On Board Internet

[richardsnowstar]

I have a Samsung Galaxy SII and that is fine for looking some things up on the web. If I want to use the laptop the wifi hotspot works OK. Haven't tried tethering as the hotspot has been good enough and involves less cables.

Before this I had a TMobile PAYG dongle which worked fine and was good value for the use I needed. I think it was £2 per day or £7 week or £15 month. When I go away I just topped it up for the relevant period.

As some have mentioned...beware abroad. I got a Tmobile topup for my phone to check the weather forecast in France. Before I could get the weather the data allowance was all used up. I have an app that tracks data usage and the day in France I used 25 times more data than I had the day before doing exactly the same thing but in Brighton. This may have been my apps automatically updating which is something else to be aware of.

Also something else that TMobile told me is that my "unlimited" plan is good for a certain amount of data (which includes web browsing, emails, app updates, etc) but is only unlimited for web browsing on the phone. Apparently when you set the phone up as a hotspot and use your laptop for web browsing it is not recognised as web browsing for the purposes of the unlimited use.

As for apps... I would recommend getting one to track data usage if you have a limit on your priceplan. There are a few free ones.

There are loads of sailing apps from anchor alarms to the Navionics charting app which I would recommend. A pocket chartplotter for £20!

The app I use most is "Flashlight". This turns your phone into a really good torch, especially if you have a built in flash for the camera on the phone.

 

[Bobobolinsky]

When I spoke to 3 before I bought my phone a year ago, their data was not truly unlimited ( it was free to 500mb and then an extra charge which wasnt small) and they were definitely agin you using the phone as a modem though how they would know I cannot guess. They may well have changed policy.

My Samsung galaxy can be used as a wifi hotspot for the lappy to lock onto but data is slow. The Galaxy has a menu bit allowing the phone to be tethered ie use a USB cable direct to the lappy, but Samsung UK tell me that bit doesnt work.

I use a 3.com dongle on board which was foc anyway and the data charge is £10 per month for 1GB. I use the phone for things like emails.

I use the 3Gb sim from 3 costs £21.95 and the data lasts unlimited, so if you don't use it, it goes beyond the 30 days. It's £10 a Gb to top up, but 3 staff suggested I just buy another sim instead

 

[Bosun Higgs]

I think it is then "unlimited", (what a con!!), with a fair usage limit of 40Mb per day WTF

Yes thats the sort of "unlimited " that I found when I was looking around. In the end I went for Voda on the phone because their extra charges started at 1GB and not 500mb like the rest and the extras were reasonable at £5 per month if I went over. In fact I've never even got near 1GB.

 

[Geoff Enigma]

As i said in my first post I am with 3 but to clarify there tariffs speeds and prices seem to be very variable. 5 of us at work got the same phone at around the same time. I had been with 3 for a number of years and was over due a new phone so I rang and was offered a worse deal than there online offer so I rang back the next night and argued that as a valued customer I deserved a better deal saying I had been offered this that and the other from Orange. Finally after 2 hours of talking "while browsing ebay" to someone called Peter or some other English name in India I got an HTC desire with unlimited calls texts and internet for £20 a month. Thing is when I asked the others every one was paying different amounts often more for less and there internet speed varied from 0.5 to 4 gb. Moral of the story hold out for a better deal. Times are tough and they know it deep down and they dont want to lose a regular good payer and remind them this throughout the conversation. I dont usually barter like this but I may do it again after this success.