FREE Pay As You Go broadband dongle

Jemma-T

Donnie wrote: »

I use IE 8.
I made my order on the 9th

So you admit it was your fault. Using IE8 to enter unsecure information is plainly stupid. You should of checked. You else can check this?

Blaming other people and letting your bank sort it out is very easy.

I still doubt this was to blame for the fraud but it is possible since you openly gave away your (formerly) private information on an unsecured network (nothing to do with firewalls or security on your PC). Not very sensible.

marvin

Sounds like this dongle works like the 02 one and will pick up on any free wifi available in the area without cost or top up.

buglawton

If I see http on a page asking for credit card no. I assume the co. has no concern for security and therefore will be sloppy about it in other ways.

However let's not overrate the https bit at the front of a address meaning the page is encrypted. It's perfectly possible for such a page to be secure in itself, however the storage of your details on the co's servers is totally insecure anyway. Apart from Airlines and v. large companies, I always insist on using Paypal or phone the card details through (even if their payment page 'looks' secure). Some co's lost my custom this way as they could not manage phone payments.

Jemma-T

buglawton wrote: »

I always insist on using Paypal or phone the card details through (even if their payment page 'looks' secure). .

And? Those 2 options have people who will then possess your info and enter it either manually or have access to pens and paper. PayPal have had (and still have) problems with their security and deny things for months until -eventually- they fix their problems.

Internet HTTPS via PGP is an amazingly secure transaction which has some great technology behind it. It is completely secure if it's used correctly.

Not that anyone would be dumb enough to enter their details on a page they knew was unsecure but it could happen. As I said you can have the best security on your house in the world. 3m thick walls, 50 Yale locks, boarded up windows, alarms, CCTV etc etc. But none of it matters a jot if you leave your front door wide open.

People have trojan ridden malwared PCs even though they have Norton, McAfee, Windows Defender, fully updated etc etc. Why? Because they willingly bypass all that to open a file without thinking.

jonathanbriggs

This exchange is getting a little abusive - and off-topic.

The security of the site may be questionable - but the warnings have been given, and stressed, repeatedly.

The consequences may, or may not, be a problem but you two (Jemima and Donnie) arguing about it isn't helping...

Forum rules apply - be NICE to moneysavers.

quoia

marvin wrote: »

Sounds like this dongle works like the 02 one and will pick up on any free wifi available in the area without cost or top up.

I think you may be under some misapprehension.

This 3 dongle, and for that matter the O2 dongle, does not support WiFi.

At the end of the day the dongle is a mobile phone minus screen, keypad, microphone, speaker etc. and connects to network cells in much the same way, just using a data service on a different set of frequencies, and it is incapable of communicating with a IEEE 802.11 standard WiFi/WLAN. A totally different wireless beast.

The "FREE" WiFi that comes with O2 has nothing to do with the dongle at all and connects via the WiFi transceiver built into your laptop/netbook (or any WiFi dongle/PCMCIA card or similar that is fitted) assuming that you have got one of some sort.

It utilises "The Cloud" , a partner of O2 that provides WiFi in airports, railway stations and businesses (like McDonalds, Wetherspoons etc.) all over the country, and whilst you subscribe to O2 Mobile Broadband they allow unlimited free access to this WiFi service.

Access to The Cloud is already free in quite a few locations and businesses but generally it is restricted (sometimes you can reach a selection of related websites / services for free) and you gain access by buying the relevant business products/services or just pay for a fixed time/data allowance.

I've read somewhere in the last week or two (sadly I can't find the actual reference) that this 3 dongle does allow a connection to be established, PRIOR to adding a PAYG voucher (perhaps after one has ran or timed out), specifically to allow access to the my3.co.uk site, where you manage the top-ups etc.
Perhaps it's not quite as restricted as suggested ?

quoia

Just as a matter of interest ....

As I said earlier, I've got a 3 contract that provided a Huawei E160G dongle.

This also has a MicroSD slot for up to a 4gb card.

Next to the flap where this goes in, there is another much smaller flap which conceals a small co-ax connector.

This is for an external antenna to increase signal strength if required.

Does the ZTE MF627 have one ?

mr_bridger_2

quoia wrote: »

This is for an external antenna to increase signal strength if required.

Does the ZTE MF627 have one ?

Nope..... afraid not..

and with regards to the "free" access, it does seem to stop after about 15mb. and theres no onboard wifi either,

HTH

jonathanbriggs

A read of the blurb that comes with the dongle seems to answer the 'free' initial use question:

The Pay As You Go leaflet states "Before you can use mobile broadband you'll need to top-up your USB modem with some credit".

BUT

The "Welcome to 3" leaflet says "Your SIM is loaded with data and ready to use.... You won't need to top-up until your data or time allowance runs out"

So, there is a clear hint that there is some free time already loaded - but no indication of how much.

studioeng

Just wanted to say thanks to asset2004, I ordered one of the modems and it arrived 2 days later. It arrived with all the PMicro logo and stamp on the packaging, fully invoiced from PMicro. I'm checking my account regularly for any strange transactions, but so far everything seems to be okay.