free mobile broadband dongle????

FirstTimer4Me

i should start y saying i know nothing about computers or technology so hope the experts here can assist me

i posted in the internet forum and receved this advice

asbokid wrote: »

What about getting a free mobile broadband dongle for 'Three' that Martin Lewis has advertised in his emails?

There are quite a few messages about the dongle in this Mobile Phone forum...

There is no contract, no strings, it is just PAYG. Top it up with the minimum £10. See what Three's coverage is like in your area. If it is poor then unlock it (for free) and try it with one of the other network providers!!

what i need is this "free mobile broadband dongle" tbh i'm confused what i actually need

if ut;s free why are shops like o2 / carphone warehouse / phones4u saying i have to pay £15.00pm

i want to get mobile bb set up on my laptop tomorrow (sunday) if possible so any advice asap will be much thanked.

S3quence

The free 3g card offer looks like it has expired http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/cheap-mobile-broadband#payg

I was looking at these today actually. Basically all the providers offer this service for £15 a month with a free dongle. For the pay as you go you have to buy the dongle and then costs are in the region of £2 a day, £7.50 a week and £15 a month for (500mb, 1GB and 3GB respectively). This is the option I am going for as I only need it when im on call and not at home

S3quence

http://shop.o2.co.uk/promo/o2mobilebroadband/tab/Pay_and_Go

macman

PAYG dongles are around £30-50 normally. Any 'free' dongle is simply being subsidised by the higher cost of buying the data allowance.
So the dongle might be initially free, but you'll soon pay the true cost back in higher data costs.
However for infrequent users PAYG is obviously better than a monthly contract.

FirstTimer4Me

ta for the advice so far

someone posyed on my other thread o2 was poor

the other issue i have my credit rating is very very poor i doubt i'd pass a credit check

what i actually want is payg £15-00 pm which will allow around 200 hours surfing, i'm willing to pay more if i need to as i work nights so want the macjine for suring around 10 hours per night.

i don't so games / music on the machine

macman

How can you get PAYG for £15pm? If you want a monthly fee you need a contract dongle, which will probably require a credit check.
A PAYG dongle just gives you the dongle, you then buy whatever data you require and top up when necessary, like a PAYG phone.
The O2 PAYG offer posted above will give you only 3GB lasting 30 days, given your intensive usage I doubt that is enough.

S3quence

You can get the PAYG dongle and then pay £15 for a months worth of usage (which is the same as paying for the monthly contract broadband) the disaadvantage being you have to pay for the dongle in the first place (£30 for o2) but the advantage is the month starts from when you pay for it and you can obviosly choose not to pay anything the following month if you see fit

This suits me fine as I do remote IT support and only need to use it occasionally as I can generally do it from home, its just handy to have if I want to go out and get called. The company do provide one but this is shared between all the on call engineers so you have to hand it over on the friday when you finish being on call and the other person or yourself are more often than not in the office! I just decided to get the PAYG one as i wont mind paying the £2 day tariff the odd few occasions i need to use it plus its handy to have if you go to hotels / visiting freinds etc. and they dont have internet

S3quence

Ha, macman I think u edited as I replied

Yes 10hrs a day does seem excessive for PAYG. The £15 contracts and the PAYG £15 option are for £3g a month, which you will exceed, and the costs after that get steep! 20p per MB

If you use that much may be worth the higher contracts which involve a credit check

FirstTimer4Me

hiya

sorry if i sound stupid but this is where i'm confused

macman wrote: »

How can you get PAYG for £15pm?

I spoke to o2 / carphone warehoue / phones4u, they all said i coudl pay £15.00 pm on a rolling 30 day contract and top it up by another £15.00 throughout the month if i need to.

i explained to them all about my credit status which is why they all suggested £15.00 on a 39 day rolling contract

does that make sense? as i find igt all so confusing

oh btw, o2 mentioned if i take the above deal i will havie to pay around £58.00 for something but i cannot remember what it was for!!

i'd like to get this set up tomorrow if possible but i need to know what i to ask for 1st

macman

Agreed, I have a similar deal on 3. It's very useful if you're on the move only certain weeks in the year as you can just purchase the top up to suit.
But if I was surfing 10 hours a night I would be very worried about what data charges I was spending every month! Mobile broadband is not really suitable for intensive use.

FirstTimer4Me

S3quence wrote: »

20p per MB

1 of the stores mentioned about that, they quoted 19.9 MB if i'm correct.