Which mobile broadband

Gary Coyle

Gary Coyle

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checked the broadband genie website and user reviews from all camps totally slate every single mobile broadband supplier, surely they all cant be as bad.

Really wanting any info from anyone who mainly uses it in the west Yorkshire and Lancashire areas, ie Leeds, Huddersfield, Halifax, Oldham, Rochdale, Wigan, Wakefield, in other words in and around all the Rugby League towns.

Who do you use, what package do you use and how reliable and how fast is it

Thanks
 
FWIW I used T-mobile and Three in London & Kent. The only place I had decent throughput was with t-mobile within my employers offices, and that was because they had their own transmitters within the building.

Approach it on the basis that it will be utter tosh.
 
wack61 said:
you can get a 3 mobile dongle free from the link below

http://www.3dongle4free.co.uk/
i've been using it for a couple of months and it's OK pretty much everywhere i've tried it in the UK, mostly high population areas though.
Click to expand...

Can you clarify what the charges are? There is nothing on that site or the terms and conditions, apart from it is available to pay-as-you-go customers who upgrade. If you are not already a pay-as-you-go customer of three, do you need to then request a SIM card, and pay £5 per month (+£10 a month to keep the card active?)?? Is there a cost per MB?
 
wack61 said:
you can get a 3 mobile dongle free from the link below
£4.95 PNP

http://www.3dongle4free.co.uk/

i've been using it for a couple of months and it's OK pretty much everywhere i've tried it in the UK, mostly high population areas though.

a few people on other forums have used the handset internet sims in laptops without a problem

http://www.three.co.uk/Pay_As_You_Go/Do_more_with_Add_ons
Click to expand...

My vote goes for this, and use the £5 a month add on, unlimited use.

I live out in the sticks in wales, I get 20k out and about in the hills on 2G = 4X dial-up speed. its a real bargain:clap:
 
coldpenguin said:
Can you clarify what the charges are? There is nothing on that site or the terms and conditions, apart from it is available to pay-as-you-go customers who upgrade. If you are not already a pay-as-you-go customer of three, do you need to then request a SIM card, and pay £5 per month (+£10 a month to keep the card active?)?? Is there a cost per MB?
Click to expand...


All you need is a 3 sim to put in your dongle, add some credit to it, than add the monthly Internet add on option for £5,...... the £5 a month is the only charge you get,......... if you need it again the next month just buy the add on again for £5, and your good to go for another month.

It works. :)
 
Xup said:
All you need is a 3 sim to put in your dongle, add some credit to it, than add the monthly Internet add on option for £5,...... the £5 a month is the only charge you get,......... if you need it again the next month just buy the add on again for £5, and your good to go for another month.

It works. :)
Click to expand...

That's all you need to know :)
 
One of the guys I work with just got a Vodafone dongle, cost him £45 but the credit stays on there for 6 months providing he uses it. If he doesn't use all the credit in 6 months, provided he has used the dongle in that time the credit carries over. A much better deal IMO than these ones you have to top up evvery month but then it depends what you are using it for, as an infrequent business traveller it seems like a great deal to me, much better than paying for hotel internet.
 
Gary Coyle said:
Cheers so far guys, as i currently dont have or want a mobile then this option is out for me isnt it????
Click to expand...


you get the free dongle, put the sim in it, register for mobile internet @ £5 a month then plug the dongle in your laptop and it works, not supposed to but it does.
 
I got one of these :

http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mob...&WT.mc_id=DGM-01-03-2007-D010&WT.mc_evt=click

When I was looking at mobile broadband I found this option was not the cheapest for the GB's down loaded, however there is no contract and no expiry date on the top ups, which is great for me as I am a light user.
As I have a wireless laptop, this is only used on the few occasions I cannot get onto a wireless network, I will then fire this up to go on line. I have found good connection speeds as it will use either the GPRS or 3G net work depending where you are.
If you are using mobile broadband all the time this would not be a good option, a monthly contract would be way cheaper!
I hope this helps
 
Might go for one of those 3 SIM's myself in that case..seems a good deal!
 
make sure you have the coverage as 3 in my area showed full on the website , it was far from it. very very slow speeds
 
I got both a vodafone and a t-mobile stick after looking in to PAYG mobile broadband.

The vodafone costs £15 per GB and the topup doesn't expire as long as you use it every 90 days.

The t-mobile costs £2 a day and provided you use it once every 90days the topup keeps the account live.

O2 did a similar deal a fixed amount a day when you use it. 3 and Orange do 30 day for a set GB size on a use it or loose it basis.
 
Don't suppose any of these would work as broadband in the US?
(I am guessing it would be V expensive, even if they did support the different frequency)
 
coldpenguin said:
Can you clarify what the charges are? There is nothing on that site or the terms and conditions, apart from it is available to pay-as-you-go customers who upgrade. If you are not already a pay-as-you-go customer of three, do you need to then request a SIM card, and pay £5 per month (+£10 a month to keep the card active?)?? Is there a cost per MB?
Click to expand...

On the 3 PAYG mobile broadband package....you top-up £10, which gives you 1GB data allowance that is valid for 30 days. Alternatively you can buy a 'pre-topped up' pay as you go dongle with 3GB data valid for 3 months, or 12 GB of data that is valid for 12 months.

£5 a month mobile internet add-on on your handset is NOT an unlimited mobile broadband data allowance. It's just for browsing from your phone, it's not for using to surf the net via a mobile broadband dongle.
 
I had Orange for a year and tried to use it both here in the UK and abroad at the moment its pretty much useless unless you live and or wish to use it in a large city or around the M4 corridor. Save your money and sign up for one of the many 'hot spot' services that and get a list of all the McDonalds as its free across Europe at the Golden Arches :D
 
I don't think any of the mobile broadband options perform at the speeds mentioned, landlines usually don't so I can't see mobile been any different

I use the T-Mobile PAYG, I don't need it often so the £2/day suits me best..it's o.k, not great speeds

Simon
 
Watch out for T-mobile mobile broadband if you're a mac user. Most images/photos get compressed so you'll find looking at photos online will come out slightly pixelated. In some cases you can remedy this by pressing Shift-R, but very irritating nevertheless. And I'm stuck in a contract with them for 18-months! :razz:
 
ekimeno said:
Watch out for T-mobile mobile broadband if you're a mac user. Most images/photos get compressed so you'll find looking at photos online will come out slightly pixelated. In some cases you can remedy this by pressing Shift-R, but very irritating nevertheless. And I'm stuck in a contract with them for 18-months! :razz:
Click to expand...

Same thing happens with Vodaphone and orange I'm afraid, is to speed page loading and happens in windows too.

T-Mobile user here and actually think it's quite good in populated regions, can get a little strangled on match days but on the whole has been consistently OK :thumbs:
 
Interesting reading, I have heard of some nightmare charges from some dongle users that have been in contracts, the 3 sims sound so easy, have requested my freebie.

thanks
 
Although not totally the right way to do it, but i use my phone, i have unlimited mobile internet included on my contract, very rarly i use it(on the phone or a laptop) so i dont see it being too much of a problem as im not abusing the system(only when im away on hols etc... for an hour or so a day max). isnt worth buying the dongle etc or topping it up for what i use
 
You'll get away with using your phone as a 3G/HSDPA modem if you only use it occasionally for fairly light browsing. Start downloading fairly heavy content and you'll soon get picked up.

And as regards speed, the numbers quoted are obviously a theoretical maximum throughput. In reality, the speed you get will be much much slower, even with a perfect signal, and the data delivery isn't ideal for streaming, as it's sent in bursts.

I've got several dongles and accounts, one a friend uses for general internet browsing and the odd download, instead of a home broadband connection, and typically uses around 500mb per month, so well within the 1GB for £10 that 3 offer on PAYG.
 
I've used 3 and Vodafone mobile broadband all over the country. Although I wouldn't be without it I am suprised how often I don't get a 3G or faster signal. It is convenient and useful but I've found either company has loads of bad receoption areas even in town and cities, on industrial estates, motorway services etc. Sometimes it's just a case of moving a few hundred metres or to another office or something but overall I'm amazed how often there is no signal.

Just to clarify I'm not talking about standard phone signal which seems to work in most places particularly with vodafone and will still allow you to connect your laptop or whatever but obviously at a slower speed.
 
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