I don't believe it!!

[Hotrodder]

Seems to be a mixed bag these days. Given all the hype and what people say, fibre is way faster but at a price. It is only really useful for businesses that shift a lot of data or people who do a lot of streaming or get their TV over the internet. I am guessing that it will be just as vulnerable to dropouts and line damage from farmers catching the overhead lines with their raised loaders or stacking the round bales too high on the trailers. The way I see the future is people who have particularly sharp eyesight will dump internet by land-based cabling althogether and resort to smartphones for everything. Service providers already charge extra for data flow over a certain limit so they have a win/win situation either way. That leaves those who live in a black zone (no network coverage) will have to go with a satellite system. Mega expensive. A bit much just to get a bloody "security" code to access your bank account.

[RobertArthur]

@ Hotrodder, yes, the same vulnerabilities for overhead copper wiring and fibre-optic cables. But quite a difference in reliability: from January 2023 on one of my neighbours never had any problem with his Orange fibre connection. No need for speed? There is a difference between a slowish adsl connection of about 2 Mbit and a constant speed of 100 Mbit, WiFi and a smartphone and tablet. His connection doesn't stop working randomly or slows down during peak hours. Very useful, for businesses and also for le petit client privé. My Bouygues 4G connection: I have to switch off the power to my Huawei router (sim inside) more than 10 times a day to reconnect. Disconnections always when you are trying to finish something. Restart again.

[beejay]

The other drawback is "landline" telephones via internet once there is only voip telephone available.

Many major internet providers in the UK, such as mine, are not interested in providing an integrated voip phone service. When my FTTC contract expires in November I will lose my landline. There is no sign of FTTP being available this year so searching for an alternative means having broadband via one company and a voip service by another probably doubling my current £25 month to £50.

I am seriously considering going mobile broadband having dabbled for some time with a portable router on EE and Smarty (3) I can get a reliable 60+ Mbps on either. The current data offerings are very cheap with unlimited for £25 and we'll stick to mobile phones with unlimited calls and text for £3 month on 1p mobile.

[Hotrodder]

A tech question for you guys. Is there any way to access the mobile network via a SIM installed in a PC? Or otherwords, any way to get a full size screen and a proper keyboard connected via a phone SIM? My problem (even if there was network coverage here) is that any of my fingers cover three phone keys at once and I have to use a large magnifying glass to read pretty much anything that appears on a phone. For the moment that is just messages showing a security code.

There has been a new comms tower put up less than 1km from here on higher ground with three phone arrays (?) on top but so far it has not improved our Orange signal.

[RobertArthur]

@ Hotrodder, in the past, Wi-Fi not everywhere available, there were laptops (HP Elitebooks, Lenovo, DELL) with sim support. They are still there, not cheap. Other possibility: a router (my old Huawei) with sim support. You'll get internet + an extra phone number. Some routers have a RJ-11 output: connect a DECT telephone and you'll have a semi mobile/fixed phone.

Or use a cheap smartphone as a hotspot, a mini Wi-Fi network. Not too much signal from the tower, too far away? Go to the window with your router and thanks to Wi-Fi you'll have internet reception (almost) everywhere in your house.

[Hotrodder]

Ta very much. I will investigate.
In the past I have spent a lot of time trying to research devices that claimed to boost a mobile phone signal, various boosters and outdoor aerials, 16 element yagi, etc. but there was no way to actually connect them to the phone. Lots of amazing claims about increased range costing hundreds but no proof, no guarantees, and not genuine positive feedback.

[Nomoss]

As a neighbour refused to let the installers fix fibre cables to their house, I have been using this router for 3 years, https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B097ZXQB87?ref ... tle_2&th=1
A Siemens (DECT) Gigaset AS285 base unit, which has four handsets in various rooms, is plugged into its RJ45 socket.

It has a Free nano SIM card installed, which cost €9,99 for the first year, after which it increased to the current €19,99. Much cheaper than fibre, and I don't need crazy speeds anyway.
This gives free calls to fixed phones in all the countries we need, and calls to mobiles at reasonable cost (€0.22/min to UK and Europe, €1,35/min to NZ)
We only call mobiles in urgent cases. An email is adequate for most purposes.

Although I don't need one, there is provision to fit an extra antenna.

The internet speed is adequate for all our needs, You-tube videos play perfectly, and we have watched the odd Amazon Prime movie, although we don't find many to our taste. Speed varies. It is as low as 10 Mb/sec at very busy times but 30-50 Mb/sec at most times.

My and my wife's laptops and our printer are connected by the router's WiFi, which is very convenient.

There are a few snags to the phone connection :-

1) No display of caller's number

2) There seems to be a slight echo heard by those I call. This does not seem to seriously affect their understanding me, but when I have to repeat a security number on my laptop screen to connect to my bank account, either by voice or keyboard, the bank's system can not recognise it. So I use a mobile phone to do the two-step verification.

3) The Free Voicemail answers in a very short time, often before either of us can pick up a phone. This is not adjustable, so we have told everyone who might call to make sure to leave a message, as the number is not recorded.
An advantage of this is that spam callers almost never leave a message, so we don't even know they have called.

4) I can call Voicemail or visit the Free website to hear any messages, plus I have enabled the option for voice messages to be emailed to me as .wav files, which I can save if I wish. This is useful when someone leaves a message while we are in Spain with my laptop.

5) To read or send text messages I have to access the router on line via its IP address, using the password on its nameplate.

[Hotrodder]

Thanks for that. I have come to the same solution after doing further research. There are many units like you describe on the market. Great to hear your detailed analysis of how it works in practice.

[Wilbro]

Why are there comments suggesting fibre is more expensive? When we changed to fibre with Orange the monthly charge stayed exactly the same and that was 4 or 5 years ago.

[curtis]

I said. Is this necessary just to buy stamps and she just nodded

The problem with asking closed questions is that you don't get much useful information.
I would have loved to have had that conversation.