Mobile Broadband, urgent help needed. (1 Viewer)

[Tony Hunt]

Im sorry if this has all been covered before but I need some expert advice to pass on to a friend. They fulltime 12 months of the year and come from Guernsey which has added to the complications re not having a UK address for billing. We can probably get over that one.

Basically they full time probably 8 months of the year in the UK and 4 months in spain.

They intend to buy their first laptop this week so that they have the ability to surf the web, Use Skype to call family while travelling and also be able to send and receive emails.

I only use home Broadband and take advantage of wi fi signals when available whilst travelling so I dont have the first hand knowledge to pass onto them re what type of mobile broadband to buy.
Im hoping that somebody who travels abroad a similar amount can pass on some info.

ie, is there a mobile dongle that can be used here in the uk for general surfing, e,mails etc. plus low usage roaming that doesnt cost a bomb while in spain or france I doubt they will want to download music or films so it will probably be low usage all the time.

Is it cheaper to buy a spanish dongle for while over there? Any help in the next few days would be appreciated as they are coming to stay for a few days this week and are hoping to get this sorted.

 

[Road Runner]

Get a 3 pay as you go dongle.

One deal is £79 including 3 GB usable over 3 month, use more just buy GB.

You then own the dongle.


3 Store - Mobile Broadband

 

[Tony Hunt]

Is that usable in spain & france as well or would the price be prohibitive.

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[tofo]

myself and 555 others had our telephone underground cable STOLEN:Angry:
i got bored and was thinking down the lines of a dongle
for the van before this just made me get one
i purchased a 3 dongle 69.99 at carphone warehouse
then found it cheaper by a tenner in littlewoods/gus catalouge
its not as fast as cable/bt broadband
but its certainly acceptable(dependant on mobile signal)
mine works well at home with 1 bar of signal
you may need an email address ie operamail.com this i use
and my b/band (aol)e mail address
might pay to load firefox or opera or another if you want choice
and dont bother to load up the 50mb windows offer takes ages and your paying
for no benifit

 

[nomadic]

Mobile broardband

Im sorry if this has all been covered before but I need some expert advice to pass on to a friend. They fulltime 12 months of the year and come from Guernsey which has added to the complications re not having a UK address for billing. We can probably get over that one.

Basically they full time probably 8 months of the year in the UK and 4 months in spain.

They intend to buy their first laptop this week so that they have the ability to surf the web, Use Skype to call family while travelling and also be able to send and receive emails.

I only use home Broadband and take advantage of wi fi signals when available whilst travelling so I dont have the first hand knowledge to pass onto them re what type of mobile broadband to buy.
Im hoping that somebody who travels abroad a similar amount can pass on some info.

ie, is there a mobile dongle that can be used here in the uk for general surfing, e,mails etc. plus low usage roaming that doesnt cost a bomb while in spain or france I doubt they will want to download music or films so it will probably be low usage all the time.

Is it cheaper to buy a spanish dongle for while over there? Any help in the next few days would be appreciated as they are coming to stay for a few days this week and are hoping to get this sorted.

Hi,

3 mobile is a very good system but, they do not have any arrangement in France or Spain, which allows your contract rate to be used, roaming charges put the cost up to £15.00 mb, as I understand it, and I am a 3 mobile user.

When in France or Spain, we tend to use the local libraries, free access and good quality equipment. However, if they purchase a laptop, (We use an acer 5920) with inbuilt wifi, you can pick up free wifi, in an increasing number of locations. This gives more options.

I understand the vodaphone usb/dongle, although more expensive than 3 mobile, is apparently more ecomonic with overseas charges....this is worth investigating.

Good hunting


Nomadic

 

[Pronto]

Is that usable in spain & france as well or would the price be prohibitive.

3 Dongle costs £3 per MByte in France and Spain. Earlier this year I found coverage in both countries very good, although sometimes in France this was with the slower GPRS system. I used it for emails and occasional web browsing at reasonablr cost - went to an Internet Cafe or WiFi point for more serious downloads. One problem with the 3 dongle is that is doesn't work on GPRS in the UK and so you are restricted to areas with 3G coverage - bit frustrating in the Lakes, parts of North Wales and the Highlands, which is where we like to go:Sad:

Other networks are "similar", Vodafone costs £5 per Mb in France / Spain, but also have a "charge per day" rather than per Mb option as well; they also have (I believe - could be wrong, never used it) better coverage in the UK.

Cheers
Mike

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