im moving to afairly remote spot with a phone line but most broadband deals are 18-24 months.im only there for 6-8months.
i fancy using a wireless dongle as i can then just take it and my laptop with me when i move.
are they any good.my mate used one at this house before but had an orange one and said it was really poor, so changed to another company which im unsure of.
any how whats good and bad about dongles and any good deals out there? which companys have best/strongest coverage…?

3 network do a device that works like usb dongles but also acts as a wi-fi hub for a few devices as well. Called a mi-fi, i think & costs ~£50 last time i looked, £15 for 15GB download on PAYG too – pretty good IMO!
Would just depend on coverage, but they do refund the hardware if it doesnt work for you, so i guess you could try that?

We're thinking about ditching out adsl and using that instead…

plenty of broadband deals with a monthly contract.

maybe not the cheap-cheap ones but overall it'll work out better.

so do dongles generally work just as well as wired if you have decent coverage?

im moving to afairly remote spot

will you get a good enough 3G signal for your dongle to work in your remote spot?

Check for coverage in your area. We use o2 mainly but suffer from little to no coverage at one of our sites down south and some remote operatives out in the sticks also suffer with o2. Vodafone seems to offer a good spread of cover but even they have their blind spots.

Definitley check 3G coverage of the different networks for the area your moving to. If there's good 3g, you'll get performance approaching basic broadband. If your only on GPRS though, it'll crawl along at sub dial-up speeds.

vodafone PAYG dongle here, £15 for 1GB so not cheap but it doesn't run out at the end of the month so suits me for using at work.
As for coverage, its great here on vodafone but my iphone on o2 is crap (however, if I move 10m to the other side of the office the o2 signal is ace. it really depends the coverage where you are.

Avoid "3"

I had one to carry around with my laptop and it was arse.

Is there any online way of "checking" coverage and signal strength for certain areas?

bruneep – Member

im moving to afairly remote spot

will you get a good enough 3G signal for your dongle to work in your remote spot?

Check the coverage, I live in a remote spot and only had 2G until earlier this year. 3G is fine, not as fast as ADSL and can suffer from drop offs in speed as the network gets congested.

The only way to check,I guess, would be to either ask the operators or borrow 3G phones to see if they receive a good signal.

IME, they are universally shyte. Ok if you need to pick up the odd email, but try any "real" surfing and you'll be pulling your hair out in no time. If you're going to be remote, there's every chance you won't have a decent data signal anyway. Dialup? 😀

If your living in a remote spot I would have thought getting a landline broadband is the way to go ? As the 3G signal is likely to be weak or non-existent.

My phone will act as a modem, most modern ones do.

Check with the provider whether you can return it if the signal is poor. We bought ours from ASDA and had to try different networks until we got one that worked and had no problems taking it back for an exchange.

FWIW I use 3 and Vodafone quite regularly and both are OK

Check with the provider whether you can return it if the signal is poor.

Try stipulating 3G coverage as a condition of the agreement, then you will be able to return it for sure.

yeah just test it with your phone I forgot about that.

The nokia ones are particularly easy through nokia suite.

well on windows any how.

Each network operator has a page on their website that you can use a map to check coverage, but this is only valid for outside property not inside.
If you can get one you plug an antenna into, and put that say in a window, it can help improve matters – although thinking about it, you could just use a USB extension lead to position the dongle where you want within reason.

I use a Vodaphone one and its been good where I live. Signal speed can very a lot though when travelling.

Not as good as a wired in line as its slower, signal can drop sometimes, reception varies from place to place. Having said that, I really like mine and like the idea I can use it anywhere I am able to obtain a signal. I find it plenty fast enough for normal info searching – looking stuff up, mail, singletrack etc. I never bother with videos though as it would use up too much of the monthly allowance.

I would say give it a try. Even borrow one from someone who is near where you live now, just so you can see how it works and its possible speed. If you dont like it at all, dont get one when you move.

I think they are good though on the whole.

Recently moved to a village location where was warned landline broadband wasn't great so given a 3G dongle a bash. V Please more consisitent and faster connection that our previous home which was on a large dev't of new homes less than 10 years old!
When getting the dongle we asked about coverage, the chap in the shop checked the database, said we have coverage and because we had asked/got it checked he said we would be fine to return it if any probs. Somake sure you are clear about you requirements.

The dongles mostly have a plug where you can attach an aerial to get better signal. Various ones are available online but not especially cheap.

Those Myfi things are a bit of a ripoff I reckon. You can make your phone do the same job, and generic ones are available for buttons from places like maplin. You can then get a SIM from any other company that has a decent deal.

Might be worth noting that you don't have to use their crappy stupid 'broadband assistant' stuff that pollutes your computer. The dongles are just modems, and once you have the driver you can use windows to connect. Works much nicer than their software does on the whole.

3 have a 7 days return policy, so if cover is poor you can take it back and walk away from the contract