Experience of using a 3G dongle as your only internet?

[pugwash4x4]

Does anyone have any experience of using a 3G Dongle as your only internet connection?

We are thinkijg of moving to the sticks to somwhere which has no land line but really good 3G coverage- so have you done it, what sort of speeds (and latency) do you get, and can you run a VOIP line from it? Also is there any way of getting a more permanant "dongle" with bigger aeriel etc?

[Paul 2000]

When I'm in the UK I use a '3' dongle and normally get around a 5mb connection, which I'm pretty happy with - especially as it was much better than the 2mb connection as I was getting in rural France (upgraded 2 weeks ago to 20mb... woohoo). Don't know about VoIP but Skype video was good.

3 also do a mini router thingy http://www.three.co.uk/Mobile_Broadband?intid=topn... (bottom left of the page) which could suit your needs even better.

[audi321]

I did it for a few months in 2010. It wasn't too bad for general surfing, but downloads were a nightmare. Not only was it slow, but I was forever worrying about going over the data usage limits, so I just used Mcdonalds for downloads in the end.

[elster]

If it is in the town centres I find my dongle to be more than enough, and ideal when travelling for work.

If I am in the "sticks" I struggle to get anywhere near enough bandwidth to qualify for a greater than irritatingly slow connection.

[pugwash4x4]

It looks like the connection could be pretty good- as the property is only 2 miles as the crow flies from a major dual carriageway- has really good signal up the whole road- and having taken my 3g orange phone up there, it seems like the 3g signal is full and very strong.

[Thom987]

I use one as my only internet connection. Its not great, but better than nothing. At €25 a month its way cheaper than anything else, if we could have anything else that is.

[BoRED S2upid]

I tried it for 6 months while I was moving between houses and it was fine for general surfing; E-mail, PH's etc... things like Utube forget it.

[Bikerjon]

I've had a bit of experience with this and I would highly recommend getting a 3G router if this is going to be your sole internet connection. This means you can have the dongle always located in the best possible area of the property for signal reception. I can get a reasonably constant 2mb where I live which is really quite good and better than some peoples fixed line service! But ultimately it all depends where you are.

If you can get a good 3G signal with orange then theres a good chance Three might work too and they generally seem to have the best data plans plus you can use their mifi as a 3G router.

[smartie]

I do this now but would swap for a decent ADSL connection in a moment.

My main problem is that it seems very variable - some days I get 4mbps and all is good, other days it's 500K and a struggle.

iplayer, you tube etc are a bit hit and miss, and I wouldn't want to rely on it for tv use etc.

That all said, it is better then my 500K ADSL I had before.

Another thing to watch is your usage, I pay £16 for 15GB a month and it's generally ok, but I do have to watch what I download and keep an eye on my daughter on you tube etc.

I've got one of these, and it's a big improvement on a mifi etc, but not perfect.

www.deltenna.com ................Look at their Wibe.

[S6PNJ]

smartie said:

I pay £16 for 15GB a month

I've got to assume that's a mistype. If not, who do you use and how do I get that tarrif? Can it be used with a MiFi as well?

[Thom987]

S6PNJ said:

smartie said:

I pay £16 for 15GB a month

I've got to assume that's a mistype. If not, who do you use and how do I get that tarrif? Can it be used with a MiFi as well?

We get 20GB a month so I assume 15GB is average.

[smartie]

S6PNJ said:

I've got to assume that's a mistype. If not, who do you use and how do I get that tarrif? Can it be used with a MiFi as well?

No, it's correct. with 3.

SIM can be used in anything, mifi, phone, whatever.

Actually, it's a bit annoying as 3 now offer (genuinely) unlimited data on PAYG for £15 per month!!

[S6PNJ]

I can't see any tariff on their website offering 15GB or unlimited for that sort of price - the closest I can see is 2Gb for £5.11 per month or 5GB for £15.99 per month. Any links to your deal please?

[smartie]

S6PNJ said:

I can't see any tariff on their website offering 15GB or unlimited for that sort of price - the closest I can see is 2Gb for £5.11 per month or 5GB for £15.99 per month. Any links to your deal please?

It now appears to be £18.03 per month

http://threestore.three.co.uk/broadband/broadbandP...

The PAYG one is their sim only "One plan" - it's intended for a smartphone but works fine in a 3g router..... (all you can eat data)

[S6PNJ]

Thanks for the link - now why can't I find that when I'm browsing the Three site? Bizarre! if I go to mobile broadband, pay monthly, all I see is 2 offers for the 'normal' dongle and not a lot else!

edited to say - if I pick one of those dongles, it then goes through to the link you gave me! Cheers!