Mobile Broadband.

[georgert1]

I am about to purchase a mobile Broadband Dongle for my laptop, and I thought it would be very useful if members reported/posted where they find they have no problems with signals and who their provider is.My wife and I are going to the highlands of Scotland soon and I have looked at different providers coverage etc. Looking at coverage in the highlands, 3 seem to be the best ( alledgedly) but I think actual usage by members would be more beneficial to us. :drive:

 

[donkey too]

I have no trouble where ever I am. haven't done Scotland yet but just got back from 4 weeks in walws and mostly OK just one place in Anglesey I couldn't get a signal but was under a cliff so waited till I moved and stopped near Mac D's always a signal there. O2's hotspot search was very good as well and it uses its own as well as cloud and bt.

 

[Pollik]

I had a 3 dongle (unless I lost it) and found it pretty good in most places, although a friend in Plymouth does complain about it being slow.

Currently I have Vodafone one which worked OK after I got it, although it was more apt to be slow...I think 3G coverage was less comprehensive. However, when I got back from 3 months in Europe, I have found the software to be terrible, to the extent that it prevented some games from running properly (FSX in particular) and I would not connect online even if there was a signal.

It might be something simple, but at the moment, I haven't had time to address the problem, not least because I live in a radio dead spot.

You might think about O2, because with their dongles, you also get free unlimited access to wifi hotspots The Cloud and BTOpenzone...and I think that I am right in saying that BTOpenzone seems to be available everywhere that you also find BTFon...which is very widely available.



Polly

 

[John H]

I recently bought a 3 because everybody I spoke to said it was the best for reception. So far it has lived up to expectations but I haven't yet taken it to Scotland.

 

[Rubbertramp]

I am about to purchase a mobile Broadband Dongle for my laptop,

Three works well for me in the Highlands George although the Northwest coast is a bit sparse. As you get closer to Inverness and Aberdeen the coverage map seems to show saturation. The best thing you can do is print the coverage map on your provider's website.

 

[peribro]

I can't comment about Scotland but having travelled throughout England and Wales with a Vodafone sim, an O2 sim and a 3 sim, I can categorically say that the 3G reception from 3 is generally way better than the brodaband signal from other two. In remote areas where there is no broadband, then the GPRS signal from Vodafone usually suffices.

 

[robjmckinney]

3

I travelled round Eastern and Southern England and found it completely useless. Sadly I had it on monthly contract, if you were really want a 3 dongle go for PAYG, then you can dump it quickly if its as uselless as I found it. More an issue of where you choose to travel, in the wilds or near City's!

 

[Barbt]

We have both a 3-dongle and a BT dongle. Both seem to work pretty well in Scotland. You may have to move around a bit to get a decent signal particularly near the mountains but we have never had any trouble at all.

 

[master]

We have a 3 MiFi dongle that acts as a WiFi hotspot in the van and allows multiple laptops / iphones etc to connect. No messing with settings (other than WiFi SSID and Key the first time) - just switch it on and go. This is great if you have his and hers laptops and we have found 3 to be pretty good in the south of England - no experience of Scotland.

Also unlocked the device from 3 (search the internet for details) with a view to using a Oranange France PAYG SIM - unlocked fine but never managed to get the French SIM to connect and Orange France were useless. Will be in Germany next week and will try again with a German PAYG SIM - think I know how to do it this time - fingers crossed.

If anyone has any ideas on German PAYG 3G SIMs that would be great

Thx

 

[james1508]

02 Internet in NW Scotland

I use an Iphone 4 on 02 to access the internet. I found on a recent trip through the outer Hebrides , Barra was useless no signal at all except on Heaval the highest summit on the isle. Uist in general was ok along with Harris and Lewis getting better . We then went from Ullapool all around the NW Scotland back to Glencoe mostly with a signal. However the problem was it wasn't a 3g connection (with the exception on Stornoway which came up as 3g) which meant everywhere else the pages were generally quite slow when viewing images or uploading pics to facebook but they do load.

I am thinking of looking at 3 next time as they state its the network that was designed for 3g so i too am interested in reading other members experiences.

Regards

James

 

[robjk]

Hi I used to have a vodafone dongle and found it useless now I have a 3mifi payg and so far find it great with good coverage in south wales and the south west. My wife has found it great to play face book games while we are on the move. 3 web site will give you coverage and they claim 97% coverage.

Rob

 

[georgert1]

Mobile broadband

I recently bought a 3 because everybody I spoke to said it was the best for reception. So far it has lived up to expectations but I haven't yet taken it to Scotland.

Thanks for the info John, I live just up the road from you in Tansley,:juggle:

 

[magbrin]

Have had 3 dongLe for a while (payg), but have found coverage patchy in the Highlands. Inverness ok but we live 12 miles out and it is useless, here. Central belt - Edinburgh/Glasgow/Stirling fine. But I certainly would not rely on it (or probably any other) in the Highlands.
BTW if you are in the Inverness area do call in for a stopover. PM for details or visit Brin Herb Nursery - Highland home of herb plants and wild flowers.

 

[solarman]

missus has the 3 payg dongle not too bad,but west side of wales patchy,i've been looking at a second dongle Orange for Scotland their coverage maps show most of the
Outer Hebrides (Barra etc) as a good signal area,but we haven't tried this out yet.
Also i got a long usb extension lead and a fishing rod just in case we need to improve a bad signal(not sure if any of this will make much difference),
Solarman.

 

[georgert1]

Mobile broadband

We have both a 3-dongle and a BT dongle. Both seem to work pretty well in Scotland. You may have to move around a bit to get a decent signal particularly near the mountains but we have never had any trouble at all.

Thank you for your reply . I think I will go payg on 3, after reading all the comments, I know 3 do a better dongle model E367 according to forums it is much better than bog standard ones. thenks again George.

 

[georgert1]

Mobile broadband

Have had 3 dongLe for a while (payg), but have found coverage patchy in the Highlands. Inverness ok but we live 12 miles out and it is useless, here. Central belt - Edinburgh/Glasgow/Stirling fine. But I certainly would not rely on it (or probably any other) in the Highlands.
BTW if you are in the Inverness area do call in for a stopover. PM for details or visit Brin Herb Nursery - Highland home of herb plants and wild flowers.

Thank you for your info and the very kind offer of a stopover, thats really kind of you .We are not going to the highlands for a few weeks (4-6 ) I have recently taken early retirement and I promised my youngest daughter and her boyfriend we would have a week away with them so we are going to Skipsea first then off to Scotland
later for a Clegg feast lol.I will look your spot up and get the info how to get there,thanks again .This will be our first wild camping experience I am fully prepared and so looking forward especially seeing the highlands.My Mother is Scottish and a lot of my relatives live around Motherwell - Kinross area and each time we travel up to Scotland and I see those beautiful hills I get a feeling of home ,strange but thats how it is. I wish you well, George & Carol. x

 

[georgert1]

mobile broadband

missus has the 3 payg dongle not too bad,but west side of wales patchy,i've been looking at a second dongle Orange for Scotland their coverage maps show most of the
Outer Hebrides (Barra etc) as a good signal area,but we haven't tried this out yet.
Also i got a long usb extension lead and a fishing rod just in case we need to improve a bad signal(not sure if any of this will make much difference),
Solarman.

Thank you for your reply and comments.I think I am going with 3 payg. They do a more powerful dongle E367 I am going to get that one, more expensive but good feedback on forums etc.Thanks again and happy days.George. :rolleyes2:

 

[maingate]

I am currently in the middle of nowhere near North Berwick and I am getting 5 bars on my Vodaphne K3565 dongle but it is GPRS and a bit slow. As my dongle is unlocked, I think it is time I got a couple of other sims to cover all bases. :cheers:

 

[bevo]

mobile dongle

have a look on ebay.

i bought a 3 mobile latest one with 12 months usage for £48.

they were also selling simm cards with 3 months of usage for £10

cheap :dance:

 

[james1508]

02 tehthering

Hello,

02 now allow you to tether your Ipad to your iphone, NTC or Blackberry (not literally and not sure about other phones ) which makes your phone a dongle to connect to the internet. Obviously you need to have this as part of your package. If you go over they slow the internet down and text you, you then can buy more data or wait until next month .As far as I am aware you can do this with lap tops too. Data starts at around £3 for 100mb, £5 for 500mb or £10 for 1 GB All per month as a bolt on. You could then knock it off if your not going to use it for a while.

May be a cheaper option than buying a dongle.