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Topic: Best Mobile Broadband ?

Apple Tree

08/10/2010 at 1:01pm
Location: Essex Hertfordshire border
Outfit: LaStrada Pronto camper on Ford Transit

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I want to hook my laptop up to a mobile broadband connection when I am away camping. What is members experience and recommendation on these ?

3 have various dongle deals eg 3GB to spend over 3 months for about £30 or 12GB over 12 months for £79. Trouble is I don't know what my usage is so I don't want the time to expire with lots of GB left. How reliable and fast are connections compared to broadband at home and can you always get a decent signal ?

I would appreciate your thoughts and recommendations. Thank you.

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David Klyne

08/10/2010 at 2:26pm
Location: Milton Keynes
Outfit: Bailey Alliance 66-2 Motorhome

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I have a Vodafone Dongle and I have found that speed varies a lot. If I am in/near a large town I get a very good signal but out in the countryside it can go down to GPRS speeds which is slow! In terms of how much user allowance you need it will depend what you want to do. If its just checking e-mail. forums like this and just a few websites then 1GB a month is enough. If you want more intensive use like downloading music or BBC iPlayer you will need a much bigger user allowance.

David

bazh

08/10/2010 at 2:55pm
Location: South Yorkshire
Outfit: Tent

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Mines with 3 and agree with David speeds will vary depending on where you are, generally where you can get a phone signal you'll get mobile BB, 3 seem to have decent network coverage but I don't think there's much in it these days, mine costs £5 a month for 1GB which is plenty.

mike.wilkinson

08/10/2010 at 3:09pm
Location: north east lincs
Outfit: Dandy 6

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I did a fair bit of checking for coverage before getting mine and found vodafone to be the best,some of the others say they only use the 3g network which is great except when camping,its out of the way campsites that don't have 3g coverage so make sure which ever one you get it will switch down to GPRS when needed,this may be slow but for forums and general browsing its not bad.Another tip is if you are on a slow connection make sure one page has downloaded completely before clicking the next,as the slower connections can stall altogether if you rush them.
The amount of data needed depends on what you do i opted for payg at 3gb because i had virgin broadband at home,i found it to be far too much but because of good 3g coverage at home i have cancelled virgin and just use the mobile now.I can surf 3to4 hours every night probably twice that sat and Sunday,download and upload pictures surf ebay send emails with attachments and still struggle to use 3gb in 30 days.

mike

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toughsj

08/10/2010 at 3:34pm
Location: Norfolk
Outfit: Voyager 5 berth

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Ive used a virgin dongle for 18 months, and while i was haapy with it i have now changed to the Mifi from 3. The reason for this was as the mifi sets up a mini hotspot wherever you are, the kids can now get online with their ipods as well as me use a laptop, as you can connect up to 5 devices.
As the prices are similar to a fixed dongle (I'm paying £9.50 for a 1gb allowance) i felt it gave more flexibility for getting access.

Maybe something to think about......?

Stu

suttons2

08/10/2010 at 7:55pm
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Vodafone is our preferred dongle PAYG top up 15 get 1gb no time limit on use had it for 18mths now use it every time we go away cant say how many hrs we have had it on say 7 or 8 in total last looked at Balance two weeks ago £12.36 from the original £15 I'm well impressed and so far have always managed to get 3g signal were we have been.

Jan P

08/10/2010 at 9:10pm
Location: Herefordshire
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Vodafone for us and 1 GB lasts ages we rarely get a good enough conection to even think about i player so its forums email etc bit of google and less than £15 for the season this year,

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pwatson

08/10/2010 at 9:56pm
Location: North Hertfordshire
Outfit: Filey 6 Sherpa 3 Force 10 Mk3

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Can't comment too much about coverage but I've got a T-Mobile PAYG dongle - No contract but £2/day or £7/week

G7ACU

08/10/2010 at 10:47pm
Location: West Mids
Outfit: Swift Ace Statesman & X-Trail 2.0

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I've used all the main players and I don't think there is a 'best', especially as we're all (mainly) using mobile broadband in varying locations through the year.

I have however adopted the Vodafone PAYG service which offered the best value at the time as their's was the only service where the credit was valid for 180 days from top-up date; all other PAYG providers have a 30 day validity. New Vodafone dongles however have now adopted the 30 day validity period too, so they're all as good as each other. Users with Vodafone devices that were on the original deal of £15 for 1gb retain the 180 day privilage, but new customers can only expect a 30 day run.

It can be worth checking your mobile phone service too. A relative has an Orange contracted dongle for £5/month, discounted as he's an existing customer. He's generally pleased with the service and travels around a bit for work..

Post last edited on 08/10/2010 23:03:46

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Paul

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pwatson

09/10/2010 at 12:58pm
Location: North Hertfordshire
Outfit: Filey 6 Sherpa 3 Force 10 Mk3

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The T-Mobile daily PAYG plan needs to be used at least once every 180 days or the account is closed. Other than that, the credit never expires...

G7ACU

09/10/2010 at 3:03pm
Location: West Mids
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Quote: Originally posted by pwatson on 09/10/2010

The T-Mobile daily PAYG plan needs to be used at least once every 180 days or the account is closed. Other than that, the credit never expires...

Thanks for this, I'm happy to stand corrected but certainly all providers had a 30 day credit expiry when I investigated.
The earlier Vodafone PAYG still offers best value though as you only get charged for what you use (not £2/day fixed) and in fact I still have about £11 credit on my device, the £15 top-up having been made almost 12 months ago. Local Vodafone store tells me there are still some of the earlier PAYG dongles about.

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Paul

Every day's a school day!

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