[Fultonius]

We are moving into a new flat on Tuesday, unfortunately the internet is going to take 2 weeks to set up 

The lass will have a few online lectures that she needs internet for and my router has a an option to connect a USB Mobile Internet (3g, maybe 4g?) Modem.

These seem to be coming in at around £18 for a HSUPA 3.75g one or nearly £60 for a 4g D-Link one.

Has anyone used such a thing?  Are we going to be annoyed if it turns out to be really fast and our monthly phone/internet package is superfluous?  I think the 4g signal is ok at our new place, but I can't find out until we move in.

Finally, as far as I can work out from a quick bit of research, we could use this with her tablet when she's on the train (after our proper internet is hooked up) anyone done this?

[Fultonius]

Hmm, scratch that plan - the model of router I own isn't the one with the 3g USB option, dammit!

Still, we could at least plug a dingle straight into one of the laptops.

[Mike Tyson]

Which one, Zak? 

[SA Chris]

See if any of the neighbours would mind you using their wifi for a couple of weeks, in exchange for a bottle of wine or two?

[Mike Tyson]

On a serious note, is it her tablet/laptop she is wanting connected? If so, and if your mobile is 4g enabled, you could tether it maybe? Mate I work with has his tablet linked to his mobile, and it works reasonably well even in Cumbria (aka the Bermuda Triangle of mobile signal)

[Mike Tyson]

The other option could be BT free WiFi that you seem to be able to find anywhere, if you knew someone, parent friend etc, who was a BT customer you could bottom their login details.

[Mike Tyson]

Bottom? Borrow!

[Lund]

Speed-wise, average broadband download speed is 10.7 Mbps, although you might get less or more than that in the end.

Against that, EE claim their 4G speed is 12-15Mbps or double that in their "double speed" coverage.

Upload speeds obviously differ from this, not been arsed to look up the current figures.

Depending on your deal and stuff, and factoring in line rental... it might be more economical and better to stick with 4G.  You've already paid up for the broadband though?

My advice would be to tether to your phone if you can, and after that... it depends if there's a cafe nearby.

[tomtom]

Tether from your phone... If you can't get a PAYG mifi from 3 or otherwise that has a chunk of data pre-paid...

[Fultonius]

Tethering is a possibility, but it means I need to leave my phone at home whenever she needs it (she doesn't have a smartphone, luddite that she is.)

Borrowing could be a good call.

[SA Chris]

OT, but did you sell the old flat?

[Fultonius]

Nope,  still rented out.

Sent from my XT1039 using Tapatalk

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

If it's only 2 weeks doesn't sound like it's worth spending a lot.

Cheapest options are use someone elses wi-fi, use wi-fi analyser to see what's available. You could do this from outside if necessary but try not too look too dodgy.  Chat up a neighbour to see if they'll let you login for a bottle of wine etc. If they are tech savy at all they should know most modern modems allow guest access accounts just allowing access to internet and nothing else, if they aren't tech savvy they will be paranoid about security and are unliekly to allow a stranger to connect. 
If no joy any unsecured ones that say 'BT with Fon' you can login with a BT username/password, beg/borrow/steal from family etc. If not you can buy a few days pass or a months pass. Expensive but might be the easy solution. https://www.btfonpurchases.com/en_GB/products

If you think it might be more useful for longer term as suggested a Mi-Fi type device may be handy. Three are probably the cheapest if you have coverage in your flat. Check with the new Ofcom checker...
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/mobile-coverage
If it's Wi-Fi only you need this will do, 3G or 4G versions available. £40 for the 3G version with a month with 2Gb of data on PAYG.

Other options, dig out or borrow an old handset and tether to it with a PAYG SIM. Also check if her existing handset tethers data with a USB cable or bluetooth. My Nokia from about 10 years ago would.
The 4G static routers are only £25 eg. TP-Link but more once you've got a dongle for it, good solutions for sharing 3G/4G over static networks/desktops etc where broadband isn't available but overkill for a temporary stopgap.

[Fultonius]

Cheers all.

For now we're in luck, the owners (now landlords) left in a big rush and have not switched off their internet, so we're just using that until it gets switched over.

Not sure why it takes 14 days to switch from Plusnet to ... Plusnet but for now it's all good.

4G signal is quite good, but e stream a lot so would probably gobble to much bandwidth to be cost effective (and we've signed up for the year now anyways).