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Reglo Mobile Sim in 4G router?


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Hi all

I've just purchased a Reglo Mobile Sim card from E Leclerc supermarket with 15GB of data allowance. These sim cards use the SFR network.

At the moment I've got it in an old smart phone and using it as a hot spot, providing internet connections to my tablet and other smart phones.

My question is...has anybody tried using these sim cards in a 3G/4G Wifi Router?

If so, did it work?

Thanks, Dave.

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I did a quick google but could not find anyone doing that .. if usage in a router is permitted then it is usually written somewhere in the conditions - though ploughing through possibly acres of French gobbledygook would not be my favourite use of my time.

Mostly people who use 4G routers seem to go for one of the RED offers .. https://www.red-by-sfr.fr/forfaits-mobiles/?
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Hi suein56 and thanks for your reply.

I wanted to sign up for one of the 'Red By SFR' offers but couldn't complete the purchase.

I have a French bank account, so could fill in my IBAN and BIC for the monthly payment, but I don't have a French debit/credit card couldn't make the one off payment for the sim card.

It wouldn't accept my UK credit card.

Does anyone know a way around this? Apart from paying to have a French credit card!

Thanks, Dave.

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Friends had a similar problem when signing up with Sosh for Internet etc for their holiday home and, upon chatting with Sosh to find an answer, the solution was for me to use my French bank card to make the one-off payment for the SIM for my friends. They then repaid me the 5€ cost in cash.

According to Sosh it didn't matter who paid for the SIM as long as the bank details for the d.d. were legal and above board.

Perhaps the same is true of Red. So do you have a friend with a French bank card ?
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Great! It worked. [:D]

Just signed up for 'Red by SFR' sim card.

100GB data  / unlimited calls / unlimited sms @ 20€ per month without contract.

So I used my bank details to enable them to take the 20€ per month and used my friend's French credit card to pay the 10€ fee for the SIM card.

Many thanks, Dave.

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Just an update if anyone's interested...

Received my 100GB per month 20€ sim card and bought a Huawei 4G router (B315s-22).

I have a weak 4G signal but I'm getting a stable connection of 8Mbps, so I'm very happy.

I've just ordered an external antenna, which I'll mount on the outside of the house, so this will hopefully improve the 4G connection and provide a higher speed.

Can highly recommend the Huawei B315s-22 it's a great bit of kit. I bought mine on eBay for only £45 plus postage.

All the best, Dave.

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My friend has a ADSL broadband package with Orange Livebox.

He's currently paying almost 40€ per month but is only getting a speed of 1.7Mbps.

When he saw my 4G system running he immediately decided to terminate his contract and buy the same!

I've repositioned my 4G router and with only using the internal antenna I'm able to get a stable speed of 11Mbps.

My outdoor directional panel antenna should arrive next week, so I'm looking forward to trying that.

All the best, Dave.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Another update for anyone interested...

My outdoor antenna arrived and I've attached it to the outside of my house.

Using the router's internal antenna's I was getting a strong 3G signal and a weak 4G signal.

Now using the external antenna I'm getting a good 4G signal and my connection speed has increased.

Stable 20 Mbps with a ping of 40 ms. [:D]

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Dave in the Aude wrote : Now using the external antenna I'm getting a good 4G signal and my connection speed has increased.

Stable 20 Mbps with a ping of 40 ms. Big Smile [:D]

Good for you. I am sure that this type of access will continue to catch on in those areas with very poor adsl coverage.
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Yes,  this time last year I was blazing a bit of a pioneering trail on here with 4G routers.   A year later I absolutely bless the day we went down this route,  and we haven't regretted getting rid of the landline (500 kbps max) for a second.   Just as well as the tempete that hit Perigord ten days ago has left it lying on the ground along our access road.  

The SFR 4G offer (€20/100GB) is outstanding,  and we also have the Sosh one (€25/50GB) as the latter's coverage is slightly better.   We've had one major breakdown on each service in a year,   the last is ongoing on Orange/SOSH following the hurricane,  and from that point of view having two Huawei 315s and two forfaits has been useful,  and still paying no more than we did for the landline/ADSL combo which didn't include any free calls.   The breakdowns have been less serious overall than the ones that afflicted the landline.

Don't forget with the Huawei (and forgive me if you're doing this already) that with an RJ11 cable you can connect an ordinary phone and use the combo for internet AND telephoning.  So we effectively have two independent internet services AND two telephone lines,  all via 4G.

Brilliant!    Just wish the deals in Britain were as competitive.

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[quote user="suein56"]Before if you left SFR then there was a cancellation fee even in a non-contract situation.

Hopefully that is no longer the case.[/quote]

You had me worried then!

I just double checked with Red By SFR and they confirmed...

All our packages are without commitment and without conditions of duration.
If you want to cancel the line you do not have a cancellation fee.

Remember this is Red By SFR (online offers only) not SFR.

Regards, Dave.

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[quote user="BritinBretagne"]What do you mean by ordinary phone?[/quote]

Sorry - should have been clearer.   The Huawei mentioned has an RJ11 jack on the back,  into which you can plug a conventional phone - eg basic,  DECT,  whatever,  the same sort of phone that you would plug into a landline jack,  just it needs an RJ11.   That done,  you can use the plugged in phone/DECT to make calls via the router that are actually made via the SIM phone/data card,  so to the other end it looks as though you're calling from a mobile.   In the case of these good-value French offers it means that the calls are almost always free (apart from foreign mobiles) anywhere in Europe.

Sorry if this is obvious,   but for those like us (particularly SWMBO) who like the familiarity and ease-of-location of an "ordinary" phone,  we now have the best of all worlds.   SWMBO is largely unaware that when the phones in the house ring they're using the SIM card,   and she can dial out in similar manner.   Because the SIM card is in a router rather than in a moving-about-all-over-the-place-mobile,   the quality of the calls is superb,  no digital artefacts.   And for those of us who aren't really used to mobiles anyway,  there's no hunting around for the tiny wretched thing, which could be anywhere in the house....

I gather that for old people in homes this is an increasingly used solution.  Buy a simple SIM card,  a Huawei or similar,  and an "old fashioned" phone,   and to the old person the net result is the familiar feel of a landline,  but one that can be moved (say in the case of a weekend away,  change of room,  change of home) with absolutely no need for a physical landline.

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@Martin 963   Yes the Huawei router is a great bit of kit and yes it's great you can also connect a standard analogue telephone via the RJ11 socket.

I haven't got round to buying a phone for it yet, although I've seen them for sale for about 10€ in the supermarkets.

Do you also use an outdoor/external antenna?

Cheers, Dave.

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In the case of Sosh/Orange the signal here is pretty good and extra aerials don't help.  However for SFR the HRP (Horizontal Radiation Pattern) of our local (7 kms away) transmitter is severely restricted in our direction,  and as a result the signal is very weak.   I spent many hours trying aerials on extensions and various positions,  at the house I was getting 6 - 10 Mbps,  but at a favourable spot 150 yds away on higher ground the box managed 74 Mbps!   However,  position on the ground seemed to be 90% of the battle,  even climbing a tree didn't make any difference to the speed.

I've installed similar systems at eleven houses round and about,  and at one I DID find that putting the aerials on extensions did improve things significantly.   But I've only tried the basic aerials that you can order to screw direct on the box,   I haven't tried any sort of panel aerial,  is that what you've got?  

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If you want you could even have a 'fixed' phone number using voip via ovhtelecom
for € 1,19 /month including free calls to 40 countries and free portability of your old landline.
 
It offers a cheap solution for those who want to preserve their landline phone number. Voip is supported by the 315S, but you can also use a voip app on your smartphone. That way you can kick Orange out, switch to 4G and still keep the 'landline' alive.

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[quote user="Martin963"]
I haven't tried any sort of panel aerial,  is that what you've got?  

[/quote]

Yes I'm using a directional panel antenna, made in UK but purchased from eBay Germany for 20€ + postage.

Mine came with 5m long twin cables with SMA connectors that fit directly on the Huawei router.

My nearest antenna is 5km away over a large hill, but I'm able to get 20 Mbps with 40ms ping.

This antenna might not suit everyone but it works great for me.

See it here..
http://www.panorama-antennas.com/site/index.php?route=product/product&path=25_75&product_id=52

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Thanks for the info on that aerial.  It might not be suitable for us as I'm fairly certain we're using the 800 MHz band for 4G here,   which that aerial (in theory) doesn't cover.   But then at your distance and with a hill in the way I'd be expecting you to be using 800 MHz too,  so maybe it provides some gain there as well,  whatever the spec says.  

Useful to have the information for future reference in any case,  and at that price it's certainly worth a punt.   Thanks!

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Post the image to somthing like Photobucket then post the link
[URL=http://s253.photobucket.com/user/bfb_album/media/26239603_834141210092745_1118068888669488899_n_zps0gjtj8wj.jpg.html][IMG]http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/bfb_album/26239603_834141210092745_1118068888669488899_n_zps0gjtj8wj.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

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