Dongles!?!?!
 

Can anyone in the UK advise please?
I believe that's the term they go by; the USB modems for internet access.
Well; I need a good one & for the last 18 months I've had one of those pcmcia cards from T mobile thats been as much use as a chocolate fireguard!
Can anyone recommend a reliable one; I need it mainly for accessing our head office accounting system quickly when in front of customers?
I have a leaflet from O2 in front of me & it talks of 3GB of usage included in the price, (£20 per month). What exactly (& simply) does this 3GB mean?
Thanks,
Al.:confused:

I am anything BUT an expert but having had the same problem I found:-
1. The 3 GB is the ammount you can download for a given price or in a given
period of time i.e. if it's 3GB per month then you can download 3GB in
that month. This is plenty for anything other than downloading films or
games etc.
2.I went for the '3' (Three) dongle as it was (and still is to my knowledge) the only one that you can have on a month by month basis i.e. you don't have a contract so you can use it for 30 days then not bother for 2 months then top up for another 30 days. This costs £10.00 for 30 days/3GB-anything not used in the 30 days is lost-you can't take it over into the next month. This does me as I don't need it every month-only when I'm on holiday etc.

If you are going to use it every month then go for contract as it's the same price but you don't have to remember to top up every month.

Hope this helps

Cheers David; will put the "3" in the eqation now.
Thanks again,
Al.

All the main mobile players have this same 30 day option.
I was looking into getting a vodafone usb dongle, with a £15 per 30 day usage pay as u go arrangement for upto 3gigabytes download limit....for similar reasons, plus who's to say what deals will be on tommorrow?!
From the research I've done, and the hype I've read, if you're an occasional - light- medium user, the '3' network looks to be the one to go for, (which I've ordered, as I only need to wire a few pictures occasionally). £10 per month 30day/1gb limit, £15 30day/3gb limit or £25 30day/7gb limit. Which is nice for '3' network to offer the choice you can make each month. £1 per mb charge is made if you go over your limit though!!!
Heavy / highest speed usage looks to be best served by Vodafone (who I would be using now, had the order not be screwed up and customer services been useless...hence me giving up and redeciding '3')

If you do go for a contract one, the best priced was provided by T-mobile when I last looked on their website, 99p for the first 6 months, followed by £7.50 for 9 months, then £15 each month thereafter for a minimum 18 month contract.....deals are changing by the day though!
Personally I have more confidence in either Vodafone or '3' in terms of network coverage in Mainland UK.

One thing also...you get your modem 'free' with a contract. pay as u go 30 day options require you to buy the modem. '3' option has the E220 or E160G types...the later being the nicer 'pen drive' design, E220 has a separate lead. Maybe annoying if using with a laptop?

I've spent a while (too long) looking through the options for mobile broadband...it's a bit of a minefield I'd have to admit!

Thanks Joe; very detailed.. my experience is that Voda & O2 have a better coverage although that looks a tempting offer from T mobile.. I'll keep you posted of what I go for.
Cheers again..
Al.

I have had a three mobile dongle for about four months and whilst having reservations over their network coverage I can inform you that in only one location did not not connect although a signal was present.

I use the mobile BB only when away and I have used it in all four corners of the country mainly in travel lodge type locations.

At times bandwidth is great with over 1Mbit/s but often can slow to a crawl at busy times but its better than nothing.

Some USB BB modems have memory card slots to turn them into USB flash drives. Mine is a E160 and I have yet to get a micro SD card and give it a go!

Well; the boss got involved..!..conclusion..we'll do without..!..ah well.!.reasoning behind it is that "3" apparently is cr..err.. not good in the sheffield neck of the woods going by mobile phone reception referrals..the boss managed to get a T mobile card on 1 month trial & subsequently binned the idea after trying it out in various locations for 3 days..
Thanks for the feedback guys but alas..it's online via the free motorway service area connections for a good while I think whilst 'on the road'..!:rolleyes:
Cheers again..
Al.