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Hi - We bought the Vodafone one from Tesco at £29.99 with a £15 top up included a month ago. Tesco's advertised it as 270 day expiry but on opening it said 180 days. 270 would cover our caravan days 180 might not so i rang vodafone and this is the situation as i understand it. The top up will last until you reach your download limit. After 180 days of non use your remaining balance will expire and you cannot use the dongle but you can top up again. After 270 days the number becomes blocked and essentially the dongle is now obsolete. My understanding now is that if you connect once every couple of months it will last as long as your top up. Note - you can only use a £15 top up on this dongle = 1Gb download - most other providers are £10 for same download limit.

Using it - it seems to connect on either of 2 different systems (i think either vodafone themselves or through the 3G network depending on which is the stronger signal. It works in places where i have no signal on my vodafone mobile so phone network doesn't seem to be the only deciding factor. If you google mobile broadband there are sites that let you see the coverage for the UK (this dongle can't be used abroad) and lets you compare the coverage from all the service providers, then you can  make a decision based on where you plan on caravaning.

For us the Vodafone dongle was by far the best system for occasional use but you need to decide if it is the best one for you. So far we are well pleased with it for caravan use.

Hi - We bought the Vodafone one from Tesco at £29.99 with a £15 top up included a month ago. Tesco's advertised it as 270 day expiry but on opening it said 180 days

just a thought,could you not return this package not as advertised??? i would have done.i bought a new NORTON 365 day protection and when i loaded it i lost 30 days cover.i complained that i had paid for the 30 days and wanted it back.this they did by adding it back on giving 395 days cover.

Best thing we have yet to find for mobile internet is the Ubisurfer.

I am loathe to post links in forum,(No spammer here) but anyone interested in a netbook...with 12 months internet connection, connect anywhere in with the £159 price tag, no contracts, and a second year for 30 quid if you want it, with Wi-Fi connection as well, should look at my website(My Homepage).

There will be reader test of this unit in Motorcaravan mag (April) and Caravan mag (March) and also features in "Boats and pieces" in the IWA mag Waterways world, in the March issue.

As I currently own two of them, I will answer any questions you may have in personal messages (Again, don't wanna use the forum as a sales arena)

Quote: Originally posted by misterg on 29/1/2010

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i bought the Vodaphone from PC World.Ordered on line and collected an hour later in store for£28.50 with £15 credit.
It appears that this is the only deal which does not need a monthly paymentand there are only a few left on this deal. The Vodaone shop said no one does this deal!

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I use an unlocked Huawei E169 dongle with an external antenna socket & triple band, pole mounted external 3G triple band antenna. I use it with various PAYG sims, Orange - Vodafone - Three and O2, dependant on where I am and what gives the best signal strenght for that area. All are now expired as they were 30 days only apart from the Vodafone which I got for free in July and just bought a top-up for to keep as a backup, and as from 2 mins ago, it's still live (I haven't needed to use the dongle since begging of November.....bloody weather).

This gives me the option of being able to get on line as long as there is a signal to be had, however weak, and although the initial outlay is expensive......still a damn sight cheaper in the longrun with what they are charging on sites at the moment.

By the way......the dongle is an unlocked 'Three' one originally, so it's the Sim that matters and not the dongle brand.