I would like to take my laptop away on holiday ( In a Touring Caravan) what USB Wireless Dongle /Broadband /Sim PAYG do i need any input would be great
Advice needed on a Dongle ??
- Thread starter Beachball
- Start date
Beachball,
You don't say what country you will be using it in, this makes a massive difference.
I would not use a UK one abroad, it will cost a fortune !
I have a BT dongle which i wangled out of them for free when i renewed my contract.
It is supplied with a Vodaphone PAYG sim, which you top up like you do any mobile,, by purchasing time, from outlets, cash machines , or by ringing a number.
Pop into a currys or any of the phone shops and have a chat.
Make sure you have a look at the coverage maps.
Some are also time based and others data useage.
With that in mind you need to have an idea what you are going to be using it for.
Checking emails once a day, checking the weather on the internet, or full blown file transfer, film watching extra.
I think it is safe to say that the 3 network is more data based, so there would be the starting point.
Which ever you get coverage is the same as mobile phone as they work off the same network, but unlike talking, data speeds can vary, even by turning your laptop round a bit.
Mat
You don't say what country you will be using it in, this makes a massive difference.
I would not use a UK one abroad, it will cost a fortune !
I have a BT dongle which i wangled out of them for free when i renewed my contract.
It is supplied with a Vodaphone PAYG sim, which you top up like you do any mobile,, by purchasing time, from outlets, cash machines , or by ringing a number.
Pop into a currys or any of the phone shops and have a chat.
Make sure you have a look at the coverage maps.
Some are also time based and others data useage.
With that in mind you need to have an idea what you are going to be using it for.
Checking emails once a day, checking the weather on the internet, or full blown file transfer, film watching extra.
I think it is safe to say that the 3 network is more data based, so there would be the starting point.
Which ever you get coverage is the same as mobile phone as they work off the same network, but unlike talking, data speeds can vary, even by turning your laptop round a bit.
Mat
hi Beachball,
I have a dongle from "3" costs £10 to top up for 1gb of data, expires after 30 days, never had a problem with coverage and never ran out of credit even though it is used for everything computing wise "even watching sky go if I dont take the dish" sounds great on the face of it and indeed it is,
however there are other things to consider when taking the laptop away, type of use, ammount of use, and cost,
it depends on how you use the laptop, many site offer free WIFI, and while some are quite good others are poor, many establishments also have it, so if you only want to do e-mails and the odd forum post, this may be ok, "a cup of coffee in Mc Donalds could work out far cheaper, if you use the laptop a lot and want unlimited acsess go for a dongle that offers the best coverage and data limits be aware though that while some dongles used to be data based (unlimited time scale) most now have a one month expiry date and may need topping up every time you go away "out the 30 day window" and could proove to be expensive relatively to the ammount of use obtained.
what I am saying is by all means take the laptop but only top up the credit if you have to or need to while away if all else fails.
I have a dongle from "3" costs £10 to top up for 1gb of data, expires after 30 days, never had a problem with coverage and never ran out of credit even though it is used for everything computing wise "even watching sky go if I dont take the dish" sounds great on the face of it and indeed it is,
however there are other things to consider when taking the laptop away, type of use, ammount of use, and cost,
it depends on how you use the laptop, many site offer free WIFI, and while some are quite good others are poor, many establishments also have it, so if you only want to do e-mails and the odd forum post, this may be ok, "a cup of coffee in Mc Donalds could work out far cheaper, if you use the laptop a lot and want unlimited acsess go for a dongle that offers the best coverage and data limits be aware though that while some dongles used to be data based (unlimited time scale) most now have a one month expiry date and may need topping up every time you go away "out the 30 day window" and could proove to be expensive relatively to the ammount of use obtained.
what I am saying is by all means take the laptop but only top up the credit if you have to or need to while away if all else fails.
At present i am looking at the UK and next year Ireland for a Dongle three network sounds ok but ( BT) i will look into more any more input would be great . M8
Hi Beachball, i have a 3 and a Tmobile, i find i get better coverage with the Tmobile and the price for an occasional i find better value.
Steve.
Steve.
We,ve got an O2 MiFi as wife has Ipad and we can both log on at the same time.Found it less hassle than a dongle as well
Many smartphones will act as dongles or routers. Set up on Android ones is very simple and will work via WiFi or connected with a USB cable. We use GiffGaff which has very cheap data packages, £10 gives you unlimited text, 250 mins of calls plus 1Gb of data for a month. Beware though, the unlimited data packages do not allow you to "tether" a laptop via your phone.
I bought a 3 mobile broadband dongle. £10 top up for a month. Coverage is quite good in England. However the further north you go into Scotland the less coverage you will find. Best advice if you are going as far as Inverness take a o2 mobile dongle because they work great up there.
Dont expect similar speeds to that at home. You dont, but they are adequate for checking e-mails etc and the odd browse.
Dont expect similar speeds to that at home. You dont, but they are adequate for checking e-mails etc and the odd browse.
I used to take my laptop away with us and use a Vodafone dongle but have since upgraded to an iPad from Vodafone with 2gb data per month and another 1gb of openzone data. the iPad was free with the data contract well nothing is free i am obviously paying for it somewhere but i would have the iPad over the laptop as the dongle was a pain in the laptop kept knocking it out the usb and of course the laptop was just too big and bulky compared to the iPad.
John
John
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