Colin
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Registered: 4th Apr 02
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Worth getting?
I need to buy a netbook for using at work, found the one I like thats £300 & then found I can get it 'free' if I subscribe to mobile broadband. 3GB month for £25/mnth.
So as nothing in lifes free thats roughly £15 a month for mobi-net & £10 a month for the laptop. 
Im just not sure if its going to be total shit compaired to hard wired cable broadband & i'll end up not using it & go back to normal braodband through a modem!!
In reality i'd only need to be mobile 1-2 days a month as I travel to work & back on the train & in hotels, the rest of the time i'd be using it in the house.
Anyone have any dongle experience? 
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willay
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Organiser: South East, National Events
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Registered: 10th Nov 02
Location: Roydon, Essex
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it will be nowhere as good as broadband delivered via cable aka Virgin Media.
The latency will be higher, the bandwidth will be lower.
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Colin
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Registered: 4th Apr 02
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So generally not worth getting then?
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willay
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Organiser: South East, National Events
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Registered: 10th Nov 02
Location: Roydon, Essex
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really depends on the use mate, if you think you will find yourself on the side of the motorway with your netbook needing internet access yes it will come in handy. Can you elberate any more on what you wanted to use it for?
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Colin
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Registered: 4th Apr 02
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Well I work away & spend a few hours travelling and overnight stays in hotels so for that really.
Thats only generally once a month though.
That asides I just browse the net at home.
Probably not worth getting then......
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AndyKent
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Registered: 3rd Sep 05
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I use it at home all the time, think its pretty clever. Definately slower than broadband, but much faster than the old dial-up.
If you're thinking about using it offshore you might have a problem though. Is there a decent mobile phone connection?
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Colin
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Registered: 4th Apr 02
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Nothing works offshore  I need a netbook to take out with me to compile reports on as PC's are few and far between. Just
tryng to work out if I could get a 'free' one with mobile broadband & just use that instead of getting normal BB.
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willay
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Organiser: South East, National Events
Premium Member
Registered: 10th Nov 02
Location: Roydon, Essex
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hotels and shit normally have their own wifi!
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AndyKent
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Registered: 3rd Sep 05
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Personally I hate netbooks. For any serious typing the keys are just too small for me.
I'd sooner shell out for a proper laptop and pay for hotel wifi as and when you need it.
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Colin
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Registered: 4th Apr 02
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quote:
Originally posted by willay
hotels and shit normally have their own wifi!
Yeah BT open zone shit.
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Colin
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Registered: 4th Apr 02
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quote:
Originally posted by AndyKent
Personally I hate netbooks. For any serious typing the keys are just too small for me.
I'd sooner shell out for a proper laptop and pay for hotel wifi as and when you need it.
I need something compact for goint into a small bag. Ive got a proper laptop but its too big & expensive to be broken getting slung out a chopper!!
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pow
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Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
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I'd recommend a Dell Mini 10.
Then get a pay as you go Vodafone dongle, the ones with free with mobile internet are very very expensive at the end of the 2 year contract.
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AlunJ
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Registered: 3rd Apr 07
Location: Newport
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I have a 3 dongle, whilst 3's service itself is fine (apart from signal in work where I mainly use it is crap lol), the dongle (it's a huawei e160g) is a heap of shite, won't work under xp properly, works fine under vista, mac osx is fine once I found the software. I pay £14.99 for like a gig a month, and I've yet to use it all, I'm quite happy service wise though, using it now in fact.
[Edited on 11-11-2009 by AlunJ]
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oceansoul
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Registered: 19th Jun 06
Location: Sunbury, Surrey
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I'd just get a dongle on pay as you go and top it up as and when is needed. With 3 there is no expiry time of your mins either. The other networks if you dont use your time, then at the end of the month you lose it 
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pow
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Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
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Voda isn't like that
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James_DT
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Registered: 9th Apr 04
Location: Cambridgeshire
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quote:
Originally posted by AlunJ
I have a 3 dongle, whilst 3's service itself is fine (apart from signal in work where I mainly use it is crap lol), the dongle (it's a huawei e160g) is a heap of shite, won't work under xp properly, works fine under vista, mac osx is fine once I found the software. I pay £14.99 for like a gig a month, and I've yet to use it all, I'm quite happy service wise though, using it now in fact.
[Edited on 11-11-2009 by AlunJ]
The new 3 dongles are a lot better than the older Huawei ones.
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Colin
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Registered: 4th Apr 02
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Hmm wise words, i'll look into it.
Dell mini dont come in 11.6" do they? I thought the 10.1 was just too wee & 11.6" pretty perfect.
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AndyKent
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Registered: 3rd Sep 05
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quote:
Originally posted by AlunJ
I have a 3 dongle, whilst 3's service itself is fine (apart from signal in work where I mainly use it is crap lol), the dongle (it's a huawei e160g) is a heap of shite, won't work under xp properly, works fine under vista, mac osx is fine once I found the software. I pay £14.99 for like a gig a month, and I've yet to use it all, I'm quite happy service wise though, using it now in fact.
[Edited on 11-11-2009 by AlunJ]
I've got the same Huawei modem and its been spot on for a year now. I do use it on Vista through.
I pay £15 a month for 5GB on a rolling monthly contract (cancel with 30 days notice).
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Neo
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Registered: 20th Feb 07
Location: Essex
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quote:
Originally posted by AndyKent
quote:
Originally posted by AlunJ
I have a 3 dongle, whilst 3's service itself is fine (apart from signal in work where I mainly use it is crap lol), the dongle (it's a huawei e160g) is a heap of shite, won't work under xp properly, works fine under vista, mac osx is fine once I found the software. I pay £14.99 for like a gig a month, and I've yet to use it all, I'm quite happy service wise though, using it now in fact.
[Edited on 11-11-2009 by AlunJ]
I've got the same Huawei modem and its been spot on for a year now. I do use it on Vista through.
I pay £15 a month for 5GB on a rolling monthly contract (cancel with 30 days notice).
I have the same too, and use it on XP, £15 for 15Gb a month so i dont know what you guys have done to get such download amounts 
In response to the OP, they are great when i'm out on site and have to download a picture or something from the office.
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Half Pint
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Registered: 25th Mar 02
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surely if you get internet / data with your mobile you could that and connect to the laptop?????
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stubs
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Registered: 30th Jun 02
Location: Bolton
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quote:
Originally posted by Half Pint
surely if you get internet / data with your mobile you could that and connect to the laptop?????
It's called tethering and it can be done quite easily, but the network won't like it if they find out.
I've done it with my iPhone.. normally O2 charge something like £25/month on top of your current bill to activate tethering on the iPhone but there's other ways to do it
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AndyKent
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Registered: 3rd Sep 05
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quote:
Originally posted by Neo
I have the same too, and use it on XP, £15 for 15Gb a month so i dont know what you guys have done to get such download amounts
In response to the OP, they are great when i'm out on site and have to download a picture or something from the office.
When did you sign up Neo?
I've never seen that download amount offered, 5GB was by far the best of any service provider. For 15GB of data I was looking at £25 which is just stupid.
edit - Silly me, just realised you must be on a 24 month contract for that price. I didn't want to tie myself down for that long hence why I went for the rolling contract instead.
[Edited on 12-11-2009 by AndyKent]
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oceansoul
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Registered: 19th Jun 06
Location: Sunbury, Surrey
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quote:
Originally posted by stubs
quote:
Originally posted by Half Pint
surely if you get internet / data with your mobile you could that and connect to the laptop?????
It's called tethering and it can be done quite easily, but the network won't like it if they find out.
I've done it with my iPhone.. normally O2 charge something like £25/month on top of your current bill to activate tethering on the iPhone but there's other ways to do it
I just connect my E71 to my laptop via cable (or bluetooth sometimes) and press connect to internet using the Nokia PCSuite, then it connects using my standard '3' Connection i would use if i was using it on the phone itself...How will the network know...
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Neo
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Registered: 20th Feb 07
Location: Essex
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Yeah 24 months Andy
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Colin
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Registered: 4th Apr 02
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Bought an acer netbook yesterday for £250 & a pay as you go mobile dongle for £30.
Sorted
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