Would 4G MiFi (Mobile phone/cell phone) connection work?

[jcrider 22]

All,

 

Does anyone have any experience using/playing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 through a MiFi, or personal hotspot connection (3G/4G) please?

 

I'm looking to build a new PC for my father where the limiting factor is his terrible internet speeds - between 3Mbps to 5Mbps (at best).  So the answer for now, I think, is to use a mobile/cellular (3G/4G) connection but I have no idea what the real life experience would be in MSFS.

Many thanks in advance,

JC

 

[Will Fly For Cheese 1,710]

Yep. It's how I've been doing it from launch. I have a steadiyish 3G connection at about 10 Mbps and Bing scenery/ live weather loads just fine most of the time, Photogrammetry is a no no however as the Sim will keep saying the "data connection is too low". You can force the sim to try and load it but it's an awful, ugly mess so I don't bother.

Sometimes my 3G speeds drop as low as 2 Mbps and it still will load scenery and weather but very slowly and clankily - not much fun at all.

It all works. . just about but I've now ordered 75 Mbps fibre which is being plumbed in on Tuesday so a big day.

Basically, you can do it but it's not great and adds the complication of making diagnosing performance issues rather tedious because you're constantly having to factor in what sort of download speeds you're getting, whether that accounts for stutters/ FPS, etc.

In summary it's doable at those sorts of speeds you say your dad has (providing they don't drop much further than that) - and it will work - but not recommended and I'm glad to soon be getting a full fat fibre connection to replace it.

Edited May 2, 2021 by Will Fly For Cheese

[Dominique_K 10,133]

I run MFS on an Orange 4G connection. It works well most of the time. It happens from time to time that the bandwidth is too weak and I am switched to offline. But I don't have choice as the ADSL is a non-starter for streaming anyway where I live. Overall, I am glad to have it.

 

Edited May 2, 2021 by Dominique_K

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

I occasionally connect with 4G when my fibre is down and performance seems fine.

However make sure your phone connection has a connection with a reasonable amount of bandwidth as you can chew through the data..

Edited May 2, 2021 by Glenn Fitzpatrick

[jcrider 22]

4 hours ago, Will Fly For Cheese said:

Yep. It's how I've been doing it from launch. I have a steadiyish 3G connection at about 10 Mbps and Bing scenery/ live weather loads just fine most of the time, Photogrammetry is a no no however as the Sim will keep saying the "data connection is too low". You can force the sim to try and load it but it's an awful, ugly mess so I don't bother.

Sometimes my 3G speeds drop as low as 2 Mbps and it still will load scenery and weather but very slowly and clankily - not much fun at all.

It all works. . just about but I've now ordered 75 Mbps fibre which is being plumbed in on Tuesday so a big day.

Basically, you can do it but it's not great and adds the complication of making diagnosing performance issues rather tedious because you're constantly having to factor in what sort of download speeds you're getting, whether that accounts for stutters/ FPS, etc.

In summary it's doable at those sorts of speeds you say your dad has (providing they don't drop much further than that) - and it will work - but not recommended and I'm glad to soon be getting a full fat fibre connection to replace it.

 

3 hours ago, Dominique_K said:

I run MFS on an Orange 4G connection. It works well most of the time. It happens from time to time that the bandwidth is too weak and I am switched to offline. But I don't have choice as the ADSL is a non-starter for streaming anyway where I live. Overall, I am glad to have it.

 

"I occasionally connect with 4G when my fibre is down and performance seems fine.

However make sure your phone connection has a connection with a reasonable amount of bandwidth as you can chew through the data..

by Glenn Fitzpatrick"

---------------------

All, thank you very much for your fast replies they are encouraging to read.

 

Edited May 2, 2021 by jcrider

[rayharris108 259]

4 hours ago, jcrider said:

All,

 

Does anyone have any experience using/playing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 through a MiFi, or personal hotspot connection (3G/4G) please?

 

I'm looking to build a new PC for my father where the limiting factor is his terrible internet speeds - between 3Mbps to 5Mbps (at best).  So the answer for now, I think, is to use a mobile/cellular (3G/4G) connection but I have no idea what the real life experience would be in MSFS.

Many thanks in advance,

JC

 

Yes I have. 4G mobile router as here in the civilised world (rural UK) the max Broadband is 13Mb. My 4G router gives me 25-35Mb.

the only issue I have had is I got errors when using photogrammetry saying my bandwidth was not enough to stream it. So I turned it off.I don’t miss it as unless it doesn’t look like the aftermath of WW3 as some reports have said, I can do without it. The default (plus Orbx Cs) London and default Paris both look good enough to me.

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,317]

I use 4G sometimes as my internet is only 30mbps. 

Using my 4G unlimited plan I get 100MBPS and I’ve never had an issue in msfs. 

[jcrider 22]

21 hours ago, rayharris108 said:

Yes I have. 4G mobile router as here in the civilised world (rural UK) the max Broadband is 13Mb. My 4G router gives me 25-35Mb.

the only issue I have had is I got errors when using photogrammetry saying my bandwidth was not enough to stream it. So I turned it off.I don’t miss it as unless it doesn’t look like the aftermath of WW3 as some reports have said, I can do without it. The default (plus Orbx Cs) London and default Paris both look good enough to me.

 

19 hours ago, Ianrivaldosmith said:

I use 4G sometimes as my internet is only 30mbps. 

Using my 4G unlimited plan I get 100MBPS and I’ve never had an issue in msfs. 

Thank you very much for your real world feedback, its very encouraging to read.

I'm also in rural UK and running a speed test on my Sky SIM (using the O2 network), I'm getting 21Mbps download and 5.8Mbps upload.

I believe speeds differ with different providers, so I'll have a look at these (and hopefully get to test them here) and go from there.  Thank you again for you fast feedback.

[Dominique_K 10,133]

10 minutes ago, jcrider said:

 

Thank you very much for your real world feedback, its very encouraging to read.

I'm also in rural UK and running a speed test on my Sky SIM (using the O2 network), I'm getting 21Mbps download and 5.8Mbps upload.

I believe speeds differ with different providers, so I'll have a look at these (and hopefully get to test them here) and go from there.  Thank you again for you fast feedback.

21 Mbps is OK if it does fluctuate downward too much. 

Most of the providers, in France, can rent a 4G modem and subscription only for the Internet. You have a 4G dedicated connection with a regular number but you use it only for data. You can boost the modem a bit with a small antenna. I suspect the UK providers do that too.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Dominique_K

[jcrider 22]

1 minute ago, Dominique_K said:

21 Mbps is OK if it does fluctuate downward too much. 

Most of the providers, in France, can rent a 4G modem and subscription only for the Internet. You have a 4G dedicated connection with a regular number but you use it only for data. You can boost the modem a bit with a small antenna.

Thanks Dominique_K.  I'm looking at 4G Routers at the moment and see antenna come with some.

[jcrider 22]

On 5/2/2021 at 3:31 PM, Ianrivaldosmith said:

I use 4G sometimes as my internet is only 30mbps. 

Using my 4G unlimited plan I get 100MBPS and I’ve never had an issue in msfs. 

Sorry, I didn’t realise you are in the UK.  Would you mind letting me know which provider you get the fast speed with please?  

Edited May 3, 2021 by jcrider

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,317]

14 hours ago, jcrider said:

Sorry, I didn’t realise you are in the UK.  Would you mind letting me know which provider you get the fast speed with please?  

Sure, it's EE.

[wims80 121]

Mobile data is often very expensive compared to landline internet. He needs to have a very good dataplan (unlimited) to be able to use MSFS without having to pay huge mobile bills. Just the base sim is like 170GB, isnt it?

[Tom Wright 438]

No reason why it wouldn't work. MSFS doesn't care how you're connected as long as it's fast and stable enough to keep up.

Data charges are usually pretty astronomical over cellular though so something to bear in mind and whether there's a data cap.

[Dominique_K 10,133]

1 hour ago, Tom Wright said:

 

Data charges are usually pretty astronomical over cellular though so something to bear in mind and whether there's a data cap.

I am capped at 200 GB it is largely enough for MSFS and most of other internet access (except music streaming). Astronomical ? I pay 37 EUR per month.