So that we can watch Discovery+. I have it on my phone but using it in the caravan is expensive. Am I correct in thinking that we also need a fire stick or similar
If you are away in the caravan and want to stream any television networks you need a signal from somewhere. This could either be a WiFi signal if the site offers WiFi or it can be a 4g signal from a mobile phone network. MiFi routers work by inserting a SIM card in the same way as a phone so if you want to stream TV regularly in the caravan you would need a hefty amount of data. For example, when we were away in the caravan for 3 week last summer we watched maybe an hour of TV per evening and used the MiFi router for browsing the internet, checking email and making a couple of video calls. We used just over 200GB of data. Sometimes you can buy cheap SIMs on the likes of eBay, for example, in November there was a guy on eBay selling 300GB Voxi sims for £5 so I bought 5 of them and that will last us for all our holidays this year. I’ll still have to buy a 300GB+ EE SIM as I know from past experience that the site we are going to in July has a very poor Vodafone signal (used by voxi) but a very good EE signal.
To stream TV via a MiFi router you will also need either a smart TV or something like a Firestick to connect to the MiFi router.
This is what we have
A TP Link 4g Router similar to this but ours is Cat6 rather than Cat4. Cat4 will work too. Click Here
A selection of 1 month SIM cards with at least 200GB data on each
An Amazon FireStick
This doesn’t guarantee you are going to get a signal, some remote areas are still not covered by 4g and if you are in one of these, there is nothing you can do.
Hi, if your tv is a smart tv that is able to connect to the site wifi you should not need any other gadget. If the tv is not smart then something as you suggest will be required. But all will depend on availabilty of site wifi
Quote: Originally posted by Pixie_Hez on 18/3/2026
This doesn’t guarantee you are going to get a signal, some remote areas are still not covered by 4g and if you are in one of these, there is nothing you can do.
That's what I have found - no matter how good the MiFi set up, it would not pick up any signal where there was none!
It might be excessive to some, however, I have a pay monthly SIM for each of the big 4 network providers as I need internet access while I am away for work.
Bear in mind that Vodafone and 3 will be merging their network soon and I might cancel one of the later.
I decided to take the plunge as I was fed up of playing mobile network roulette when I stayed at one site - C&CC Cheddar Mendip Heights, only had coverage for O2 and I had EE and Smarty as in 3.
Good luck Mrs. B!
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Quote: Originally posted by Mrs. Bonce on 18/3/2026
Thanks Pixie. Sorry, how do I know which SIM I need?
Post last edited on 18/03/2026 08:48:29
It is very hard to know what network has the best signal in any area until you get there. In the past, my husband had a Vodafone SIM and I had a EE SIM with a small amount of data on our phones. When we arrived on site we used this speed test to see which of our two phones had the best speed and then we went and bought a 1 month SIM in whatever one was best for the MiFi router. I kept a record of the speeds from both networks which I am so glad I did as my husband and I are now both on Vodafone so I can’t check EE any more. We are creatures of habit and tend to visit the same sites every two or three years so I can look back at my records and see which network is best in advance of travelling. However, we have found that Vodafone generally works well enough on the majority of sites we visit, there is just one that we like that only has an EE signal.
Hi, we use a 12 month 200gb sim it lasts us all season! If you use a firestick unplug it when not in use, you cant turn a firestick off so it eats data, I use a tp link too with an external aerial, we have 2 phones and 2 firesticks on 2 tvs not used all the time, as for speed I only got our current setup last year on our first outing I tested the speed several times and it ranged from 20 - 100mbps
If you decide to go down the firestick route you need to remember to change the default quality settings on the firestick. It defaults to best quality streaming which uses a lot of data. You can go into the settings and choose a lower quality which uses less data. You might notice the difference if you have a massive HD TV but on the sort of TV people are likely to have in a caravan, you will not see a noticeable difference in picture quality but it will save you a lot of data.
However, there are some streaming Apps on the firestick that you can’t change the streaming quality on. In the past, we used to have Britbox and you couldn’t decrease the streaming quality on the Britbox app for firestick so it used a phenomenal amount of data. We ended up not using it in the caravan as it was burning through approximately 7GB for an hour of viewing. I don’t know about the discovery+ app but if this is the one you want to use, it would be worth checking whether you can change the streaming quality settings in the app as this will help you to know how much data you might need.
Thanks, afraid I am not in l the least techy and OH refuses to learn the internet. Can't remember what, but someone on here once said "get your husband to show you". Fat chance of that! Cliffbrown, thanks for the fire stick info, that would not.have occurred to me.
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Topic: Mi Fi router or?
via mobile 17/3/2026 at 8:11am
