Wi-Fi dongle and the cost's involved (1 Viewer)

Heyupluv

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Hi / Good morning
I am looking for information.
About the costs involved with Wi-fi 3G internet Dongles
I am looking to go on the internet while I am travelling abroad (England - France - Germany - Spain) I live in France.
I understand you can go to McDonalds / Hotels and connect free of charge (as long as you purchase some items of food!!). But you may not be near a hotspot and have a wifi laptop

I believe
1 / you buy a 3G dongle from e.g.: Virgin - o2- Vodafone – Tmobile - etc (what is the cost)

2/ You have a “pay as you go” or a “monthly contract” (what is the cost)

3/ Do you then have to pay web/phone connections each time you use it (what is the cost per minute and connection)

4/ People talk about getting 1g- 3g - 5g contracts? What is that, is that the amount of time you are on the net.


As I would have to buy in France from the same companies as England (I can not buy in England and use in France) at twice or three times the cost as you would buy in England (which do you rate as the best connection supplier virgin - t-mobile - Vodafone.....etc) they are a bit behind the times with competition and costs over here and it seems the web and the internet is still a new item, and a long way behind England and the USA!
I have been on the web for 15 to 20 years or more but wifi and dongles are something I have never used, so I do not know a lot about them and as I purchased a motorhome last year so I am now requiring to get onto the web while I am travelling to different sites/Aires
They still do not HAVE PAY AS YOU GO over here like England (you must keep putting money in each month so it is like a monthly contract)
Thank you Mel
 

Patrick

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Nov 18, 2007
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G3 Dongles

Hi,

I have just bought one from this guy on Ebay Item number: 150334746008



GET THIS INTERNET DEAL FOR THE FIRST YEAR FOR

£100 and get a free modem!

(£20 PER YEAR AFTER THAT).



Unlocked!

You can use any network sim card in this modem,, BUT I SUPPLY THIS SPECIAL O2 SIM!!!!!

Unlimited downloads!

Unlimited downloads means you can use this as often as you like without the worry of being charged extra

NO DOWNLOAD LIMITS, THE OTHERS HAVE 1 GIG A MONTH ! THIS HAS ANY GIG A MONTH!! NO DOWNLOAD LIMITS !!!!

The sim card is activated with £10 credit included (which you can use on calls & texts),YOU CAN TXT RIGHT FROM THE PC WITH THE SOFTWARE INCLUDED!!!!!!

No CD software needed!

The modem has all the software required built-in, all you have to do is connect this to any computer and start using the FREE internet (THERE ARE A COUPLE OF SETTINGS YOU HAVE TO CHANGE BUT I SUPPLY HOW-TO'S !!!

Super Fast Internet!

The modem has been upgraded to give you a download speed of upto 7.2 Mbps (download speeds vary in different areas,MANY OTHER SUPPLIERS OFFER 3.6 MAXIMUM.

Use on any computer!

You can use this on more than one computer, just plug it in and start browsing! HOME PC, LAPTOP ANYWHERE.

No Top-Ups required - EVER!!!

The sim card has £10 credit included, you DO NOT need to make any top-ups during this whole year to use your FREE internet!.... NO TOP UP NEEDED AT ALL !!!



The sim card will need a balance of 25p credit to access the internet,(BUT IT COMES WITH THAT ON THE SIM ALLREADY!!).

You will NOT be charged 25p to access the internet, the sim card just needs the balance there! The internet is completely FREE!!!

THIS IS FOR THE FIRST 12 MONTHS USE,, THE SECOND YEAR (AS A RETURNING CUSTOMER IS OFFERED AT £20!!! NO-ONE ELSE ON EBAY OR ANYWHERE IS OFFERING THIS!).

NO CONTRACTS OR FEES OR EXTRA PAYMENTS EVER!!

ONE OFF PAYMENT GETS YOU 12 MONTHS UNLIMITED INTERNET USE ANYWHERE YOU CHOOSE!!
 

jacken

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Dec 9, 2007
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Hi,

As I have said in other posts, I bought a unlocked Dongle from ebay complete with instructions for access in each country. Unlocking allows you to use it with any sim card. When abroad, you just buy a pay as you go sim card, which is the same as a phone sim card. In the software that comes with the dongle, you input some data supplied in the instructions, this is for different suppliers, Vodafone, orange etc. and away you go. You will receive the 3G signal if it is available, if not you get a gprs signal which is not as fast.

I am in portugal using a Vodafone sim which I bought for 10€, which included 5€ of credit and it's lasted 3 weeks so far. I did the same in Spain but bought a spainsh sim card. It is all quite simple really.

ken

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barryd

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Feb 10, 2009
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Jacken, you say its quite simple but I have been considering how to connect abroad for ages with no real solution until I read your post. In fact this was debated recently on Motorhomefacts and the general opinion was that connecting abroad was expensive. I have a vodafone 7.2mb 3G modem and a 16 month contract (took out last summer). Its great in the Uk and I really need it as I am self employed and work from the van when I can. Are you saying then that if I get my modem unlocked (assuming it is locked) and when I go abroad buy a local sim and away you go? If so thats fantastic news. Vodafone say that I can use their modem in Europe but its like £10 per 24 hours for 500MB or something like that which is way to expensive. Patericks ebay deal seems to good to be true to me. Thats less than a tenner a month, no contract, no download limit and virtually free after year two? So when your in Portugal or another country do you just go into a phone shop and buy a 10 euro sim? Does it have to be a special 3G type sim or just an ordinary one.

Sorry to hijack the post but we are planning a long trip abroad and one of the main problems stopping us going is the price of having a reliable internet connection. Sounds daft I know but I because of the business I am in I need to check emails at least three times a day and do remote support on peoples computers which requires a fast connection.

Many thanks
Barry
 

Tinyk

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Mar 9, 2009
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I would almost certainly say the vodafone dongle is locked, you can either unlock it or buy a o2 payg dongle which i did a couple months ago for £29 and that came unlocked. Your best option would then be to buy a local sim for surfing.

I would also say though if the main reason for needing access is to check e-mail i would suggest you get a blackberry from orange like i did, this works on push mail, which in effect sends the e-mail to the phone instantly, does not use data to check e-mail as its pushed and hence you only get charged data when the mail is sent to the phone. In addition blackberry send all mail through their own servers which have about the best compression i have ever seen. I say orange purley since thats what i have and i know they do a 30 day roaming data bundle of 3mb and 10mb for about £5 and £12 respectivley, if you dont have a lot of mails the 3mb would probably last you a month and you can add it as you want for 30 days or put a recurring bundle on. When im going abroad i simply go to my account online or on the phone and add the bundle, 30 days later it expires. Very cheap solution if you just need the e-mails but not much use for surfing.

Hope that at least gives you a little information to mull over.

Kevin
 

barryd

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Thanks Kevin. I currently can use my mobile to see if there are any emails waiting. I need the laptop however as I do remote support. This means actually sitting down and accessing and controling computers in the UK. I do this now with no problems in the UK (best with a 3G signal though). I dont think its going to be a problem unlocking the modem but I could do with establishing what kind of sim I would purchase in say france and how many MB/GB per Euro. If anyone has this info then I would be very interested to find out.

Thanks
Barry

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M

michaelc

Deleted User
In answer

Hi, we have just got the go anywhere package from BT, this comes with a hand held phone type thing that you can excess the internet from, all you need is a wi fi hot spot and away you go. a mate of mine uses this on his boat.
have a look on the BT board band web site for more info, this may be idea for us motorhomes.
michael
 

JeffersonCampervan

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Hi,
I have just bought one from this guy on Ebay Item number: 150334746008

GET THIS INTERNET DEAL FOR THE FIRST YEAR FOR
£100 and get a free modem!
(£20 PER YEAR AFTER THAT).
(snip)
NO CONTRACTS OR FEES OR EXTRA PAYMENTS EVER!!
ONE OFF PAYMENT GETS YOU 12 MONTHS UNLIMITED INTERNET USE ANYWHERE YOU CHOOSE!!

Are these claims for UK only, or do they hold for roaming throughout Europe?

I currently use a combination of Blackberry Bold & laptop wi-fi.
Because I'm on a Canadian data plan, my roaming charges in Europe are quite high, so I use it for push email only ( I no longer use the BB browser to check the weather! :-(
This year I'm going to try a combo of international SIM & truphone for phone service, but truly mobile internet access at reasonable cost would be great.

I have my doubts that his claims, even if true within the UK, would hold for roaming through, F,B,NL,D,CZ, etc.

I checked this guy's ebay feedback & there are enough positive reviews on the sale of this device to say that it works for some people in some locations.
 

Losos

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Patericks ebay deal seems to good to be true to me. Thats less than a tenner a month, no contract, no download limit and virtually free after year two?

There's an often quoted saying in the investment world ' If it seems to good to be true, it probably is' ::bigsmile:

I'm in exactly the same position as you, I will need broadband internet when I get my MH and I don't have a good feeling about any of the systems that are touted around at the moment. The only system which seems to me to have a good technical justification is satelite which has a very high initial cost.

Remember that any system based on any mobile network is only as good as the uplink (Your mobile to the nearest base station) and it's this which can be unreliable.

You don't want to be halfway through sorting a customers PC only to loose the connection and have to drive half a mile to get it back, or worse still drive half a mile, find you've lost it completely and have to drive a couple of miles in the other direction :Angry:

But I will follow this thread and see what you decide and if you're happy I will probably do the same. One thing I can absolutey guarantee and that is don't expect the same mobile phone signal levels you get in UK when trolling around Europe especially the Eastern part of Europe (If you were thinking of going that way)

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Losos

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all you need is a wi fi hot spot and away you go.

But the question I'm always asking, and never seem to get the answer I want is "What the heck do you do if there are no 'hot spots' around ? "

When I get my MH I will be traveling across Germany on the E40 Autobahn, can I assume that every service area on the autobahn will have a 'hot spot' ??
 
M

michaelc

Deleted User
In answer

Hi, in answer to the above, there are 1000,s of wi fi hot spots in europe, depending on what GPS system you have you can download these sites for poi.
I think that the importand things to look at are cost and availablity of boardband, and yes most of europe are way ahead of the UK, in hot spots.
michael
 
Mar 2, 2009
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Eleven years full time 5'ers, 35 years recreational RV'ing. Home is Where We Park Our House
Dongle Broadband in Europe

We have been full-timing in the US for 11 years. For the past three years, we have used a Verizon Air Card (dongle) and have been very pleased, 2.5 Mbps near cities down to 300 Kbps in the western boondocks. Verizon has coverage maps on the Web which allows us to check ahead for broadband coverage. Cost is 60 USD/ month.

We plan a six month European trip next Spring and are looking at alternatives for Internet and phone. If we have Internet then phone can be pretty easy using
VoIP, eg, Vonage, Skype et al. Vonage gives us a US phone number and Unlimited calls tothe US and 5 European countries – France, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK. So phone calls home would work fine.

Internet looks like more of a challenge. I've looked at Boingo which allows acces to 100,000+100,000 hotspot. Boingo/Vonage or Skype looks pretty good but you still have to find a WIFI Hot Spot.

This unlocked dongle would be great, hope I can get more feedback on how well it works before we head out a year from now.

Thanks, sorry about the length of the post,

Garvie
 

barryd

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Unlocking progress so far

Hi All

Well I have been in touch with Vodafone via their forum. Dont call them as the first line support people just say you cant do it which I think is rubbish as there is even a link on their site about unlocking which the support guy didnt know. After providing them with my model number IEMI code etc they have eventually come back and said they have to obtain it from the manufacturer and it may take 72 hours. I wont hold my breath, one chap I spoke to in a forum has been waiting 8 weeks! It can be done though. Quote from other forum as to what to do once its unlocked "Once its unlocked Regarding using abroad, you need to create a new connection profile for the overseas GSM network; you will need their APN, username and password, which you can
find here:

GPRS settings for various networks worldwide
(GPRS settings for various networks worldwide)"
***************

I imagine then its just a case of going into the local phone shop and buying a sim and requesting this info. Once mines unlocked I will try it here in the UK first and report back.

If it works then its got to be the cheapest way of doing it rather than paying Vodafone a tenner a day for up to 50MB which is what they charge in Europe!

Mind you I suppose I could just buy a sim for my Nokia N95, plug it in and use it as a modem. Its already unlocked and has 3G. Kind of defeats the object though and I may need to talk on the phone and be on the Internet as well.

I would prefer to just chuck all the technology in the bin to be honest and just not tell anyone where I am! One day perhaps.

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Last edited:
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Heyupluv

Heyupluv

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Oct 7, 2008
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unlocked dongle

I am still baffled on what is the cost of running an unlocked dongle in France using a sim card out of my mobile phone...(and England) I have been on the Orange.fr site in France and using wap it would cost 0.15 cents per minute on a Pay As You Go that is 9 Euros per hour!!!Does that sound right/correct?
Or you buy a pass from Orange the tariffs are below for Orange .fr

des pass en fonction de vos besoins
pass 20 minutes 3€ (valable 24h)
pass 1 heure 8€ (valable 15 jours)
pass 2 heures 14€ (valable 15 jours)
pass 6 heures 25€ (valable 15 jours)


How do people come to the cost of £5 per month unlimited?
If you use the sim card out of your mobile phone as some have suggested,
And the Pay As You Go tariff cost 0 .39c per minute what would be the cost
using the same sim in an unlocked dongle per minute…………….. or per hour.

Am I missing something!!!!???? (apart from the few brains cells I already know are missing)

When you use your laptop to connect to the internet through a 3G unlocked dongle and a sim card out of your phone are you using wap or something else!
 

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