Sometimes I can be a clot. I've asked 3 how do I know what signal I'm getting, the reply was, we only do 3G. So my many bars of signal in our sitting room is a strong 3G one, come December I won't need to poke my dongle through the letter box.

cazz wrote:Sometimes I can be a clot. I've asked 3 how do I know what signal I'm getting, the reply was, we only do 3G. So my many bars of signal in our sitting room is a strong 3G one, come December I won't need to poke my dongle through the letter box.

Things to remember in December,you want all you can eat datanot unlimited,and a phone that will create a wi-fi hotspotyou could just ask about tethering when you do it but as far as i know its standard on that plan.

As my current phone contract ends in July, i'm not quite ready for a new phone or price plan yet.

So I think I will get a dongle from ebay for £20 and the 12 gb sim for £52 from 3. This will give me 12gb of internet for £72. That will be plenty for 7 months.

In July I will come back to tethering and all you eat date, I wonder how it tastes, lol.

I hope this thread also helps someone else. Thanks for your input Mike.

This is the first time I have taken my lappy camping but the site has free Wi-fi or something, I really have to get a dongle or a phone to tether......... I love being able to keep in touch. The wi fi is okay but a bit slow in the mornings if a few people are using it all at once but Mike used his phone to tether and it's a lot faster.

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

Sort of read this and yet not properly digested because I wasn't looking at a new phone but things might change.
Can a phone "stream data" (right term)faster than a dongle or will it always be the same on the same network. I mean as a maximum rather than choosing a lower rate? As you can with dongles.
What is the difference between "unlimited" and "all you can eat"?
I have Samsung phone I don't use "Symbian" I tend to use an old camshell it's more robust and doesn't answer itself.Is it only smartphones that you can set up a WiFi zone with? I see camshells have made a return in lower end phones.
As you constantly use the term Wi Fi zone is it open or can you password protect entry?

Tow Itch wrote: Sort of read this and yet not properly digested because I wasn't looking at a new phone but things might change.
Can a phone "stream data" (right term)faster than a dongle or will it always be the same on the same network. I mean as a maximum rather than choosing a lower rate? As you can with dongles.
What is the difference between "unlimited" and "all you can eat"?
I have Samsung phone I don't use "Symbian" I tend to use an old camshell it's more robust and doesn't answer itself.Is it only smartphones that you can set up a WiFi zone with? I see camshells have made a return in lower end phones.
As you constantly use the term Wi Fi zone is it open or can you password protect entry?

Will try to answer they say the dongles are faster but i found my wildfire s phone faster than virgin and vodafone dongles,none are of course as fast as fixed line broadband.
Unlimited and all you can eat,unlimited has a limit on it all you can eat has no limit on it but can only be used tethered if its on the one plan if not it can only be used as a phone connection.
The symbian bit i dont understand
A wifi hot spot can be secured with a pass word but not all phones can create one,although 5 connections can be made at the same time i now tend to tether via usb as i found the hot spot may need restarting after 20 -30 min and via usb i have surfed for hours,infact ime doing it now and have been all day.

mike

Symbian and Android the operating systems for smartphones?

When we get a good 3G signal on our dongle, it is quicker than my mum and dads land line broadband. The new 3 dongle is meant to be loads quicker than ours, ours is two years old now.

When I contacted 3, they said tethering was slower than using their dongle, but by what Mike said, it is still quicker than his older dongles.

cazz wrote:When we get a good 3G signal on our dongle, it is quicker than my mum and dads land line broadband. The new 3 dongle is meant to be loads quicker than ours, ours is two years old now.

When I contacted 3, they said tethering was slower than using their dongle, but by what Mike said, it is still quicker than his older dongles.

I'm on 3.
So what are the all you can eat prices like to add on to a phone as against prices for phone and dongle?
If separates are more expensive, they would say that wouldn't they?
Any idea where to get separate specs for speed on dongle and tethered to phone?

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 planchoicei 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?