Voda PAYG dongle

Anyone know if the Vodafone PAYG USB broadband tariff is any good..? I've
been after a wireless dongle for a while but they all seem to have a 30
day cutoff if you don't use them. I saw a big advert in the window of my
local Vodafone shop the other day claiming theirs is the only one that has
no 30-day cutoff.

Is this true and is it any good..?

Ivor

On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 13:33:15 -0000, "Ivor Jones"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>Anyone know if the Vodafone PAYG USB broadband tariff is any good..? I've
>been after a wireless dongle for a while but they all seem to have a 30
>day cutoff if you don't use them. I saw a big advert in the window of my
>local Vodafone shop the other day claiming theirs is the only one that has
>no 30-day cutoff.
>
>Is this true and is it any good..?

This is true. £15 for 1GB.
You can only top-up with £15 credits. *Nothing* else can be used.
If you do not use the broadband connection at least once in every 180
days you lose the credit and it will be disconnected.
Also only works at 3G speeds. You cannot get HSDPA speeds (they reserve
this for contract customers).

The voda PAYG dongle has a 180 day non-use cut-off, be warned!

I can't get 3G in this area of Outer London. I've managed to connect a
few times and tried very minimal downloads as I have other ways to
connect at home.
I have reduced my credit balance by a whole 1p each time I have connected.
Seems OK for surfing away from home, especially if you are as 'careful'
as I am.

One thing I found out about the Voda PAYG dongle (which contains a SIM
card and an empty slot for a micro SD card) is that you cannot *send*
SMS messages from your computer (I think those on a contract can do
this) but you can receive texts.
The dongle has all the software on board and self-installs when first used.

On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 17:35:37 GMT, Helen Deborah Vecht
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>The voda PAYG dongle has a 180 day non-use cut-off, be warned!

Yeah, I just wrote that.
"If you do not use the broadband connection at least once in every 180
days you lose the credit and it will be disconnected."

In news:(E-Mail Removed),
Helen Deborah Vecht <(E-Mail Removed)> typed, for some strange,
unexplained reason:
: The voda PAYG dongle has a 180 day non-use cut-off, be warned!

It's a damn sight better than 30 days..!

: I can't get 3G in this area of Outer London. I've managed to connect a
: few times and tried very minimal downloads as I have other ways to
: connect at home.
: I have reduced my credit balance by a whole 1p each time I have
: connected. Seems OK for surfing away from home, especially if you are
: as 'careful' as I am.

Think I'll give it a try then, thanks. I only want something for use when
away from home or the office, I doubt I'd use it more than a couple of
days a month if that.

Ivor

In news:(E-Mail Removed),
Helen Deborah Vecht <(E-Mail Removed)> typed, for some strange,
unexplained reason:
: One thing I found out about the Voda PAYG dongle (which contains a SIM
: card and an empty slot for a micro SD card) is that you cannot *send*
: SMS messages from your computer (I think those on a contract can do
: this) but you can receive texts.
: The dongle has all the software on board and self-installs when first
: used.

Hmm. Is that Windows..? My netbook runs Linux. This may not be so simple
after all.......!

Ivor

On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:48:38 -0000, "Ivor Jones"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Hmm. Is that Windows..? My netbook runs Linux. This may not be so simple
>after all.......!

If you can find Linux drivers for it then it *should* work. I cannot say
for sure as I do not use Linux.
I do know I do not use the Vodafone software (but did install it to load
the drivers).
I just connect the USB dongle and use a desktop shortcut to the DUN item
(in Network Connections) and double-click it to connect. It seems to get
just as fast a speed (usually connects about 3.6Mbps), which is usually
better than my ADSL connection. I also then don't have the overhead of
the crappy Mobile Connect software. I do the same with the dongle from
3.
Though I have just bought a 3G router to connect one of them to so I can
share the connection.

My netbook is Windows and I have no experience of Linux.
It is worth configuring your browser to minimise download size before
you use your dongle though.

Ivor Jones <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Hmm. Is that Windows..? My netbook runs Linux. This may not be so simple
> after all.......!

Depends. On some Linux distros it's quite simple to set up - it makes a
dialup connection for you (maybe you have to type in the APN, don't know)
and away you go. Netbooks seem to have this quite smoothly. You may want
to try to find out the model of the Voda dongle before you buy it so you can
check (in general Huawei support is good, ZTE maybe a bit more uncertain)

Theo