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[albitz]

Looking at buying a  payg dongle or similar as a present for someone. Find it all a bit confusing, apart from probably going to go with Vodafone due to good level of coverage in the area its likely to be used in.
It seems dongles only last 30 days and then get binned and cant be topped up ? 
Mobile wifi devices (like a mini portable router) appear a better option to me. Do they have any disadvantages in comparison to a dongle ?
Tia.

[Varche]

We use a three (3) dongle (from memory about £25) when we come back to England. We bought off Amazon a SIM that has either 1Gb or 3Gb on it and it lasts till all used up or 30 days are up. We then registered on 3 website and now we can buy top ups (for more than a preloaded Amazon supplied SIM). All very straightforward.

The dongle is very convenient. We also have a WiFi router that the dongle plugs into . It has a power lead and then anyone can share the connection so long as they are close enough or know the password.  The router is a bit of a faff compared to the dongle but necessary for say an Ipad.

[pscocoa]

The usb dongles are of course useful only to usb enabled machines. The portable routers are obviously more flexible and can be accessed by ipads

[albitz]

Its for a laptop. So a dongle as opposed to mobile wireless device should be ok. Im just concerned that some dongles may be disposable and cant be topped up from time to time ? Im not sure tbh. 

[tunnie]

I found them expensive for what they offered, I looked at one for my stay in Kingston as the flat has no internet. In the end I blagged more data on my work SIM, as I found the WiFi dongles expensive (especially if stand alone)

Much cheaper option is a SIM only contract, with loads of data bundled from something like GiffGaff (o2).

Then use a phone of some description as a hotspot....

[Varche]

Its for a laptop. So a dongle as opposed to mobile wireless device should be ok. Im just concerned that some dongles may be disposable and cant be topped up from time to time ? Im not sure tbh. 

It really is dead straight forward.

Buy the dongle(off the Internet or from Telecoms shop) tied to the network that has best coverage in your area.
Buy a preloaded SIM off the net or from the Telecoms shop
Then you or the recipient can top it up as and when required.

You can do it all in one visit to say the Vodaphone shop.

This is the SIm we bought years ago. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mobile-Broadband-Preloaded-Standard-SIM-Tablets/dp/B003Z0T3X2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387295883&sr=8-1&keywords=3+3g+preloaded+SIM

[albitz]

Thanks. Being done now.

[TheBoy]

As hinted, the dongle usually comes with a set amount of data, say 1Gb or 1 month (whichever comes first). Obviously this can be topped up.

Rather than wifi dongles, of which I have a few now, I tend to use MiFi units, basically a unit that connects to mobile network and creates a local wifi point for you to connect to.


If going with voda/o2, make sure it can do 900Mhz 3G, for better coverage.  EE and 3 dont use this (better) frequency, so not relevant for them.

[albitz]

cheers. Going with this one.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1092464.htm?CMPID=GS001&_$ja=cgid:8710624022|tsid:41408|cid:177979262|lid:55247103062|nw:g|crid:31126512422|rnd:779822468770390833|dvc:c|adp:1o1

[TheBoy]

cheers. Going with this one.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1092464.htm?CMPID=GS001&_$ja=cgid:8710624022|tsid:41408|cid:177979262|lid:55247103062|nw:g|crid:31126512422|rnd:779822468770390833|dvc:c|adp:1o1

Bloody Hell, Voda make it impossible to check its specs.

It does do 900Mhz 3G in addition to the normal 2.1Ghz UTMS

[Vamps]

cheers. Going with this one.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1092464.htm?CMPID=GS001&_$ja=cgid:8710624022|tsid:41408|cid:177979262|lid:55247103062|nw:g|crid:31126512422|rnd:779822468770390833|dvc:c|adp:1o1

That's what puts me off that, you buy it and it only lasts 30 days whether you use it or not....I have a '3' Dongle on contract which suits me,though I pay through the winter and it hardly gets used then.........