Is it possible to completely remove the need for a home internet connection by using mobile tethering? Ideally for couples and singles. Families with kids.
A 50 mbps NBN or Opticomm plan usually cost $69 these days.
A particular plan I liked was the one by Felix Mobile. Its $35 per month for unlimited mobile data capped at 20 mbps.
Your phone will get very hot with multiple people connected to it
And your non-user replaceable lithium battery in your expensive flagship phone will die faster because of the extra heat and discharge cycles
Many people are unaware that they are better off using mobile internet access these days if they are low to medium users.
I have been on 4G/5G mobile hotspot for 3 years. No issues here.
yep…love my mobile broadband…no need for NBN unless you want a home phone
no need for NBN unless you want a home phone
(IMO) no need to have a home phone these days. When we had one, the only people who knew the number were our parents. Only people who really called were said parents (who would call our mobile half the time anyway), telemarketers or scammers. So we got rid of it.
Who is your provider..how much is it a month. I have a sister who is disabled and lives in supported accommodation where they dont have nbn, and she is using an expensive dongle. Was wondering if it was worth her getting a cheap smart phone and cheap data an to save money and save running out of data.
I use Telstra 5G now, $69 a month with 400gb. That plan was purchased through JB Hifi.
I stream daily, download, play games on steam (FPS) and have zero issues with latency or download speed. Easily clock 500mbps + on speed test and download on steam at 30-50MB per second.
Depending on how much you think she will use, JB have a $49 / 60GB plan and comes with a $150 voucher over 12 months, or a $69 / 200GB plan which comes with a $700 voucher over 24 months.
The dedicated hotspot is a better option than a phone if you can manage the cost. I have the Telstra 5G MU500 which allows you to connect up to 30 devices and includes Ethernet port and Wifi 6. I’ve tried using an older phone to hotspot and it’s unreliable compared to the 5G Telstra modem. There is also a Nighthawk 5G version but a little more expensive and according to testing not worth the price increase.
Depends entirely upon your needs.
If you think you could get away with using mobile internet, you probably could.
For most people I don't think so, but for low usage users, sure.
Fixed wireless 5g is right around the corner, rendering the NBN obsolete and finally giving Australia the Internet it deserves (at least in built up metro areas).
I'd also check the terms and conditions, usually there is a clause about fair use or something which precludes it from being used as a home internet tethering thing.
precludes it from being used as a home internet
why?
I remembered there was a keffufle about "fair use" for plans that were unlimited and some users who used it for home tethering used over what they determined as fair use and terminated the plan.
Watching a netflix movie on your phone probably exceeds the amount of data you'd use tethering at home for browsing and using email.
Here found an example
https://felixmobile.com.au/plan/data-speed
However the felix plan must not be used to provide tethering to other people's devices (for example the devices of members of your household, colleagues or friends), nor used as a substitute for a home internet service or in a modem.
Like I'm sure people can get away with it, but you can't complain if they decide to terminate your plan.
but you can't complain if they decide to terminate your plan
How would they prove it?
@jv: I honestly don't know so that's why I said people can probably get away with it. I think I have read that people with quite a lot of usage (like more than say the average netflix used or whatnot) have had plans terminated. Just giving a heads up that's all.
@jv: Mobile network would route all traffic through some kind of CGNAT, where it does connection tracking. For example if it needs to keep track of large number of TCP connections from one specific IP address, then it's reasonable to assume that multiple devices are behind that IP, i.e. tethering.
@scotty: At the end of the day, they probably don't need proof to kick you off their network anyway…
Look at what Exetel did a few years back kicking people off their old plans…
That would have been like yonks ago. No such thing these days.
However the felix plan must not be used to provide tethering to other people's devices (for example the devices of members of your household, colleagues or friends), nor used as a substitute for a home internet service or in a modem.
https://felixmobile.com.au/plan/data-speed
Looks like it is still a thing, that's why I said to check. Not all of them but you don't want to be caught out.
The battery….. Won't last long enough for the kids to finish surfing.
You will need to plug the phone into a charger and it will get hot.
I made the switch to LTE about 4 years ago.
I have the sim in a LTE router that plugs in to my existing home network. No issues here
Ideally, you’d want to use a dedicated mobile data hotspot as it’s designed to output WiFi to multiple devices for sustained periods, whilst phones are not.
But if you don’t have a choice (e.g provider doesn’t allow a SIM with call services to be put in one of the devices) then I’d suggest buying a cheaper used phone and using that as a dedicated “router”. As others have said, you will tank your personal phone if you use it so it’s not ideal.
you're poll is not quite right…
Mobile internet is pretty good these days, but tethering a home network is a bad option.
you at least want a dedicated modem.
I’ll elaborate on my needs.
Currently live alone, I use 5G for hotspot and have 180gb per month. I was previously on Telstra Ultimate unlimited 4G plan for internet but realised my average use is about 120-150gb per month so the 180 was fine. I play mostly competitive FPS and have a ping of around 25. It’s not as good as the NBN I had in Sydney which was around 10 but it’s not in anyway unplayable.
Netflix I stream no worries and have never had issues of it cutting out, as well as streaming in 4K.
I don’t have any home networks like google or Amazon etc so I’d take that into account if you plan on using any of that stuff.
A lot of people mention the hassle, I plug my phone into my computer and it instantly connects my hotspot and as for Netflix/TV I just select hotspot on my phone prior to turning the TV on and again it connects immediately.
As for battery life, I’m currently on an iPhone 12 Pro and I will admit, my previous 11 Pro Max got very hot sometimes. The 12 seems noticeably better. It gets warm when connected to my PC but in no way hot to touch or something I would consider detrimental to the phone. When I hotspot to Netflix I don’t have my phone charging. I barely use 5-10% per hour of streaming. It also probably helps that I actually watch the show and don’t sit there playing on my phone over using it but again it doesn’t really get warm at all.
In terms of data cap, when I have a large game update (I’m looking at you Warzone. 70gb update and all they’ve done is change the trees) and I hit my cap, online gaming isn’t viable but it’s can still stream Netflix and YouTube no problem at all.
Hope that helps.
did it for a year using Kogan sims and a 80gb pm optus deal (was a bargain at the time) and an old phone. worked OK but data usage for streaming was an issue. definitely can't do it on high quality streaming, only standard quality.
was good enough for WFH as well.
was slightly painful and when my optus deal expired I switched back to a cheap boost sim and $50pm nbn.
4g can handle high quality streaming.
it will depend on your area…and congestion etc.
Agreed. I stream 4K no problems. But I also live in a capital city with a close tower.
it could handle it, but it churned through the data. if I recall correctly, it was something like 1gig per 30 minutes or something insane. maybe the 65 inch TV didn't help
@CheapskateQueen: Yeah that’s probably on conservative side. I think 1gb per hour for regular HD is more accurate. So I guess 4gb per hour for 4K
In my area, 4g seems to cap out between 10-20MB line speed, so for video calls it can be quite hit and miss. For everything else its fine - SD / HD streaming etc. You may have to put up with variability in speed though.
For people outside the major cities like myself, the speed and reliability of mobile internet, let alone tethering (at least on Boost), is terrible. So no.
I live in the country and have lived in small country towns in Vic and NSW over the last 8 years. In that time I have had amazing Optus mobile broadband service. I stream movies and online TV all the time whilst having 3+ devices connected to my modem and I have no problem. It does depend on the signal where you are though. In many places it is good - even in country towns.
Using your phone as an internet hotspot is fine for small periods, such as when NBN Co decide to do maintainance without telling you and just cut the net off. But for longer term use and multiple users grab a data only plan and a router that can handle mobile traffic.
This will give you a far better experience.
Also you can use Voice Over IP, for normal landline services just fine on 4G and 5G data only plans. Sometimes you can run into voice issues but its better then nothing for a backup.
For business use you can also get a static IP on 4G and 5G data only plans as well.
In terms of 4K video its actually closer to 45GB to 60GB per hour of viewing.
So 4G or 5G wouldn't really work as the data usage would put too much on the network. Better off with decent quality NBN.
Single OK.
Other scenarios, you'll have people in your family/partner annoyed with such a setup