Quote: Steamdrivenandy wrote in post #14

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I've just checked the O2 coverage map which indicates good indoor and outdoor coverage for 4G for both our postcodes but as I say 4G only rarely appears on the phone's indicator whilst at home. Presumably this may be due to local conditions but means that looking at other network's coverage has to be just as suspect.

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Agreed (if he has a good 4G signal at home) but would suggest if he goes for a mobile router he would (most likely) still need a data package on his phone which admittedly neednt need to be too much under normal use.

I only use the landline router since my 4G signal at home isnt too good: because its FTTC I can only get 36Mb anyway. Im waiting for the 5G network to be expanded at which point I hope to ditch the landline

I have presented a closely argued case to go 'mobile only' to Mrs SDA who, as usual, has knocked it on its head with Stu ing practicality. She doesn't like using mobile phones for calls because they're awkward to hold to the ear and generally she finds it hard to hear what's being said. Indeed when her God child phones she dons headphones.
Before being shot down in flames I did consult the EE coverage map and our spot is slap on a line between a 'good 4G reception indoors and outdoors' and an 'outdoors only. Given we're a mile across open fields from the M6 and 250 yrs from the WCML you'd think we'd be better served. As for 5G, as long as it isn't coming up with HS2 I doubt we'll see it.
Presumably you have to buy your own mobile router as all I could find on EE were three rental ones which just appeared to be bigger plastic boxes doing the same thing but costing more per month based on size.

I wouldnt rely on the accuracy of the reception maps from any mobile operator: theyre indicative only due to many other factors. Using headsets is one option, another is to use the phone speaker option. A third way is to bluetooth the phone to an external microphone/speaker then your wife would have the luxury of not stopping what she was doing when answering and/or talking on the phone. Where theres a will theres a way:)

Yes, I do believe youd need to purchase your own mobile router, or MIfi, but as mentioned previously 5G is the technogy that will supercede this eventually. Your TV, fridge, phone, car, camera, printer, washing machine and anything else will eventually be connected via 5G in the so-called world of IoT : Internet-of-things

Quote: Steamdrivenandy wrote in post #18

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She doesn't like using mobile phones for calls

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Paid £100 in the EE shop for the mobile router but saving £18/month landline costs plus £8/month on fibre broadband, so £312 annual saving.

As previously mentioned, the speed is good enough for UHD on our main TV plus simultaneous HD on our second TV plus access on 2 iPhones and 2 laptops. Best of all we can take it with us on our travels and have the same access in our van, assuming that a 4G signal is available which it generally is.

Now I just need to figure where to mount our 60" TV in the van...

Quote: rs540 wrote in post #21

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Now I just need to figure where to mount our 60" TV in the van...

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Now here's a funny thing.

I got fed up trying to do stuff on my Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) phone, so I thought I'd take a tentative step into non landline territory and try and connect my Samsung Galaxy Tablet S3 to the phone, using the mobile as a hotspot. It was surprisingly easy, nothing blew up, nothing bit me and all seems to work.

The surprising bit is that although both phone and tablet are indoors and the phone is reading its usual two bars on 'H+' ('4G' only appears outside in the garden), the speed of loading screens on the tablet is noticeably faster than on the mobile phone itself. Does that mean that the phone has something in it that is slowing down the operation but the signal to the tablet avoids whatever is causing that delay?

yep: your phone may have anti-virus or other apps running that affect how its processing the webpage on the phone: it just passing data for the tablet, and the tablet may have more memory, a faster processor, less apps etc to render the webpages more quickly than your phone

PS and well done for taking the leap of faith into the hotspot world

nope: the data the phone or tablet needs is only what is needed for the webpage on the device youre looking at

However, if you download something to your laptop and also download the same page to your phone browser you would use twice the data - the data dowloaded to the tablet isnt available to the phone and vice verse and neither device knows what the other device has downloaded

Its exactly the same as with a line-based router connected to muliple devices: if each device calls for the same data then the data consumption will be higher but this would only be because two users have asked for the data.

If you were browsing on your phone and set off a background download on your table for a movie for example then you would have higher data consumption but this is only because you downloaded the data, not because you used two devices.

Quote: eribaMotters wrote in post #25

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When using your phone as a hotspot to feed to your tablet etc, does the tablet use more data than if reading at the phone?

Colin

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Andy is Gŕrrrrrr Lower Sorbian for Grrrrrrr ?

Not so esoteric S&D, just a bit of grit in your eye.

Though it does bear a startling resemblance to the Risian dialect word for bouncy spherical objects.

Quote: Steve and Debbie wrote in post #27

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Quote: eribaMotters wrote in post #25

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When using your phone as a hotspot to feed to your tablet etc, does the tablet use more data than if reading at the phone?

Colin

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A tablet typically has a larger screen than the phone. Websites and apps know the size of your device and render different or more complex content on the screen and hence use more data.

Steve

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