Not train related - advice sought on 3G wireless PCMCIA cards for laptops

.... anyone on here got one, or can make recommendations (or warnings)?

Completely out of my experience zone,

We have a free standing wireless router connected to a broadband land line!

Sorry

...and we've got 33.2kbs dial-up; ten minutes to load a video!

mikey

I've got one but don't use it - had a fright with my first bill. Things have changed a lot since those days tho and it is a bit more sensible.

I currently have two USB dongles , I have an O2 one for use when I travel to UK, you can buy em for 30quid and just log on to the website (free) to buy "airtime". O2 is currently £2 for one day (500mb limit) , £7.50 for 7 days access (1gb limit) and £15 for 30 days use.

For Spain I have a Orange USB dongle which is on contract at €6 a month plus €2 on any day that I use it, I use it for when I travel to MILs or to Benidorm.

These are both 3g devices and I have managed to use them under Linux on my Netbook and on the big laptops with both XP and Vista. The Orange would not auto install and gave me a lot of greif and the Spanish speaking helpline was no use to me. I cracked it tho.


I think you have to consider he costs involved, things can get very expensive if you use it a lot . For the odd few days I am away it works for me and I consider the costs worthwhile. As an example in certain hotels they offer broadband access at £5 for an hour but that starts from the moment you pay and you have to use it in one go.

Hi Clive.
I`m not sure what a pcmcia card is,but if you are after internet access away from home,I use a dongal from T mobile.Its £15 per month on a 24 month contract with a 3gb limit per year.I got the dongal from carphone warehouse,the only complaint I have with it is,it does not seem to work with skype.

The caveat here is that I know nothing about PCs or electrics.


Van

Can't really give any useful advice or opinion although I used to use Orange equipment with many problems in the past.

I'm afraid this is more my kind of technology.



Switchboard RP3771 M.A.T.E (Multiple Access Telephone Equipment).

Carlus Megalosaurus Telephonicus



I use one from SFR in France, there's not limit online, but have to be use with an EEEPC from SFR, the screen is a bit too small depend what you do and got disconnected sometimes in the RER (local train).

I didn't find the way to use the network yet to connect it to another laptop (bigger screen). Maybe restricted but i will find a way.

It's usefull if you need to access internet a lot. I use it when i commute to come back from work (if i have a sit). And when we are away from home to check our email or bank account.

Laurent

I had a Vodafone dongle thingy (free) for a year and it was OK for emails and slowish surfing.

Well here I am in Uk using my O2 dongle, it has cost me £7.50 for 7 days access - the hotel wants £3 for 2 hours so I guess it is a lot cheaper. I only have a green light which I think means it's a 56k data connection, if I get a blue LED it means I am in a good area and it's a lot faster. Tell us what you are after and maybe I can be more specific.

Thanks for responses so far, chaps. I guess what I am looking for is a cheapish, reasonably reliable wireless connection that I can use when away from home - as you rightly say, Patrick, hotels are very expensive, and BT Openzone want nearly £6 for 90mins.

I already have an Orange business account, so I have been looking at what is available with them - trouble is, everyone these days is insisting on minimum 2-year contract term for paying monthly - that, coupled with the somewhat mixed feedback from existing customers especially where coverage - or indeed lack of it - is concerned, is sort of leaning me towards a PAYG dongle-type solution of the type you describe. I have heard that internet connections via a USB tend to put more of a strain on the system than a dedicated ethernet connection or PCMCIA data card, however i guess that i wouldn't be connected in that way for extended periods of time, so I can't see it being much of an issue.

Deleted by French chuffed for him talking total twaddle.

Hi Clive.
Just had a flyer put in with my monthly mobile contract bill from Orange.They are offering a 50% discount on mobile broadband if taken out before 31-07-09.Thats about right for me as I`m only six months into a two year contract with T-mobile.The 50% discount stays for the lenght of the contract,with all the usual small print including a fair use policy.Its from £7.50 per month,I suppose its goes on lenght of contract,also they throw in a free dongal.
Their tel no is 0800 079 0473.

Usual disclaimers I`ve no interest in Orange other than being a customer and this package may not be right for you and all that other bulls**t and malarky.

I might add if you do not read the small print it may have hidden charges,which in turn could lead you to selling tha lad sans his boots to finance any possible future increase in your rolling stock.

Van

fm12 wrote:

Just had a flyer put in with my monthly mobile contract bill from Orange.They are offering a 50% discount on mobile broadband if taken out before 31-07-09.Thats about right for me as I`m only six months into a two year contract with T-mobile.The 50% discount stays for the lenght of the contract,with all the usual small print including a fair use policy.Its from £7.50 per month,I suppose its goes on lenght of contract,also they throw in a free dongal.
Their tel no is 0800 079 0473.

Usual disclaimers I`ve no interest in Orange other than being a customer and this package may not be right for you and all that other bulls**t and malarky.

Yes, I had a similar thing - actually printed on the first 2 pages of this month's bill!!! They don't miss a trick these boys, do they? I did look at it, though - I think, had I not been slaving over a hot accounts spreadsheet all day, I might have been sufficiently moved to paying a visit to the Orange shop to allow myself to be baffled with bull...

fm12 wrote:

I might add if you do not read the small print it may have hidden charges,which in turn could lead you to selling tha lad sans his boots to finance any possible future increase in your rolling stock.

That's a good point... trouble is, I'd have to move to a bigger house as well, as I don't have the space for any more stock...

Yes coverage is something to look into, at pres i have a green Led and things are painfully slow , means it's gprs (2g). When at my mums which is a mile away I get a blue light and whizzo connection speed. So even with a 3g card you don't always get 3g speeds. If I am using mine I generally disable downloading emails and set it to headers only. Also I disable graphics but somewebsites get bloomin confusing without the piccies. This speeds things up and also saves on the download limit. I would settle for a payg cos I bet it gets so frustrating you only use it when you really need it. On a contract you'll be paying and probably won't use it after the novelty wears off.

Yes, I think I have been leaning towards that notion myself. It would be Sod's Law at work indeed if, a month or so after taking on a 24 month contract for this service, I would then find myself either 'between contracts' or working at a commutable distance for a good proportion of that...

One other trick I have been told about, is to maintain one's 'hosts' file to effectively block advertising sites, thus reducing the amount of crap that gets downloaded,thus speeding it up and making the most of the data allowance.

Ok now it's your turn to be useful.

Seems that we are catching the Santander ferry on Weds morning from your local port, not having been there before and due to time constraints , etc etc. and my general reluctance to get out of bed before noon . Are there any nasty hold ups in your area that may give me greif on my route from Suffolk. Need to catch 11:00 boat so no time for tea I am afraid.

A12,M25,Dartford Crossing,M3.
How that for starters.



Van

What time do you need to be 'checked in' as it were? I seem to remember in the dim and distant past when sailing to St Malo, we needed to be on board I think at least a couple of hours beforehand.

If for that reason you are having to time your arrival at Portsmouth Ferry Terminal for 9am, then you should bear in mind that there can often be heavy traffic on that M275, which is I think the main route into the Ferry Terminal from out of town.

I can also tell you that if you were intending to get here via the A3 (which is probably the best of a bad bunch of routes), then best to avoid the A3 past Guildford - because you will almost certainly be held up at Hindhead. Better to go across the "Hog's Back" - the A31 turnoff at Guildford, which will take you past Farnham. If you then head through the little village of Wrecklesham on the A325 Bordon road, that will take you past Hindhead and it's only an extra mile or two in actual distance. Just past Bordon you then rejoin the A3, which eventually will become the A3(M), which will then join with the A27/M27, whereupon you will see big signs directing you to the Ferry Terminal.

To be fair to Van, the M3 route is probably less hassle in terms of junctions and turnings etc, but when it comes down to it, at about 8-ish am the junction of the M3/M27 can be a pig - there are regular hold-ups there. Also, even once you get on to the M27 from there, you've still got another 20 miles plus of commuter traffic to negotiate before the M275 finally hoves into view.

Hope that helps. I'll be in Belfast on that day, so I couldn't have met you anyway!

Thanks boys - now there should be no surprises for us.

When I mentioned the Dartford xing if you are going to use the m3 and if you are using the a12,theres hardly any difference in mileage between using the northern or southern section of the m25.When I had a period of driving between Southampton and Felixstowe docks,never used the same route all week.Sometimes used the woolwich ferry and down through London.Before setting off check whats happening to traffic flows on the radio.Theres no guaranteed quick route down to Portsmouth.



Van

You should turn left at Alberquerque :albino:

GeoffW wrote:

You should turn left at Alberquerque :albino:

Unless of course you are going to San Antoine

Over the weekend I bought an O2 pay as you go wireless broadband dongle. Having shelled out the princely sum of £2 for 24 hours' airtime, the remnants of which I am using now to compose and send this.

I guess the only moan I have is that the t's and c's state it's for personal use only, and is not to be used for commercial purposes. As if to underline that, there is no receipt or acknowledgement of payment of any kind. So I can't claim it back as a business expense. Still, £2 out of my own pocket is still less than 5.88 less vat, out of the company's - marginally.

Seeing as I am on the 7th floor of the Hilton in Belfast, the reception is reasonably good.