Vodaphone 3G data cards

MortgageMamma

I have got one of these for free with my new laptop. I was a bit mortified to find out the usage with measured with download limits rather than time. This is all too much for me as I don't hve a clue about this stuff.

Can someone please indicate to me how I can calculate how much stuff I'm downloading? does browsing count as downloading? if so how much in megathingys or gigawotsits is a web page. Its on pay as you go but I want to know how long £20 top up will last me as I don't want to chance it running out mid-appointment with one of my clients.

MM

DonnyDave

The Vodafone software tells you how much you have downloaded.

headcovers

Try downloading NetMeter from this site It puts an icon in your taskbar which when clicked with the right button of your mouse will display exactly how much you have downloaded that day, that month, that year whatever you want. You can even set a limit on it so that it warns you when you are close to reaching it. I use it make sure I don't go over my 6GB limit with BT.

....and I also have a Vodafone 3G card....so I use it for that as well.

An Excellent tool!

xycom1

As said, you can check your usage level with the Vodafone dashboard software under (I think) the Usage tab at the top. Usually the SIM you get with the datacard is contract and billed monthly, but only for your usage (no minimum charge per month and no monthly charge).

When I worked for Orange, they used to say that 20 web pages = 1MB. But that's very rough and will depend on whether you download any files, how graphic intensive the page is, etc. Also stuff like Windows Update and Antivirus software updates can download in the background and add to your bill... (so disable all kinds of automatic updates before using a wireless product like the Vodafone 3G card)! MSN Messenger and other chat/IM programmes also send and receive a small amount of data at idle as well (even if you're not engaged in an active chat session).