3G-USB Broadband Dongles

02-17-2008, 09:25 AM

I notice an increasing range of these. Are there any short term (1 or 3 month
) contracts available, they all seem to be on 18/24 month contracts ?

I'm thinking in terms of using one to 'bridge the gap' while moving house etc.

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

02-17-2008, 10:29 AM

On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:25:20 +0000, Mark Carver <mark.carver@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>I notice an increasing range of these. Are there any short term (1 or 3 month
>) contracts available, they all seem to be on 18/24 month contracts ?
>
>I'm thinking in terms of using one to 'bridge the gap' while moving house etc.

I saw an advert in Metro that implied 3 were now doing them on PAYG. 10
quid for 1GB (IIRC), then an eye-watering £1/Mbyte after that.

--
-- Michael "Soruk" McConnell Eridani Star System
MailStripper - http://www.MailStripper.eu/ - SMTP spam filter
Second Number - http://secondnumber.matrixnetwork.co.uk/

02-17-2008, 10:48 AM

On 17 Feb 2008, Soruk wrote

> On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:25:20 +0000, Mark Carver
> <mark.carver@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>> I notice an increasing range of these. Are there any short term
>> (1 or 3 month ) contracts available, they all seem to be on
>> 18/24 month contracts ?
>>
>> I'm thinking in terms of using one to 'bridge the gap' while
>> moving house etc.
>
> I saw an advert in Metro that implied 3 were now doing them on
> PAYG. 10 quid for 1GB (IIRC), then an eye-watering £1/Mbyte
> after that.

I think there's a fairly substantial up-front purchase cost in
addition to that, though. (Like phones, the price of the hardware
depends on the contract term.)

--
Cheers,
Harvey

02-17-2008, 12:00 PM

In uk.telecom.mobile HVS <usenet@removethiswhhvs.co.uk> wrote:
> I think there's a fairly substantial up-front purchase cost in
> addition to that, though. (Like phones, the price of the hardware
> depends on the contract term.)

100 quid for the HSDPA USB modem on PAYG:
http://threestore.three.co.uk/payg/default.aspx
(click on 'USB modem')

Or you can use a 3G phone as a modem for no extra cost.
If it's not an HSDPA phone it'll be 384Kbps rather than 1.8/3.6/7.2Mbps.
(But think it's only Vodafone with 7.2Mbps).

50 quid for the USB modem on PAYG if you're a student or know one, buy
before the end of the month:
http://www.three.co.uk/personal/prod..._/students.omp

Theo

02-17-2008, 12:25 PM

"Theo Markettos" <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote in message
news:lsv*q2H7r@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk...
> In uk.telecom.mobile HVS <usenet@removethiswhhvs.co.uk> wrote:
>> I think there's a fairly substantial up-front purchase cost in
>> addition to that, though. (Like phones, the price of the hardware
>> depends on the contract term.)
>
> 100 quid for the HSDPA USB modem on PAYG:
> http://threestore.three.co.uk/payg/default.aspx
> (click on 'USB modem')
>
> Or you can use a 3G phone as a modem for no extra cost.
> If it's not an HSDPA phone it'll be 384Kbps rather than 1.8/3.6/7.2Mbps.
> (But think it's only Vodafone with 7.2Mbps).
>
Nokia 6120 is HSDPA and £99.99 on 3 PAYT

Steve Terry

02-17-2008, 08:30 PM

"Soruk" <soruk@bitbucket.eridani.co.uk> wrote in message
news:slrnfrgo88.ct1.soruk@zeskia.int.eridani.co.uk ...
> On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:25:20 +0000, Mark Carver
> <mark.carver@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>I notice an increasing range of these. Are there any short term (1 or 3
>>month
>>) contracts available, they all seem to be on 18/24 month contracts ?
>>
>>I'm thinking in terms of using one to 'bridge the gap' while moving house
>>etc.
>
> I saw an advert in Metro that implied 3 were now doing them on PAYG. 10
> quid for 1GB (IIRC), then an eye-watering £1/Mbyte after that.
>

I'm using 3's 3G to surf the net now with my old mobile (C975), £5 per
month with a 2 GB limit. download speed is a respectable 50+ kb/s.

You should look on eBay for some old 3G phones that have the software and
USB cable.

02-18-2008, 04:03 AM

Andy wrote:
> "Soruk" <soruk@bitbucket.eridani.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:slrnfrgo88.ct1.soruk@zeskia.int.eridani.co.uk ...
>> On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:25:20 +0000, Mark Carver
>> <mark.carver@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>> I notice an increasing range of these. Are there any short term (1 or 3
>>> month
>>> ) contracts available, they all seem to be on 18/24 month contracts ?
>>>
>>> I'm thinking in terms of using one to 'bridge the gap' while moving house
>>> etc.
>> I saw an advert in Metro that implied 3 were now doing them on PAYG. 10
>> quid for 1GB (IIRC), then an eye-watering £1/Mbyte after that.
>>
>
> I'm using 3's 3G to surf the net now with my old mobile (C975), £5 per
> month with a 2 GB limit. download speed is a respectable 50+ kb/s.
>
> You should look on eBay for some old 3G phones that have the software and
> USB cable.
>
>
Can someone tell me what te current speeds actually are? I have to write
a page of a website for someone to sell off a stall and do credit card
validation over a link like this: I would want to know how fast a data
rate we can expect.

02-18-2008, 05:12 AM

On 18 Feb, 10:03, The Natural Philosopher <a...@b.c> wrote:

> Can someone tell me what te current speeds actually are? I have to write
> a page of a website for someone to sell off a stall and do credit card
> validation over a link like this: I would want to know how fast a data
> rate we can expect.

With the 3 Huawei E220 modem, and in an area showing 3.5G, I got a
maximum of 400kbps and an average of 300kbps. In a 3G / 3 bar area I
got about 40kbps.

Ian

02-18-2008, 05:17 AM

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:03:08 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> Can someone tell me what te current speeds actually are? I have to write
> a page of a website for someone to sell off a stall and do credit card
> validation over a link like this: I would want to know how fast a data
> rate we can expect.

Got 1.6Mbps from thinkbroadband.com and 1.8Mbps from speedtest.net on
Vodafone HSDPA dongle in laptop last week.

--
<http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) (UnSoEsNpEaTm@ale.cx)
11:16:10 up 9 days, 14:18, 2 users, load average: 1.19, 1.13, 1.09
Convergence, n: The act of using separate DSL circuits for voice and data

02-18-2008, 06:20 AM

Ian wrote:
> On 18 Feb, 10:03, The Natural Philosopher <a...@b.c> wrote:
>
>> Can someone tell me what te current speeds actually are? I have to write
>> a page of a website for someone to sell off a stall and do credit card
>> validation over a link like this: I would want to know how fast a data
>> rate we can expect.
>
> With the 3 Huawei E220 modem, and in an area showing 3.5G, I got a
> maximum of 400kbps and an average of 300kbps. In a 3G / 3 bar area I
> got about 40kbps.
>
> Ian
Right so no worse than a modem at least..and possibly ten times better.

400kbps would be utter luxury.

02-18-2008, 06:22 AM

alexd wrote:
> On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:03:08 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
>> Can someone tell me what te current speeds actually are? I have to write
>> a page of a website for someone to sell off a stall and do credit card
>> validation over a link like this: I would want to know how fast a data
>> rate we can expect.
>
> Got 1.6Mbps from thinkbroadband.com and 1.8Mbps from speedtest.net on
> Vodafone HSDPA dongle in laptop last week.
>
Ok..the issue here is that the portable will be operating in very
uncertain areas of reception - outdoors at shows and the like.

It looks like if it works at all, it will be around 40k-50k minimum.

So pages will have to be a few K at most. Think that is do-able.
Many thanks..

02-18-2008, 02:08 PM

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> Can someone tell me what te current speeds actually are? I have to write
> a page of a website for someone to sell off a stall and do credit card
> validation over a link like this: I would want to know how fast a data
> rate we can expect.

Might be worth looking at http://www.mobilepos.co.uk before spending a
lot of time on this.

02-18-2008, 04:24 PM

In article <61r1uuF20paueU1@mid.individual.net>,
mark.carver@invalid.invalid says...

> I notice an increasing range of these. Are there any short term (1 or 3 month
> ) contracts available, they all seem to be on 18/24 month contracts ?
>
> I'm thinking in terms of using one to 'bridge the gap' while moving house etc.

3 do a PAYG, buy the dongle for a onner (that's a hundred quid to you)
and pay ten quid for a gig's worth of data which lasts a month.

That's all I know.

02-18-2008, 04:44 PM

Iain wrote:
> The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
>> Can someone tell me what te current speeds actually are? I have to
>> write a page of a website for someone to sell off a stall and do
>> credit card validation over a link like this: I would want to know how
>> fast a data rate we can expect.
>
> Might be worth looking at http://www.mobilepos.co.uk before spending a
> lot of time on this.

MMm. Thats not half a bad idea..

02-18-2008, 06:22 PM

"The Natural Philosopher" <a@b.c> wrote in message
news:1203337215.17490.0@proxy01.news.clara.net...
> Ian wrote:
>> On 18 Feb, 10:03, The Natural Philosopher <a...@b.c> wrote:
>>
>>> Can someone tell me what te current speeds actually are? I have to write
>>> a page of a website for someone to sell off a stall and do credit card
>>> validation over a link like this: I would want to know how fast a data
>>> rate we can expect.
>>
>> With the 3 Huawei E220 modem, and in an area showing 3.5G, I got a
>> maximum of 400kbps and an average of 300kbps. In a 3G / 3 bar area I
>> got about 40kbps.
>> Ian
>
> Right so no worse than a modem at least..and possibly ten times better.
> 400kbps would be utter luxury.
>
Just timed my Nokia 6630 via DKU2 USB datalead using 3 PAYT
on their 5quid a month packet internet deal.:
350kb/s down
55kb/s up

I would expect maybe double that with the 10qud a month broadband deal.

Sending this using it, on my laptop using aioe.cjb.net free Newsserver

Steve Terry