Pathway 4G/Lebara - Setup and Test

Pathway 4G and Mobile WIFI

For a while we have struggled with wifi whilst away in the van.  It seems to have got worse more recently, and this may coincide with trading the motorhome for a campervan.

Whilst the motorhome was also a big box on wheels, it was generally wood and fibreglass. Where the campervan is a metal box with a few holes for windows and doors. It's effectively a Faraday Cage that blocks the signal to the phone. 

A few years ago when still at work and we had company mobile phones, there was a worry that they could be hacked and we were given phone cases that were Faraday Cages.  They worked. Phone inside and there was no signal and so it didn't ring. It worked very well.

The idea of the Pathway 4G is that it uses a SIM card and is a router.  I ordered a Lebara SIM for the router. Lebara use the Vodafone network in the UK. I have my doubts about that as we had Vodafone before and it was terrible at home.

Photo from Belmont Leisure linked website

Amazingly, following the instructions in the booklet that comes with the Pathway, we had it setup and secured in around 15 minutes.  I had expected some problems with the Lebara SIM nano card but it was truly plug and play. I connected with the laptop and changed the WIFI name and all the passwords. It's now secure.

I gave it a go and connected to my phone. It's not as fast as the home WIFI but that was to be expected.

On FB and some other motorhome/campervan forums there are comments about it only being 4G.  4G will be around for a while and it works.  

The real test will be when we are next out in the van and away from the house. It can be powered from the 12v or the 230v system. It comes with a variety of fixings. I have only used the suckers (as in the photo above) on the conservatory window.

Stay tuned.

Lebara SIM

As one does, I did a google to see what the "best" SIM card was for a router in the UK and Roaming in EUrope.

It came up with Lebara for a physical SIM and a number of e-SIM "cards". The latter no use to me with the router.

The search also came up with an offer link from Money Saving Expert website (MSE). It's very cheap for 35gb anyway. Our current contracts with Tesco Mobile are £11 a month for 30gb. The MSE offer is time limited.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/lebara/

It actually works out at £2.93 for the first 8 months and £6.50 thereafter. Not to be sneezed at. I opted for a £15 Amazon gift card, as we use Amazon quite a lot. No judgement please!

The SIM card should have arrived the next day, but I missed the 3pm postal deadline, so it arrived this morning instead.  

As with a lot of UK SIM cards with "free" roaming across in Europe, there's a data cap of 30gb. We have that on the phones and  we use them all the time. The Pathway 4G will give us wifi in the van.

(I will add some of my own photos at some stage.)