Mobile Broadband - Dongles etc

[del320]

At the end of last year I bought a second home – a cottage in the sticks with over half an acre. Although I haven't checked, I think I would have to pay BT's connection charge if I want to re-instate a landline.

So I'm attempting to drag myself out from the dark ages and am swotting up on mobile B/B. Straight away, I'm limited to 3 Mobile or T-Mobile for coverage.

As I understand it, both offer 3-15GB monthly limits on 18-24 month contracts for £15-£16 per month. What am I missing? This seems reasonable value considering there is no BT line rental and I can cart the stuff around.

Why would 3 Mobile offer 5GB and 15GB plans for the same £15.99? T-Mobile costs £15.32pm for a 3GB limit.

I am retaining the BT service at house no.1 for all main usage but clearly have to keep in touch with e-mails and MB Club UK when I'm down in the Borders.

Any advice, tips or views are gratefully appreciated!

BTW, I don't even have a laptop yet...

 

[davidjpowell]

3 Mobile coverage can be patchy I believe. Check the signal carefully. For decent speed you need a good 3g connection. If you are really in the sticks, I suspect that you will struggle to find this.

 

[Beetnik]

^^What he says^^

I have Orange and Vodafone dongles and, despite the publicity given re coverage, they're both next to useless once you leave urban areas.

I'd want to borrow one and test it out before committing to a contract.

Standing in the one square metre of forest with any coverage at all, umbrella up, in the snow and 50 metres away from your cottage, as I was recently, is no fun!

 

[flango]

I had this problem too. 3 network is great for data and very cheap if you have a strong reliable signal. T mobile is just crap even in some major populated areas. When I was in Scotland Orange had the best National coverage by a mile and I still notice now theres places where I get no Vodafone signal. So if the 3 signal is reliable and not patchy I'd go with that

 

[S207]

Endorse comments above re sticks.

I have 3 and vodafone dongles. The 3 dongle outperforms the voda by a long way in all the areas i have been to. 3's coverage also seems to be wider than voda, it covers my house in semi rural lincolnshire, MIL house in semi-rural lincolnshire and rental in Telford, all with strong 3G signals, whilst the voda stick struggles to get 3G in all these locations.

Also the 3 sim in the ipad outperforms the voda sims in the phones (all sorts from nokia to iphone) in the majority of locations.

 

[del320]

Thanks all - keep it coming.

My initial investigations for coverage and reviews were from here.

As stated, Vodaphone, Orange and O2 simply have no coverage in the area. What I still don't understand is the pricing vs download limits of 3 Mobile and T-Mobile. And I suppose I could say the same for the rest of 'em. What am I missing?

I want reliability and no hassle and 3 M appears to shade T-M. Yes? No?

Thanks

 

[davidjpowell]

To be honest you are not going to beat a good honest land line for signal. I am by nature very dubious of the 'signal maps'. In my view that are lying *******s and it has been a case of speaking to neighbours to find the one network with coverage in our last 3 houses (always different networks of course!).

 

[Dryce]

Why would 3 Mobile offer 5GB and 15GB plans for the same £15.99? T-Mobile costs £15.32pm for a 3GB limit.

They're more aggressive with phone deals as well. They're the underdog in the market and trying to gain customers. They've have been much more aggressive in the 3G data market for the last few years. With a network that was designed for 3G from the start it's in their interests to push and exploit it.

For my netbook I use a prepay Three 3G SIM that is loaded with 12GB that expires in 12 months. This works out better for me than a monthly deal. I use my netbook at a low level - maybe 250MB / month with occasional spikes of a couple of GB over several days. The Three 3G setup is such that the SIM doesn't require a user name and password and no stupid settings - it just works in whatever unlocked adapter I put it.

 

[grober]

Are you with BT broadband at home?house no 1

From your first post I think you are?

Next question how far away is your new abode from other habitation?

Humour me there is method to my questions

 

[del320]

Thanks, Graeme - I know I'm going to get some pearls here!

Yup, presently with BT - unlimited w/end & evening plus total B/B option 1. All-in monthly package costs £26.28 for reliable 6Mb+ service. Add another couple of quid for daytime calls.

Second home is 37 miles away between Melrose and Newton St Boswells.

 

[grober]

A well, I will assume you are with BT at home for your broadband connection. If so, you may already be enrolled in their wireless from anywhere scheme called BT FON. In this scheme people away from home can piggy back on to someone else WiFi home connection [ why do you think they are giving away all those wireless routers for free? ] for mobile internet access. This is done "silently" without breaching the WiFi "providers" security but obviously steals a little of their bandwidth away. If you happen to have neighbours within WiFi range in the borders who are signed up to this BTbroadband service you might be in luck. The only way to test this is to try it out with say a wireless laptop with the right software onboard. https://www.bt.com/wifi/secure/index.do?s_cid=con_FURL_btfon

sorry Del didn't read your last post but have now altered mine.

 

[del320]

BLIMEY!

According to BT's map, my cottage IS a hotspot! (Actually it's an adjoining neighbour who I know works from home)

View attachment 21522

...and it's F R E E E E ...

The things you learn on MB Club UK. -(Also got good info on my multi-fuel stove).