Internet away from home

[Way2Go]

Hi fellow forumites,

I'm sending out a plea to all you peeps who access the internet when you are on site.

I've gone round and round looking for solutions so am seeking some advice regarding accessing the internet from my laptop whilst on site.  I have a 3 month old laptop which is wifi and bluetooth equipped running Microsoft Vista.

I also have a bluetooth equipped pay-as-you-go Nokia phone, on the Tesco network, from which I can access the internet (is that WAP?).  My question is 1.) If I pair the phone and the laptop can I access the internet from the laptop?  2.) What sorta speed could I expect to get?

I know some sites now offer hot spot facilities but I don't really want to go down the wifi hotspot route because it looks as though I have to drive around looking for a hotspot - somewhere like a pub or the like - and sit in the carpark to surf the net.  Ideally I'd like to have a hour in the evening sat on site without having to go out.

I guess I'm looking for something like the Vodaphone 3G Data Card but that looks a bit pricy for casual use.

So, to recap, does anyone have a solution for me getting an internet connection without having to search for a hotspot?

. . . . and is there a phone or phone network that I could bluetooth with to give me a reasonable priced and recent speed surfing experience.

Or is there another alternative?

Any advice greatly accepted.

W2G

[johnsandywhite]

B-) Hi Way2Go. Yes you can couple up your Laptop and your Mobile phone to access the Internet. Myself and others have been doing for years. Sped varies between 11kbs (standard old mobile) and 384kbps for 3G. One suggestion I would make? Get the 3 USB Broadband for £10, £15 or £25 a month. Our son Simon has just got it when I told him about it. It is very fast.

 

http://www.three.co.uk/personal/index.omp

[michele]

W2Go ,

I think you already know the answer it's your 3G data card if you can justify the best use thats the way to go. Using the mobile phone as a blue tooth modem on to the mobile network is the best very infrequent use but can be very costly.

 

WiFi points they don't always give you the range as you know because they are designed for their establishments to draw you in .

 

Noit's not a WAP I think you will find Wap is the phones internet software programme to display web style pages on your phone next to useless due to very little information and down load speed.

 

As above using the phone as a blue tpoth moden to your laptop is a better solutiion COSTLY .

 

If you pair the phone and laptop yes you can use .

Expect very slow speed.

 

 

We don't use internet because of the cost we cannot justify but we have on the odd occasion used the sites WiFi it's always open key and has been very easy to access .

 

Good luck They do some nice options to fit on your roof only £5/6000

Costing only £500 a month to run

Hope you have plenty of money and I will sign off hoping you win the lottery tonight ....TTFN.

[Clive]

We have tried the mobile phone techniques, both WAB and dial up. Dial up is V E R Y S L O W and WAB close to home dial up speeds. Both cost a bomb when abroard and are not that cheap in the UK. So now, unless there is a convienient hot spot we use an internet Cafe which is by far the cheapeat and quickest.

 

There is always a satellite link if you are not bothered about cash though??

 

 

[Way2Go]

Thank you all for your help and advice.  That's certainly given me something to think about and look into.

The '3' option looks promising so I'll investigate that although it looks like it'll be a while before the Turbo 3 will be widely available.

Many thanks for your advice.

[butch]

Just be careful that the '3' option gives you the desired coverage !!

 

It is just being rolled out as you can see from the 3 website, so depending on where you are heading may impact on your decision but at a £10 a month its a bargain - but the offer ends on 30th September.

 

Happy surfing

[Guest JudgeMental]

 

Ideally, I would prefer to use a "pay as you go" plan then a monthly charge one. for obvious reasons as I only need it while on holidays.

 

site we where on in Italy although excellent had no wifi or internet at all...

academic as my laptop packed up at beginning of holiday anyway. but chap near us has the red dongle (3G?) and had reasonable reception. I was green with envy :-D

 

Sorry,no solutions just looking for answers as well...

[davenewellhome]

I'm with T mobile PAYG and they do Web 'n' walk which includes using your phone as a modem. You can pre book it and its only £1 per day for as long as you like on line. UK only at the moment I think though but that suits me fine. My phone only does WAP but if you get a 3G phone then wherever you can get coverage you can get up to low broadband speeds.

 

D.

[trigrem]

I have a Nokia phone which has GPRS facility, it is connected to laptop via Nokia cable, ( I do not have bluetooth on my phone). Connected to Orange.

GPRS is faster than WAP but slower than 3G, I cannot find a mobile phone company that will let you have 3G on Pay as you Go, the advantage of GPRS is that you are charged for what you download not time on phone.

I only use it to look at e-mail, ok in Uk but expensive in mainland Europe. I tend to look out for Internet cafes when abroad but they are getting scarcer than hens teeth. Have tried WiFi but not had much succes mainly because I was to far away from Hot spot. Usually had to be sitting just outside reception.

Daves set up sounds attractive.

[Way2Go]

Many thanks for the continued feedback.  This is all good information :-)

Despite having spent the last 14 years or so in I.T., mobile phones have never shaken my tree. I only have a mobile phone for emergencies (so far) and the multiple uses of them have always been a big turn-off. Therefore, trying to get this to work is a fairly steep learning curve which may produce an acceptable result.

I have the Nokia 6230i running on the Tesco pay-as-you-go network (which has an impressive coverage home and abroad). The full spec of the phone is at http://www.nokia.co.uk/A4221109 ) which includes under the data transfer heading:-

EDGE Class 10 (4+1, 3+2): speed up to 236.8 kbps

GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) class 10 (4+1, 3+2)

HSCSD (High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data) transfer up to 43.2 kbps in HSCSD networks

TCP/IP

. . . . which despite being in I.T. means nothing to me (aprt from TCP/IP).

I've paired the devices and everything seems OK except I cannot connect to the internet from the laptop. It seems to be asking me for an ID and password and the dialup number which I have no idea what they are. Its the sorta details that used to be supplied if you wanted dial-up and would never have been sent to me as I wasn't a dial-up customer. If I were to set it up as a test, to see whether it was possible, how would I do it?

As I work from home, my company has supplied me with a 3G Vodaphone card which works well enough but I'm obviously limited with what I can do with it on non-company business.

Dave's solution is well worth a look me thinks.

[johnsandywhite]

:-D Hi Way2Go. It is asking for a username and password for your Internet provider just as if you were on Dial-Up. For instance? I use Yahoo as my Internet connection when Mobile and Oriolnet or Gonuts4Free in Spain. Gonut4free can be used here in the UK or in Spain with different access numbers. You would need to set up an account with a username and password. All the instructions of how to do it manually or over the Internet are online:-

 

http://www.gonuts4free.co.uk/

 

:-( Nearly forgot to mention. You will need to set up a NEW connection for your Mobile phone to connect to the Internet:-

 

Start

Control Panel

Network Connections

Create a new connection

 

Up will pop the New Network Wizard

[Way2Go]

johnsandywhite - 2007-09-09 4:48 PM :-D Hi Way2Go. It is asking for a username and password for your Internet provider just as if you were on Dial-Up. For instance? I use Yahoo as my Internet connection when Mobile and Oriolnet or Gonuts4Free in Spain. Gonut4free can be used here in the UK or in Spain with different access numbers. You would need to set up an account with a username and password. All the instructions of how to do it manually or over the Internet are online:- http://www.gonuts4free.co.uk/[/quote]

Hmmm . . . looks interesting.  Thank you

[davenewellhome]

My apologies, earlier I said my phone only does WAP but I was wrong, it does GPRS which is a fair compromise of speed against general usability.

 

D.

[Hughmer]

The 3 system is just UK currently. It DOESN't cover France Germany Benelux Spain, - It MAY be available in countries that have 3g networks like eg Sweeden. Next year might see an expansion but 3g networks in Europe are not so common/popular.

 

3 have high street shops. Worth a chat maybe....

 

BUT BUT BUT

 

Do you need a new auto satellite dish for tv?? If so then why not.... ( do I sound like an advert... sorry)

 

At Dusseldorf this year, 85 cm auto Alden and Oyster dishes were available with send & receive LNB's for internet connection. The Alden system was sold by the ISP who was using Hellasat because of its (wide?) coverage.

 

For £2000 or so you could buy the whole Alden kit, - Dish, (Tuner??), Modem, connectivity pack etc from the ISP.

 

With Oyster you just bought the hardware and had to make your own arrangements with an independent ISP.

 

Alden Internet charges were to be about £3.50 per day but only on the days you actually connected and even if only for a minute or so. Don't know which time zone they'd be working with.

 

Both Alden and Oyster dishes had another LNB for TV but you couldn't watch TV while connected to the Net. (not that I think I'd want to).

 

Alden connectivity claimed was 1meg download and 100k upload

 

 

[Way2Go]

Thanks for the update but I don't think I'm ready to shell out on a satellite system.  We got a DVD player and Freeview which is enough to keep me happy for the time being . . . but you never know ;-)

[Papa Smurf]

Hughmer,

 

Can you give any details or more info? Web-site address perhaps to browse?

[Way2Go]

johnsandywhite - 2007-09-09 4:48 PM :-D Hi Way2Go. It is asking for a username and password for your Internet provider just as if you were on Dial-Up. For instance? I use Yahoo as my Internet connection when Mobile and Oriolnet or Gonuts4Free in Spain. Gonut4free can be used here in the UK or in Spain with different access numbers. You would need to set up an account with a username and password. All the instructions of how to do it manually or over the Internet are online:- http://www.gonuts4free.co.uk/ :-( Nearly forgot to mention. You will need to set up a NEW connection for your Mobile phone to connect to the Internet:- Start Control Panel Network Connections Create a new connection Up will pop the New Network Wizard

Hi,

Well, many thanks for that and I can report that its all setup and working . . . after a fashion.

I've got the details setup and configured the pairing etc and once I used the UK number instead of the 'how to install for Vista' using the Spanish number, it works.

Now, it has to be said that I haven't used dial-up for many years so the expectation of using dial-up compared to my normal 4MB connection was of a very slow connection and performance and I wasn't disappointed.  However, it's nothing like as expensive as some options available and it does work.

But I'm very pleased that I have the facility (thanks again for all those who provided help).

As an experiment, I tried a 10 minute connection and here are the results of my trial surf:-

Bytes Sent = 202,430 : Bytes Received = 488,360 : Cost = £2.25

That's approximately £13.50 for an hour so it ain't exactly cheap but I only have to pay for what I use as it's a pay-as-you-go account and until there are other options available, at a more competitive price, it'll do for checking whether that important email has arrived and for booking the next site online.  However, I think it might struggle a bit with stuff like Google maps, etc.

[Vixters other half]

Hi W2G

When we were fulltiming and needed internet access, I used the Vodaphone 3G data card. The package was expensive as I needed to be able to down load files etc from work, the biggest critiscim I have apart from the cost is the lack of signal at camp sites. Vodaphone say they cover 94% of the country. All the Uk campsites apear to be in the other 6%. On the continent the signal strength is far better but you are then roaming and the costs really rocket then.

 

I think with more people wanting to use the internet while on hol, will encourage site owners to install WIFI. I would either seek out sites with WiFi in advance or wait until there are more cheaper options from service providers

 

Hope this helps

 

VoH

 

I havent lost my youth - I cant remember where I put it !

[Way2Go]

That's sound advice and I agree with your point of view.  I use a Vodaphone 3G card with my company laptop but of course I am morally restricted with which sites I surf as 'non-company matters'.  I don't think I could justify the 3G outlay for very occasional use while on holiday.

I think you're right that as it becomes more and more popular we'll see more sites and phine companies taking the plunge.

Thanks for your input :-)

[davenewellhome]

We are away on holiday touring in UK from tomorrow afternoon and I shall be using my mobile on T mobile PAYG as a modem. Will let you know how it goes.

 

D.

[Way2Go]

davenewell@home - 2007-09-16 12:36 PM We are away on holiday touring in UK from tomorrow afternoon and I shall be using my mobile on T mobile PAYG as a modem. Will let you know how it goes. D.

Thanks for that Dave.  I for one would very much appreciate the feedback.

Oh, and have a much deserved break.  I hope the good weather will continue for you ;-)

W2G

[davenewellhome]

Way2Go - 2007-09-16 12:40 PM

davenewell@home - 2007-09-16 12:36 PM We are away on holiday touring in UK from tomorrow afternoon and I shall be using my mobile on T mobile PAYG as a modem. Will let you know how it goes. D.

Thanks for that Dave. I for one would very much appreciate the feedback.

Oh, and have a much deserved break. I hope the good weather will continue for you ;-)

W2G

Thanks W2G, I'm ready for a break. Just seen the weather forecast for the week and its not great, rain cold and wind :-( Never mind at least we'll be away in our 'van :-) D.

[whbs]

Hi - Have used T-Mobile connected to my laptop for some time and it works very well. I'm on PAYG and have a 3G phone - it tends to connect at 200-300K so speed isn't bad. Certainly OK for e-mail and occasional surf. T-Mobile charge a maximum of £1 per day with a limit of 40Mb download so it's cheaper than most - certainly cheaper than the CC site's £6.00 an hour for wi-fi! Incidentally, GPRS is probably more reliable than 3G in that if you are set up for 3G and you are in a non-3G area, some systems will not switch to the slower speed and you get nothing.

Happy surfing - Bill

[davenewellhome]

Well W2G I've used my mobile as a modem every day, sometimes more than once per day and its been fine. Its been consistent on speed at 460.8 Kbs and in practice its about one third the speed (or three times as slow if you prefer) as my 1Mbs broadband feed in the office. I'm currently sitting on the rally field at York racecourse and its great to be able to keep in touch with you all as well as having secure access to internet banking.

 

As I write I've just called up the networking details box and its given me 185,223 bytes sent, 832,878 received and I've been connected for 21 minutes this session.

 

I've checked my balance daily and it definitely costs me only £1 per day maximum no matter how much I use it in 24 hours. I call that pretty good value for money.

 

Don't know how well it would work abroad or what the costs would be but for UK use I'm hooked ;-)

 

D.

[Shaun]

I'm surprise no-one has mentioned Blackberry. It might not be great for web surfing, but it can access the internet. Actually, my handset is 4 years old and I believe that newer models are better at web browsing. However, the main strength of the Blackberry is the push email. I regularly travel to France and I don't have to do a thing - emails come through as usual with no change to the settings. Indeed, it worked just the same in Florida.

 

Also, because costs are based on the amount of data downloaded, with email usually taking only modest amounts, the costs have been trivial for me, even when abroad. A number of companies, including Nokia, are bringing other push email devices to the market, having seen the success RIM have had with their Blackberry technology.

 

Shaun