Free wireless internet and cheap 3G broadband article discussion

millie

taff007 wrote: »

I have been able to get a connection in a turbo area (HSPDA) and also in a 3G area. I have been unable to load any pages with a 2G signal.

I think I must have been in a 2g area the map on the website is very hit and miss if you don't have the postcode. Even then leaves to many variables.

jen_jen_2

i got mine in september, and when i used it it was great (found an unlocked wireless thats more convenient at home) i still use it when i go away for the weekend or if i go to other peoples houses. I've not found a place where it wouldnt work yet.

i got the 3 gig limit for £15 a month and no fee (as i am a 3 phone user) apart from setting it up, when i had to call the helpdesk (again free as a 3 customer) it wasnt a problem and the phone call did fix it even if it took about 40 mins.

only think i've ever been unsure about is the download limit, but i dont do music or films, just surfing.

and i dont know what they are called, i just called it a modem but i like your dongle

Lauraloo_3

But do I need to put them sim in from my phone or do they supply you with one??!!

millie

Lauraloo wrote: »

But do I need to put them sim in from my phone or do they supply you with one??!!

Yes they supply a sim with it well they did with the one I got, but is on PAYG don't know what happens if you add it to your contract. I registered on line last night so I could top up online. They said I would receive a text with the activation code, I was lightly confused how I would access this text without the sim being in a phone but when I plugged the modem on to the computer the text came through on that

highguyuk

Got my 3 Modem.

£49.99 as a student discount for the modem, and then usage as per contract rates but on PAYG.

travel_freak

Hi,

I am looking into the new Vodafone mobile broadband offer for £15 a month.

Please can any one help with the questions below:

1. I want to be sure I will be able to use and get a good connection before I sign up for 12 months - I've tried the Vodafone coverage checker but once you put your postcode in nothing seems to happen - it just brings a map up but doesnt give any info - is there any other way I can get reliable info re coverage?

2. When I looked on Samknows for my area, under "broadband availability overview" it says that ADSL, SDSL, LLU and Cable are available but it says that Wireless is not available. What does this mean? At the moment at another address I am using AOL with a wireless router - does this mean I won't be able to use that in my new home? Does it also mean I wouldnt be able to use the Vodafone dongle thingy? Sorry, confused (it doesnt take much!).

3. When people talk about usage does this include if you just leave your computer and internet on all day to check for emails?

4. I use mainly for light surfing sending and receiving emails but occasionally I download sound files but I have no idea how much MB or GB each sound file amounts to - is there a way to check this to know whether I'm likely to exceed the capped usage amount?

Many thanks. in advance.

Regards

Jeonat1

I have the 3 modem for £49.99 on PAYG and have been using the £15 add-on for 30 days which gives you 3Gb which is fine for me.

Where I live it seems to work fine and gets an HSDPA connection, although depending on time (and presumably load on the cell) the speeds vary, but never had lower than around 400kbps and goes up to about 2000kbps or so - not that I'm using it for heavy downloading. It's perfectly fine for e-mail etc.

I have an Asus eee pc with Linux on it which has built in drivers for the Huawei e220 which 3 supply so I just sling that and the modem in my bag if I'm travelling anywhere and have Internet access on the move which is great.

If you want Internet access using 3G and don't want to pay £10 a month for 3's service, T-Mobile do a deal for £4 per day where you can get up to 500Mb of transfer, this is on a PAYG basis so you top it up and then it deducts £4 each day you use it. Expensive if you're using it more than twice in a month but if you really only need it for emergencies, might be worth considering. The modem - again a Huawei e220 is £99 and locked, but they will unlock it for free if you ask nicely (I did). However, be warned, their content control service is vicious and blocks things like social networking and many sites you might not think would be blocked, and you need to have a credit card to remove the locks online, or pop down to a store with a passport or drivers license.

On the WiFi side, the several McDonalds restaurants in my local area have not got the wireless service yet, which is a shame because I might be more likely to pop in there for a coffee if I needed to check the e-mail. However I'm looking forward to the service rolling out nationwide.

J.

alanjrobertson

travel_freak wrote: »

1. I want to be sure I will be able to use and get a good connection before I sign up for 12 months - I've tried the Vodafone coverage checker but once you put your postcode in nothing seems to happen - it just brings a map up but doesnt give any info - is there any other way I can get reliable info re coverage?

Agree it's not the best of coverage checkers - difficult to find and didn't work with my postcode at first, although did with my parents! If you enter a city it then sometimes comes back with a drop-down below for clarification - you may end up having to use the pan and zoom functions instead.

travel_freak wrote: »

2. When I looked on Samknows for my area, under "broadband availability overview" it says that ADSL, SDSL, LLU and Cable are available but it says that Wireless is not available. What does this mean? At the moment at another address I am using AOL with a wireless router - does this mean I won't be able to use that in my new home? Does it also mean I wouldnt be able to use the Vodafone dongle thingy? Sorry, confused (it doesnt take much!).

Don't worry, this is irrelevant from your point of view. You can use a WiFi router wherever you want. They are referring to some fixed wireless services available in certain areas but if you've got ADSL & Cable then you've already got plenty of choice so it's not an issue!

travel_freak wrote: »

3. When people talk about usage does this include if you just leave your computer and internet on all day to check for emails?

Because for GPRS connections you are billed by the amount of data transferred rather than time connected (note this is different to some WiFi hotspots where time connected is an issue) then you can leave it connected all day and if it was just checking e-mail you would use up minimal data allowance - other background things such as Windows Update will use up more but if you have a few GB/month then I wouldn't worry about this. If you only have a couple of hundred MB a month then probably worth disconnecting when you're not using it as some of the automated updates can be quite a few MB in size.

travel_freak wrote: »

4. I use mainly for light surfing sending and receiving emails but occasionally I download sound files but I have no idea how much MB or GB each sound file amounts to - is there a way to check this to know whether I'm likely to exceed the capped usage amount?

I'm not sure about Voda - I'm on T-Mobile and I can see how much I've used via the online account servicing, although they aren't as strict as some - e.g. with Three (& I think Voda) you pay for all the data above your limit. With T-M they warn you if you go regularly over and will ask you to upgrade to the next tier.

Hope that helps a bit - just say if any other queries!

Alan

Hopefullyuseful1

travel_freak wrote: »

Hi,

I am looking into the new Vodafone mobile broadband offer for £15 a month.

Please can any one help with the questions below:

1. I want to be sure I will be able to use and get a good connection before I sign up for 12 months - I've tried the Vodafone coverage checker but once you put your postcode in nothing seems to happen - it just brings a map up but doesnt give any info - is there any other way I can get reliable info re coverage?

2. When I looked on Samknows for my area, under "broadband availability overview" it says that ADSL, SDSL, LLU and Cable are available but it says that Wireless is not available. What does this mean? At the moment at another address I am using AOL with a wireless router - does this mean I won't be able to use that in my new home? Does it also mean I wouldnt be able to use the Vodafone dongle thingy? Sorry, confused (it doesnt take much!).

3. When people talk about usage does this include if you just leave your computer and internet on all day to check for emails?

4. I use mainly for light surfing sending and receiving emails but occasionally I download sound files but I have no idea how much MB or GB each sound file amounts to - is there a way to check this to know whether I'm likely to exceed the capped usage amount?

Many thanks. in advance.

Regards

Hi travel_freak,

First of all, Alan was spot on with his info there about questions 2 and 3. There's perhaps a bit I can add about the other two:

1: With Vodafone you have 14 days peace of mind after taking out a new connection, so ultimately you could test the connection for a week wherever you need to use it to make sure.
The coverage checker only shows outdoor coverage, so if you're in a heavily constructed building you could find your signal is dramatically different to what the checker says. It's always best to be sure I think.

4: You can view a fair reading of how much data you've used via the dashboard software installed to your PC to make the broadband work. This sometimes doesn't pick up things such as Windows Updates, but you can also get a reading of how much you've used up to 72 hours ago by contacting customer services.
If you were to go over the 3GB allowance in any month, you can use extra data at a cost of £15 per GB, so if there's a month you need to use a lot more then you have that option.

Have a nice afternoon,

Hopefullyuseful1

Vodafone UK

dawnp_2

We're considering buying one of these 3 usb dongles on PAYG for the laptop

I currently have a 3 contract phone with internet access, which works fine in area we live...does this mean that the 3 usb dongle will receive signals likewise or is it different satellite signal?

I've checked on 3 coverage map on www but have heard this isnt very reliable

any advice appreciated before we go to expense....