Free wireless internet and cheap 3G broadband article discussion

Edinburghlass_2

mum2one, I think you'll find they are called dongles and not doodles

Have a read of Martin's article here...

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/cheap-mobile-broadband

joolsybools

Does anyone know if you can use these dongle doo-da's on normal PCs?

twins4384

On PCs? Yes.

JohalaReewi

Jeonat1 wrote: »

In terms of the whole not being to load a page on a 2G connection, there is a technical problem with 3 that prevents it if the MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) for your computer is set too high, however it works fine over 3G/HSDPA.

I change mine to 576 (the default is normally around the 1500 mark), whenever I need to use 3's 2G connection and then it seems to work fine. On my computer (Mac OS X) it resets back to the default on the next reboot.

I have no idea how you would go about doing this on Windows, but it works for me on both OS X and Linux.

I would have thought DrTCP would allow you to set/change the MTU for the 3G dongle on Windows.
http://www.dslreports.com/drtcp

frmarcus

Hi - and thanks for all the helpful advice here. Have just got 3's contract for 1Gb/month at £10 and am content with its easy installation and speed so far, here in Oxford, after one day's use. Martin recommends a third-party usage monitor as well as using 3's own. Can anyone recommend a good, free one for a simpleton like me to install and use, please? As we've been warned, going over the limit of one or three GB/s / month would be VERY expensive!

PS having ordered online, I neglected to use the student deal of £50 cashback on the contract. Have emailed 3 twice to get me put on this retrospectively - but no response from them over the last several days. That's not good - but I'm otherwise happy with the deal and hardware.

starmountuk

frmarcus wrote: »

Hi - and thanks for all the helpful advice here. Have just got 3's contract for 1Gb/month at £10 and am content with its easy installation and speed so far, here in Oxford, after one day's use. Martin recommends a third-party usage monitor as well as using 3's own. Can anyone recommend a good, free one for a simpleton like me to install and use, please? As we've been warned, going over the limit of one or three GB/s / month would be VERY expensive!

PS having ordered online, I neglected to use the student deal of £50 cashback on the contract. Have emailed 3 twice to get me put on this retrospectively - but no response from them over the last several days. That's not good - but I'm otherwise happy with the deal and hardware.

Net meter i use it its free
http://www.metal-machine.de/readerror/

alwayslookingforbargains

I'm new here and not very good with technical issues, so please forgive me if this is in the wrong place or I make any other mistakes....

I have just purchased my first laptop, which I'm using in the house by way of a wireless router.

I'd like to be able to use the laptop for internet access when out and about, so thinking of getting mobile broadband. I've spent nearly all evening trying to work out the best and/or cheapest way of doing it, but seem to keep going round in circles.

I'm sure there must be someone out there who can save me a lot of time and frustration by pointing me in the right direction?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank you

Edinburghlass_2

Have a read of these previous posts and you'll find the link to Martin's article in the first post.

stanmoresaver

Apologies if this has been down elsewhere and Mods please move if you think this post should be elsewhere.

I'm confused about getting Mobile internet access for my laptop, i won't use it much but it would be very handy. I've seen the 3 adverts for their Dongles and also have been told that i could use my Nokia N95 on O2 as a modem (?) via USB????

What i don't want to do is walk into a CPW or similar and get stitched up....

Some help from more technologically minded MSE'rs would be really appreciated.

point3

Yes, it's possible to connect a laptop using a Nokia N95 as a modem. It may not be as fast as using a dedicated USB modem however.

How much would you use it and which network are you with?

Pay as you Go per day rates are expensive for the amount of bundled data that it gives, but may be useful for emergencies. T-Mobile Web'n'Walk is available at £4 a day.

There are add-on packages for mobile phone contracts, but be aware that these are intended to connect a phone to the internet and don't allow connection of a computer using the phone as a modem.

Monthly PAYG is not officially available through 3 Mobile unless you buy their dongle. Vodafone will set you up with a data sim with a £20 3GB/30days contract if you set a direct debit (no obligation to renew the contract after 30 days).

Then there are all the ongoing monthly contracts...