Three Data Sim Cards.

[tem]

Just thought that I would go back in time.
The first Three 12 GB PAYG Data SIM card that I bought, cost £76.
You could only buy them direct from Three.

Now they are available from various suppliers and the latest one that I have, is the 24 GB PAYG Data SIM card from Amazon, for around £43.80.

I have always found Three to be very good and excellent for roaming, never had any problems when traveling around Europe, except for the odd blind spot, which one gets with their mobile phone, as well.

tem.

[anotherv60]

Originally Posted by tem

Just thought that I would go back in time.
The first Three 12 GB PAYG Data SIM card that I bought, cost £76.
You could only buy them direct from Three.

Now they are available from various suppliers and the latest one that I have, is the 24 GB PAYG Data SIM card from Amazon, for around £43.80.

I have always found Three to be very good and excellent for roaming, never had any problems when traveling around Europe, except for the odd blind spot, which one gets with their mobile phone, as well.

tem.

Totally agree they are fab - the 24GB card was on sale on amazon prime day last monday for £24!

[tem]

Originally Posted by anotherv60

Totally agree they are fab - the 24GB card was on sale on amazon prime day last monday for £24!

Yes, I noticed that, but I had already bought the 24GB card.
Still happy, with what I got.

tem.

[xsaab]

Surely it is worth looking for a phone SIM with 10GB data allowance plus huge number of calls plus unlimited tests for about £10 per month and use it in a phone and then use the phone's hotspot to connect to the car.

[Quacker]

Originally Posted by xsaab

Surely it is worth looking for a phone SIM with 10GB data allowance plus huge number of calls plus unlimited tests for about £10 per month and use it in a phone and then use the phone's hotspot to connect to the car.

Fine for a single driver car as far as I know. IF you can get plenty of monthly data for such a low cost. Personally I have a 2gig limit on my £8+VAT business phone SIM contract and £2/month for the car SIM on top isn't over the top. Indeed I find it handy at times when my BT/Orange phone's signal fails, that the 3 SIM tends to have a signal. So it is a back-up that I sometimes need.

[JC888]

Interesting observation today whilst waiting for my new 3 data sim to arrive.

I've connected to my phone's personal hotspot which is on the same O2 network as the outgoing data sim on the Volvo.

Same commute and on Spotify I've noticed zero buffering and the apps seems to load a bit faster. Perhaps it's a fluke but considering the signal on my mobile is not 100% during the whole commute I'm surprised that the performance is better compared to the built in modem which normally receives full signal.

[tem]

I think with the current weather conditions, high temperatures, high humidity and numerous thunder storms, one can expect anomalies with mobile signals, some exceptional and some very poor.

tem.

[Lexman8]

Originally Posted by JC888

I've connected to my phone's personal hotspot which is on the same O2 network as the outgoing data sim on the Volvo.

Same commute and on Spotify I've noticed zero buffering and the apps seems to load a bit faster. Perhaps it's a fluke but considering the signal on my mobile is not 100% during the whole commute I'm surprised that the performance is better compared to the built in modem which normally receives full signal.

If your car is a MY17 model then, like mine, it may well be fitted with a 3G modem rather than the 4G ones that were subsequently fitted.

I did try a Three SIM in my car but found it inferior to tethering my 4G phone (on Vodafone) when using Spotify. I always tether now via Bluetooth.

[JC888]

Originally Posted by Lexman8

If your car is a MY17 model then, like mine, it may well be fitted with a 3G modem rather than the 4G ones that were subsequently fitted.

I did try a Three SIM in my car but found it inferior to tethering my 4G phone (on Vodafone) when using Spotify. I always tether now via Bluetooth.

Yes, my car is 17 reg. I didn't realise that it's a 3G modem Is there anyway to retrofit?

I find that tethering internet over bluetooth is capped at about 2-5Mbps.

Personal hotspot works a treat which is what I will probably do once my 3 data sim runs out. Only minor inconvenience is that I have to reset my Personal Hotspot each time to reconnect.

edit: I will probably run a speed test on my phone connected to car WiFi once I get the 3 card and see what speeds I get. Although will be hit and miss as I could be only getting 3G signal where I'm parked.

[Lexman8]

Originally Posted by JC888

Yes, my car is 17 reg. I didn't realise that it's a 3G modem Is there anyway to retrofit?

Unfortunately not. Iirc, 4G modems were fitted from May 2017 so it depends exactly when your car was made.

I find that tethering internet over bluetooth is capped at about 2-5Mbps.

Bluetooth transmission speed is limited but I find that it's enough to stream Spotify at Extreme quality (although I normally have it set to a lower quality). I initially tried tethering with wifi because of its higher speed but found it gave no advantage. Obviously it would be different if several people were trying to share a Bluetooth connection.

Personal hotspot works a treat which is what I will probably do once my 3 data sim runs out. Only minor inconvenience is that I have to reset my Personal Hotspot each time to reconnect.

Bluetooth is easier than wifi tethering (at least on Android) as I can just leave it on and the car and phone auto-connect without me having to do anything.