Im too tight to pay for an Iphone and would like to have the net to use while im karting for weather data etc.

I have a laptop and have heard that you can get a device to plug into your usb which will give you mobile internet. I know sod all about how these work and how good they are.

I want to know:

Which network has the best coverage?

Which is the cheapest?

Which is the best quality?


Also as my battery only last about an hour on the laptop so can you buy a charger that plugs into the car to charge it up? Where to buy and how expensive?

Many thanks for you help.


Matt

You can get netbooks with built in 3G for less than £200 - I use one when I need better t'internet than my phone. Failing that why not get a £5 pm contract (unlimited internet with T-Mobile) and buy a basic 3G phone?
You can get a 3G dongle on PAYG but it ends up more expensive.

[Edited on 29-9-10 by RazMan]

Vodafone do a dongle for £35, PAYG, comes with 1Gb, then £15 per Gb after that. Pretty good, and you don't have to use all the credit by the end of the month, it carries over.

We've got an 'O'2 one, its just a USB dongle that contains a SIM card.

Easy to use, run the CD once for the software and password, afterwards when you put in the dongle it all fires up as if you are on WIFI at home.

You can pay by the day, week or month. We nearly got rid of our home broadband, it was faster at the time and just as cost effective for browsing, not sure about music/film downloads

Regards Mark

Laptop car charger. I've got an older model of this, been using it for years. They're oddly much much cheaper than a replacement mains PSU...

Mobile internet coverage is hit and miss for all of the networks, each provider should have maps of their coverage if you want to check out the locations you'll be using it the most. I've used mostly Vodafone and Orange USB dongles, they're all much the same though.

hello
for on the move internet i use a nokia 5800 xpressmusic mobile on contract with orange with 500mb internet included

also i use this software http://www.joiku.com/ very very cheap and works spot on
this turns your phones internet into a wireless access point which then you can connect your laptop to
hope that makes sense
best of luck craig

The 3 payg dongles work fine and are quite reasonable to run cost wise unless you are into massive downloads. No matter what network nearly every dongle is made by the same company Huawei.

Mobile broadband isn't as seamless as connecting via land line router but it works nicely once connected.


They also do a dongle that acts as a shared mini hotspot/wifi router.

I use a 2nd hand 3G iphone with a pay as you go. £5 per month for unlimited internet. Works great! Cheap! I'm with 3.

i dont have landline internet, all done via a vodafone usb dongle.

Carphone warehouse do a PAYG dongle for £5, with £15 for 3Gb that lasts a month. No contract. I got one to see how well it works, because at worst you have lost £20 if its crap. As it turns out, its not bad really. Credit doesnt roll over though so basically its 3Gb a month for £15.

I only use about 1Gb of it, so im looking round for a cheaper contract (maybe £10 or so).

In fact ive only used 400Mb in 24 days

[Edited on 29/9/10 by JoelP]

quote:

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Originally posted by interestedparty
Vodafone do a dongle for £35, PAYG, comes with 1Gb, then £15 per Gb after that. Pretty good, and you don't have to use all the credit by the end of the month, it carries over.

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OK you don't want an iPhone - I can understand that.

There are alternatives - the HTC Desire and Samsung Galaxy S have good enough browsers that (for occasional use) you probably wouldn't need a laptop, too.

But if you do, it's relatively easy to connect your laptop to one of them...

S

[Edited on 29/9/10 by stevebubs]

Remember to unplug the computor when turning on the engine, my brother broke his laptop by not doing this.

I got mobile broadband at home and it was the STUPIDEST THING I EVER MADE..

Never again

It's CR@P

as talktalk have "lost" my broadband I have just got a 3 mobile broadband dongle. OK, it is £15pm on a rolling 1 month contract for 5GB. Good thing is that via quidco I get £24cashback, so I am making a profit as I (hope) I only need it for a month.
However, they also do a PAYG, but like the others the allowance doesn't roll on. What about their 1GB service at £7.50pm??
As for running the laptop, you could just buy an inverter which is useful for all sorts of stuff

If you want a cheap phone that'll do everything (more or less) that an iphone will do, with top class internet access. Try an Orange San Fransisco for £99, I bought one yesterday and it's a massive step up from my Nokia 5800 (which is going on ebay later today).

Android ftw