Post Significantly Edited (and extended) following @steveu’s post below, to clarify where I am talking about the use of a Portable MiFi Router, such as used by @steveu and others, and my own testing with a Mobile Phone Hotspot and a more basic 4G USB Dongle.
Hi Biker / All,
While I personally have had excellent results with iGRID over a prolonged pre-release testing period of well over six months around the South of Scotland and during longer trips to and from the likes of Popham) using a hotspot on my Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus phone, initial ‘comparison’ trials - comparing performance between my Mobile Phone Hotspot and a 20 odd quid ‘Chinese’ 4G USB dongle around identical test routes in South Scotland / Northumberland showed the iGRID coverage using the USB Dongle to be very poor in comparison to those I was getting using my Mobile Phone Hotspot.
That could of course have been due at least in part to different GSM networks (my phone runs on - and is locked to - O2, and the SIM I was using in the (unlocked) USB Dongle was ‘SMARTY’, which uses the ‘Three’ Network). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test comparatively by ‘swapping the networks’, as the SIMs are completely different sizes* and whilst I now have a second O2 SIM which I could try in the USB Dongle, the phone is still locked to O2, so I can’t run the phone on the Three Network SIM.
(* Yes, I know I can buy SIM adapters, but I would also have to get my phone unlocked to allow me to run the SMARTY SIM in it.)
Having said that, I suppose I really should revisit my Mobile Phone / USB Dongle testing to complete the picture in the interests of true and open comparison, but in light of the apparent clear and significant superiority while using my phone to provide the hotspot, I have difficulty in trying to justify the time and additional expense which would be necessary to do so. In truth, I strongly suspect that there is significance in the (presumably) much higher phone company development budget resulting in more reliable GSM coverage and connectivity than that provided by the ‘cheap and cheerful’ USB dongle.
Having carried out the initial tests using my Mobile Phone Hotspot and 4G USB Dongle, I was initially very impressed with the very positive results reported by @steveu, using his Huawei 4G MiFi device.
When I first read Steve’s reports, I was very tempted to buy a Portable MiFi Unit to compare it to my own Mobile Phone and 4G Dongle results over the same route and on the same networks I had been using, but was put off by the fact that the model used by Steve (which came with external GSM antennas**) was no longer available. I was also aware that Derek, (another tester) had already ordered a newer version of Steve’s unit for testing, so decided to await his results - which turned out to be very poor, to the extent that he at one point actually suggested he would be as well to throw his (newly purchased) MiFi Device out of the aircraft window.
(** while antennas external to the device itself give the ability to reduce potential obscuration and should therefore increase potential coverage, there is a strong argument that we should not attempt to deliberately increase coverage when using GSM devices in the air).
Whilst I am happy to accept @Steve’s positive results and am fully aware that @Derek’s negative ones might not be typical of all currently available MiFi Devices (though he did give the device a fair trial and spent a lot of time trying it in different positions - including in various orientations high up on his font screen), we must take a balanced view and IMO therefore, the jury is still out on the performance of currently available Portable MiFi devices as compared to Mobile Phones when used in aircraft, with 4G Dongles (in my experience) coming in a poor third place.
There is, however, obviously a strong case for further testing / feedback by the wider community of all 3 types of device, including all the various makes / models of mobile phones and the full range of available networks across the country. The issue of the siting / location of the device within the aircraft has also been found to be significant and would benefit from further investigation.
Having said all that, my advice for the present - based on the fact that it definitely works, is - try your phone hotspot first, and see how you get on, then if you wan’t to try one or other of the alternative ‘options’ - including ‘in tablet SIMs’ - feel free to do so - and let us know how you get on.
Best Regards
Peter
