a month with a borrowed 4g router. They are very sensitive to position in the house to get the best signal and then you may need an external aerial. I live 0.3 miles as the crow flies from the mast. I struggled to get a strong signal and when I did I had satisfactory speeds but found the speed varied a lot and was too inconsistent for me.

My advice would be to blag a router off someone and get a Smarty SIM for a month and try it before you need to give notice to Plusnet.

Steve

Hi Steve

After reading your post & realising with the small 4g router you mention & signal problems so close to a mast! I would struggle, we tend to go in the wilds of Cumbria or Scotland
oh for just a simple aerial to just plug straight in

i could do with speaking to someone who fits carphone kits, you would imagine there would be an aerial & a wifi/blutooth link or am i being naïve. It just doesn't warrant/afford a fancy kit or monthly charge for the amount of time I'm away