Adonnante
Well-Known Member
Is anyone aware of a PAYG broadband dongle that enables use independant of time? My old Vodaphone dongle is running out and current policy is to limit new uploads to a 30 day life.
Peter.
Peter.
Broadband Dongles
- Thread starter Adonnante
- Start date
pvb
Well-Known Member
I use a dongle very occasionally, so I bought a Vodafone K3565 purely because it didn't have a 30-day limit on usage of top-ups. I'd be surprised (and upset) if I found that future top-ups were to be time-limited. Are you sure this is the case? If it is, PC World will be getting the dongle back and giving me a refund!
Adonnante
Well-Known Member
Copied from the Vodaphone website http://online.vodafone.co.uk/broadband/mobile-broadband
Get easy web and email access without a contract. Just £30 gets you a USB dongle which includes a £15 TopUp - that's 3GB of data. Use it for up to 30 days, and simply top up when your credit runs out.
I assume that the origional purchase is free of the 30 day limit but it applies to any future top ups. This makes the 3GB expensive at £25. I wasn't aware of this when I bought the dongle last year, have they changed the terms?
pvb
Well-Known Member
You worried me enough to look into this myself. As far as I can see, this is the situation.
If you have an older K3565 dongle, there isn't a time limit on the data usage (or, if there is, it's something like 6 or 12 months rather than 30 days).
Vodafone now sell dongles which have a 30-day limit on data usage. This limit also applies to the initial pre-loaded data allowance. I assume yours isn't one of these; I know mine isn't.
If you have an older, non-time limited dongle, your top-ups won't be subject to a 30-day limit.
If you have a newer, time limited dongle, your top-ups will be subject to a 30-day limit.
Sgeir
Well-Known Member
I am coming to the end of a two year deal with a T-Mobile dongle (3Gb per month IIRC), which I shall not be renewing.
Initially I was very pleased with it, but, increasingly, connections appear to rapidly downgrade from 3G to much slower GPRS. Also, I can no longer get a signal in places that were previously connectable in my usual sailing area in Argyll (yes, I know that a signal would be unlikely in many anchorages, but I'm talking about areas of open water where it used to be easy to pick up email). It usually works in central London and the City area, but even those areas can be patchy.
My home connection is with BT Broadband, so, for a one-off payment of £40 for a BT Mobile Broadband Dongle , I can now download up to 1Gb per month without incurring additional charges. I can only write about about my own experiences, but on several occasions I have compared the effectiveness of the BT and T-Moibile dongles. To date, BT has been better; better in the sense that they are more likely to provide a signal, and could more readily provide a stronger or faster signal than T-Mobile. Reliable access was more more important that the money, but I'll no longer be spending the £15 a month that I was paying to T-Mobile. So that's also a plus.
BT claim to have 80% UK coverage (whatever that means), and I presume that their service is piggybacked with a mobile operator. The purely mobile service has been very good to date, but I my home account also gives me free WiFi access to BT FON and BT Openzone when I'm travelling.
T-Mobile provided monthly downloads of up to 3Gb, so the the free 1Gb from BT Mobile is significantly less. However, I have never downloaded anything remotely approaching one Gb while on the move. Also, downloading from BT FON or Openzone does not count towards the 1Gb mobile limit.
Initially I was very pleased with it, but, increasingly, connections appear to rapidly downgrade from 3G to much slower GPRS. Also, I can no longer get a signal in places that were previously connectable in my usual sailing area in Argyll (yes, I know that a signal would be unlikely in many anchorages, but I'm talking about areas of open water where it used to be easy to pick up email). It usually works in central London and the City area, but even those areas can be patchy.
My home connection is with BT Broadband, so, for a one-off payment of £40 for a BT Mobile Broadband Dongle , I can now download up to 1Gb per month without incurring additional charges. I can only write about about my own experiences, but on several occasions I have compared the effectiveness of the BT and T-Moibile dongles. To date, BT has been better; better in the sense that they are more likely to provide a signal, and could more readily provide a stronger or faster signal than T-Mobile. Reliable access was more more important that the money, but I'll no longer be spending the £15 a month that I was paying to T-Mobile. So that's also a plus.
BT claim to have 80% UK coverage (whatever that means), and I presume that their service is piggybacked with a mobile operator. The purely mobile service has been very good to date, but I my home account also gives me free WiFi access to BT FON and BT Openzone when I'm travelling.
T-Mobile provided monthly downloads of up to 3Gb, so the the free 1Gb from BT Mobile is significantly less. However, I have never downloaded anything remotely approaching one Gb while on the move. Also, downloading from BT FON or Openzone does not count towards the 1Gb mobile limit.
agurney
Well-Known Member
BT uses the Vodafone network.
There are lots of BT FON sites in some surprisingly remote areas of Argyll if you have a good signal (I use one of these http://tinyurl.com/35rpqo4). BT FON Connection speed is limited to around 500kbit, but that's fine if you're only interested in picking up email.
Alisdair
Bobobolinsky
Well-Known Member
I use a Huwai E220, unlocked 3G, with a vodaphone sim. The Gigs don't expire at 30 days.
colvic987
Well-Known Member
i bought a 3 mifi with a preloaded 3 months 3gb, which i use on average 1gb a month, but when i topped it up a few weeks ago, i noticed that i only get 1 month before it runs out, so wont be using it that much and will only top up with £10 for 1gb, and not the £15 for 3 gb in future..
typical uk money grabbers, in ireland you get 15 gb for 17 euro a month on contract, and unlimited uk roaming.
typical uk money grabbers, in ireland you get 15 gb for 17 euro a month on contract, and unlimited uk roaming.
Adonnante
Well-Known Member
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If you have an older, non-time limited dongle, your top-ups won't be subject to a 30-day limit.
I guess mine is about a year old, and the last time I used it, about a month ago, it worked well. If you are right we look to be the lucky ones, strange that Vodaphone were selling them well on the back of not having an expiry date and now have fallen into line with the rest of the suppliers.
Never did understand marketing.
Thanks
Peter.
If you have an older, non-time limited dongle, your top-ups won't be subject to a 30-day limit.
I guess mine is about a year old, and the last time I used it, about a month ago, it worked well. If you are right we look to be the lucky ones, strange that Vodaphone were selling them well on the back of not having an expiry date and now have fallen into line with the rest of the suppliers.
Never did understand marketing.
Thanks
Peter.
elton
Well-Known Member
I've got one of the old Vodafone PAYG dongles. I had £30 credit on it this time last year, and I've still got £22 left. I used it this weekend to check the weather and get my emails.
Ubergeekian
Well-Known Member
I'd be gobsmacked, flabbergasted and mildly surprised if it was the dongle that mattered. Bet you a 1GB top up it's the SIM which dictates how long a top-up lasts.
TonyMS
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3 do a dongle for £79 that gives 12GB and lasts 12 months. There is no top up available with a similar time span, but I guess you can just buy another dongle. Performance varies, but I have been getting over 1Mb in my slightly marginal area.
Tony
Tony
maxi77
Well-Known Member
This is being writen on my 3 dongle which I have been using since we set off at the begining of the month. Has worked well never less than 3G and often more. Mrs Maxi uses a Vodaphone one and equally has had no problems either.
pvb
Well-Known Member
I understand it's the APN which differs, and which allows them to make the fixed-term allowance. Whether that's SIM or software, I don't know.
Gordonmc
Well-Known Member
Older Vodafone 3G PayG dongles turn up on Ebay.
I bought one a couple of months ago for use on the boat's Toughbook and its fine. I topped up when I got the dongle and still have about £10 worth of credit.
I only use it for weather updates so having the credit run after 30 days month would be a real pain.
I bought one a couple of months ago for use on the boat's Toughbook and its fine. I topped up when I got the dongle and still have about £10 worth of credit.
I only use it for weather updates so having the credit run after 30 days month would be a real pain.
