Mobile Broadband Dongle advice/recommendations...

[JBizzleBeard]

Hello the educated masses of NSC!

I'm looking at getting me one of these mobile broadband dongle things and tbh I don't know much about them at all. I only want it for a week while I'm on holiday in Cornwall.

Any advice or recommendations as usual will be gratefully received

 

[Worthingite]

Might be teaching you to suck eggs here, but check online which provider offers the best signal where your going, and then go PAYG rather than contract. You might pay more per unit, but if your not using it regularly it will work out more expensive.

I think Giffgaff have started doing dongle tariffs so have a look at them. I'm with them on mobile, and I pay a tenner a month with Unlimited internet and texts and 200 minutes talktime. Piggybacks off O2 so they're good for signal

 

[Tricky Dicky]

What's it for, a laptop ? Why not tether it to your smartphone and use it through that.

 

[JBizzleBeard]

Might be teaching you to suck eggs here, but check online which provider offers the best signal where your going, and then go PAYG rather than contract. You might pay more per unit, but if your not using it regularly it will work out more expensive.

I think Giffgaff have started doing dongle tariffs so have a look at them. I'm with them on mobile, and I pay a tenner a month with Unlimited internet and texts and 200 minutes talktime. Piggybacks off O2 so they're good for signal

Cool, thanks for your help

 

[JBizzleBeard]

What's it for, a laptop ? Why not tether it to your smartphone and use it through that.

Yea it is for a laptop how does one go about 'tethering' a smartphone and laptop?

 

[beorhthelm]

if going to Cornwall, you want to check carefully if where you will be has got decent reception, or it'll all be rather piontless. I got a TMobile for staying in Devon couple of years ago as that was the only one even pretending to cover the area. i say pretending as i could only get a reliable signal about 50m from the house, or from one window within when the weather was cloudy.

 

[JBizzleBeard]

if going to Cornwall, you want to check carefully if where you will be has got decent reception, or it'll all be rather piontless. I got a TMobile for staying in Devon couple of years ago as that was the only one even pretending to cover the area. i say pretending as i could only get a reliable signal about 50m from the house, or from one window within when the weather was cloudy.

Yea I was just checking the virginmobile coverage and it reckons it has excellent coverage in Looe Bay....although I was dubious.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Yea it is for a laptop how does one go about 'tethering' a smartphone and laptop?

Not done it pesonally, but I think you just set your mobile as a mini-wifi router gving it a name and security, and get your laptop to connect to it. It would use your contract data allowance though.

My colleague does it from his HTC to use his iPad that doesn't have 3G.

 

[brunswick]

tip....if using too much credit, turn off all images on your browser.....then you will use hardly any bytes.....no need for pics if doing emails etc.

 

[JBizzleBeard]

Not done it pesonally, but I think you just set your mobile as a mini-wifi router gving it a name and security, and get your laptop to connect to it. It would use your contract data allowance though.

My colleague does it from his HTC to use his iPad that doesn't have 3G.

I shall do some research on this methinks. Thanks TD.

 

[JBizzleBeard]

tip....if using too much credit, turn off all images on your browser.....then you will use hardly any bytes.....no need for pics if doing emails etc.

Gnarly advice. Danke!

 

[clippedgull]

How about just going on holiday and enjoy your time away from the Internet.

 

[JBizzleBeard]

How about just going on holiday and enjoy your time away from the Internet.

Oh I will be doing that for sure. BUT this is the UK and we all know what the weather can be like etc. I also have a 14 year old daughter....

 

[clippedgull]

I also have a 14 year old daughter....

No more needs to be said Phone welded to hand i'm sure!

 

[JBizzleBeard]

No more needs to be said Phone welded to hand i'm sure!

Haha pretty much

 

[Worthingite]

The only thing about "tethering" is that most phone providers look very dimly on it, and penalize you (and with some providers even suspend your data receiving). If you do it, don't be surprised to find a whopping great big phone bill at the end of the month

It will probably be far cheaper to buy a PAYG dongle, lob a tenner credit on it whenever you use it and leave it in a drawer for the rest of the year

 

[NS Herald]

I've got a Three Mi-Fi 'thingy' and think it's brilliant. Can take it with me where ever I go and get a great signal.

Tried Vodafone before that and it was useless and took it straight back.

 

[JBizzleBeard]

Thanks all of ya

 

[severnside gull]

I use 3 for mobile broadband in the west country but my advice is, before you buy, go to Curry's or PC World in the town you are staying in and they will tell you what works and what doesn't in the specific area. As there is a lot going on in Albionland I'd get a 3 megabyte dongle (cost you about £30) so you don't run out of juice and have to piss about with a top-up while you're in the middle of something

 

[binky]

This.
I use a vodafone dongle. It's pretty good in Brighton, London, Newcastle, (and I assume, other metropolitan areas).
In Devon and Cornwall 2 years ago it was utterly useless. I could only get partial connectivity even in the larger towns.
In the cottage we were staying, I simply could not connect. (Even thouh my mobile phone worked fine for voice).