Choosing the right internet provider for your caravan
Caravan internet can be achieved by utilizing 4G technology. This is the same technology used by your mobile phone to stream music, YouTube, make video calls and browse the web. Caravan internet providers are the very same companies who provide your Mobile phone contracts.
4G is able to deliver broadband speed internet without a phone line and coverage has grown substantially over the UK in recent years to a point that it now serves over 90% of the UK.
This means that all you need to receive broadband internet and WIFI in your caravan or motorhome in the UK is a 4G router (Click here for more details) and a 4G service provider.
Like your mobile phone in order to make this work you need to sign up with a Service provider. These service providers are the very same service providers we use for our mobile phones, with the biggest names being. EE, Vodafone, O2, GIFFGAFF etc..
Who is the best Internet service provider for Caravans
There are 3 major points you should consider when choosing the best internet provider for your caravan or motorhome. We have listed these below
1:Signal strength
Each major caravan internet providers has its own network. You may have noticed large Antenna masts popping up in your local area. Because of this each service provider offers varying levels of signal strength in different areas of the UK. Signal strength has a direct effect on your broadband speeds so it is important to only consider the best providers at your caravans location. If you would like us to run signal checks at your caravans location, use our contact form and include your caravans postcode where requested. We will email back with the results of our survey (click here)
In addition to picking the correct caravan internet service provider it is also important to pick the correct 4G router setup to meet your needs. In some cases there may be a requirement for an external antenna kit due to poor signal strength indoors or local interference. For more information on this click here
2: Pay AS YOU GO or Contract
As with your mobile phone there are pro’s and cons to both Pay As You Go (PAYG) and Contracts. Unlike Mobile phone contracts we would not recommend tying yourself down to service providers hardware (in this case the 4G Router) as part of any contract, as these tend to be low spec devices at uncompetitive prices and will likely not be compatible with external antenna kits. Further to this they will be locked to that specific providers network and as such limited your options in the future for your caravan internet providers . For more information on our 4G router kits please click here.
Once you have the correct 4g router you will need a Data only sim. To be clear most Sim deals these days include Messages and Calls as standard. What we are looking for is a sim that offers the best value for money in terms of your Data allowance as this is the 4G part of the deal.
Pay As You Go Caravan Internet
Here at Caravan-Things we setup our caravan routers on GiffGaff as standard. However they are open to all networks so you can change the sim card at any time to any service provider of your choice.
We do this as a GiffGaff offers great data bundle deals on a Pay As You Go basis. We know that many of our customers don’t spend all year in their caravans and as such do not want to be tied down to a contract where they would be forced to pay whether at their caravan or not. If you are looking for a PAYG deal then GiffGaff is definitely one of the best caravan internet providers available to you.
GiffGaff offers deals that allow you to purchase what is known as “GoodyBags”. There are varying levels of Goody bags dependant on the amount of data you choose to purchase. however the most you can pay is £35 as this buys you get unlimited data for 1 month with no contract at this price point. When you purchase the Goody bag it will last for 1month and then expire . At this point you can choose whether to purchase another Goody bag or not. GiffGaff also offer further discount if you setup a recurring payment. Again this can be cancelled at any time as you are not under contract but this makes things even simper to manage.
GiffGaff runs on the o2 network. In our tests o2 is one of the best performers in terms of UK coverage and average speeds.
Contract Caravan internet
Here at Caravan-Things we perform thousands of Signal checks for our customers every year. During this time there has been one standout service provider across the UK. EE is now the UK’s biggest 4G broadband supplier and it shows!
If you spend the majority of your time in occupancy of your caravan and don’t mind taking out a Sim only contract, then EE is the service provider for you. They offer the best Signal coverage in the UK and also the best average speeds during our checks.
EE offer great Sim only Data contracts at competitive prices. We would recommend the 160GB at approximately £20 a month for our customers , although you may require more data than this dependant on your usage . We will touch base on Data usage a little more in the next section.
3:Data usage
4G caravan internet can be used for many things. This can be from standard internet browsing to online gaming and streaming TV such as Netflix.
For those who just want to browse the internet occasionally we would recommend a pay as you go deal. We would suggest this as surfing the web doesn’t use anything like the same amount of data as watching YouTube or streaming TV services. As such a PAYG deals like the offering from GiffGaff is probably the most cost effective caravan internet provider solution for you.
If you stream lots of TV or watch lots of online video content or even use your internet for online gaming a contracted option can become more cost effective as service providers such as EE offer great discounts for its retained customers.
In Summary
The best caravan internet provider for caravans can vary at your location based upon service coverage or signal strength in your area, your data usage and whether you are willing to take out a contract or just want a Pay As you Go deal.
We are always happy to help so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any queries.
I will be at my static caravan in about 1 1/2 weeks time. The site does have Wi-Fi, although very erratic. You have kindly done a test in my area which proved to be positive. A friend is lending me a booster to try out but I am not very optimistic it will work. After all, I have now learnt that if I boost nothing by 100 it is still nothing. Should I decide to buy a Play and go router from you, would you be able to deliver it to my site as obviously it is different from my home address.
Hi
We can deliver to site that’s no problem. We would advise you that 4G signal boosters are illegal in the UK as they interfere with everyone else signals. You can be significantly fined by ofcom. If our survey was positive you should be good without this using our advised kit.