FWIW, I have recently sent the following open letter to all UK mobile
suppliers except Three (because they already have a suitable plan
available). If this or similar is an issue for others here, as it might
well be, feel free to adapt the text of the following as a basis for
your own complaint - remember to copy Ofcom and your local national
and regional representatives:

Copy: Ofcom Mobile SIM Plans - Data 4 November, 2019

Dear Sir/Madam,

Although unelected, I represent particularly some 65 households [snip]
in Sutherland, Scotland. However more generally, I know that the
problem I am addressing is of vital concern to rural households
throughout the entire UK.

Our problem is that, although houses nearest to the exchange at last can
get FTTC, for the rest land-line broadband service is terrible with no
prospect of improvement. The farthest households out are 12kms from the
exchange and can not get ADSL at all, while those too far out for FTTC
but able to get ADSL, get maximum speeds of only around 1.5-2 Mbps.
Further, despite many complaints, the infrastructure suffers from
terminal neglect - major joins in the cables, where ditch clearance or
verge trimming have cut them, remain on the surface without ever being
re-buried, leaving them vulnerable to water penetration and further
physical damage. Thus the service is not just slow but also unreliable.

However, 4G has arrived recently, and, although coverage is patchy,
many, including myself, have now dispensed with our land-lines
altogether and only have a mobile service. I now get speeds of around
20Mbps and unlimited usage for less than I was originally paying for my
land-line broadband! However, although I personally am on a very good
deal from my supplier because I chanced upon it during the month it was
being offered, looking over the plans available from mobile operators
generally, they do not encourage rural householders to change to a
mobile-only service. In particular, few offer realistic charges for the
usage that a land-line would normally provide. I believe monthly
broadband usage in the UK is currently around 190GB/month, and most
mobile data deals that would allow that sort of usage, let alone
unlimited, are prohibitively expensive.

Another problem is the lack of mobile/4G routers available. Mine is a BT
Home Hub 5a, which I have hacked with an OpenWRT build, with a 4G mobile
dongle in the USB socket, but obviously this is an option only for the
technically knowledgeable, not for the average householder!

On behalf all UK rural users generally and Shinness households
particularly, I write to request that yourselves, as a mobile supplier
in the UK, provide a mobile data SIM plan that will:
• Allow at least 200GB but preferably unlimited usage;
• Cost not more than around £25pm;
• Not be a one-off offer which disappears from your website after a
short period of time;
• Not be price-hiked on expiration of contract, forcing the
customer to renegotiate annually;
• Only be subject to yearly increases by the rate of inflation;
• Optionally supply a suitable router at extra cost, with a choice
either to pay for it either fully up front or else spread over the first
year of contract, the latter automatically reverting to a SIM-only
contract once the router has been paid for.

This is pretty much the deal that I have from my current supplier, and I
see no reason why something similar shouldn't be more generally
available on a permanent basis across all mobile suppliers.

Yours faithfully,

[snipped]

Java Jive wrote:
FWIW, I have recently sent the following open letter to all UK mobile
suppliers except Three (because they already have a suitable plan
available).Â* If this or similar is an issue for others here, as it might
well be, feel free to adapt the text of the following as a basis for
your own complaintÂ* -Â* remember to copy Ofcom and your local national
and regional representatives:

[snip]

Have you tried https://www.quickline.co.uk/

As to routers - there are any number of quality Ethernet routers.

What is actually required is an Ethernet dongle to take a SIM card.
Ideally it should be waterproof and operated by PoE - that way you could
put it atop a 100 foot pole and connect it to the router with outdoor
grade Ethernet cable. But seriously, many 3G and 4G connections in
rural areas only work from inconvenient locations, such as upstairs
bedroom windows. And while USB dongles are available, they cleary don't
meet the distance requirement.


--
Graham J

On 07/11/2019 14:25, Graham J wrote:
Java Jive wrote:
FWIW, I have recently sent the following open letter to all UK mobile
suppliers except Three (because they already have a suitable plan
available).Â* If this or similar is an issue for others here, as it
might well be, feel free to adapt the text of the following as a basis
for your own complaintÂ* -Â* remember to copy Ofcom and your local
national and regional representatives:

[snip]

Have you tried https://www.quickline.co.uk/

Entered my postcode and got "There are no fixed wireless options
currently at your address."

That's that, then.

--
Ria in Aberdeen

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On 07/11/2019 15:41, MissRiaElaine wrote:
On 07/11/2019 14:25, Graham J wrote:
Java Jive wrote:
FWIW, I have recently sent the following open letter to all UK mobile
suppliers except Three (because they already have a suitable plan
available).Â* If this or similar is an issue for others here, as it
might well be, feel free to adapt the text of the following as a
basis for your own complaintÂ* -Â* remember to copy Ofcom and your
local national and regional representatives:

[snip]

Have you tried https://www.quickline.co.uk/

Entered my postcode and got "There are no fixed wireless options
currently at your address."

That's that, then.

Not necessarily.
It doesn't show all of the ones available at my address.

Try Google "superfast <county" as search terms and cross your fingers.


--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 07/11/2019 11:52, Java Jive wrote:
Another problem is the lack of mobile/4G routers available.

I don't understand this comment. There is a long history of such 3G
routers at reasonable cost and manufacturers such as TP-Link have an
excellent range of 4G consumer routers, either using a USB dongle or
with an embedded SIM slot.

On behalf all UK rural users generally and Shinness households
particularly, I write to request that yourselves, as a mobile supplier
in the UK, provide a mobile data SIM plan that will:
• Allow at least 200GB but preferably unlimited usage;
• Cost not more than around £25pm;
• Not be a one-off offer which disappears from your website after a
short period of time;
• Not be price-hiked on expiration of contract, forcing the
customer to renegotiate annually;
• Only be subject to yearly increases by the rate of inflation;
• Optionally supply a suitable router at extra cost, with a choice
either to pay for it either fully up front or else spread over the first
year of contract, the latter automatically reverting to a SIM-only
contract once the router has been paid for.

This is pretty much the deal that I have from my current supplier, and I
see no reason why something similar shouldn't be more generally
available on a permanent basis across all mobile suppliers.

Yours faithfully,

[snipped]

What’s wrong with Vodafone’s unlimited plans? £23/month speed capped at
2Mbit/second, £26/month capped at 10Mbit/sec, £30/month no speed capping.
You can get a “Gigacube� from them, which is a consumer friendly router,
though admittedly it is a bit expensive. It’s a rebadged Chinese product,
so doubtless you can get it elsewhere. Contract dearer then Three, but not
unreasonable if you can get Vodafone but not Three.

Java Jive wrote:

I see no reason why something similar shouldn't be more generally
available on a permanent basis across all mobile suppliers.

Plenty of unlimited data SIMs available, some meet or beat your price
requirement, others don't, that's competition for you ...

<https://www.4g.co.uk/news/unlimited-data

On 07/11/2019 17:33, MikeS wrote:

On 07/11/2019 11:52, Java Jive wrote:

Another problem is the lack of mobile/4G routers available.

I don't understand this comment. There is a long history of such 3G
routers at reasonable cost

3G is not much help around here, and certainly not future-proof.

and manufacturers such as TP-Link have an
excellent range of 4G consumer routers, either using a USB dongle or
with an embedded SIM slot.

That may be true, I've not tried TP-Link specifically, but I have tried
a DrayTek Vigor, which was not easy to set up, and the results were
rather unstable, requiring frequent power cycling of the router to get
the USB stick working again. Moreover, I was thinking more of the
mobile operators providing something, rebadged if necessary, already set
up so all the householder has to do is connect it up and go, as is
already much the case with landline routers supplied by ISPs. If you
read the rest of that section, I hacked a BT Home Hub 5a to get
something suitable, because I was dissatisfied for one reason or another
with the commercial offerings then available, but that meant going way
beyond what a normal householder should be expected to do.

Java Jive wrote:

I was thinking more of the mobile operators providing something,
rebadged if necessary

Most will sell you a MiFi router, some of which (e.g Huawei E5885)
include an ethernet port.

On 07/11/2019 18:10, Tweed wrote:

What’s wrong with Vodafone’s unlimited plans? £23/month speed capped at
2Mbit/second, £26/month capped at 10Mbit/sec, £30/month no speed capping.
You can get a “Gigacube� from them, which is a consumer friendly router,
though admittedly it is a bit expensive. *It’s a rebadged Chinese product*,

Good enough reason not to get it for me.



--
Ria in Aberdeen

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