derek500 Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 Couldn't be better. We've been all along the Italian Riviera, Lucca, Pisa, Florence and we're now at the Mugello Verde Camping Cheque site and we've had 100% coverage. Been on-line for more than six hours and only used 150mb of our 1024mb 30 day allowance, which cost a flat fee of 10 pounds. With campsites charging 3.50€ or so for half an hour it's an absolute bargain. Roll on '3' throughout the rest of Europe!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 So that's Italy only and not France? but looks hopeful....is the £10 fee on monthly contract or can you get it "pay as you go"? hows the weather lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted October 11, 2008 Author Share Posted October 11, 2008 JudgeMental - 2008-10-11 1:17 PM So that's Italy only and not France? but looks hopeful....is the £10 fee on monthly contract or can you get it "pay as you go"? hows the weather lol Not France yet. "3 Like Home offer is only available when you use your phone on 3 sister networks in Austria, Australia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy and Sweden. There is no Pay As You Go roaming coverage on 3 Australia network. It's Pay as You Go, no contract needed. Weather is stunning. High 70's everyday. Horrible back home in Valencia!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 Derek, did you purchase your dongle in Spain? I have been looking at Pay-Go Dongles in France and Orange France are doing them for 69€ with 30€ re-inbursement, the only problem I can see is that the longest period a top-up is valid for is 15 days. There was a time earlier this year that one of the top-ups lasted for 30 days or when the credit ran out. You can get one on a contract for 10€ per month but I don't know how it would work where we live if we got rid of the modem we have at the moment. Does anyone know where these dongles pick up their signals from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 Derek I have a 3 dongle for my laptop which I have on a monthly subscription. I haven't heard of pay as you go for that. Is that sort of dongle what you are using? If so, would mine work in those countries? Randonneur I've just had a quick look at Orange France (again!) and their offer seems very expensive. For the subscription price for 12 mths it is 14.5 euros and the download limit is very small. Having said that it is probably cheaper overall as the dongle is only 9 euros, not 39, even supposing they actually do refund the 30€ (Orange is notoriously bad at giving back these refunds). As far as I am aware the dongles work from the phone masts so if you live near one it should work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 Hi Patricia, the Orange dongle I was looking at is without a contract and it is 69€ with 30€ supposedly given back, but the top-up would only last for 15 days or until the credit had been used up if before the 15 days were up. The reason for looking into this was so that when we are away from Home in France then we can get onto the Internet, if we were to go this route then if we were away for more than 15 days we would have to top up more than once. If it is like topping up the mobile phone and you can get a mobicarte etc then that would be OK, but if you had to find a place to top-up then it might be a bit awkward if you are out in the 'sticks'. I wouldn't be using it in the UK and it would be occasional use in France and maybe Spain/Portugal but not for any length of time. How's the Camos, by the way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted October 11, 2008 Author Share Posted October 11, 2008 I bought it in the UK. It was 49 pounds. Looks like they're only 39.99 now. http://threestore.three.co.uk/payg/?modem=1 You then add credit and THEN buy an 'add-on'. I get ´Broadband Lite 1gb' If you don't buy the 'add-on' you'll get charged 1 pound per mb, which I discovered to my cost!! http://www.three.co.uk/personal/products_services_/mobile_broadband_/payg.omp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 Thanks for the links Derek. The modems are the same as the one I have (the black one) but I get 5GB month for £7.50. I picked this tip to buy at this special price off another thread in the summer. Presumably then I could use it like you if I visit any of the countries that you mention. I hope 3 decide to set up in France too as the French internet access is at very silly prices still. Probably because Orange has a monopoly over huge tracts of the country. Where I am you are only allowed to use Orange so the choice is simple but very expensive. The mobile key from Orange Randonneur seems very expensive to me although I did try hard to purchase it in April when the offer was much better. If you remember I tried to buy it on the internet at first without success and then the nearest outlet ran out. I then had that big fuss with the Mobicarte and lost all the credit I had bought. This was their error and they never answered one of my letters. I just suddenly found in August that the card was working again and so had to buy the credit again. Really wish I hadn't bothered. My advice therefore is to initially buy the dongle in one of Orange's outlets as they always need to check your passport etc. as you buy, not afterwards. Once the dongle is activated you should be able to top up on line but I would check this first in the shop (not that I ever got the correct information!). The Camos is superb and I am still delighted with it. My only problem is that the TV set-up runs the batteries down too quickly so I have to solve that problem now! On mains it works a treat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gboden65 Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 Hi Patricia, wr full time for two years now, our set up is , a Camos ,15in flat screen TV/DVD, "70W solar panel", one 120Ahr battery for domestic part of the van, never had a flat battery, the TV comes on at 5/15pm untill -------? George. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 That's interesting George. I have the Camos and a 15" TV plus mini Sky box and another box for the other satellites. I think the problem might be the DVD recorder that is included in the set-up. This of course is 230V so if I am not on hook-up I have to use an inverter. I have two 85A batteries but no solar panel. The problem could be the batteries as they are two years old now and so I will have to get them checked. I do actually have a 10i generator but I don't like carrying petrol so I might sell that. It's a pity about this problem because I found a superb aire in August and I would have liked to stay there longer but no lights (nor TV!). Perhaps it's time I gave more thought to having a solar panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean Ray Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Hi, We are in Portugal at the moment and have puchased a Vodafone "3G" dongle from a Vodafone shop in Albufeira. It cost 54.90 euros and it came with 10 days credit or 300mb. you top it up like you would a mobile phone (pay as you go) for 10 euros and this lasts for 10 days or 300 mb. It picks the signal up from the moblile phone mast and the connection is just as good as broadband at home. You are able to buy on contract if that is your choice and they are also on sale in supermarkets. This also is Brilliant (just like the weather) Jean & Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Patricia - 2008-10-11 10:53 PM That's interesting George. I have the Camos and a 15" TV plus mini Sky box and another box for the other satellites. I think the problem might be the DVD recorder that is included in the set-up. This of course is 230V so if I am not on hook-up I have to use an inverter. I have two 85A batteries but no solar panel. The problem could be the batteries as they are two years old now and so I will have to get them checked. I do actually have a 10i generator but I don't like carrying petrol so I might sell that. It's a pity about this problem because I found a superb aire in August and I would have liked to stay there longer but no lights (nor TV!). Perhaps it's time I gave more thought to having a solar panel. An interesting post, I like my solar set up, but with so many people saying just adding a second battery would work, it had me waivering on fitting panel to new van and instead just adding second battery which is much cheaper and easier. Saying that, have you ensured that the power to tv set up is actualy switched off, i.e. power is cut by a switch, as there may be some current draw if switched off on 'front panel' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 When the two batteries were new the set up seemed fine and I don't stay on aires so frequently now unless I'm with friends. I certainly think the batteries may be on their way out so will have to get them tested. However, the TV set-up might be the culprit mainly because the DVD cannot be isolated - the signal goes there first and it is a normal 230V domestic one, not 12V. The TV however can be run from an inverter and takes 39 amps, the Sky box is 12V and the other decoder can run on 12V too. When I have time I am going to contact the Camos fitter again for advice but I think I will have to ditch the DVD recorder. For some reason it stopped recording anyway (this was while on 230V) and I can't access the menu on it. This happened two days after the guarantee ran out! It will play DVD's but I could get a small 12V to do this anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Patricia - 2008-10-12 1:14 PM When the two batteries were new the set up seemed fine and I don't stay on aires so frequently now unless I'm with friends. I certainly think the batteries may be on their way out so will have to get them tested. However, the TV set-up might be the culprit mainly because the DVD cannot be isolated - the signal goes there first and it is a normal 230V domestic one, not 12V. The TV however can be run from an inverter and takes 39 amps, the Sky box is 12V and the other decoder can run on 12V too. When I have time I am going to contact the Camos fitter again for advice but I think I will have to ditch the DVD recorder. For some reason it stopped recording anyway (this was while on 230V) and I can't access the menu on it. This happened two days after the guarantee ran out! It will play DVD's but I could get a small 12V to do this anyway. I hope thats 39watts not amps 8-) , heres a possible way around DVD problem, but depends on what scart connectors your equipment has. If DVD is only used for satellite, then connect with scart leads. If you have to use arial connector then you can use a arial spliter to feed DVD as a 'spur' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Thank you for those suggestions and yes, you are quite right, I did mean Watts so I think this translates to 3.25A. I have looked at the other equipment and none of it seems to take that much power: digital receiver 12W (1A) and a third of this when on standby; DVD 21W so 1.75A; the Sky box and the Camos receiver are unknown quantities. I know the inverter takes a fair bit too but this doesn't look like enough to take down 2 x 85A batteries so quickly. There must also be a drain somewhere (although the m/h was rewired 3 or 4 years ago) or the batteries are well and truly ..... Hope my calculations are correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Hi Patricia, Looks like your batteries are on their way out. The on board charging unit may be overcharging so it needs to be checked before fitting a new battery or batteries. Your power use should take much longer to pull down the batteries. make sure also that the inverter is not sited too far from the batteries .Wish I could have better news. Great to see Derek getting coverage over Italy. Well done Derek great information for anyone going to Italy. Regards, Brendan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Thanks for the tip about checking the charging unit. Hope this is alright as we had it replaced about three years ago and had a larger one fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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