Mobile internet

we looked at various deals for dongles but eventually settled on a vodaphone 3g contract with a "free" dell mini 9 netbook, have to say I'm mightly impressed, no dongle as modem is built in and the tiny netbook is really great for carrying around, reception so far has been very good where ever we've been
 
dogseal said:
Its been a while since iv'e been on this forum..Its buzzing!
Iv'e got a 3g dongle from the 3 network hooked up to an Asus 904 EEE running Xp home, which I use when we are away camping.
No problems with it at all, very rare if I cant get a signal..unless you are out in the sticks.
The netbook cost £235 from Tesco direct, the 3g dongle was £100 which includes a years
internet access..or 12 gigs worth, at present iv'e had it for about 8 months & have got 9 gigs worth left to use..So they win!
Its £50 for another 12 months when it expires.
Watching videos on youtube uses it up the most.

Take care folks,

dogseal
Click to expand...

Can you use it in France at no extra cost?
 
FAO dogseal

If you use Firefox when surfing you can block youtube videos so if you are just check postings you are not downloading the video at the same time, thus eating into your credit.
 
Not sure about that, but sometimes in the UK iv'e connected up through orange...despite the dongle being on the 3 network. I guess the various companys have a reciprocal arrangement in the uk.
Also, if you look at the coverage maps for these dongles, they arent always true.
I was at Burton upon Stather a couple of weeks ago, the 3 site said no cover but I was connected fast enough to check out the latest bbq pit boys creation on youtube.

Bacon Explosion Bomb Recipe by the BBQ Pit Boys Old-Time Barbeque

Best,

dogseal
 
888dee said:
we looked at various deals for dongles but eventually settled on a vodaphone 3g contract with a "free" dell mini 9 netbook, have to say I'm mightly impressed, no dongle as modem is built in and the tiny netbook is really great for carrying around, reception so far has been very good where ever we've been
Click to expand...

Hi 888dee,
My dongle comes!
With a usb cable that you can use to dangle your dongle out of the rooflight or side window or wherever, to get a better reception.
Have you tried it outside to see if you get a faster connection? Dunno about you, but ours is slow if the van is doing 55 down the motorway. If you are parked up it works fine. I reckon the thing uses gps or something to strengthen the signal up to where you are...Anyone else on this forum could maybe explain the tech behind these dongles?

Catch ya'll later, or tommorow. I'm off on holiday.

Dogseal
 
With some dongles it is possible to fit an external aerial of some type, which is supposed to improve reception.
 
PaulC said:
With some dongles it is possible to fit an external aerial of some type, which is supposed to improve reception.
Click to expand...

I've got it stuck to the van roof with double sided tape at the moment.
We're at St Bees, pretty slow connection but it works!
 
Mobile Internet iPhone

With regards to Internet mobile I purchased an iPhone 3 weeks ago and have been to the outer Hebrides for the last 2 weeks had Internet the whole time apart from horgabost and butt of lewis we even had 3g in stornoway I was very impressed with unit and used satellite imagery to fing
d wild camping spots on the machair hope this helps someone.
 
just bought an elonex one mini laptop 99 quid it can utilize a dongle but i tend to find a mc donalds or jd weatherspoons and use their free wifi
 
I have a Vodaphone 3G enabled laptop for work. It uses the slide in card as opposed to the dongle. Neither should make any difference. But it is rubbish to say the least. Signal is GPRS at home, 3G in my Sheffield office till approx 11.30 then GPRS and Doncaster is better than Sheffield. Home is GPRS only. I will be waiting before I invest in this with my own money.

Jon
 
mobile broadband 'not-spots'

Unless you're stealth camping in the concrete jungle almost by definition wildcamping will be in rural areas.

OFCOM are not happy :( with the provision of mobile internet services in rural areas and have published these coverage maps (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/licensing/classes/broadband/cellular/3g/maps/3gmaps/coverage_maps.pdf) in PDF format.

There's an overview available on the Rural Services Community website.

My interpretation of the maps leads me to think that those who are swapping out the 3 SIM from their 5 quid dongles for O2 ones may not be doing themselves a great favour - even if connection is cheaper where available. Of course - your "wild" may not be my wild.;)

Regards,

MAT
 
Jim,

being honest 1gb will cover general browsing and email needs particularly if you manage you downloads, (use mobile versions of websites, only download email headers automatically, etc)

in the vast majority of cases 3gb will be more than enough for anyone not downloading music/video/watching iplayer....
 
3 dongle how to surf with no credit

Like many of you I opted for the free 3 dongle with a view to put the o2 sim in the 3 dongle.

Didn't do this in the end because a) I could not get it to work with out unlocking the dongle and installing new connection software:( b) I bought a cheap smartphone/ PDA off fleabay for the o2 sim to use as a modem (XDA Exec). The fact that it takes pictures, surfs, plays music, spare phone and a good WM5 PDA is a big bonus:cool:

However, I found this worked for me. Install your 3 dongle with the auto set up as normal, let it install all the software and modem driver. When installed correctly you can connect with supplied software to the "My 3 website" to register etc. Do not top up, although you can browse around the My 3 site you are prevented from surfing anywhere else until you have topped up with credit.

On XP (Vista may be different) Set up a new dial up connection. Select the newly installed ZTE USB modem.
For dial number use: *99#
For username: o2web (that's a letter "o" not number)
For password: password

Leave all default settings the same, or the same as 3 software dial up connection settings. The 3 user and password fields are normally blank, but for some reason the o2 settings will allow you to surf Internet and download e-mail etc just fine, I have yet to put any credit on my 3 sim:D

To start do not use the 3 software, just rt click on your new dial up connection and click connect easy

Hope you are as lucky as me:cool:

John
 
It won't last ...

jogguk said:
[..] settings will allow you to surf Internet and download e-mail etc just fine, I have yet to put any credit on my 3 sim:D
To start do not use the 3 software, just rt click on your new dial up connection and click connect easy
Hope you are as lucky as me:cool:
John
Click to expand...
I had discovered something similar and was wondering whether to keep quiet or publicise it - now the cat is de-bagged though ...;)

On one of my linux (Ubuntu 9.04) laptops I have been unable to get the manager to install properlly, though the scripts have been run, and the directories created etc, etc. I even have a "3" icon in the Network dialogs. However - it doesn't work. However, if you pull out the dongle and re-insert it it is recognised as a modem and may be selected in the "Network Connection" dialog. No credit has been purchased for this dongle - whether "internet" or "mobile broadband" and the my3 website confirms this. However I have been able to access the web (other than three.co.uk) for over an hour without problems and at a reasonable speed. :cool:

Extra Info

I've been trawling through HUKD where this dongle has been much discussed. This post reports that others have discovered the free connectivity and suggests that it might be capped.
 
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