vodafone dongle

[master L]

my mobile phone is on vodafone, and unlimited data is included in my price plan,
im thinking of buying a laptop, can i buy a vodafone dongle of ebay and put my sim card from my phone in it, and use the intenet.

can this be done,
if so does unlimited data mean UNLIMITED and can be on the internet for many hours aday.

[GreigM]

Basically no and no.

No - in general the dongles don't take a SIM, and in your contract you need to look up their "fair use policy" - probably to find "unlimited" is no such thing.

The normal way to use an existing mobile contract for data on your laptop is to "tether" the phone to the laptop - basically using it as a modem, but many mobile contracts specifically forbid this (unless paying extra - like o2 on the iphone)

[DonnyMac]

GreigM said:

No - in general the dongles don't take a SIM

I know nothing of this tethering he speaks of (but have heard it mentioned), but, I have 2 Vodafone dongles and both have a voda SIM in them - the larger 'boxy' one and the newer 'USB stick' looking one.

[siscar]

DonnyMac said:

GreigM said:

No - in general the dongles don't take a SIM

I know nothing of this tethering he speaks of (but have heard it mentioned), but, I have 2 Vodafone dongles and both have a voda SIM in them - the larger 'boxy' one and the newer 'USB stick' looking one.

Yes our vodafone dongles have sim cards in them

[Liszt]

What phone do you have?
You may find that all you need to do is connect it via USB or Bluetooth and bingo you've got a connection. It is how I access the internet, no home phone, no adsl (I do miss online gaming) but apart from that fine. Am able to connect my laptop to my tv and watch iplayer stream stuff through.

[NDA]

As noted above, fair usage means no more than 5GB a month according to Vodafone. Any more than that and you'll pay additional charges.

[Mr E]

GreigM said:

Basically no and no.

No - in general the dongles don't take a SIM,

Every USB dongle in existence has a SIM

[master L]

Liszt said:

What phone do you have?
You may find that all you need to do is connect it via USB or Bluetooth and bingo you've got a connection. It is how I access the internet, no home phone, no adsl (I do miss online gaming) but apart from that fine. Am able to connect my laptop to my tv and watch iplayer stream stuff through.

i have a nokia n95 8gb, but thinking of upgrading to the blackberry curve 8900, if i connect via usb or bluetooth is the speed 'normal' or alot slower than a dongle, and would there be a way of checking how much usage you are using throughout the month

[Liszt]

master L said:

Liszt said:

What phone do you have?
You may find that all you need to do is connect it via USB or Bluetooth and bingo you've got a connection. It is how I access the internet, no home phone, no adsl (I do miss online gaming) but apart from that fine. Am able to connect my laptop to my tv and watch iplayer stream stuff through.

i have a nokia n95 8gb, but thinking of upgrading to the blackberry curve 8900, if i connect via usb or bluetooth is the speed 'normal' or alot slower than a dongle, and would there be a way of checking how much usage you are using throughout the month

If you instal Nokia Phone Suite, plug in your phone and then click on "connect to internet" in NPS, Bobs your uncle. Using USB and you have an HSDPA connection then it is similar to broadband. I use that rather than BT on my Touch Pro as it charges it at the same time.

There probably is a way of checking but I have never bothered as my company picks up the tab. It is on an "Unlimited" data package though.

[Blown2CV]

Actually they do take a SIM, they are just a mobile phone that uses only data... how on earth would they get on to the network otherwise? Magic?

You could do what you are talking about, potentially... but I am not sure whether Vodafone use some software/account trickery at their end to prevent you from using a phone SIM in a stick.