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Re: Mobile communications - 4G, WiFi

ngtnewington Newington
 

I have found in the Med, Canary Islands and the Azores that 4G works very well and fast. My UK phone package makes it very inexpensive within the EU. So the phone can be used as a hotspot. 

Whilst in Turkey, the EU deal is not available so I use a MIFI device.  I buy a local data only sim card. This too is very inexpensive and offers fast broadband. I have also used this MIFI device with locally purchased sim cards, in the West Indies but I found that the 4G was very slow and that each country has a different provider (2017-18). So whilst sailing up or down the chain of islands one moves pretty quickly from country to country. Of course the French islands benefit from the EU deal.

In conclusion I agree with Woody, that I can not be bothered with running more hardware on the boat, but I guess it depends where you cruise. There may also be a security argument against piggy backing off local public wifi spots, such as bars and restaurants, even marinas. 

As a UK resident I hope that we continue to benefit from the EU negotiated mobile phone deals post BREXIT! I guess it is up to the network providers.

Nick

Amelia AML 54-019
Kilada Greece.


On 28 Jan 2020, at 08:08, Alan Woody Wood <woody@...> wrote:

It’s definitely worth trying first before shelling out loads of money and running wires everywhere. Things are only getting better and cheaper with mobile networks too. We anchor 90% of the time during summer and most of that time we get 4G.. occasionally 3G. Coastal sailing too is never usually a problem.. sometimes we even get coverage 20km out! The thing is to find a sim plan that covers all of Europe and costs less than €1 per Gig. Some ‘unlimited’ plans have caps on ‘roaming’ outside your native country.. so check the small print. Our plan is UK address only but i’m sure there must be others out there. 

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