Mobile t'interweb?

Derbyshire

Guest
So, this mobile t'interweb stuff, how does it work?

Usually use iphones on the move but sometimes there's a need to take the laptop. But, thanks to Windows 7, it won't connect to wi-fi. (Annoying glitch)!

Looking at a vodafone dongle for longer trips away. Have seen PAYG dongles but which sim card do they use? Are there special data only sims or do they take standard sim cards? :blah:
 
I use a dongle from the three network .

they use a normal sim card .


Steve
 
I cant comment on the Iphone, but I have a 'smart phone' and when I plug the phone in to my Laptop, I can use the phone's internet service. The advantage being that I am already paying for this via my contract and so dont need to look at the PAYG dongles.
Like you, I will use the laptop rather than the phone as you get a bigger screen, and more content via the internet.

As I said before, I'm not sure if you can do this with the Iphone or not, but it does seem daft that you are already paying for an internet connection and then have to go out and buy another?
 
Derbyshire said:
So, this mobile t'interweb stuff, how does it work?

Usually use iphones on the move but sometimes there's a need to take the laptop. But, thanks to Windows 7, it won't connect to wi-fi. (Annoying glitch)!

Looking at a vodafone dongle for longer trips away. Have seen PAYG dongles but which sim card do they use? Are there special data only sims or do they take standard sim cards? :blah:
Click to expand...

Like Steve I use a 3 dongle too and the coverage is really good, even in some of the more remote areas of western Scotland. £15 a month for 5 gigabytes of download of which I hardly ever use one (gigabyte) As for the sim....yes it's a data sim but has an SMS facility too.
 
I'm sure I've read that iphones can only be used if they've been jailbroken, which mine hasn't!

If the voda dongles use a normal sim, that's good as I've got a stack of 'normal' ones already! If they need data only, I need to look for one!

I picked up a 3 dongle/sim for my son a while back, that was just a normal one. :banana:
 
doh...posted while I was still typing!

Have checked coverage of the places we visit most and Voda comes out top, hence why looking at one of those. Not interested in paying a monthly amount, just as/when. We've got virtually unlimited access to BT if we can find a hotspot, so could always use that if all else fails.

Thanks for the input peeps :)
 
I wouldn't bother with vodaphone.

I've had Three for a few years. I tested a vodaphone recently and the Three has much better coverage overall.
 
In England I use 3mobile & blackberry torch (won in a comp), tethered to laptop, PAYG but £5 a month for Blackberry data + £15 add on geta month of all you can eat internet use, 3000 texts (totally wasted on me ), and 300 mins calls to any phone or mobile. Coverage and speed was that good, if I wasnt contracted to virgin for broadband for 12 mths, I would seriously consider just using 3 mobile for my internet.
I stated in England, as earlier this year when we went north of the border, I couldn't get any cover. Until then I used it on the beach, in middle of fields etc, and the speed was great.
I'm in Spain at the moment, & cost PAYG is still £5 for data (whatever that is over here), but on top of that it would be £1.28 per mb of data - haven't a clue how much that is, so not using it. Stories of huge phone bills scare the heck out of me the aire I am in at Santa Pola includes WiFi.
 
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I'm on 3 as well, on the PAYG tarriff. On the whole works well, and I have the £10 1GB top up, which I don't usually use before it runs out of time. (Valid for 28 days, can't carry over any surplus.)

Not that any of you want to know this, being WILD campers, but you can get 24 hours WiFi access for £2 at C&CC sites, which is a lot better than it used to be. But if you do go down this road, CHECK the site reviews before you buy it, as some sites don't seem to have good coverage!
 
3 mifi will allow up to 3 devices at any time far better than vodafone dongle. payg only top up when needed . pay per day or 30 days at a time, up to you. I know of people who have unlocked theirs and have used a french payg sim card in France to get cheap internet in France.

Rob

While I am on this forum my wife on face book playing games.
 
we use the three dongle and have found it really good, we get the one that lasts up to twelve months cos we dont have internet at home, got rid of the landline and just use mobile now. ok if you dont use your phone much.
 
Unfortunately, we need our landline and we're both on the 'net most of the evenings at home so that wouldn't be any good for us.

Had conflicting views on coverage in Scotland so might just wait until we get there and suss it out from there.

Thanks for the input :cool1:
 
I think I may get the BT/Fon openzone roaming thing for about £12 a month. There's so many hotspots now and I have a wifi booster aerial too.

It's worth trying your kit out in the places you want to visit if you get the chance. Like download speeds, the "coverage" you get on the maps and what you can actually pick up are two different things. I have found a long USB lead and hanging the dongle vertical up inside the roof light can make a big difference in tricky locations.
 
Hiya Vernon....I've found the BT fon/openzone gives me a very weak signal unless you are actually in the building....and that generally means buying something:scared:.... or parking right outside somebody's house.
The three dongle is great value at £15 a month if you use it most days
 
You are right but I have this wifi booster thingy and it is pretty impressive.

I tend to play games and watch vids off the net rather than watch TV, so my usual three broadband plunge is £25 for 7 GB and that does not last me 28 days :( More like 21 or 24.

So I was looking for a way to reduce costs. I can get a good BT openzone at home so I was hoping to use that for unlimited and then just buy some Three on occasion if I need it.
 
Derbyshire said:
Unfortunately, we need our landline and we're both on the 'net most of the evenings at home so that wouldn't be any good for us.

Had conflicting views on coverage in Scotland so might just wait until we get there and suss it out from there.

Thanks for the input :cool1:
Click to expand...

For what it may be worth - I deliver to the Baxters Soup Factory at Fochabers (Tayside) and use a Direct Debit 3 Dongle (£15/month = 5GB). The 3 coverage up there is better than O2 or any of the other UK mobile broadband suppliers that I have used in the past and, to be totally frank, if you can't get a signal on the 3 network then you won't get a signal on any of the others either.

Have you considered a CellPhone?
 
VeeDub said:
For what it may be worth - I deliver to the Baxters Soup Factory at Fochabers (Tayside) and use a Direct Debit 3 Dongle (£15/month = 5GB). The 3 coverage up there is better than O2 or any of the other UK mobile broadband suppliers that I have used in the past and, to be totally frank, if you can't get a signal on the 3 network then you won't get a signal on any of the others either.

Have you considered a CellPhone?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

CellPhone as opposed to iPhone?
 
Derbyshire said:
Thanks for the info.

CellPhone as opposed to iPhone?
Click to expand...

And why did I just KNOW that you would pick up on that ? My mistake guys!!!! :beer: (I actually looked for an Avatar that said 'Muppet'.... but I think that this one is nearer the truth!).
 
iPhone and Laptop and iPad and... totally free europe wide internet via kindle

I have an iPhone on T-Mobile with unlimited data, calls and texts, so I guess I'm a heavy user, and I pay £30 a month.

My iPhone lets me set up a "personal hotspot" which is effectively a wifi point which I can then connect to, via laptop (Windows 7) and iPad - up to 5 connections to the one mobile phone point. I also had this facility with the HTC and my daughter still uses it - a "wifi router" app. You simply set up your computer to search for a wifi point as you normally would and it spots your phone, yoou just need the data contract on your phone.

No dongle obviously so no £15 a month extra and pretty good coverage given link with orange. Surfing is quite quick and I have used it for catchup TV although there is sometimes a lag if the signal is poor. Never quite downloaded so much that T-Mobile have moaned yet and allowing friends to "play with my personal hotspot" leads to some very awkward questions but such is life.

:wave:A dirt cheap alternative is to buy the wifi Kindle, particularly if you needs the bookshelf space on the bus. The £150 version has a little known access route to free UK and international 3g internet - yes, at no cost. They set up this kindle to download books worldwide and it also has an "experimental" menu where you can access the internet. It's black and white obviously and a little slow but bearable and I have used it to browse the news and read my GMail in Europe with no costs roaming or otherwise, no monthly fee, just the one off purchase price. I also take out free two week trials of newspapers for the holiday so I can read the Times and Telegraph on the kindle every day cancelling the subscription when I get home. Look out for what the new colour kindle delivers - USA only at the moment but coming soon. The Kindle picks up a signal almost anywhere and without need for any configuration, its all just automatically done regardless of the provider.


Mike.
 
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