reducing mobile broadband usage?

jassi_9

Hi i have a vodafone mobile broadband dongle, pre-loaded with 1GB to use...

i only want to use this dongle to access gambling websites, and obviously i want to use as little of that 1GB as possible (as its £15 per 1gb there after)

i went onto the vodafone website and it recieved something like 2.26mb within less than a minute?! and betfair was 1mb in no time at all too.....at this rate my 1gb will disapear very soon!

is there anything i can do to stop the dongle sending out and receiving so much data, when accessing most sites?

i am using Internet Explorer but would be open to try other browsers if it might help....

any suggestions?

kwikbreaks

There is nothing really radical you can do to reduce usage other than spend less time on the sites. If sites carry advertising you could use FireFox with the adblock plus pugin. You could also take a look at OnSpeed which may save money depending on your total usage (it isn't free).

There are several alternate ways to save money here...

Use fixed broadband
Find free WiFi spots (but risky for conducting financial transactions or logging into your account).
Use contract mobile BB as it works out cheaper for regular use than PAYG.


Probably the biggest money saver would be to avoid online gambling

Dreamnine

Or use a program/add-on that disables flash - although that might render some site pointless.

davb

The trouble now with fast broadband being the norm, is that many things constantly check the net for updates, then download them - Windows, antivirus, acrobat, and lots more. You could disable these, but then you are losing your security.

web_ferret

Several things you can do, depends on how tech savvy you are.
Browsers
Firefox is a free download - Use the add on to block pictures

Opera is a free download
Use their turbo function to compress sites - This will halve your bandwidth use but it will be a little slower and some sites don't work fully with opera

Disable windows update and just do a manual check for updates when you are on another connection.

Dreamnine

Better still I'd suggest you ditch the dongle and tether to a mobile phone - both 3 and T-Mobile offer unlimited internet for £5 a month.

You're probably not meant to use it on a PC, but I do. Once you've gone over 1 or 2Gb (I forget which) with T-Mobile, it stops you downloading between 4pm and midnight. (You can still browse, send emails etc. at any time, and download outwith 4 and 12 each day for the rest of the month, just for £5.

My netbook accepts sim cards so it's easy for me, but any phone with 3g or HSPA will be fine.

With a dongle you're paying 3 times as much and more.

I've downloaded 100s of hours of iPlayer this way (my one vice.)

jassi_9

thanks for the suggestions...

kwikbreaks: i checked on speed its £25 for the year, but doesnt say how it works, anybody already use this?

i think i will try it via firefox with flash blocked and adblock, and block pictures. when i download from mozzila are all the add on's and blockers on the mozzila website?

web ferret: i will also try via opera and see which uses the most, thanks


Dreamnine: i am currently about to ditch virgin so i need a new contract, are you with t-mobile? as id be interested to know how it works?....do i just pay £5 ontop of line rental and then connect the phone to my pc via a cable and surf that way?....how do i get asigned an ipaddress like this, and what are the speeds like? i wont be downloading at all.....

thanks for all the help, much appreciated...

Dreamnine

Pay As You Go. I have an old 3 phone and a T-Mobile. I just top-up and buy the internet add-on, then I tether, or put the sim in my netbook.

With HSPA or 3.5G (same thing) it's as fast as mobile broadband speeds - they're effectively one and the same.

If you have a contract with 3 or T-mobile I assume you get so much free internet, anyway or can buy the same add-ons.

With my Nokia I use PC Suite which lets me connect to the internet. Other phones will have different software for connecting with your PC/laptop, but they're pretty easy to use.

4743hudsonj

I also tether using my Nokia N97 on vodafone and i have to say when on 3.5g i never drop below 2mbps speeds which is fast enough for everything but large video file downloads etc. i have actually topped 3.7mbps which must have been a fluke but hey!

Just be warned, i do believe every provider BUT vodafone actually prohibit tethering. And if they find out (which they have proven they can do) they will charge you for ALL of your data use in full, which at my rate would be £££, hence why im on vodafone.

RobTang

Most operators allow "teathering" (or basicly using your phone as your modem) on contract plans, PAYG usualy forbids it so im not really sure how they will back charge you.

There really is no differnce between using a phone and a dongle, it just comes down to what tarrif you're on.

jassi_9

Dreamnine wrote: »

Pay As You Go. I have an old 3 phone and a T-Mobile. I just top-up and buy the internet add-on, then I tether, or put the sim in my netbook.

With HSPA or 3.5G (same thing) it's as fast as mobile broadband speeds - they're effectively one and the same.

If you have a contract with 3 or T-mobile I assume you get so much free internet, anyway or can buy the same add-ons.

With my Nokia I use PC Suite which lets me connect to the internet. Other phones will have different software for connecting with your PC/laptop, but they're pretty easy to use.

tethering sounds good to me, i already have some t-mobile pay as you go sims, will these work, or do you need a special sim?

also what phone would i need, and will it all come with the software so i can just plug phone into pc, via cable, and then connect easily?

when you say you top up AND buy the internet add on......does this mean minimum £5 + £5 every month?

i think this is the way to go for me, could you alos check on your t-mobile, what your ip address is?......do you get the sameone everytime or is it a different one each time you re-connect?

thanks