I would like a dongle !

[#1]

I noticed 3 are now doing a wifi dongle type thing now too. You can basically connect to the web and then share the connection like a normal wifi router. Clever stuff but I've used a 3 mobile in the past and their signal wasn't great. Would be useful if it comes unlocked though!
Anyone have any experience using a dongle for things like skype video calls?

[#2]

I was recommended to this thread from New Laptop Advice, Please
Lots of help, thanks, but I have further questions:
Off to Belfast next week to meet up with SWMBO and the Vodaphone coverage for the post code indicates no 3G but very good Standard service. Is the Standard automatically selected when 3G is not available or is it specifically setup? I know that allows email and browsing but what about Yahoo - can I assume that would be OK, too?
@MisterW
How easy is it to unlock the Vodaphone dongle for use abroad? I often visit Ukraine and would need to get access there. Does anyone know how I could find out about local mobile access to internet? I am assuming it would be cheaper to use their own network rather than still use Vodaphone while there.
Cheers
Edit: Tesco is currently offering the Vodaphone at £29.99!

[#3]

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How easy is it to unlock the Vodaphone dongle for use abroad? I often visit Ukraine and would need to get access there. Does anyone know how I could find out about local mobile access to internet?

I believe that the Vodafone PAYG dongle is a ZTE K3735. I have no experience of unlocking this dongle. There are a few online services offering remote unlocking but how reliable they are I'm afraid I don't know. My dongle was a ZTE MF627 ( from '3' ) and it was unlocked by reflashing with a Telstra version of the firmware.
This http://futureofmobilebroadband.blogspot.com/2009/05/ukraine-massive-mobile-broadband.html seems to indicate that 3g mobile broadband isnt very available in Ukraine.
Sorry I can't be of very much help.
Edit:- slight mistake above , its a 3565-Z dongle that's now used by Vodafone. There's some info out there that claims it's not locked to Vodafone but that the Vodafone branded application won't connect to anything but Vodafone. This http://3g-modem.wetpaint.com/page/ZTE+K3565-Z+(Vodafone) explains how to use an unbranded application if that's the case.

[#4]

My vodafone PAYG dongle is a Huawei version.
Standard coverage will be standard 2G GPRS, which is about the speed of a normal dial-up modem.

[#5]

Thought I would add to this thread rather than start a new one as the Vodafone dongle mentioned above seems to be what I am looking for. I will be moving from the rented house I've been in for 21 months into a new house in the next couple of months. The house is a new-build and I will obviously not have broadband to start with - don't know if I'll have a phone line straightaway yet. I am trying to work out the best way to get online during this time. I am in the UK. When I get broadband up and running I will be carrying on with Plusnet as I have been happy with them for about 7 years.
I went in to an O2 shop today and they were trying to sell me a dongle which cost £20 and then £2 a day, £7.50 for a week and £15 for a month. This would get over my immediate problem of being without broadband when I move but wasn't quite what I had in mind. I was thinking more of a dongle with x amount of Gbs (to be decided) which doesn't have clock running on it. I'd be using it mostly for emails, online banking and a bit of surfing. So, after I've stopped needing it at the new house, I could take it out and about with me on my laptop whenever I wanted and when it ran out I'd top it up. It looks to me as if the Vodafone one mentioned above does what I want it to do or am I getting it wrong? Grateful for any help.

[#6]

AAAAAGH! Went to check this out and found that Vodafone appear to have changed the deal so that it requires a £15 top-up each month as it expires. Can anyone confirm this please?

[#7]

http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mobile-broadband-devices/usb-modem-stick-topup-and-go-white?compatib...
says

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Instant access when you need it - and no contract. TopUp and Go gives you a flexible way to enjoy mobile broadband. And it comes with a £15 TopUp, which lasts for up to 30 days Download speeds of up to 3.6Mbps mean it's faster than 3G. Your white USB Modem even comes with 3GB of data - giving you 90 hours of browsing, 2000 emails and hundreds of downloads. And when your credit runs out (or your 30 days are up), simply top up to enjoy more of the same - fast, reliable mobile broadband that covers 80% of the UK population. No contract. No monthly bill. No fuss. Just a cracking deal for only £35.

You pay £35 for the dongle..... which already includes £15 "credit" so the first 30 days is paid for..... at the end of 30 days, you then have to "top up" another £15 to continue to use it,.   or if you use up your allowance before the 30 days.... you "top up" again with £15..... (Month 1 = £35.... month 2 = £15...... month 3 = £15..... total for 3 months = £65)
using the "allowance" as inidcated..... 90 hours of browsing, spread over 30 days is 3 hours a day...... 2000 emails is 66.66 emails a day...... not sure how you work out "hundreds of downloads" ! ! !.
T- mobile at £44.99 for 3 months internet usage, may be a better deal for you...
http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-broadband/mbbpayupfront/??WT.mc_id=ON_QM_A_Q
it reverts to a pay per day, after 3 months......
you can compare deals on this site.......
http://mobile.broadbandgenie.co.uk/3g-broadband/pay-as-you-go

[#8]

and dont forget to check if the dongle works in your location  http://www.directmobilephones.com/coverage.htm

[#9]

Thanks to you both. I might have known that the original deal was too good to be true for me! Looks like I'll still have to go with something like this but it's not quite what I wanted.

[#10]

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AAAAAGH! Went to check this out and found that Vodafone appear to have changed the deal so that it requires a £15 top-up each month as it expires. Can anyone confirm this please?

Yep, they changed it on the 29th December I think.
One possible option for occasional mobile broadband use for email , a bit of surfing etc, do you have a contract mobile ? Most contracts these days will give you free  web access from your handset. Most recent handsets can be used as a modem connected to a PC via USB. So you can use the handset to give you mobile broadband access. The downsides are:- 1, its probably technically against the network T & C's ( but how they would know is doubtful, unless you obviously use a lot of bandwidth ), 2  it drains the battery on the phone like no tomorrow so it really needs to be connected to a charger whilst online. 

[#11]

I bought my Vodaphone PAYG on 2/1/10.
I just rang Vodaphone who confirmed that my credit will remain as long as I make at least one connection every three months (I had thought it was every 6 months as mentioned by Bud earlier).
I now have £15.02 left from my original £15.00 top-up Gave me some garbled info about VAT rebate - didn't seem to make sense but... it's in my favour

[#12]

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I just rang Vodaphone who confirmed that my credit will remain as long as I make at least one connection every three months

Hmm.... I wonder if this is "hidden" in their Terms and Conditions.... cos it don`t seem to be on the "front page".... so if you don`t know about it, you will keep toppingup with £15 per month when you don`t really need to, and Vodafone will be making a fortune !    from all those "happy" customers.....

[#13]

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I just rang Vodaphone who confirmed that my credit will remain as long as I make at least one connection every three months (I had thought it was every 6 months as mentioned by Bud earlier).

I believe there are two different PAYG product codes ( they may even be different physical dongle types ), the earlier one which for £15 gave 1Gb of usage lasting upto 6 months, and the new one which for £15 gives 3Gb usage but only lasts for 30 days. The new product was introduced on 29th Dec ( I think! ) but if you have an existing PAYG dongle or bought a package with old product ( and there was probably a few still in the shops in early Jan ) then you were, and stay, on the old T &C's. The new product goes onto the new T & C's. I think if you're on the old T & C's you can call Vodafone and change to the new ones BUT not vice-versa.

[#14]

AHa!  that sounds plausible... perhaps they thought they weren`t making any money on the original product.....on the other hand, it could have been a very crafty marketing ploy, before bringing out the newer version,..... which was probably the "original" idea....

[#15]

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perhaps they thought they weren`t making any money on the original product

I think that's probably the case.
The original product had been around for about a year I think , one of my colleagues has had one for at least 6 months!.
I have a Vodafone Portugal Vita Net sim card which I use in my dongle when over there. They have two plans, 10 euro for 10 hours which lasts 6 months , or 10 euro for 400mb which lasts 12 days. I believe you can change plans to whichever suits you and I don't see any evidence of them changing that situation. So they can obviously make money from either plan!.