Pay as you go internet

the_one_n_only

Hi Everyone,

I need a little advise please. I am going away on holiday and would like to take my laptop with me to use the internet.

As i have an internet connection at home, i have been looking into the pay as you go option. Chances are i will only use the pay as you go internet for around 2 weeks in a whole year.

I have been searching the internet and have found a few options. It does look like you have to fork out quite a bit for the dongle to start with. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where i should look and if you have any experiences of a good provider?

Thanks in advance

PlutoinCapricorn

Where are you going? Many places have WiFi now, often free.

the_one_n_only

It is a cottage in Devon! So i guess it will be raining most of the week and i was thinking the pay as you go dongle would be a good bet. Unfortunately, i have no experience of them?

benjus

As mentioned, check with the owner if WiFi is available, as this would probably be the best option.

If it's a rural area it's probably worth checking which networks have 3G coverage - you don't want to pay for a dongle and then get stuck with GPRS or no signal at all.

For occasional use Vodafone is a good option, as the top-ups don't expire - a dongle with some allowance (1GB, I think) costs about £40.

Three has a special offer (http://www.3dongle4free.co.uk/) where you can get a dongle for £5. You will then have to buy a top-up (1GB for £10, 3GB for 15) to use it. Alternatively, you can get a standard Three PAYG SIM card (i.e. one intended for use in a mobile phone, not a dongle) and buy the "unlimited" internet add-on for £5 per month. As usual, a fair usage policy applies to this - I think it's 1GB but I'm not 100% sure.

Yet another option which has been discussed a lot but which I've yet to try is to get an O2 dongle (or a dongle from another network that's been unlocked) and buy a SIM card for an iPhone (e.g. from ebay) - these give "unlimited" internet for a year for a one-off top-up of £10. I'm not sure what "unlimited" actually means, but if you download huge amounts of data you'll probably get the service cut off.

deanos

I thought people go on holiday to get away from things like the internet !

macman

In rural Devon you will not be guaranteed a 3G signal. The towns will generally be OK. Without 3G you will be on dial up speeds.