3G for internet only

I'm travelling a lot in UK, and today constantly chasing wifi services
all the time. Therefore I have considered a 3G service for better
coverage, but neither "Three" nor Orange seem to offer a service with
only data transfer.

What I'm really after is to buy a PCMCIA card, and then a pay-as-you-go
service. No need for voice, text or video via a handset. Just wireless
access to the internet. Anyone who knows such a provider?

Perhaps there are other alternatives to 3G/Wifi in UK????

Mogens

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› See More: 3G for internet only

[email protected] declared for all the world to hear...
> I'm travelling a lot in UK, and today constantly chasing wifi services
> all the time. Therefore I have considered a 3G service for better
> coverage, but neither "Three" nor Orange seem to offer a service with
> only data transfer.

Orange certainly do offer this, however you will need to enter into a
12-month contract to get it.

> What I'm really after is to buy a PCMCIA card, and then a pay-as-you-go
> service. No need for voice, text or video via a handset. Just wireless
> access to the internet. Anyone who knows such a provider?

Orange! The tariff is called Mobile Office - Pay As You Consume.

--
Regards
Jon

"Jon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] declared for all the world to hear...
>> I'm travelling a lot in UK, and today constantly chasing wifi services
>> all the time. Therefore I have considered a 3G service for better
>> coverage, but neither "Three" nor Orange seem to offer a service with
>> only data transfer.
>
> Orange certainly do offer this, however you will need to enter into a
> 12-month contract to get it.
>
>> What I'm really after is to buy a PCMCIA card, and then a pay-as-you-go
>> service. No need for voice, text or video via a handset. Just wireless
>> access to the internet. Anyone who knows such a provider?
>
> Orange! The tariff is called Mobile Office - Pay As You Consume.
>
> --
> Regards
> Jon

Vodafone also offer a payg data card / tarrif solution on their 3G network.

--

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In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...

> Vodafone also offer a payg data card / tarrif solution on their 3G network.

Yes, I've seen the Vodafone Prepay version of this. Is Prepay the same
as pay-as-you-go? i.e. no monthly charges and no charges at all if you
don't use the card? (provided you use it often enough to not get it
cancelled).

David Skinner wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
>
>> Vodafone also offer a payg data card / tarrif solution on their 3G
>> network.
>
> Yes, I've seen the Vodafone Prepay version of this. Is Prepay the same
> as pay-as-you-go? i.e. no monthly charges and no charges at all if you
> don't use the card?

correct. no monthly charges, direct debit usage payment. £2/meg (I think) my free
3g card came with 20mb free usage and I've only used 1 meg in a month.


>(provided you use it often enough to not get it cancelled)

not heard that one

In article <[email protected]>, .@. says...
> correct. no monthly charges, direct debit usage payment. £2/meg (I think) my free
> 3g card came with 20mb free usage and I've only used 1 meg in a month.
>

Sounds interesting - I'll investigate further. Prices per-meg are
slightly scary, but it's rare that I'm so desperate to get on the 'net
that I can't wait until I get home or connect to a WiFi point.

>
> >(provided you use it often enough to not get it cancelled)
>
> not heard that one

The Voda PAYG sim I use in my "spare" phone gets cancelled if unused for
180 days, so says the documentation.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> In article <[email protected]>, .@. says...
> > correct. no monthly charges, direct debit usage payment. £2/meg (I think) my free
> > 3g card came with 20mb free usage and I've only used 1 meg in a month.
> >
>
> Sounds interesting - I'll investigate further. Prices per-meg are
> slightly scary, but it's rare that I'm so desperate to get on the 'net
> that I can't wait until I get home or connect to a WiFi point.
>

If you can put up with GPRS speeds instead of 3G then Orange PAYG with
any GPRS supporting handset would be cheaper (£1 for unlimited use for a
day).

Steve.

"Stephen Henson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
>> In article <[email protected]>, .@. says...
>> > correct. no monthly charges, direct debit usage payment. £2/meg (I
>> > think) my free
>> > 3g card came with 20mb free usage and I've only used 1 meg in a month.
>> >
>>
>> Sounds interesting - I'll investigate further. Prices per-meg are
>> slightly scary, but it's rare that I'm so desperate to get on the 'net
>> that I can't wait until I get home or connect to a WiFi point.
>>
>
> If you can put up with GPRS speeds instead of 3G then Orange PAYG with
> any GPRS supporting handset would be cheaper (£1 for unlimited use for a
> day).

Yep - it's slow but definitely cheap! I used it over the weekend when
travelling - transferred 28Mb over the w/end, total cost £2 :-D Even
streaming BBC Radio is possible (just).

There's also a company called onspeed that offer compression/accelerator
software - haven't tried it out myself, but reviews seem quite good. It's
about £25 for the year (I don't really use it enough to justify).

Cheers

Alan

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected]lid says...

> If you can put up with GPRS speeds instead of 3G then Orange PAYG with
> any GPRS supporting handset would be cheaper (£1 for unlimited use for a
> day).

Really? Even more interesting. Any idea whether it'd work with one of
the Voda GPRS pcmcia cards, rather than a seperate handset? I like the
idea of a built-in solution.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected]lid says...
>
> > If you can put up with GPRS speeds instead of 3G then Orange PAYG with
> > any GPRS supporting handset would be cheaper (£1 for unlimited use for a
> > day).
>
> Really? Even more interesting. Any idea whether it'd work with one of
> the Voda GPRS pcmcia cards, rather than a seperate handset? I like the
> idea of a built-in solution.

....and where I might find details? All I've found so far is £4 per meg
on Orange PAYG, or a variety of packages.

Hope you're not having me on :-(

Cheers!

> There's also a company called onspeed that offer compression/accelerator
> software - haven't tried it out myself, but reviews seem quite good. It's
> about £25 for the year (I don't really use it enough to justify).
>

The Vodafone dashboard software actually has compression (switchable) built
in.

"David Skinner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>...and where I might find details? All I've found so far is £4 per meg
>on Orange PAYG, or a variety of packages.
>
>Hope you're not having me on :-(

LOL no, he's not. It's one of the 'Extras' available on Orange PAYG - this
one is called 'Orange World'

More info here:
http://www.orange.co.uk/service_plan...tra_costs.html
(scroll down to the section called 'More Extras' - it's about 3/4 of the way
down the page)

Basically each time that you want it you call their automated CS line, then
pick the appropriate menu options. £1 is then deducted from your balance
and you can browse away as much as you like until midnight that night. You
then need to apply another Extra to continue browsing for another £1
otherwise it reverts to the £4/Mb price.

HTH

Alan

"Alan J Robertson" <[email protected]> wrote
in message news:[email protected]...
>
> More info here:
> http://www.orange.co.uk/service_plan...tra_costs.html
> (scroll down to the section called 'More Extras' - it's about 3/4 of the
> way down the page)

PS - T&Cs at this page:
http://www.orange.co.uk/service_plan...rms.html#link3

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected]lid says...
>
> > If you can put up with GPRS speeds instead of 3G then Orange PAYG with
> > any GPRS supporting handset would be cheaper (£1 for unlimited use for a
> > day).
>
> Really? Even more interesting. Any idea whether it'd work with one of
> the Voda GPRS pcmcia cards, rather than a seperate handset? I like the
> idea of a built-in solution.
>

As long as it is unlocked it should be OK, though it would need to be
configured to use the Orange GPRS APN of course.

Steve.

"Timfy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>> There's also a company called onspeed that offer compression/accelerator
>> software - haven't tried it out myself, but reviews seem quite good.
>> It's about £25 for the year (I don't really use it enough to justify).
>>
>
> The Vodafone dashboard software actually has compression (switchable)
> built in.

OnSpeed isn't just data-compression, unlike the vodafone in-built software.
You use the onspeed proxy server, and it really does work, especially when
using GPRS. You can set it to reduce image quality etc, but not so much that
the webpage isn't enjoyably viewable. It's certainly worth using for a
trial.