Mobile data use abroad/mobile broadband?

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jonnyboy

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As per title we will be in a no-wifi place for three weeks in Italy and I will need to catch up on some paperwork while away (penance for saying yes to 3 weeks!!!).
Will be taking laptop, tablet, dual sim mobile (although only really need to use one of the sims for calls/texts while there). Mrs may want to piggyback onto data connection if I am stuck in working, if that is even possible.
Anyone had any deals lately? Not having the pain of a conversation in an italian vodafone shop would be good (not done that for a couple of years to be fair).
TIA

J
 
How much data do you think you will need? 3 mobile currently have Italy as one of its feel at home location. This means that roaming data and calls to/from the UK comes out of your bundle while roaming at a feel at home location (including tethering if this is in your bundle). Worth checking 3 mobile out and maybe taking a SIM only package for unlimited data on a 30 day rolling contract?
 
I visited a 3 shop yesterday to get my son a new phone, as his was stolen at T in the Park at the weekend , the cheapest unlimited data sim they do is £17pm.

Whether they do it as PAYG of it has to be a contract i dont know but it may be worth a chat with them.

I believe that their "unlimited" is just that as last month he used 13gb and the month previously it was 23gb .

Kenny
 
My phone is with O2, and they have the O2 travel bolt on. This means data roaming in Europe for £1.99 per day...it worked for us when we needed the phone as a wi fi hot spot.
 
3 Feel at Home is available on PAYG. We used it recently in the US and it was fantastic, saved a fortune in roaming costs :)

Definitely worth a look if the country you are travelling to is one of their locations...
 
So by way of an update, I went to both the o2 (my current provider) shop, and the 3 shop.
Both do roaming data but you cannot tether your phone to laptop (and my tablet isnt a 3 g one so cant use sim card in it).

Back to square one...
 
So by way of an update, I went to both the o2 (my current provider) shop, and the 3 shop.
Both do roaming data but you cannot tether your phone to laptop (and my tablet isnt a 3 g one so cant use sim card in it).

Back to square one...

Can't or shouldn't?
 
Can't. I believe both networks have the technology to spot tethered devices in their networks and can prevent it or at least immediately bar your data connection. Other providers can't and make assumptions about data usage to try and spot tethering behaviour.

When O2 was the only network for the iPhone you had to pay a monthly charge to activate tethering otherwise it wouldn't work.
 
Advice from another forum I go to was that if you use a mifi router the sim doesn't know where it is plugged in therefore the block that certain networks put on tethering is irrelevant in this instance.
So I have this on it's way :-
HUAWEI E5330 3G SIM Free Mobile WiFi UK - White: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

And will pick up a 3 PAYG sim card. Hopefully, job done!
 
Gents

Am back now.
The Huawei thing is a superb piece of kit. Great signal strength - we had 6 devices hooked to it at one point with no loss of speed.
But......the 3 sim that I got (payg with free unlim data abroad) for a month, £15, only worked in it for about the first week. 3 seemed to get wise to it not being in a phone and stopped it working until I put it in a handset rendering the wifi modem useless.
I ended up buying a local sim with data on it and chucked it in the modem, job done, should have done that initially had I known.
Life lessons...
 
I've just got back from Italy/Switzerland and bought a PAYG "All you can eat" data bundle from 3 for £15. Didn't have any problems.

Managed to pull nearly 5GB through it in 9 days. They allow 25GB total and 4GB of that can be tethered (was running wife's WiFi iPad off my phone) aprt from some dead spots around the Alps it worked fine. Shame 3 have such a rubbish service outside my front door at home otherwise I'd stay with them so I'm back on GiffGaff!

If you're doing this 'phone 3 before you leave to confirm the Data package - in the small print they want you to be a customer for two months before you leave the country but they'll waive this if you ask nicely :)

Used to use a Huawei MiFi a lot until I got a phone that provides a stable hot spot for multiple devices.
 
We have done this a number of times with 3, but we have found that it is not necessary to speak to 3. Instead we just get a free SIM from their website (or from one of their stores), get a top up voucher from a supermarket and activate it before you go.

My relatives are even more ruthless - they activate the SIM after they have gone aboard!
 

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