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Can anybody help ? we have moved and are out of range for a wifi signal and have no possibility of a land line, does anybody know anything about internet by satellite/dish ? thanks

Check out an item called a Dongle, it may be suitable for you. Its ok for general browsing, emails etc but not really for the likes of downloading films.

spj wrote:Can anybody help ? we have moved and are out of range for a wifi signal and have no possibility of a land line, does anybody know anything about internet by satellite/dish ? thanks

I have satellite internet and it is not the universal panacea. It is true that it works virtually anywhere that you have a clear view of the sky in the direction of the satellite but it has been heavily over-sold and only delivers a fraction of the promised speed.

For technical reasons it is not very good with Skype and doesn't work with SmartDNS or VPN services.

It is relatively expensive and is generally sold with a data allowance that gets eaten up in no time. If you want to know more, feel free to send me a pm.

A better option, if it is available to you is 4g. The 'Dongle' that lonesome paddy referred to is a USB stick that connects a computer to the Internet via 4g. You can also use a small box called a Domino that lets several devices connect to 4G at the same time, or buy a proper 4g router. Generally the connection improves as you move up through the various connection methods.

I am in the process of replacing my satellite internet with 4G and I've mounted an external aerial on my roof, that made a phenomenal difference to speed and reliability.

All the main providers offer 4G but the best deals seem to be from Bouygues

4G also has data allowances so is not really suitable for Internet television

Hope this helps

Allan wrote:

spj wrote:Can anybody help ? we have moved and are out of range for a wifi signal and have no possibility of a land line, does anybody know anything about internet by satellite/dish ? thanks

I have satellite internet and it is not the universal panacea. It is true that it works virtually anywhere that you have a clear view of the sky in the direction of the satellite but it has been heavily over-sold and only delivers a fraction of the promised speed.

For technical reasons it is not very good with Skype and doesn't work with SmartDNS or VPN services.

It is relatively expensive and is generally sold with a data allowance that gets eaten up in no time. If you want to know more, feel free to send me a pm.

A better option, if it is available to you is 4g. The 'Dongle' that lonesome paddy referred to is a USB stick that connects a computer to the Internet via 4g. You can also use a small box called a Domino that lets several devices connect to 4G at the same time, or buy a proper 4g router. Generally the connection improves as you move up through the various connection methods.

I am in the process of replacing my satellite internet with 4G and I've mounted an external aerial on my roof, that made a phenomenal difference to speed and reliability.

All the main providers offer 4G but the best deals seem to be from Bouygues

4G also has data allowances so is not really suitable for Internet television

Hope this helps

At the risk of stating the obvious, you need to have 4g service at your home to benefit from a 4g dongle. The different operators' websites have coverage maps where you can put in your address. They tend to be optimistic but will give you an idea.

I guess I shouldn't assume that the obvious is obvious to everyone.

There is a very good website here https://www.antennesmobiles.fr/ it lets you see the various masts in any area and I suppose I should have asked where spj is located.

In terms of the cost Bouygues is a lot less expensive than the other providers but obviously is subject to availability

The cheapest of all is Free who gibe 50gb data allowance per month with a mobile phone contract. They don't offer a data only tariff but if you have good 4G reception you could use a mobile phone as a hotspot.

I think all of the main suppliers will give you a refund if it doesn't work at your address.

I can't stress enough what a difference an external antenna makes, I live 5km from the nearest mast and I get speeds of 40-50Mb in both directions, with a domino I was lucky to get 6 or 7mb

Is anybody using castasmarttv system? Need feedback before buying. Thanks...

Allan wrote:I guess I shouldn't assume that the obvious is obvious to everyone.

There is a very good website here https://www.antennesmobiles.fr/ it lets you see the various masts in any area and I suppose I should have asked where spj is located.

In terms of the cost Bouygues is a lot less expensive than the other providers but obviously is subject to availability

The cheapest of all is Free who gibe 50gb data allowance per month with a mobile phone contract. They don't offer a data only tariff but if you have good 4G reception you could use a mobile phone as a hotspot.

I think all of the main suppliers will give you a refund if it doesn't work at your address.

I can't stress enough what a difference an external antenna makes, I live 5km from the nearest mast and I get speeds of 40-50Mb in both directions, with a domino I was lucky to get 6 or 7mb

You did say 4g "if available": I was just trying to fill it out a bit. I can confirm that my 4g smartphone from Free makes a perfectly serviceable "hotspot" (so long as the signal is good, as it is for me). I have seen mixed reports on whether their sims work (in the long term) in a dongle or a proper router rather than in a phone. I believe that it would be against their T&C.

I have the same satellite internet service (Tooway) at my other place as I believe Allan used. But it is a long time since I have used it more than very occasionally. It worked OK for a while: even if it's less satisfactory now, as Allan found, it is at least an option if all else fails.

I had "WiMAX" for a year or so, which was touted to be the answer to all our problems - a sort of long-distance wifi from the local church steeple. It worked well when it worked, but it was so fiddly to set up that the operator found it uneconomic.

spj wrote:Can anybody help ? we have moved and are out of range for a wifi signal and have no possibility of a land line, does anybody know anything about internet by satellite/dish ? thanks

I am sure you know best about the possibility of a land line, but for what it's worth, Orange do have a "universal service obligation" for voice calls. Though that's theoretical anyway if you are too far from the exchange for Internet.

I have recently been using a Three MiFi http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices ... lour=White on a one month rolling contract with a 20GB data allowance for £23. Enough data for regular browsing, Skype/Facetime and email but not TV or streaming video.

Also, iy you can get an Orange signal, they do a 30 day, unlimited data voucher for €19.

However, these are only really suitable if you are a short term visitor. If you are long term visitor or resident then probably not what you need.

Anthea & Tim wrote:I have recently been using a Three MiFi http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices ... lour=White on a one month rolling contract with a 20GB data allowance for £23. Enough data for regular browsing, Skype/Facetime and email but not TV or streaming video.

Also, iy you can get an Orange signal, they do a 30 day, unlimited data voucher for €19.

However, these are only really suitable if you are a short term visitor. If you are long term visitor or resident then probably not what you need.

The MiFi that you refer to is what the French refer to as a Domino and as you so rightly say, is not suitable for long term use as they restrict the time that it can be used outside of the UK.

I can't find any reference to an Orange 30 day unlimited data voucher, do you have a link to the details?

Allan, the Orange link is: https://hautdebit-mobile.orange.fr/order/product/list/

On the Three MiFi/Domino, I may be wrong but I am not aware of any time restrictions when using their "Feel at Home" service http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Phones/Feel_At_Home and http://support.three.co.uk/SRVS/CGI-BIN ... t(EM38751)

Anthea & Tim wrote:Allan, the Orange link is: https://hautdebit-mobile.orange.fr/order/product/list/

On the Three MiFi/Domino, I may be wrong but I am not aware of any time restrictions when using their "Feel at Home" service http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Phones/Feel_At_Home and http://support.three.co.uk/SRVS/CGI-BIN ... t(EM38751)

In Three's terms and conditions it says
This offer is intended to be used by UK residents travelling abroad, and Three reserves the right to suspend the service in the event the UK allowance is used exclusively abroad for three (3) months within a twelve (12) month period.

The Orange link isn't working at present but I think you will find it refers to Orange Wifi hotspots, rather than 4G (or 3G).




http://www.three.co.uk/Privacy_Cookies/ ... 0482374514

Allan,

Thank you for clarifying things.