Mifi/Dongles.

[Valiant]

I need to get one soon. Which offer the best value? Ideally would prefer a hotspot over a plug in dongle.

How do you manage passwords etc on a mifi?

[contango]

I need to get one soon. Which offer the best value? Ideally would prefer a hotspot over a plug in dongle.

How do you manage passwords etc on a mifi?

I've got an old Vodafone dongle that plugs into a USB port, self-installs and gives me GPRS, EDGE, 3G or HSDPA depending on the signal available. It cost me £40 which included the first 1GB of data and the topup is £15 per GB. Not sure if they still do a pay-by-data tariff any more - it was remarkably good when I bought it.

Best value would depend very much on your usage patterns - I went for the pay-per-data rather than pay-per-day approach just because I'm a very light user of it. If you're using a lot of data you might be better off with a 3 or T-Mobile gizmo that gives you 10GB per month or whatever you need.

[Zipperhead]

I keep reading the title as milf dongles

[tonycollinet]

I've got the basic £50 three mifi.

Works fine. Fast, and good reception (much better than an older on I had)


 By default it is already set up with a unique password and an SSID. You can change them by connecting to a built in web server - though obviously if you do, you lose connection until you put the new values into  your PC connection.

[Valiant]

I keep reading the title as milf dongles

You know me so well


It's about 3gb for £15 these days for data only.

[contango]

I keep reading the title as milf dongles

You know me so well


It's about 3gb for £15 these days for data only.

Is that £15/month for 3GB per month usage? If so that's quite different to what I've got on my dongle which is £15 for 1GB but as long as you connect at least once every six months the credit lasts as long as it takes to use that 1GB. Which for me, these days, means probably several months and maybe multiple years as I only use it when I'm away from home with no access to wifi.

[Valiant]

No I saw it as the way yours works.

[Dave44]

I use Three for my full time broadband.

There are several routes:

Contract free: Buy dongle or Mifi from Amazon, and use the 3Gb or 3 month SIM for £11 or so:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Mobile-Broadband-Preloaded-Devices/dp/B003Z0T3X2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371398247&sr=8-1&keywords=3sim

3 month time out starts when you switch it on. When it runs out, you can top up online, but it's cheaper to buy  a new SIM  from Amazon or Ebay. I keep a stock for standby. Works with Skype and uTorrent, etc.

The 3 network monthly contract scheme of 15Gb for £16 a month (over 2 years)  is good value but only if you use it a lot each month and don't have copper wire ADSL at home and live in a good 3 reception area. I do, so it works well. Going over the 15Gb is hugely expensive.  I don't have to pay for a BT line or ADSL though.

Dongle or Mifi?  The Mifi is a mini router, and lets 5 devices connect by Wifi to broadband, or each other. So you can do local wireless printing over Mifi, for instance. If you travel, you can shove it near the window in a steel framed building to get the best signal. Charges over USB or with a phone charger  The current ones are easier to use than the first generation silver/black jobs.

Speeds? I get between 8 and 10 Mbps at home, but I'm only 2Km from the mast.  Reliability is good, and Three support have been terrific when mast have gone down, twice in four years. Account credits and a free Mifi for renewing the contract. 

Mifi here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-E5331-Speed-21-1Mbps-Unlocked/dp/B00ARFVTKS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371398604&sr=8-1&keywords=mifi

[contango]

No I saw it as the way yours works.

In that case unless you're a huge user of data it sounds like a storming deal.

[fuaran]

Note you can also get a proper 3G router, ie something that plugs into the mains, and has wifi and a few ethernet ports. For most of these, you have to plug a USB 3G dongle into the router. It may be a better option if you are leaving it permanently in one place, and connected to several PCs.
eg something like this: TP-Link TL-MR3420 - http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?ProductID=9629

[Valiant]

The whole point is to be mobile. Office the park init.

[aidan.f]

Solwise Net 434t 'proper 3G router' is  being  used  for LEL at a couple of  controls, ,   £100 - seems expensive but  performance  is  exceptional, both the  wireless and 3G - we  have  used  it  in areas  of poor  coverage  where mobile devices just  don't  cut  it. - If need  be  you can add an external antenna. Any mi-fi device with internal patch antenna won't match it.  You can also connect  a  PSTN telephone,  - mobile phone & data together.

Lots of  config in the box - Qos, filtering, routing, AP LAN/WAN and... more. There is  a  cheaper Solwise device without the  PSTN and only  two ethernet ports.
 
- writing  this  while you added your  reply. -  Not  relevant  to you V.