Surfing with a dongle

We're not with three at the moment, but will be for internet at the December.

The 3 dongle speed can cope with 21mbps, I think it said, but it will depend on the signal strength in your area. The only way I can think to check the speed is on a data speed measurer available on line, which is no good if you haven't bought one yet. I got a free sim card from 3, and found I could get 3 bars of 3G, with our current Vodafone, we get 1 sometimes 2 bars in the garden, no bars inside.

Regarding price, it will depend on how much data and phone use you use. I use maximum of 300 mins per month and just under 2mb data on the netbook, so for us having seperates is cheaper. £10 phone + PAYG 3 data = less than £25 per month.

Some companies unlimited data, has a fair useage policy, meaning you are restricted, the all you can eat data is 3's name for it, but theirs is not restricted.

21mbps thats quicker than almost all standard landlines.
Mind you up to and reality are two different things.
I must speed test my dongle and try to find out about my phone.
Would a speed test on the phone itself equate or does it loose speed in transit to the laptop?

My dad pays for a fast speed, but their phone lines just can't do it, so I do ask him why he pays?

Our current dongle is on a 5 metre USB extension, apparently it can effect it a bit, but I don't know by how much, I've never done a speed check to compare, I will sit in the garden tomorrow and have a go.

I'm also now looking at the 3's mi-fi, instead of a dongle.

Kevin as far as i know this is your choice on the one plan[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] i opted for the wildfire s because it was the cheapest and it may sound daft but i knew i wouldn't be surfing on the phone all that much,most of the time it would be tethered.
£25 is not cheap but with the 2000 any network mins and the internet it replaced my land line mobile phone and dongle so i saved money,speed is obviously dependent on signal and how busy the network is up to now i have found it faster than both dongles,the fixed line internet from virgin i dumped over a year ago as they consistently reduced my bandwidth ? at busy times,i guess it depends on what you want to do i find it suites my surfing needs,the only things 3 say you cant do is peer to peer file sharing or use it for commercial purposes.

mike .

mike wrote:Been offered an interesting item today,its a box you plug your 3g dongle into and it creates a wi-fi hot spot,so you can position the dongle for reception and not have a cable running to your laptop,just waiting for a price on it.

mike

What gadgety gismo is this, and did you get it?

I've been looking at 3's mi-fi, any thoughts on that please?

cazz wrote:

mike wrote:Been offered an interesting item today,its a box you plug your 3g dongle into and it creates a wi-fi hot spot,so you can position the dongle for reception and not have a cable running to your laptop,just waiting for a price on it.

mike

What gadgety gismo is this, and did you get it?

I've been looking at 3's mi-fi, any thoughts on that please?

No the guy on the forum said he would sell it to me cheap but it was only £10 cheaper than Amazon so i said no,the mi-fi looks good but they are introducing one that takes a dongle i believe so that would be the best of both worlds,hot spot or usb connection.

mike

mike wrote:they are introducing one that takes a dongle i believe so that would be the best of both worlds,hot spot or usb connection.

mike

I've not seen that one yet, we've only got a 2 year Vodafone dongle at the mo, but that contract ends about, exactly a month. So we are looking at a replacement for then. I think we will pop in the 3 shop in town tomorrow and have a look.

cazz wrote:

mike wrote:they are introducing one that takes a dongle i believe so that would be the best of both worlds,hot spot or usb connection.

mike

I've not seen that one yet, we've only got a 2 year Vodafone dongle at the mo, but that contract ends about, exactly a month. So we are looking at a replacement for then. I think we will pop in the 3 shop in town tomorrow and have a look.

Been looking for the link but cant find it now,i know its not out yet but due soon,just a thought when you checked the 3 signal on your phone did it just show bars or did it say 3g because i understand the bars on a phone can show good signal strength for gprs only and you would need 3g ofcourse.

mike

cazz try this link [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks for that link, it's interesting.

My phone on Vodafone says which signal, by means of letters, (G, 3G or H) the bars are measuring, the 3 one just had bars and no letters, 3 told me they only use the 3g signal, which is obviously soon to be HSPA, they apparently don't use GPRS.

Perhaps I should put the sim back in and check which signal I am receiving by going to SETTINGS - ABOUT PHONE - STATUS, it will confirm there what signal and strength I'm finding.

It would appear virgin have signed a deal for there customers to use orange in poor reception areas,dont know if it its the same the other way round.

Hi All,
I have been using a 3 dongle for about 4 years now and gives me 15GB allowance month and have found it very good when I go camping and it has worked in many places and I plug my dongle into a Huawei D100wi-fi/LAN adapter which allows several laptops/phones/ipads/touches to connect via wi-fi. The one I have is mains powered but they do battery ones that charge from 12 v.dc.
Barrie

Hi Barrie, what do they charge per month for your dongle. I am paying for broadband and think it may be just as cost effective to use a dongle with a good allowance.

Yes I pay £15.98 per month for the dongle but I purchased the wifi unit separately but I believe they now have options to add the wifi unit as well but I think it costs a little more now as I have had this contract over 2 years and at the time of renewal there were no better deals to be had so I have kept this one as it came with 15GB which I have never yet been able to use.
Barrie

Yes its gone up now £15.99 here is a link [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] or £1.02 more for a faster dongle.

mike

Yes I saw that when I came up for renewal but I have been happy with the speed,but I have found that my new iphone 4 does go faster on the 3 network.

That sounds good to me, I do only pay £9 per month with my O2 broadband that I have used for years but it would make more sense to get a dongle that I can use whilst away too, the thing that was putting me off was the limited use per month of some but 15GB is an awful lot so very reasonable.

recycle600 wrote:Yes I saw that when I came up for renewal but I have been happy with the speed,but I have found that my new iphone 4 does go faster on the 3 network.

As i have said i find my HTC phone faster ON 3 when tethered to the laptop than my virgin dongle (WHOOPS)

Haven't gone into this yet but this program is supposed to turn your laptop into a wifi hot spot,so being able to share a dongle connection.[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Oh dear.

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Tow Itch wrote: Oh dear.

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At 62 and a smoker i probably well hopefully haven't got any of the little buggers left

In vain tried to log on using the phone.
Wheyhey loged on, on phone.
2.5mbps download 1.5mbps upload.
Not wireless broadband but not bad.
Now to see if I can log off and on again.

Tow Itch wrote: In vain tried to log on using the phone.
Wheyhey loged on, on phone.
2.5mbps download 1.5mbps upload.
Not wireless broadband but not bad.
Now to see if I can log off and on again.

Well done.

I assume you've logged off ok, and back on again?

Tow Itch wrote: In vain tried to log on using the phone.
Wheyhey loged on, on phone.
2.5mbps download 1.5mbps upload.
Not wireless broadband but not bad.
Now to see if I can log off and on again.

On a good day i get 4.25mbbs download but only 1 mbbs upload

Worked last night, worked 1st thing this morning, won't work this afternoon.
More investigation required.