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  1. #1
    dransfield
    Guest
    I was thinking of getting a 3G laptop dongle for occasional mobile
    surfing/email (using laptop on train, airport, etc.), and see things
    for £10 / £15 pcm, plus initial purchase. But I need to get a new
    phone (as my current model features in a lot of cave paintings), and
    I'd like to get one that has some web / email capability (not
    necessarily looking for full blackberry capability). So I was
    thinking, why not get a phone that will work on 3G and can be used as
    a laptop dongle?

    I've had a bit of a browse and it does appear that there's a huge cost
    saving to be made doing this. Eg. a Virgin dongle is something like
    £15pcm for 3GB (and then £15 for each GB extra - Yikes!), whereas if
    you're on Virgin direct debit then 'accessing the web' is only £2 per
    GB and you don't have to buy. Am I not comparing like for like, or is
    this a massive disparity? (And you don't have to carry an extra
    dongle.)

    I'm with Virgin, who I like, and who give me 300mins/300 texts for
    £10pcm, so I'd like to stay with them, and as its just for occasional
    business use I don't mind paying as I go for the data (in fact I'd
    prefer it as this usually works out cheaper).

    So what do I need to do? I read some discussion on here about using a
    Nokia N95 for this, but can I use anything 3G? Does it have to have
    Wifi or is bluetooth fast enough for the laptop-phone connection? Does
    the phone have to have a modem? N96?
    Thanks in advance,
    Dz



    See More: Phone to use as a 3G laptop dongle?




  2. #2
    tony sayer
    Guest

    Re: Phone to use as a 3G laptop dongle?

    In article <[email protected]
    ..com>, dransfield <[email protected]> scribeth thus
    >I was thinking of getting a 3G laptop dongle for occasional mobile
    >surfing/email (using laptop on train, airport, etc.), and see things
    >for £10 / £15 pcm, plus initial purchase. But I need to get a new
    >phone (as my current model features in a lot of cave paintings), and
    >I'd like to get one that has some web / email capability (not
    >necessarily looking for full blackberry capability). So I was
    >thinking, why not get a phone that will work on 3G and can be used as
    >a laptop dongle?
    >
    >I've had a bit of a browse and it does appear that there's a huge cost
    >saving to be made doing this. Eg. a Virgin dongle is something like
    >£15pcm for 3GB (and then £15 for each GB extra - Yikes!), whereas if
    >you're on Virgin direct debit then 'accessing the web' is only £2 per
    >GB and you don't have to buy. Am I not comparing like for like, or is
    >this a massive disparity? (And you don't have to carry an extra
    >dongle.)
    >
    >I'm with Virgin, who I like, and who give me 300mins/300 texts for
    >£10pcm, so I'd like to stay with them, and as its just for occasional
    >business use I don't mind paying as I go for the data (in fact I'd
    >prefer it as this usually works out cheaper).
    >
    >So what do I need to do? I read some discussion on here about using a
    >Nokia N95 for this, but can I use anything 3G? Does it have to have
    >Wifi or is bluetooth fast enough for the laptop-phone connection? Does
    >the phone have to have a modem? N96?
    >Thanks in advance,
    >Dz


    I've got one from Voodofone and quite frankly for the use it gets and
    the places where it still doesn't work, mainly rural east Anglia
    reverting to GPRS, Its not a lot of cop;(...
    --
    Tony Sayer





  3. #3

    Re: Phone to use as a 3G laptop dongle?

    On Fri, 5 Dec 2008 02:31:41 -0800 (PST), dransfield
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    <snip>
    I'd only consider mobile broadband if it was absolute last resort to
    get internet access.
    Well three anyway!
    --
    A useless life is an early death. Goethe



  4. #4
    Nick Le Lievre
    Guest

    Re: Phone to use as a 3G laptop dongle?

    "dransfield" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    >>
    >> The MWG Zinc II allows you to tether to a laptop so you can access
    >> Internet and it supports 3G... only £ 199 inc VAT + £ 7.41 del at
    >> expansys.com





  5. #5
    Jon
    Guest

    Re: Phone to use as a 3G laptop dongle?

    In article <3c67e357-572b-4097-acf4-16331e38c9d4
    @t3g2000yqa.googlegroups.com>, [email protected] says...
    > I was thinking of getting a 3G laptop dongle for occasional mobile
    > surfing/email (using laptop on train, airport, etc.), and see things
    > for £10 / £15 pcm, plus initial purchase. But I need to get a new
    > phone (as my current model features in a lot of cave paintings), and
    > I'd like to get one that has some web / email capability (not
    > necessarily looking for full blackberry capability). So I was
    > thinking, why not get a phone that will work on 3G and can be used as
    > a laptop dongle?
    >
    > I've had a bit of a browse and it does appear that there's a huge cost
    > saving to be made doing this. Eg. a Virgin dongle is something like
    > £15pcm for 3GB (and then £15 for each GB extra - Yikes!), whereas if
    > you're on Virgin direct debit then 'accessing the web' is only £2 per
    > GB and you don't have to buy. Am I not comparing like for like, or is
    > this a massive disparity? (And you don't have to carry an extra
    > dongle.)


    Are you sure it's not £2 per Mb?

    Hooking the phone up and using it as a modem is easilyt distiguishable
    from using a donlge in your laptop, this is how and why companies have
    differential pricing for laptop/modem use and browsing the "mobile web".

    > So what do I need to do? I read some discussion on here about using a
    > Nokia N95 for this, but can I use anything 3G? Does it have to have
    > Wifi or is bluetooth fast enough for the laptop-phone connection? Does
    > the phone have to have a modem? N96?
    > Thanks in advance,


    Any phone which can use a USB cable or bluetooth connection will do. All
    phones which can do this will also have the necessary built-in modems.
    USB cable is better as it's doesn't cane your battery and if you find
    yourself in a HSDPA area then bluetooth could become the bottleneck (up
    to 3.6 or 7.2mbps dowlink).
    --
    Regards
    Jon



  6. #6
    Adrian C
    Guest

    Re: Phone to use as a 3G laptop dongle?

    dransfield wrote:
    > I've had a bit of a browse and it does appear that there's a huge cost
    > saving to be made doing this. Eg. a Virgin dongle is something like
    > £15pcm for 3GB (and then £15 for each GB extra - Yikes!), whereas if
    > you're on Virgin direct debit then 'accessing the web' is only £2 per
    > GB and you don't have to buy. Am I not comparing like for like, or is
    > this a massive disparity? (And you don't have to carry an extra
    > dongle.)


    Some service providers prohibit tethering use for some of their data
    contracts, but not all. Read the small print.

    --
    Adrian C



  7. #7
    Tony
    Guest

    Re: Phone to use as a 3G laptop dongle?

    <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    > On Fri, 5 Dec 2008 02:31:41 -0800 (PST), dransfield
    > <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > <snip>
    > I'd only consider mobile broadband if it was absolute last resort to
    > get internet access.
    > Well three anyway!
    >
    >

    It's my first choice, £5 a month using a Nokia 6120 on 3 PAYG
    with an Acer Laptop, cheaper than dial up.

    Using it to send this

    Tony





  8. #8
    D Mac
    Guest

    Re: Phone to use as a 3G laptop dongle?

    > Some service providers prohibit tethering use for some of their data
    > contracts, but not all. Read the small print.


    So who doesn't ban it other than the £44 T-mob w+w plus polease?




  9. #9
    dransfield
    Guest

    Re: Phone to use as a 3G laptop dongle?

    On 8 Dec, 15:18, "D Mac" <[email protected]> wrote:
    > > Some service providers prohibit tethering use for some of their data
    > > contracts, but not all. Read the small print.

    >
    > So who doesn't ban it other than the £44 T-mob w+w plus polease?



    I'm the original poster. This is what I've found:-
    (I'm sure this will be old news to many of you).

    I bought a simple £100 3G phone from Virgin Mobile (SonyEric K770i).
    It comes with a USB cable and a CD ROM. If you install the software
    from the CD and use the cable to join laptop to phone then I can
    connect to the internet at 112Kbps in my house (in SE London). I don't
    know if this constitues tethering, but this speed is fine for
    occasional use. (googling a phone number or collecting emails on the
    train / in the car.) .

    Presumably if I get one of those micro bluetooth USB dongles for my
    laptop I won't need the cable or the phone out of my pocket.

    I'm probably getting charged quite a bit for the data, but I don't
    mind as its for occasional use and I'm a PAYG kind of guy (he says,
    not having seen the bill yet!).

    I hope people who pay for dongles and subscriptions for 'mobile
    broadband' get bettwe than 112Kbps though!

    HTH somebody.
    Dz



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