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Internet access without WiFi or Broadband for Smartphone

madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
in The potting shed
My Mum (86) has a Doro Smartphone just like mine but she has no access to WiFi or Broadband.
As she is isolating she cannot get onto Zoom,Skype,Whatsapp etc and join in with the rest of the family.
Is there a simple way to get her onto the Internet without signing up for a service she would rarely or refuse to use?
“Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
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  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    Most mobile contracts will have data allocation included...if it's one of the Doro handsets that runs Android then it should be easy enough to install the needed app (hopefully the version of Android on it is supported). Even the non Android run Doros seem to have access to WhatsApp. My in-laws enjoy using Facebook messenger to keep in touch with their friends on their iPads...but then they have WiFi.

    I suppose you only know what the mobile reception is like at her place and what the state of 3/4/5G availability is like and the state of her monthly/pay as you go contract.
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I don't think so. You could research which broadband company has the shortest contract so she could cancel it when and if this lockdown is lifted. I also think she would need to let an engineer in to connect it all up to the phoneline but I'm probably wrong about that - we've had ours so long I've forgotten how we got started. Don't know much about smartphones though, haven't got one as our mobile signal's very poor round here.
    What does it say in the Doro instruction booklet? 
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    We are both on GiffGaff PAYG
    Android 4.2.2.
    She cannot access Internet as signal is not great.OK for phone and text but nothing else.
    Is there a dongle or something she can plug her phone into?
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I'm not a great fan of mobile phones, a necessary evil though these days.
    I think your mum will need to get a data allowance. Look at any service and you get - x text messages, x calls and x data.
    I have a smartphone and got a giff-gaff deal a couple of weeks ago - £6/month unlimited calls and texts and 500mb data a month and it's a monthly contract.
    I think you'll need more than 500mb data allowance if you want to do video calls though.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    If her mobile signal isn't good enough then the only other choices are wired broadband through a landline or cable or via satellite which will be very expensive. If there is a close neighbour with a broadband connection she might be able to ask if she can piggyback on their wifi.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    edited May 2020
    If she lives in a semi the neighbours internet may be good. I’ve got a holiday flat next to ours, double breeze block cavity wall and the WiFi is fine through that. Worth asking.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    She does not want to sign up to anything through her landline etc.
    Cost is too much and she would rarely use it.
    Piggyback off a neighbour might be a plan,she lives in a Close of 8 houses and I think they all have broadband.
    She would need to get a password from them to access their networks but could work!
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Brilliant, nice to keep on good terms with your neighbours in case you ever need them, if it’s only for their WiFi, you could offer them a couple of quid a month towards their cost, they’ll probably say no, but nice to offer. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    My sister lives next door to my mum and at various times has either run a very long cable between the houses or has used a signal booster to steal internet off my mum.
    Your mum might not need a password if your neighbour puts the router in a window and uses the WPS button while your mum gets her phone to search for the signal outside.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • GreenbirdGreenbird Posts: 237
    I've used 4G EE mobile wifi for work. Never had a problem with connection travelling around the country.
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