T-Mobile 3G Card - questions!

tim_n

I've been thinking about equiping one or more of my laptops with a 3g card for personal surfing at work. I generally like to sit on MSE forums all day, though I do work lots (honest boss!) we get monitored on the amount of time a window is open!

t-mobile seem the cheapest right now for a 12 month tarrif (I'll have to pay for the card however! £59!

The tarrif is £19.99 a month and I can get £72ish back from quidco - is this worth a go do you recon?

Does anyone regularly use MSN on this service?

Is there anyone cheaper? or less limited (2gb cap) for just a tiny bit more?

Tim_L

I have a T Mobile card, and also a Vodafone card.

The T-Mobile has wifi and 3G on the £20 a month deal - coverage is very patchy though and the software has a tendency to go out to lunch for periods (I think when compressing jpegs on the fly). This isn't a big issue for most people I suspect, but irritating. The switch from 3G to GPMS or whatever it is takes a while too. You wouldn't use this as a main broadband connection unless living in Central London, but it's a useful backup. Get an antenna too (but they're surprisingly hard to find).

Subjectively Vodafone seems a bit more reliable, but no wifi. I have this on a PAYG deal which is horrendously expensive (£2 a meg) so it's my backup of last resort.

BarGin

You could pick up a used 3g phone on ebay quite cheaply and use it with a T-Mobile PAYG sim card (50p) which would give you unlimited 3g access for £1 on the days you used it.

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/Dispatcher?pf=Pay+as+you+go&nmid=pas_pp_plan_payg_details&ppid=26&nmid2=ctl_pas_pp_details&menuid=ctl_pas_pp_change_plan&chosenPricePlan=payg

BarGin

tim_n

That's true BarGin but I was told that the £1per day was handsets only and not to be connected to PCs? Otherwise a good idea! is there no restrictions?

tim_n

*Web 'n' walk terms and conditions
Compatible handset required. £1 maximum daily charge applies to Mates Rates, Everyone and Text Appeal customers. Charges of 0.73p per KB applies until £1 per day (midnight to midnight) is spent. If you have already spent £1 and you browse for a continuous period from before midnight to after midnight, all of that period will be charged at the new day’s rate of 0.73p per KB. Not applicable to connection via CSD. Additional charges apply for use outside the UK.

Fair use policy applies. To ensure a high quality of service for all our customers, the web 'n' walk service is not to be used for other activities such as (but not limited to): modem access for computers, internet based video/audio streaming services, peer to peer file sharing, internet based video downloads and internet based telephony. If such use is detected, notice may be given, after which network protection controls may be applied which will result in a reduced speed of transmission.

Tim_L

£20 a month is a bargain by any standards, particularly given the Quidco cashback - I went for the 18 month deal myself and got a free card, though for some reason I have a credit for the cost of this on my bill too (not complaining).

I do possibly have an unusual situation in that I trade bets online - loss of connection is potentially extremely expensive and well worth the monthly fee to guard against that (in fact I was without broadband for a week a month or two back and the T-Mobile paid for itself completely in a couple of days). But I think even without this as justification it's an excellent deal, especially if you travel at all.

BarGin

tim_n wrote:

That's true BarGin but I was told that the £1per day was handsets only and not to be connected to PCs? Otherwise a good idea! is there no restrictions?

If they catch you out just get another sim card - at 50p a throw it's not a big loss.

BarGin

tim_n

True I guess - unless they bar the phone from the network and I loose credit on the phone = ) But point taken. I could save a little money over a contract but I'd also have to keep a phone charged too.

brettles

BarGin wrote:

You could pick up a used 3g phone on ebay quite cheaply and use it with a T-Mobile PAYG sim card (50p) which would give you unlimited 3g access for £1 on the days you used it.

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/Dispatcher?pf=Pay+as+you+go&nmid=pas_pp_plan_payg_details&ppid=26&nmid2=ctl_pas_pp_details&menuid=ctl_pas_pp_change_plan&chosenPricePlan=payg

BarGin

For us technically illiterate could you explain this please. Are you saying you can connect the phone to your PC and use it as (3G) modem?

But to the Sim card you have to give them your CC details so won't they know an just bill you?

BarGin

brettles wrote:

For us technically illiterate could you explain this please. Are you saying you can connect the phone to your PC and use it as (3G) modem?

But to the Sim card you have to give them your CC details so won't they know an just bill you?

As long as the phone has an inbuilt modem (most 3g phones have).

BarGin

tim_n

Brettles - you don't need to top up via CC you can do this using a top up card in a store using cash. Or buy vouchers and do it the old fashioned way = )