To think there should be some way of getting unlimited internet in a rural area?

[RumpetaRumpeta]

So, we have moved to a rural area where the broadband speeds are less than 0.3Mbps. We are using the same satellite internet provider that our predecessors used, which gives us a 40gb monthly allowance at great expense (£69.99 a month). The first month, we used this up within two weeks. OK, so we thought this was because we had made the mistake of thinking we could watch a few shows on BBC iPlayer. Obviously, we didn't have enough data for that! We were told by the provider to take advantage of their free download time between 12am and 6am, and download anything we wanted to watch.

Now, none of us actually care enough about TV to get up in the middle of the night to download it, so this month we decided to watch nothing. We used the internet for emails, a little bit of work-related research, some Facebook, and a bit of internet shopping. This time, we ran out of our data allowance in less than two weeks.

I rang up to see what was going on. Auto-update is turned off on all our computers, so that can't be guzzling data. The guy on the end of the line suggested that iCloud backups could be to blame. Fair enough, I hadn't realised that my MacBook could be the culprit.

The thing is, though... I don't really want to have to stop using iCloud as well as to stop streaming TV and films. I don't want to pay £70 a month just for the privilege of sending and receiving emails. I am really frustrated and I am wondering - has anyone else been in this situation, and what solution have you found? I'm thinking about using my mobile phone as a hotspot and getting a larger data package, but won't that just get eaten up really quickly as well?

Does anyone know of an option for unlimited internet in a rural area? I am tearing my hair out - I literally cannot do my (freelance, from home) job with this internet package! Arrggghhhhh! Help!!!! Am I being unreasonable to think that there must be something out there?!

Wow that's expensive OP, we pay about £70 for super fast internet and unlimited data! Can you switch providers? We used to be with a different provider and had the exact same problems you're describing for more or less the same amount of money so we switched. I hope you do have the option to do the same, I would be irritated too!

And we are in a rural area so it's possible. BT and Sky are the ones I know about but you'd need to check what's available in your area.

What's your 4G mobile service like. You can get mifi boxes or stream through a phone or tablet if the signal is good enough.

Do a speed test on ofcom.com

I have unlimited rural broadband, we have the £25 a month package with Boundless, it's actually really decent for where I am with d/l speeds getting up to 1.5-2 Mb. It was £150 for set up and equipment though, and we did lose connection after about 6 months and had to have it reinstalled which took a week.

We're rural and have BT infinity - we pay £40 a month for unlimited broadband. Which provider are you with? I know most rural places don't have much choice...around here it's BT, BT or BT if you want super-fast broadband. We only got 4G here in the summer.

I think it does depend a huge amount on where you live, though. You can go five miles down the road in one direction and get no signal at all.

Thanks somethingfantastic. We can switch providers - we're in a one-month rolling contract, thankfully, but I'm just not sure if there is anything better out there. (We are super-duper rural.) I've just done a BT speed checker and it reckons I can only get speeds of up to 3.5Mb, with a minimum speed of 512kb. I'm worried about locking myself into an 18 month contract with something that will be just as unworkable as what we already have! I'll try Sky, but I suspect that I'll get the same answer.

I'm a little bit scared as I think I may not actually be able to do my freelance job with our internet. I suppose one option would be getting the BT package and then regularly taking my laptop into a nearby town and using free BT wifi. That would be an absolute last resort though, especially as I do quite a bit of work when my toddler is asleep at night or napping in the day - which is not going to work in a cafe!!!

MadeForThis, our 4G signal is excellent. I have streamed through my phone a couple of times this month so that I can get things done. However, if we are hitting the ceiling on our 40gb internet package in less than two weeks, I'm not sure how we would manage if we worked solely through phone data.

Mifi boxes sound interesting - I will look into that. And thank you, I will try the speed test.

Jeff that sounds very similar to what we'd be able to achieve with BT. Are you able to stream iPlayer, Netflix etc at that speed?

Sticky we have a satellite internet provider, which is Europasat. What sort of speed do you get with BT, and is it sufficient for you?

We have unlimited broadband with BT and rural, speeds can be a bit iffy but we get by with PC, and two tablets all running at the same time

I would think unfortunately that the BT checker speed of 3.5Mb is correct. It sounds like you are far from the exchange. We get about 5 to 6Mb and our max according to BT is 8Mb. We are with Plus net and have unlimited broadband so at least we don't run out of data usage. In your shoes I would contact your local council as everyone is supposed to be going to fast broadband eventually. They should know when you are due to have it. In the meantime try to get an unlimited data provider if you can? Maybe Plus net if in your area?

Not sure on the streaming speeds as haven't measured them, but generally we don't have any problems unless DS is streaming Netflix and YouTube at the same time, which occasionally buffers whatever we are watching. (How his streaming gets priority I have no idea!)

I live rurally (herefordshire) and used to have plusnet with the limited amount of broadband (free midnight till 8 am) and charged during the day.

This was £15 pm and pretty poor as I am some distance from the exchange - no fibre BB here) - I then opted for an 18 month contract at £12 per month (but unlimited ) which is a much better option.
I have to say that it still 'runs like a dog with no legs' and I do not have the patience for lots of i-player, youtube downloads which take an age but it handles emails, forums and rightmove property searching most of the time.

agree with biscuit - cross post - plusnet seems to be the best for rural dwellers.

My mother lives super duper rural (think like... 50 odd miles to the nearest supermarket, can't see another house etc) and BT serve her.
Rolling contracts will always be very expensive

I am not in the UK, but also live rurally so we have unlimited 4g Internet through a router. It's not as good as the 100MB cable service we used to have, but it's still good enough for browsing, emails and it can handle video streaming in 2/3 tablets at the same time (if you are streaming on the TV, you can't stream on tablets at the same time or it stalls).
I'm not sure if similar services are offered in the UK, but if they are and your 4G is good it might be a much better solution than crappy broadband.

If you have good mobile signal you are fine. Giffgaff do an unlimited data SIM for £20 a month.

We can't get proper broadband at all. The right cables have to be laid first and that has been "definitely going to happen before the end of the year" for about 5 years now.
At first we had satellite broadband but it was prohibitively expensive and cuts out in heavy rain or cloud (I live in the North of Scotland, so we get a lot of both!). Now we have a variation on satellite which isn't great but it is affordable compared to the satellite and it cuts out a lot less.
Our area has just got 4G so we do have a tablet with that, which the kids use (they aren't allowed to use the main internet at all, since they will use up my whole allowance in 2 days and I need it for work).

I can't remember what speed we're supposed to get, but you can run two laptops and Netflix, plus phones all at once without any issue. We're getting 14mb/s at the moment, and that's with me on the laptop, and watching TV on demand through the Xbox. Both connected through wi-fi.

biscuit yes we are far from the exchange, and also we are with an old exchange so it's even worse!

ollie I have no patience for slow loading pages either, having moved from somewhere with 20Mb speeds. Unfortunately I do need to use youtube etc for some of my work, so I am reluctant to sign up to a broadband package that I know is going to cause me issues with speed!

lastqueen this one's the same price for a rolling or a 12-monthly. The reason we're rolling is because we effectively took over our predecessor's equipment, so we didn't have to start again with an initial locked-in contract. BT do serve us, but I don't think speeds of 512kb will suit our needs!!!

MeeWhoo I think 4G is going to be the route we go down. I have no idea what is offered in the UK so will have to look into it.

flashheart I got very excited by the sound of that sim - exactly what we need! Unfortunately they don't offer that deal any more, but maybe someone else does something similar. I shall look. Thank you!

Schlimm yep we're on top of a hill, so lots of heavy weather here too! What do you use instead of satellite?

sticky sounds exactly what we need - but unfortunately there's no way we'd get 14mb!!!!!

If you go down the 4G route, beware. There are 'unlimited' 4G data SIMs available, but they're only 'unlimited' when used directly in a mobile device. For tethering/4G router/mi-fi type usage there will be a data limit. You will struggle to find a plan supporting more than 40GB per month.

Lots of people suggesting other packages which also have data limits of the same amount, which doesn't help the OP.

AFAIK your only option for unlimited data is to go with ADSL broadband (i.e. down the phone line), despite the poor speeds.

What was your usage before? Old bills should show you - even if it was unlimited it should still break it down for you?

EE Miguel devices are good value. You could get 50g for £30.50 a month.

We are exactly the same. We pay for superfast broadband (can't get fibre here) and our speeds are worse than yours. According to BT its the distance from the line and there is nothing whatsoever they can do about it until fibre is brought into the area.

We have a number of devices.
An EE Wi-Fi dongle, the first year was £30 for 25G. We also got an unlimited sim with 30G tethering. The kids use that phone for watching YouTube and tv catch up.
In the 2nd year, EE gave us a better deal. I think we now get 60G for £18.
We don't watch Netflix or download stuff and most of the time we are okay. The Xbox can eat data for fun though.

Do you have any nearby neighbours? Is your WiFi secure? Or anyone else who could be logging on to your network? Our cheeky neighbours tried logging on to our WiFi till my dad realised what was going on and changed the passwords!