peter21 Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Hi All I'm thinking of buying the 3G Huawei E5332 MiFi & EuropaSIM...about £90...from motorhome wifi. Any comments on this piece of kit? We're heading off to France and Germany in a few weeks. I'm interested in download speeds, and whether its worth shelling out another hundred quid for the external 3G aerial? Thanks Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickt Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Been thinking on same lines. On EBAY Huawei e5332 3g plus antenna TS9 for £59.95, you will just need sim card Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Unless you are going to to use a router with an external aerial why not just use your phone. change the SIM turn on "Access Point" and it will work as a wif router. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickydicky Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Hi,I've just bought one in benidorm, unlocked with an orange sim. Really pleased with it,very quick (especially compared to the site Internet ) even worked for a while in France with the Spanish sim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter21 Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 Thanks all Dicky....so you are getting good results without an external aerial? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 I bought a similar 3G gadget from SFR in France last year and it worked extremely well without any external aerial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Just added on another thread but aren't european roaming charges to be abolished from this July? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whisturx Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Using mine now in the Limousin. Faster than my broadband at home. No external aerial but you do need a 3G signal on your phone !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Yes, a decent 3G signal is essential. But with the Europasim it can be anybody's 3G, except "3" - presumably they block it because they don't like people unlocking their gadgets! Got my E585 as a locked "3" one a couple of Christmases ago - worked fine in the UK, VERY fast, but horrendously expensive abroad - it could never find the "recommended" French provider's signal! So I recently bought a Europasim from Motorhome Wifi and with their help unlocked the gadget and got it up and running. Not been abroad with it yet, but tried it out at home & works fine. We couldn't use it on the campsite in north Norfolk last weekend because the only 3G signal near our pitch was - guess who? - "3"! Tried allowing it to use 2G, Vodafone had quite a good 2G signal) but it couldn't do anything with it. So if we go there again I'll make sure I have the "3" sim card with me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capcloser Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Have got that model they are about £40 on amazon,reception in the uk is very good dont know about abroad.Mine is unlocked so you can just go for whatever data sim deal suits you,at the moment have a 1gb card from 3 but it also worked with the voda sim in this tablet which is £7.50 a month for 1gb so when the 3 sim expires will swap it back >:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addie Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 JudgeMental - 2014-04-01 9:41 AM Just added on another thread but aren't european roaming charges to be abolished from this July? Unfortunately roaming charges won't be abolished from this July. Data roaming charges have been coming down in July each year for the last 5 years and so in that respect we know exactly what the outcome will be. From 1st July 2014 for data the price will reduce from 45c to 20c. The price in euros excludes VAT, so that makes for almost the same price in pence (it was 45c/45p last July). See here for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_roaming_regulations#Prices Therefore if you consider the EuropaSIM gives you 500Mb of data per day for a €3 (£2.50) which works out at 0.005p per Mb and the equivalent use at the new 'lower' rate would be £100. So while this is all progress (it will be £125 cheaper to use 500Mb from July 2014!) you can see that that we're still a way off yet. The proposal is to remove all roaming charges by December 2015: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/24/us-eu-telecoms-roaming-idUSBREA1N0SZ20140224 Hope that helps. Adam http://www.motorhomewifi.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocro Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Most of the better smart phones ie Galaxy models, allow you to share their internet connection over a number of devices obviating the need to buy a MiFi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave29 Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 If you are going to France consider joemobile.com. It's a switch on switch off wifi and mobile service operated by SFR and for 20€ you get 3Gb data, free phone calls to all eec countries and texts for a month. You need an unlocked phone or wifi device and a sim card . The cards are free with 5€ credit if you log on to joemobile and go to "Foreigner requiring sim card.". Someone will send you one within a couple of days. The card can be topped up with a UK credit card. All you need is a French address to register the SIM. (A hotel or friends address will do). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickydicky Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Peter, no external devices.just my MI FI router.it worked all the way from spain into France whilst we were driving along.excellant reception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suda Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Been using one for last 12 months from Uk to Greece and Spain to Morocco and in the USA.Just change the sim between continents. Brilliant . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter21 Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Thanks to all for input. I've ordered the Huawei unit and europasim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I have had an E585 for some years and use it successfully with a French Orange SIM (unlocked). I also have an E5776 which is 4G ready which Is also unlocked - bought from EE on a special deal end of last year and I use this with 3 in the UK. This does seem to be an improvement in speed etc. My phone, Samsung Galaxy II, is on O2 but my tariff does not allow tethering but no doubt I could change the SIM and use it in that way. Re removal of roaming charges - EU MPs have today voted overwhelmingly to abolish them in EU countries from 15 December 2015 but each country has to validate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sambukashot Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 You might also need the apn/usernames/passwords for unlocked mifi/dongles whilst in France.Here are the most popular codes used in France: http://www.camperstops.co.uk/index.php/en/home-page/motorhome-articles/motorhome-wifiScroll to the bottom of the page :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickydicky Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Suda, or anyone that can help please. I've got an unlocked orange mi fi which I bought in spain with an orange sim. We are going to France/ Germany in the summer and I will be getting the appropriate sim when I arrive. My question is this, is it just a matter of buying a suitable sim and inserting in the mi fi or is there more to it ie: change details etc as it was bought in spain. Or better still, is there a sim that can be bought here that works anywhere in Europe.All this technology is a bit too much for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Hi tricky The Europa SIM mentioned above can be used all over Europe and can be put in your unlocked Mifi device. You will have to send details of your ID to the company by email before you can activate it and you will need to set up the SIM on your MIFI to give it the correct APN. - Quite an easy task. Once done you have 500 Mb a day with a max of 10 Gb per month. We are using the SIM which we got from Motorhome Wifi - http://www.motorhomewifi.com/ . They are out of stock at present (per their web site) but you can get it direct from - http://www.europasim.com/sim-en . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 I suppose it will be useful, however, about €90 a month appears a bit steep. Are there alternatives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickydicky Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Thanks for the info Frankie. I did forget to mention though I don't have a smart phone just an I pad.does that change things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Hi Tricky. I believe the I pad uses a micro SIM so you would need to ask for that or cut it down yourself to fit. (There are cutters available AFAIK). You could always buy a MIFI unit then it could be used for the I Pad and any other computer equipment you have. It is expensive if you have the unit on every day but for the occasional user it is good value for money when compared to either roaming charges or having to get a different SIM for each country and paying for data you don't use. We turn ours on every few days when we don't have free wifi and use the half gig of data to make "free" 'phone calls back to the UK using BT Smart Talk and any downloading we want to do and surfing on OandALive :-D As an example - today we have been on the 'phone back to the UK for 2 hours (free) and had a Skype video conversation for an hour and I have downloaded some maps to our smart 'phone and still have some data allowance left to write this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Viv Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Hi This is our fist reply on a forum so if we offend or break any rules please accept apologies in advance. We recently bought the 4G version off Motorhome Wifi for about £160. We have just got back from France and Spain and it worked very well. We struggled with the initial setting up but a phone call to Motorhome Wifi quickly got us on track. Our internet speed at home is 16mb and at work its only 4-6mb. Whilst we didn't carry out a speed test on our new wifi while we were away my feeling was that it was better than 4-6mb but not quite as fast as 16mb. We used it for access to business using Google Drive, ACSI website for site searches, emails, plus all the normal internet surfing but not for watching films etc. Its real asset is that we had the ability to have 2 iphones, an ipad plus a laptop connected at the same time if required. Looking at the prices charged for campsite wifi we are convinced that for us this was a good buy. Neither of us are technically minded so if you ask any complicated questions you may be disappointed with the answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter21 Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 dave29 - 2014-04-01 9:01 PM If you are going to France consider joemobile.com. It's a switch on switch off wifi and mobile service operated by SFR and for 20€ you get 3Gb data, free phone calls to all eec countries and texts for a month. You need an unlocked phone or wifi device and a sim card . The cards are free with 5€ credit if you log on to joemobile and go to "Foreigner requiring sim card.". Someone will send you one within a couple of days. The card can be topped up with a UK credit card. All you need is a French address to register the SIM. (A hotel or friends address will do). Dave joemobile sounds like a good option for the phone and to top up the days the europasim can't do (you only have 20 days a month as I understand it); we have a friend with a French address. Does anyone one know if you can walk in to a SFR shop in France and buy one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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