What to do should broadband drop?

[victor_check]

Hi All,
I'm also a newbie to the forum, and my question is 'kind of related' to the subject of this thread. I'm currently waiting for my broadband and phone service to be transfered to Sky. (BB unlimited & anytime calls). But I was wondering is there is a means of using good old dial up as a backup for times when the DSL service is down. Not that I would expect to need it that often, but still we all know that things do break down from time to time, and given my recent experience with my current provider, the DSL service has been down more ofter than up in the past couple of months. And given that most call packages provided by ISP's have very high charges for 0845 & 0844 No's, is there a more affordable alternative. Oh and by the way mobile BB is not an option where I live, we're very lucky to have enough signal to receive / send text messages here!

Thanks in advance.

S.B. (victor_check)

[Scubbie]

Personally I would look at using 3G (and perhaps 4G when it becomes available) as a backup.

Many Smart Phones can be used to 'Tether' your WiFi computer by sharing it's 3G connection over the WiFi. Alternatively consider getting a PAYG Dongle.

I appreciate that some parts of the UK have less of a service that others, so reception will vary. Often when there is an exchange problem both broadband and telephone services are affected. When this is the case, even a 56K modem wouldn't work.

An advantage of having a 3G dongle or phone that can be tethered to is that you could take you Internet with you around the UK.

[williammorris]

Good advice scubbie.

My iPhone 4s does up to 14.4 and I'm on 3 so it's a backup for the sky connection. I will be leaving virgin in the next week or so due to unforeseen circumstances

We only get about 5mbps here but at my parents place they get much higher. There's a lot to be said about cell sites in the country compared to major city's we don't seem to get such service here because we can get cable and Lou but there they can get llu too but the cell sites been there years


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[victor_check]

Thanks for the replies people, I'm hoping that the breaks in the service will be few and far between! Not sure yet what way to get round this if does. I'll not be holding my breath for 3G data or 4G? out here in the sticks. Hopefuly the cell coverage wil be improve soon. Sky have told me I should be getting at least 3.0Mb. My best speed test a month or so ago was just a tad under 1.0Mb. Virgin sent an email a few weeks ago saying they would doing upgrade work in my area around the 3rd/4th April and I would see a marked improvment in speed. Well it was just the oppisite! My upload speed nearly doubled, but download speed dropped to just over 200 Kb. Of course by that time my service transfer request had got through, and I'm not saying that this had a bearing on things, but there are those sceptics among us who may well interpret it that way.

[Scubbie]

If you have a smart phone, you may be able to see how string the various providers are where you live. Take a look also at any on-line maps for their 3G coverage.

There would be a few to go through, but you may be lucky and be able to receive a sensible 3G signal from someone. I do realise that not the whole of the UK can get a 3G signal, let alone a good one.