WebUser 01 May 2019

Weekend Project

Subscribe toWeb User atsubscribe.webuser.co.uk 1 - 14 May 2019 59

yourself in a part of thecountry with only
3Gcoverage(or worse),you canexpect
tohearcomplaints fromyour passengers
when videos freezeor pagesfail toload.

Use a dedicated mobile hotspot
If you don’twanttouseyour smartphone
tocreatea hotspot in the car,consider
buying and using a dedicated mobile
hotspot(sometimesreferredtoas MiFi
or MobileWi-Fi).This is essentiallya
small portablerouter that turns a 3G/4G
mobile dataconnection into a wireless
signal.You canconnect multiple devices
tothe network (the numbervaries, but
20 is typical) and because it’s portable,
you can use itathome, in the car, ona
train andatyour destination – just take it
whereveryou wanttogo.
A mobile hotspot provides a more
reliableconnection than whatyou get
from simplytethering a smartphone

contract)for 10GB of data. O2 offers the

Huawei Pocket Hotspot 4G 2017for

£20.38 a month(on a 24 -month

contract)for 15GB per month of data.

If you want aneven betterrouter, O2 also

offers thePocket Hotspot Pro Netgear M1

for £24.84 a month(on a 36-month

contract).You get 15GB of data with

download speeds of uptoone Gigabit-

per-second.

Plans from the different mobile

providers alltendtobe customisable,

so ifyou want a shortercontract or more

data, it’s easily arranged.The price will

change accordingly, ofcourse.

There are also donglesavailable

specificallyfor use in avehicle, which

plug into the 12V power socket.This

meansyou don’t needtoworry about

charging beforeyour journey and can use

it topower your mobile phoneatthe

same time. Although these arerarely

The 4GEEWiFi Mini letsyou connect upto 20 devices

EE no longer sells the Buzzard 2 directly,
but it’s still availableto buy online

The Pocket Hotspot Pro Netgear M1 delivers download

speedsof up to 1Gbps

Connectyour devicesto the GX450

as soon as the ignition is turned on

(especially whenconnecting multiple

devices), aswell as better battery life.

It also has the benefit of freeing upyour

phonefor whatever tasksyou might need

it for, such as taking and making calls.

All the major mobile network providers

offer devices thatyou can either buy

outright, along with a data-only SIM card,

or pick upfor free(or for a small upfront

cost) as part of acontract.You don’t

needtostick with the same provideryou

usefor your phone, sofeel freetoshop

around.

For an idea of the sort of priceyou can

expecttopay, EE’s 4GEEWiFi Mini

(bit.ly/e ewm4 74 ) isavailablefor no

upfrontcost, butyou pay £13 a month

(on a 24 -monthcontract)toget 5GB of

data per month, or £22 a monthfor 15GB

of data. Another option is the Huawei

E55 73 4G MobileWi-FiRouter, which

costs £25 a month(on an 18-month