Using WIFI Dongle abroad for business??

[JoomGuru]

Hi

I'm doing some research into the use of wifi dongles abroad for business purposes. Do you, or have you purchased, a wifi dongle in Europe or further afield to enable you to keep in touch with your work or business back home in the UK? Did it work for you, did it cost you an arm or a leg? How well did it serve your needs. Bandwidth, reliability, easy to buy, would you consider it to be a reliable means of staying in touch while on holiday or working overseas?

Did you just use email, or on-line work, skype, MSN etc.,?

Thanks for any responses

 

[StevensOnln1]

Why would anyone want to buy a dongle for wifi? Virtually all laptops have it built in, as do most smart phones and tablets. Or do you really mean a mobile broadband dongle?

 

[JoomGuru]

Yes, its received 'wirelessly' and are generally exclusively for 'wireless' data traffic (being inserted via USB into the side of the laptop) not to be confused with the wifi adaptor for linking to a local hub or hotspot. They can be PAYG as per the advert below or contract.

 

[Subbynet]

I take it you mean a 3G dongle?

Europe is a big place so you'll find many different situations with regards to network speed and signal quality, with some areas having no 3G coverage at all. It really is best to check before you leave to make sure its available.

Basically (where available) it works fine in most cases, and in many (EU) countries you can find PAYG services for roughly the same cost as here. Skype really needs a decent connection so call quality can be effected by using a 3G dongle.

 

[JoomGuru]

Yes, I'm aware of that - if you actually read my post I'm looking for information for research purposes and want to get feedback from people who have used it.

 

[Subbynet]

I did read your post and I have used them, in a few countries within the EU and I was providing you with feedback.

I mean if you're going to ask what coverage is like over such a large area, what other answer do you expect?

 

[JoomGuru]

Hi subbynet

It was a sweeping generalisation - I was hoping for specific instances. I appreciate the response but, I need to discern the different experiences of people and countries. Which countries did you use them in. Were some better than others, Did you have experiences of 'roaming' (some people have been totally ripped off with this aspect). Was there any paperwork involved (some countries require registration)... etc., sorry, I realise its a wide coverage of a complexe issue but, if I can get specific results i can narrow down questions.

Thanks

 

[old boy]

I tried mine which is on 3 a few times in spain

what a nightmare - first off it did not work so i had to ring them on a expensive number to activate
then it stopped after about 30 secs
I rang again and they said credit had run out so i added £20 and gues what that lasted about 10 mins just doing emails

so i gave it up as a bad job and am going for something like vonage or similar

 

[JoomGuru]

Hi! Old Boy, Doesn't Vonage need an internet connection to work.

Did you buy the dongle in a phone shop in spain? some places provide them via computer shops and electrical retailers. Did you hear of other people having similar/same experiences while you were there?

Ta !

 

[old boy]

a number of them dont
vopium just download an app and subscribe it aslo carries money to next month so you dont lose what you dont spend

yep i looked a few spanish dongles but they need topping up every month and what you dont use gets taken back
seemed a daft way of doing things to me

 

[JoomGuru]

Interesting, the system works through the mobile phone which would be fine if people were just checking emails and stuff. I would like to know if it could work for say internet access 16 hours a day and be used with/through a Laptop.

As an example, In Greece I had a dongle for 40Euros a month on a 6 month contract. It provided me with 24/7 access and 40Gbs per month. Other people were using PAYG at a rate of approx 30 euros a month and skyping and stuff without too much bother.

I'm trying to establish if other countries are as good, or if as Subbynet says above its pretty standard across the board. I really need anecdotal evidence which I can then back up or do further research.. hence my rather wide spanning brief at the top.

Ta!

 

[Subbynet]

Ok...

I've never used roaming for exactly that reason, it just costs to much so its easier to buy a dongle where your visiting.

I've used them in France, Spain and the Netherlands. In both France and Spain I've used Vodafone and purchased them in store, you can buy top-ups like here in the UK, they cost around £30'ish for the dongle, but you had to buy a top-up aswell, so another £10-20 on top. No registration was required, although it does ask when you first connect.

In the Netherlands I was going to use another Vodafone Dongle, but I found a 3G prepaid pack at a store in the airport that used KPN, no dongle, just a sim card you could put in your phone and tether it to your laptop, cost about 20 euro, and I think came with 3gb of bandwidth. I'm pretty sure vodafone gave you less, like 500mb for 10euro I think it was..

I honestly can't remember exactly what the connections speeds were but with general web browsing, facebook, email, and even remote desktoping, it works pretty much fine. No issues. I do use Skype as a number of my family live abroad and use it, and as always that never works brilliantly while on a 3G network. Very jittery. But that's my experience of it here in the UK too.

I would say it felt pretty snappy while in the Netherlands (Rotterdam) though, and there I even managed a Skype video call to my sister in Australia which worked fairly well. Spotify is a music service that I use and that worked well too.

I never had to top-up again, between using the dongles and any available free WiFi connections I managed to find, I always had a connection for my short stays.

Not really sure what else too add but hope it helps.

 

[JoomGuru]

Subbynet, thats really good it gives me a clearer picture of your experiences. The KPN link sounded interesting, is this type of solution common.to my mind the idea of linking your sim card via your phone to the laptop is scarey and I would be interested in knowing how easy/cheap this is as opposed to getting a dongle.

Ta!

 

[bdw]

Since I went self employed in 2001 I have been to many countries on holiday. Being self employed I cannot afford to miss enquiries so I always take a laptop. While I have been in situations where the signal left a bit to be desired in most situations I have been able find a WiFi connection somewhere. Nowadays it is generally free or very cheap to access and probably better than a dongle.

From memory I have been in Sri Lanka, Australia, Singapore, Madeira, Portugal, Turkey, Spain, Crete and Rhodes and I seldom had any major problems getting online. I have found that many hotels (even small hotels) are now offering free WiFi as a service. It used to be only business class hotels that did this but they are recognising that everyone wants to go online while they are away, even if it is only to let their FB friends know how much they are enjoying themselves. :|

 

[JoomGuru]

bdw

Thats true, many places abroad offer quite reliable wifi broadband. I am not sure I could skype in a public place, but I have often used MSN and as for sitting and working on someone's website.. i think that might be difficult to do propped up against the bar (a very comfortable position when not working I hasten to add).

For a holiday I think its essential to keep in daily contact and its often been the reason NOT to take a holiday many times in the past. So, they do provide an essential service.

Longer term (my last adventure was nine months) its not reliable as the hotels etc., all close down in October and don't re-open until May the next year so, you can get really buggered if its the only source of internet access.

Thanks

 

[Subbynet]

Subbynet, thats really good it gives me a clearer picture of your experiences. The KPN link sounded interesting, is this type of solution common.to my mind the idea of linking your sim card via your phone to the laptop is scarey and I would be interested in knowing how easy/cheap this is as opposed to getting a dongle.

Ta!

For my phone its very simple, I just swap the sim card over, then create a Wi-Fi hotspot using my phone (Done at the press of a button), and then from my laptop connect to hotspot.

If I decide to use a USB lead, when you plug it in you can select the option "Internet Pass-through", and this allows you to connect to the internet using your phone too...

Also, as has been said, many hotels and other places do have Wi-Fi, the issue I found is really moving between said number of Wi-Fi spots, it becomes a PITA. Most run on a ticket system of some kind to verify your a customer of the company and not a freeloader. Sometimes the speeds are rubbish, or you find certain ports blocked. In many cases I've found the 3G dongles to offer faster speeds than Wi-Fi Hotspots. (But Wi-Fi is un-metered in most cases, so has its swings and roundabouts!)

In fact one of the reasons I bought a dongle was because the hotel Wi-Fi was rubbish in my room, although it was fine in the bar/lounge area. Trying to find a quiet spot in the lounge was near on impossible.

 

[JoomGuru]

Subbynet

Thanks, i'm not sure my current phone (not a smart phone) is up to the task so, need to look into that as I don't want a heavy duty smart phone as I have great laptop and a nice tablet to play with. The research is meant to take account of all types of product types so, I will now have to borrow one to check it out.

I stayed in a hotel for 6 weeks last year and had to balance my laptop on the veranda coffee table and chair to reach the signal thrown out from the bar. I even tried to get them to install a directional booster I had in my luggage. a real 'mare', that was.