SIM card dongles

spaceboy

I'd like to get a SIM card with mobile internet and use it with a SIM card dongle so I can use my laptop in hotels like Premier Inn or Travelodge without paying £5 for an hour for the hotel's WiFi.

Can any SIM card dongle be used with any SIM card? I have a giffgaff SIM which is supposed to be quite good so I guess I just need a dongle for it?

prowla

It might depend on the network - which network does gifgaf run on?

spaceboy

prowla wrote: »

It might depend on the network - which network does gifgaf run on?

O2 I think.

shaun_from_Africa

If you were to buy a dongle from one of the network providers, it would be locked in the same way that mobile phones often are.

What you need is something like one of these
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BLUE-Huawei-K3565-3G-mobile-broadband-dongle-UNLOCKED-/140510358379?pt=UK_Computing_LaptopAccessories_PCMCIACards&hash=item20b711eb6b


I have a similar one, and it was a doddle to install and set up, and I now use it for 02 in the UK, Go in Malta, and I was using it in Libya (but I doubt I will be needing that particular SIM card for a while).

It comes with preloaded software called "Mobile partner", which is easy to use, but you will need to find the internet configuration details for the newtork that you will be using. I found all the info I needed by doing a google.

spaceboy

Thanks, that one is too expensive though.

ManAtHome

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

If you were to buy a dongle from one of the network providers, it would be locked in the same way that mobile phones often are.

Dunno about other providers, but the two O2 ones I have weren't locked (Ovation 930 on contract, and Hauwei E160 bought as PAYG).

The O2 Connection Manager software works ok with non-O2 SIMs.

Richie-from-the-Boro

GiffGaff

Great for net use. They are not meant to be used for your main net connection [ mobile use ] but in a dongle that should be ok as long as you are not downloading movies!

Go to their site and order some sims, they piggyback on the o2 network so your dongle will do for the moment, get a £10 top up and activate the sim with that top up. after activation you can choose to use the £10 credit to buy a goodybag, that gives you 150 minutes call time, unlimited texts and unlimited net for a whole month. You can then change into a goodybag then use it half in a phone half in my dongle.

At the moment even if you just buy credit and top it up you get free net from them, its kind of a promotion but they seem to keep it going month after month. Their net is truly unlimited, they don't have a fair usage policy but if you go mad they do ask you to slow down! but they don't run out like other dongles.

One last tip, get an unlocked e220 dongle from ebay and use one of those with the giffgaff sim, gets you 7.2mbps net speed which is'nt bad for a cheepo.

Plxply

spaceboy wrote: »

I have a giffgaff SIM which is supposed to be quite good so I guess I just need a dongle for it?

Tethering is not allowed on giffgaff's network, that includes things like laptops and dongles. Only phones unfortunately. I assume they use IMEI numbers to check and your dongle will have an IMEI number that will let them know that it's a dongle.