Mobile Broadband

[China Doll]

Afternoon All,

I've just brought my first laptop which I'm quite excited about and I'm keen to get one of those pay as you go monthly broadband modem stick thingies (tehnical term..ahem) as I currently can't be tied down to a contract.

I've been on the three store and they've got plans going from �15 a month but it looks like you have to buy the modem stick thingie for approx �50 - �70. I don't mind doing this but is this a good deal? Can you buy them seperately and then sign up for a pay as you go? Are there better deals I should be aware of?

Appreciate your help as my current tech support appears to be in a meeting and I'd like to buy it today.

Cheers
China.

[wasp]

Yes you can buy a dongle on PAYG FOR �50.00 and a �10 voucher will get you up and running. Don't expect too much from this system however. It is slower than broadband and is extremely dependent on the quality of the signal. The only advantage of the system is it's portability. So if you are able to use a home based broadband I would advise you to do so. I gave up my Virgin broadband earlier this year in favour of a 3 mobile dongle and have regretted it ever since
If you read other postings on this subject you will similar points of view as mine.

[China Doll]

Thank you wasp. Unfortunately I'm not living in a permanant residence at the moment so I can't do anything that requires a phone line or ties me to an address for a year alas.

[dotovaposted]

hi China, I moved here expecting Virgin media but it wasn't here and so i have gone with orange mobile broardband, �15 a month on a 18 month contract but no outlay for the dongle, just needed to be on an electoral roll and the debit card needed to be attached to the same address too. you could always give them a change of address when you move on, as long as you are on the electoral roll where u are now and your bank have u at that adress

[China Doll]

Hi Dottie,

I'm at hospital accomodation (working back at NHS for my sins) which isn't too bad actually and suits me until the New Year when I have decisions to make re travel and going back to school but I'm not sure they'd let me have any kind of contract there as obviously it's shared housing/room type thing so I suspect they'd be wary of anyone trying to get stuff like this there on known temporary address, what do you think?

[jon1968]

Don�t commit to any contract, and hang fire �til you�ve got the lappy. It should be wireless enabled & you must have wireless hotspots there or thereabouts... or you can do your usual and nick the neighbours wi-fi! ;-P
Those PAYG & mobile dongles are OK for picking up emails and whatnot but for anything �big� they�re rubbish where you are. With the contract ones you�re committing to a second rate service at premium prices, wait 'til you move.

[China Doll]

Hey Jonny,

What do you mean by hotspots? To be honest I'm only likely to muck around with my ipod, do a bit of net surfing, occasionally update my facebook, get my emails, probably MSN sister and some mates and wander on here really. I'm not really a big downloader so maybe that sort of thing might suit me in view of that?

[ChuckFickens]

I would only use a mobile dongle as a last resort for broadband. they are at best a poor alternative.

if there is a phone line in the house at all then I would consider one of the normal providers that offer no contract broadband, of which there are a few.

http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/no-broadband -contract.html

myself out of the ones on that page would go for the be one that is a 3month contract as it is unlimited downloads. if your looking at the others then I'd stay away from the ones with only a 2gb limit on them.

Another option depending on your mobile phone and provider is seeing about getting a data allowance on your normal mobile and connecting to the internet through that on your computer.

[China Doll]

Thank you Chuck! :c)

[jon1968]

Hey baby, I was just saying that your new lappy will have wireless built in and when you switch it on you can get it to scan and see if you can find a free wifi signal you can use� they have them in cafes & restaurants and pubs and generally all over the place - that�s called a �hotspot�

I�d imagine you have one where you�re living now� so you might be lucky and find you�re in one of those or you may find that one of your neighbours has an unsecured wifi so you can steal that�. like you did before! ;-P

It�ll be slow because you�re sharing bandwidth with everyone but probably no slower than a mobile dongle.
DO NOT sign up for one of those mobile dongles on contract, worst case scenario get a PAYG one if you�re desperate but you�ll be surprised how quickly you burn through your credit.

[China Doll]

Thanks honey! xx

[wasp]

Hi China Doll. Would be interested to know how you are going with your new lap-top and how you eventually decided on an internet connection , Cheers