Best Pay As You Go Mobile Broadband Dongle?

middlepuss

At the moment I pay £10 a month for an Orange dongle but the contract is coming to an end. I don't use it very often.

Ideally I'd like a PAYG dongle where I buy, say, 3GB of download that can be used at any time over the next year. But ones I've looked at say you have to use it within a month (or lose it) and it's difficult to find out how much the top ups are and whether you have to top up every month.

Has anyone got a PAYG laptop dongle? Any recommendation or suggestions?

Nick1986ukmids

MiFi are good on three 3g is perfect for me and really fast too. prices vary what you like to spend

I have had vodafone dongle on pay as you go put they are cheap made dongles and they are not very good as always lag and disconnect after 5 mins and says local only.

t-mobile are good on 3g too always get 3g where ever i traval.

o2 i cant say as never had 1.

hope that helps.

dawyldthing

i've used 3 in several places and it throws you off every now and again, but most of the time its alright

middlepuss

Ah, or even this:

Buy an O2 dongle SIM from Amazon (to go into the dongle I already have) for £3.49 http://www.amazon.co.uk/02-MOBILE-BROADBAND-SIM-CARD/dp/B001PSF952/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

and then buy 1GB which lasts for 30 days for £10 whenever I need to use the dongle http://shop.o2.co.uk/promo/o2mobilebroadband/tab/Pay_and_Go

Is that going to work?

robin_banks

middlepuss wrote: »

This one from 3 would be ideal: £80, 12GB and lasts for a whole year. http://threestore.three.co.uk/payg/dealsummary.aspx?offercode=DSLPP506

Perfect - except I've heard that 3's coverage is patchy. Is that so?

I've used one in central London and in the east mids.

Quicker in the mids tbh but overall not bad at all.

bubieyehyeh

middlepuss wrote: »

This one from 3 would be ideal: £80, 12GB and lasts for a whole year. http://threestore.three.co.uk/payg/dealsummaut ry.aspx?offercode=DSLPP506

Interesting deal from three, but its not clear from the website, how long further top-up last for, looks like it might be only 30days.

middlepuss

Having been right round the houses I've ended up where I started - with Orange.

I rang them and said I was ending my dongle contract because I didn't use the dongle very much and had found a PAYG deal at half the price with another company. And Orange said since you don't use anything like the amount of data you're entitled to if you stay with us we'll let you have it for half price.

Nice. Thank you Orange.

middlepuss

Darn, darn, darn.

Having just renewed my dongle contract with Orange I've discovered, via another thread, eBay deals like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-MOBILE-BROADBAND-SIM-CARD-3G-E160-E1550-3GB-DATA-INC-/290505783263?pt=UK_Computing_LaptopAccessories_PCMCIACards&hash=item43a37e77df

This SIM gives you 3GB and 3 months to use it in. The 3 months starts from when you first use it. Would have been perfect for me! Darn.

Ah well, I'll know next time.

stilltheone

I'm sure that you have the opportunity to cancel the contract. There is probably a 'cooling off' period.

There are probably even cheaper deals than the one's that I suggested earlier.

bargainhunter1980

i've going nuts looking for a good deal on broadband. i did consider the mifi from 3 but they dont specifiy the standby time. also 'which?' have given it a bad review! this really is a nightmare. probably going to settle with t-mobile as i already have a contract line with them. they're offering unlimited downloads subject to a fair user policy for £10 per month for the first three months and then £15 thereafer. to be honest even 'Three' are dong the same deal but i just think that t-mobile may have the better reception. especially as they are now part of orange.

oh and regarding the cooling off period, i had a friend who renewed his mobile phone contract over the phone and got a discountoff his line rental instead of a phone, and they said there is no cooling off period as he has already experienced their service. if you do manage to get away with it then please let us know!

thanks!

middlepuss

stilltheone wrote: »

I'm sure that you have the opportunity to cancel the contract. There is probably a 'cooling off' period.

After some sums I decided not to cancel the Orange dongle contract.

It was an 18 month contract and it's half way through and part of the deal they've given me is that they are halving the cost for the remaining 9 months of the existing contract. So I will let the contract run its course then buy sims from eBay which are amazingly cheap. A 1GB 30 day sim sells for about £2.25 - one even went for £1.99 a couple of days ago.