so can you tether Three Pay As You Go SIM Card. please advise?

I think the mi-fi devices and the dongle's tell tales on you and your quickly found out. Would think that the mifi could be flashed though with something to disguise. On a positive front I'm tethered through an android phone right now and have used a 3G router for years with a phone sim and never had any trouble. I'm using an android phone though no so I can use the 300 minutes as well ;-)

ah ok....i understand. ive been reading various threads but there is not a clear answer. there is suggestion of using the sim in a phone first and then changing the APN on the mifi/dongle to the three network and you should be ok..

You can tether on the one plan, but not on an AYCE (all you can eat) plan on 3. I have 2 different AYCE plans on 3, but tethering is blocked on both sims. I am using one in a phone and another in a 3g tablet; both of which work fine. If I try to tether from an Android phone or use either sim in a mifi, then the action is blocked. I hope this clarifies the situation for you.

Nothing to do with making phone calls, for a year or so I've been using the £15 all-you-can eat tariff and some months have never made a call or text. As to APN I'm currently using the mobile broadband one of 3internet because I found that the three. co.UK one wouldn't let me watch Crackle. I've used three with no APN before today. Thought I might cook the battery tethering a phone permanently but it's been three weeks now and it's OK.

is it a three mifi device?

so if i had a one plan sim and used in mifi device (not three) would that allow tethering?

I've used 3 different Globesurfer routers with the phone sims for about 4yrs and never been blocked. I've been using an Orange Barcelona android phone flashed with a Kenyan ROM permanently tethered to two other android phones, an android tablet, an android HDMI stick which is our TV using at least a gig a day. A windows netbook but permanently running a VPN and a Linux desktop I only use for banking so it's always encrypted.

Yes a one plan sim in a non 3 mifi would allow tethering and unlimited data as long as the mifi is unlocked from a previous network, or sim - free (never been network locked). If it is network locked, eg locked to Orange, then you will need to unlock it to use it on 3.

borofan47

You can tether on the one plan, but not on an AYCE (all you can eat) plan … You can tether on the one plan, but not on an AYCE (all you can eat) plan on 3. I have 2 different AYCE plans on 3, but tethering is blocked on both sims. I am using one in a phone and another in a 3g tablet; both of which work fine. If I try to tether from an Android phone or use either sim in a mifi, then the action is blocked. I hope this clarifies the situation for you.Read lessRead more

I have an AYCE sim in my iPhone and can tether no problem.

Some people probably get away with tethering when not allowed. According to the terms, tethering is only allowed on the one plan and not on the 'all you can eat' plan.

ok great thanks for your help i wil look into it

can I use a three one plan sim in a three Mifi and use it as a home wifi with all i can eat data?

as of today three have shut down my ability to tether on the all you can eat plan, anyone else have this happen?

A lot of people using data by tethering or by using payg sims in 3g routers have been cut off as of Tuesday morning 15 july 2014

3 maintain a database of the IMEI numbers which belong to Dongles, 3g routers and other devices that the sims should not be used in

If the IMEI of your device is not on their database of banned devices you will get away with it

if the IMEI of your device is on their database you will get a sim block 001 page displayed when you try to visit a webpage

Tuesday morning they updated their list cutting off both my 3g routers that were using payg sims all in one 15 add on with unlimited data

Some devices will still work but the fact is you could be blocked any day

Tethering wont be blocked by IMEI because the IMEI belongs to a phone and phones are allowed to use unlimited data
so they must have different ways of detecting that which they must have updated Tuesday morning as well cutting off people who tether

captainewers

A lot of people using data by tethering or by using payg sims in 3g … A lot of people using data by tethering or by using payg sims in 3g routers have been cut off as of Tuesday morning 15 july 20143 maintain a database of the IMEI numbers which belong to Dongles, 3g routers and other devices that the sims should not be used inIf the IMEI of your device is not on their database of banned devices you will get away with itif the IMEI of your device is on their database you will get a sim block 001 page displayed when you try to visit a webpageTuesday morning they updated their list cutting off both my 3g routers that were using payg sims all in one 15 add on with unlimited dataSome devices will still work but the fact is you could be blocked any dayTethering wont be blocked by IMEI because the IMEI belongs to a phone and phones are allowed to use unlimited dataso they must have different ways of detecting that which they must have updated Tuesday morning as well cutting off people who tetherRead lessRead more

thanks for that info.
do you have a source or is this inside knowledge?

Yep my 3G router on all you can eat phone sim was cut off on Tuesday. It's a real problem as I work from home and have fairly high monthly usage (80gig) which will cost me a bit on an EE plan. The landline broadband is woeful < 200k and fibre won't be here until 2017.

Is it possible to change the IMEI number of a device?

captainewers

A lot of people using data by tethering or by using payg sims in 3g … A lot of people using data by tethering or by using payg sims in 3g routers have been cut off as of Tuesday morning 15 july 20143 maintain a database of the IMEI numbers which belong to Dongles, 3g routers and other devices that the sims should not be used inIf the IMEI of your device is not on their database of banned devices you will get away with itif the IMEI of your device is on their database you will get a sim block 001 page displayed when you try to visit a webpageTuesday morning they updated their list cutting off both my 3g routers that were using payg sims all in one 15 add on with unlimited dataSome devices will still work but the fact is you could be blocked any dayTethering wont be blocked by IMEI because the IMEI belongs to a phone and phones are allowed to use unlimited dataso they must have different ways of detecting that which they must have updated Tuesday morning as well cutting off people who tetherRead lessRead more

Thank you for your reply, I should have made it clear that my sim was in a 3G router. the 001 message is what I woke up to on Tuesday morning, I would not mind but the welsh government paid £850 for me to have the equipment etc installed just over 8 months ago, I have now had to sign up to talk talk, problem is the average speed here is less than 1mb....
(edited)

powyswales

I would not sign up to a landline service which wont give you the speed you need as you will only regret it later

use the cooling off period to cancel talk talk now and lets get your 3g working again instead

any idea how much data you were using?

is your 3g router 3 branded or a sim free unlocked router

captainewers

A lot of people using data by tethering or by using payg sims in 3g … A lot of people using data by tethering or by using payg sims in 3g routers have been cut off as of Tuesday morning 15 july 20143 maintain a database of the IMEI numbers which belong to Dongles, 3g routers and other devices that the sims should not be used inIf the IMEI of your device is not on their database of banned devices you will get away with itif the IMEI of your device is on their database you will get a sim block 001 page displayed when you try to visit a webpageTuesday morning they updated their list cutting off both my 3g routers that were using payg sims all in one 15 add on with unlimited dataSome devices will still work but the fact is you could be blocked any dayTethering wont be blocked by IMEI because the IMEI belongs to a phone and phones are allowed to use unlimited dataso they must have different ways of detecting that which they must have updated Tuesday morning as well cutting off people who tetherRead lessRead more

Does anyone know what gets you on to their list?

I asked their support twitter account if I could use my (5 year) existing PAYG sim card from iPhone in a MiFi and was told that that "I needed a data sim card for a MiFi".

I wanted to use it in France when on Holiday to take advantage of their "Feel at Home" ability to use my data allowance from an add on.

Feeling that this information "I needed a data sim card for a MiFi" was not answering my question, a google search directed to this thread!

Would my iPhone sim card be on their list already, or would I just get added to it if I was to constantly use the sim card in a MiFi to "make myself noticed"?

Nothing gets you as an individual user onto their list so it wont matter how little or how much data you use

what happens is every mobile device has a 15 digit IMEI from this they can find out your phone model and manufacturer

so when you put your 3 sim in a device they instantly see the IMEI then check it against their list to see the manufacturer and model

If that check shows you just put the sim in a phone service will be allowed however if the check shows the sim has been put in a data device service will be blocked

new phones and data devices are coming out every day so 3 are always behind when trying to keep their list up to date

Every so often they update their IMEI list with the latest devices,

Regarding feel at home I have just checked and you could use data on your phone from the add on in France but if the data is unlimited on your tariff it wont be unlimited in France the limit is 25GB, you cannot use the phone as a Hotspot and you cannot remove the sim and insert it into a MIFI as the France network is involved their could be a chance that Hotspot tethering or removing the sim and inserting into a MIFI may not be detected but unless you try there is no way of knowing

What you can do is Buy a three data sim with data allowance and use that in your MIFI in france

amazon.co.uk/Mob…3X2

Thanks for response.

So if I put the sim in my (dc unlocker) unlocked 3 MiFi it would recognise the IMEI as belonging to a MiFi and instantly reject it?

Would this apply in the UK only, or would the "Roaming" network also be able to block it?

I have been on PAYG with Three for several years, buying monthly add on's with "all you can eat" data allowance. Apparently you aren't supposed to be able to "tether" on this, but "personal Hotspot" has always worked on my various iPhones.

Three already suggested getting one of their data sims, but I only use the MiFi when overseas, usually in France.
The deal I get in France is €10 for 1GB valid for 7 days, so little different from what Three offer, just a bit fiddly to set up initially.

Anyone know whether "Three UK" have the ability to block a PAYG phone sim card which is being used in a MiFi on a foreign network, from accessing the internet?
Or is it only when on their own network in the UK?