Patricia

I don't understand why you need to put your password in every time - I don't. Also remember you can only connect one device to the Mifi when overseas. But you are right - 3 is really good when out of the UK.

I am sure there used to be another club too, perhaps that was called the Solo Club, although the lady who ran it had now remarried so they obviously allowed couples too. The contact for the Loners Club is graham-nelson@blueyonder.co.uk tel 01772 493884.

Hi Richard I have belonged to both the clubs mentioned but never actually went out with them although I introduced myself to one of them. I am now just a member of the New Companions Club which is very friendly and have several meets in the colder months which not all of the clubs do. There is a good mix of men and women, mostly retired but not all, some with motorhomes and some with caravans. Most meets are at CC or CCC sites with a few rallies in the summer. Membership is only £10 per year - excellent value. Glad you have reminded me as my renewal form should have been sent off by now. I have looked through three issues of MMM but they no longer seem to list the clubs. So if interested contact the membership secretary by email carolsullivan919@btinternet.com for more details. Maybe I am going blind as Malcolm has quoted from MMM!

Forgot to mention that 3 will only work where 3G etc. is available i.e. broadband speeds whereas T-mobile will work on the slower signals which gives more availability. It is not desperately slow and is quite stable but you only get 2Gb per month unless you pay extra. Tom (welcome to the forum by the way) presumably you do not have an English address so you may do better to wait until you get to England and visit one of the mobile phone shops. I have bought sim cards in France and they always want to see your passport etc. so it might be similar here. However, at the moment you could try to buy a "3" dongle from www.maplin.co.uk for £49.99 and then top up the sim card every month. I only looked very quickly but I think it is £10 for 1MB but you can buy more. The offer ends middle of March. There coverage is expanding and when you can access 3G or 3G+ the speeds are much faster than T-Mobile.

"This involves the purchase of a SIM free “smart 'phone” and a Pay as You Go SIM from 3 (T Mobile)." Brian I think you have made a mistake here as 3 is a separate company to T-Mobile. There is a plan though for the two companies to share the signal boosters (my mind has gone blank and I can't think of the proper name for these!). I have actually got a dongle from each of these companies. The T-Mobile one I find works very well (except on one site in Yorkshire) and I even connected to the internet with it in the Savoy mountains this year. I contacted them re the price and this is part of their answer: "Thanks for your email Patricia, asking me how much would it cost to access internet as you're in France. I'll certainly help you in this regards. You'll be pleased to know that from the 25 June 2008, the price of using data services and products when Roaming in Europe will be reduced from #7.50 to #1.50 per MB. The reduced pricing means that using Mobile Broadband, web'n'walk and BlackBerry services when abroad is now cheaper than ever. To know more about the charges please click here." This price obviously applies to downloads to your dongle or phone. My bill showed the massive sum of 6p for this experiment! However, I signed up to T-Mobile last September when they brought their price down from £30 to £20 a month. Since then they have reduced it again but I am tied in for another year. In August this year 3 had an offer for £7.50 a month so I signed up for that too as I am moving where I cannot have a landline. This gives me 5GB month which will mean that I can download daily newspapers if I want to. Unfortunately this dongle arrived after I had left for France so I will not be able to judge how good, or not, it is until I return home next weekend. There was at least one other long thread about these offers (this is where I learned about the £7.50 offer) so you may gain more information from tihis if you do a search. Incidentally access to the internet in France is much dearer than in England and not so fast or reliable. For the phone rental and internet most companies charge about 46€ a month and in some areas, e.g. the one I am in, you cannot choose the provider. The router is expensive too. It is possible to purchase a dongle here but I got nowhere trying to do so while a good offer was on and again it is about 15€ for 2 hours a month. Because of this most towns and even villages in France have a mediateque which you may be able to use. Some charge visitors and the access speed is ofter very fast. I have found most French campsites charge prohibitive money to connect and often you have to sit in the reception area to use it anyway. Spain is much cheaper - I paid 5€ for a week on one of them.