DS Forums

 
 

Pay As You Go Internet from a Laptop


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 21-01-2008, 22:33
barq
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Surrey
Posts: 6

Hi everyone,

Please could I have some advice on a pay as you go phone that offers a data package suitable for occasional laptop use (e.g. price plans with a daily capped data charge). Orange and T-Mobile both offer packages (£2/day and £1/day respectively) but prohibit use of the phone as a modem. I hear that occasional web browsing on Orange might go unnoticed, but T Mobile sound quite strict - anyone have any actual experience of either?

I'm happy to respect their bandwidth policies, not use MSN, P2P, stream sound/video, etc... I just need a fullscreen web browser maybe twice a month (SSH/telnet would be nice but not essential). Their USB modems would do the job but are expensive for what I want, and I'm a linux user so I suspect hardware drivers would be a pain.

All opinions (or radically different ideas ) appreciated. Many thanks.
barq is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 21-01-2008, 23:17
wavejockglw
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 10,276
The problem is that when you use a mobile as a modem it's very obvious to a network as it's a dial-up connection using a defined access process.

You can chance your arm but it's £1 a MB with Orange AFAIK.
wavejockglw is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-01-2008, 04:15
ShaunIOW
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Isle of Wight
Posts: 7,828
Vodafone and 3 both offer payg internet access.
ShaunIOW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-01-2008, 15:13
tekgirl
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 29
Afternoon,

Vodafone charge £1 for the first 15MB you use in a day then £2 per MB there after.

You can connect the phone to your Laptop or PDA but please bear in mind that you will be using more of your MB allowance on the laptop then if you were using a phone.

To see our frequently asked questions relating to the Pay As You Talk data pricing please visit the relavant section of our website here

With this in mind I wish you look finding a data package that suits your needs.

Tekgirl
Vodafone UK
tekgirl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-01-2008, 02:26
Toilet-Duck
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Tyne And Wear
Posts: 688
T-Mobile is the cheapest £1 capped a day unlimited usage or £20 a month for unlimited.
Toilet-Duck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-01-2008, 06:47
prking
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Weston-super-Mare
Posts: 9,167
T-Mobile is the cheapest £1 capped a day unlimited usage or £20 a month for unlimited.
As the first post says, T-Mobile don't allow laptop use. Whilst you might get away with it occasionally, it isn't a good idea for long term use.

I think, you've got your prices wrong as well, its £1 a day or £2.50 for a 5 day web'n'walk pass.
prking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-01-2008, 14:44
koantemplation
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Wolf359
Posts: 96,797
I would have thought it would be better to get one of those USB 3G dongles and a data plan?
koantemplation is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-01-2008, 18:22
Toilet-Duck
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Tyne And Wear
Posts: 688
As the first post says, T-Mobile don't allow laptop use. Whilst you might get away with it occasionally, it isn't a good idea for long term use.

I think, you've got your prices wrong as well, its £1 a day or £2.50 for a 5 day web'n'walk pass.
Ive been using mine for over a year now for £1 a day and not had a problem
Toilet-Duck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-01-2008, 20:19
Talizman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: On a journey
Posts: 1,901
Afternoon,

Vodafone charge £1 for the first 15MB you use in a day then £2 per MB there after.

You can connect the phone to your Laptop or PDA but please bear in mind that you will be using more of your MB allowance on the laptop then if you were using a phone.

To see our frequently asked questions relating to the Pay As You Talk data pricing please visit the relavant section of our website here

With this in mind I wish you look finding a data package that suits your needs.

Tekgirl
Vodafone UK
Vodafone is so expensive! Too expensive in fact.
Talizman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-01-2008, 20:21
Talizman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: On a journey
Posts: 1,901
As the first post says, T-Mobile don't allow laptop use.
Yes they do. The daily cap is 40mb. Do you really think you'd get that off a phone?
Talizman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-01-2008, 21:53
prking
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Weston-super-Mare
Posts: 9,167
@Talizman, I've just checked the pay and go terms and conditions, only surfing through a handset is allowed. That's not to say that you can't use a laptop but you are not supposed to.
@Toilet-Duck, as above. And have you really spent £365 on web'n'walk through your laptop? You could have a phone line installed and a years broadband plus some change for that. Or three years of mobile broadband.
prking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 27-01-2008, 01:11
Toilet-Duck
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Tyne And Wear
Posts: 688
@Toilet-Duck, as above. And have you really spent £365 on web'n'walk through your laptop? You could have a phone line installed and a years broadband plus some change for that. Or three years of mobile broadband.
I didn't say I used it everyday just occasionally, I prefer using the £1 a day meaning I'm not tied into any contract Ive used it like this over a year now and never had a problem...
Toilet-Duck is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 05:05.