What do I need to get internet anywhere on laptop?

mamazaac

My son tells me that it is possible to get something to plug into his laptop which will give him internet access in the same way as a mobile phone does, ie when you are not near a wireless connection that you can sign into. I told him this sounded like something which would have ongoing costs to access the web, but have had a quick look and saw item number 260610010950 on ebay which seems to suggest that this can be used with a phone sim card. Does this mean that if I put my sim card into it (on which I have free internet access), he would also get free internet access on his laptop? And, is this even the right thing that he needs?

Am going to Maplins later today, so would really be helpful if someone could give me the name of what I need so I can search for it on their website before I go and see if they are competitively priced there.

Many thanks in advance for any comments.

KingL

it's a mobile internet dongle. It's exactly what you describe (except you usually get a dedicated sim card to put in it and leave in it, I'm not sure it would work with your existing sim - so, yes, there would be a little extra cost). You can either get a monthly contract or a pay as you go, same as for phones. All the mobile phone providers have this kind of service. Take a look in the telecoms section of the forum (or I'm sure there will be an official MSE article on it on the main site.....)

edit: here's the MSE article on cheap mobile braodband generally. You want the section in it on 3G mobile broadband


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scottishblondie

I use my phone's sim card in my dongle - but only for very occasional light use. It's actually against the terms in my contract to use the card to access the internet on a computer in this way, and there is a risk that if they think you are doing it then AFAIK they can withdraw your services. So if your son wants to use this often and for anything more than checking emails, I would definitely get a dedicated mobile broadband sim card.

Inner_Zone

mamazaac wrote: »

but have had a quick look and saw item number 260610010950 on ebay which seems to suggest that this can be used with a phone sim card.

Don't buy that, its an old PCMCIA / GPRS modem it is not 3G. Not all laptops nowadays have PCMCIA slot and GPRS is slow same as dial up.

You can get a USB 3G dongle and SIM card on PAYG for about £20 and then pay from £2 daily, £7.50 weekly or £15 monthly depending on which network you choose. Which network you choose will depend on who has the best signal in the area you plan yo use it. Have a look in Argos or your local major supermarket.

gonzo127

as above check your mobile tarrif terms and condidtions and you will probably find your internet allowance on your mobile is only for your mobile and not to be used for a computer (lots of stories on the net about people racking up £'000s on their mobile bill because they beleived they could use there phones 'unlimited' internet on their computer)

anyways it is a mobile internet dongle you would need, and yes there will be ongoing costs on average it seems that £10 a month will get you 1GB of data allowance which is enough to do basic surfing (not you tube) and checking your emails but using it for anything else will quickly eat up the allowance

http://threestore.three.co.uk/broadband/
http://online.vodafone.co.uk/broadband/mobile-broadband
http://shop.o2.co.uk/promo/o2mobilebroadband/tab/1_month
http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-broadband/pay-per-day/
http://shop.orange.co.uk/shop/mobile-broadband/dongle?WT.svl=205

TwistedPsycho

scottishblondie wrote: »

I use my phone's sim card in my dongle - but only for very occasional light use.

I do something similar but take it one step further.

I connect my MOBILE to the laptop when I am on the road and use it as a modem. Many phones (such as my Nokia E-Series) are capable of that and in my case I can connect the laptop to mobile using etiher a USB cable or Bluetooth.

When I was away on courses I would do this for 2 or 3 hours a night monday to thursday for 8 or 9 weeks at a time, checking e-mail updating websites and catching up on facebook (the full one, not the "mobile" one) and have never reached my 500Mb "unlimited Internet" cap.

I now use it predominantly for about 1 hour surfing a day, plus hourly polling of my e-mail accounts and even play World of Warcraft for approx 15 hours (over 5 days) every month on it and still stuggle to get into the 400Mb region.

God bless my mobile provider..... until they work it out.

mamazaac

TwistedPsycho wrote: »

I do something similar but take it one step further.

I connect my MOBILE to the laptop when I am on the road and use it as a modem. Many phones (such as my Nokia E-Series) are capable of that and in my case I can connect the laptop to mobile using etiher a USB cable or Bluetooth.

When I was away on courses I would do this for 2 or 3 hours a night monday to thursday for 8 or 9 weeks at a time, checking e-mail updating websites and catching up on facebook (the full one, not the "mobile" one) and have never reached my 500Mb "unlimited Internet" cap.

I now use it predominantly for about 1 hour surfing a day, plus hourly polling of my e-mail accounts and even play World of Warcraft for approx 15 hours (over 5 days) every month on it and still stuggle to get into the 400Mb region.

God bless my mobile provider..... until they work it out.

Thank you to everyone for their replies. My son only wants to use this very rarely, for example when we go away next week (within UK) as, when we are home, he can connect wirelessly to our home pc modem anyway. Looking at the above post, hopefully wouldn't get caught out using my phone sim. I have a usb lead for my phone and it also has bluetooth, but not sure if the laptop has bluetooth. Presuming I connect it with the usb lead, what do I have to do to tell the laptop to use the internet connection through the phone please, or will it just do it automatically? Sorry to be a bit 'thick', but technology is moving way too fast for me to keep up!

TwistedPsycho

What brand/model of phone is it?
Then we can give you proper answers.

aerostar

Have you checked around your trips location for free wireless access ?, McDonalds have free wireless, coffee shops, pubs etc. If you are staying at a hotel or B&B then they may offer free access.

Use Google search for free wifi uk, there are a number of sites.

mamazaac

TwistedPsycho wrote: »

What brand/model of phone is it?
Then we can give you proper answers.

Sorry, should have said. Is a nokia 6730 classic and my contract is with tmobile.

mamazaac

aerostar wrote: »

Have you checked around your trips location for free wireless access ?, McDonalds have free wireless, coffee shops, pubs etc. If you are staying at a hotel or B&B then they may offer free access.

Use Google search for free wifi uk, there are a number of sites.

Thank you for your reply. We are staying on a caravan site and am sure there is free wifi in the main entertainment building, but our caravan is right at the other end of the site, so will be easier to use my mobile.