two laptops off a dongle? . . .

[just john]

I use a 3G dongle for internet access in the UK and contemplating using a dongle in France, rather having to find the nearest cafe with a Wifi hotspot (no phone at the house), if so it would be a great bonus if I could run two laptops off of it, can anyone suggest if this is possible and what router would be required for doing this?

Thanks in anticipation[8-|]

[woolybanana]

John, what exactly is a dongle please?

 

[Cjlaws]

[quote user="woolybanana"]

John, what exactly is a dongle please?

 

[/quote]

You might try googling "wi fi dongle" [;-)]

[woolybanana]

I prefer human explanations!

It is a USB key that enables connection to wifi then? But don't most computers have that built in these days? And what was the reference to an alternative to Macdonalds? Does this mean that a dongle will connect anywhere, not just in hotspots?

 

[powerdesal]

A 3G dongle will connect anywhere. I am using one at this very minute, you need the account though. It uses the mobile phone network signal.

[woolybanana]

Thank you PD. How's the Gulf by the way? Full of adulterous spouses getting slammed in the local nick?

[just john]

[quote user="woolybanana"]Thank you PD. How's the Gulf by the way? Full of adulterous spouses getting slammed in the local nick?[/quote]

How do you know what happened in the local nick Wooly? . . .[8-|]

Exactly, Wooly, PD, presumably it is not beyond techies to plug the dongle into a USB port on a router, since both laptops could then hook up to the WiFi signal, but the dongle uses software on any laptop to trigger the connection; hence the router would need to be able to trigger the connection before the WiFi would be active? [blink]

[BJSLIV]

Looks like it can be done.....

http://mobilesociety.typepad.com/mobile_life/2006/08/how_to_share_yo.html

or

http://www.3g.co.uk/3GForum/showthread.php?t=53150

 

 

[just john]

Ta BJSLIV, for the reply I will try this (when I have time to get my head round it)[8-)],

[Ecossais]

John,

3UK sell Huawei D100 wireless routers designed to work with Huawei mobile broadband modems – here’s a link to it on the 3 website.  It costs about £70.  Other networks will probably sell it as Huawei is the biggest player in the mobile broadband market.

Remember mobile broadband is MUCH more expensive in France compared with UK so you might want to bear the data usage across 2 PCs in mind.  You could just move the modem from one PC to the other unless you want to use both PCs at the same time……

[powerdesal]

Mobile broadband is expensive anywhere.

Mine has a 10GB monthly limit at a cost of c Euro 90 a month. Go over the limit and the costs are really really astronomical, we had a situation here that, due to hacking into a wifi system with a 10GB limit, the bill was ........cEuro 50,000 for one month. (ADH 270,000).

Be aware and very careful

edit. WB the gulf is very hot and getting a bit 'restrictive'

[just john]

Edit: hadn't seen your comment Powerdesal, WOW are the decimals in the right place[:)] that sounds beyond belief! anyone paying slightly less?

Hi Ecossais, the Huawei D100 router Amazon £59 but it only works with the Huawei modem, fortunately that is what the 3 dongle is, but what are they en France? and just as important what are the costs?, are they contract or payasyougo? anyone using one in France?

In the UK, 5G for £35 per month inclusive Toshiba laptop (18month contract after which laptop becomes yours)

[Pierre ZFP]

I've jusst seen an offer from Bouyges that is nearly but not quite on the money.

They will let you have unlimited Broadband on a dongle from €29 per month (various options available) but the really interesting thing for me was a PAYG option where you paid a one off €39 for the dongle and €2 on each day you use it, no ongoing subscriptions, loverly juberly!!

But hold on, what's this?  On the daily tariff you are limited to 10 Mb  (yes that's Mb not Gb)  !!!

That's not even enough to check emails and the live cricket text from the BBC let alone a few radio progs or legit  iTunes etc.

SFR and Orange are even worse [:@]  (they charge internet access by the hour - how does that work then?)

One day soon they'll wake up and make tariffs that are actually useable

By comparison, Mobile broadband in Luxembourg is €18.90 per month for unlimited access at quite reasonable speeds.

 

[powerdesal]

JJ, unfortunately the decimal points are correctly placed.

We had (in the site office) a 3G router that gave wifi access (supposedly secure) to various engineers in the office. The 10GB limit was at a cost of (I think) ADH 468 a month, approx E90. The bill for March was stated by Etisalat (the only provider available) to be ADH270,000. I believe this equates to a download of approx 50GB.

The only way that could be achieved was by downloading films. We suspected that our security had been breached and an anonymous e mail to the site manager stated that an un named person had been bragging about 'breaking into' the Engineers wifi, said person had (supposedly) downloaded lots of films. We never found the hacker, and Etisalat were not that interested, they just wanted the bill paying.

We now have individual usb dongles at the same rental and with the same limit of 10GB. We are all extremely careful about usage and check the 'stats' at each log on. My personal use is approx 1.5GB per month (I dont download films !!!!!!!) My use to date this month is 223MB as an example of use.

[Ecossais]

An important factor to consider is 3G mobile network coverage where you live.  Which network gives the strongest signal where you are – the easiest way to find out is check what network a UK mobile phone roams onto in the location.  You then need to check that that network has strong 3G coverage in your area.  The networks have coverage maps which will help, or you should ask in a network shop in your area.  Be aware that % coverage claims made by networks are for “population” coverage, not geographic coverage.

I mentioned earlier that mobile broadband is much more expensive in France than UK, for example in UK £15 a month gets you 15gB per month (24 month contract on 3). Orange France give you “illimité” usage (which they could restrict to 1gB – according to condition 3 on website) for 29€90 per month (half price for 6 months on a 24 month contract) with a Huawei or ZTE modem.

You can also buy them on Pay As You Go – Orange France charge 29€, running costs that way are steep – a 6 hour / 1 month “top up” costs 25€ (£10 in UK gets you 1bG / month on 3).

If you go ahead and get a dongle, make sure you can cancel the contract if it does not work at the speed they claim!

 

 

[just john]

Thanks for that Ecossais, I have to say I'm staggered at the difference between cost in the UK and France, for no obvious reason that I can see, [:(] hey ho cafe here I come again, at least it will stop me wasting so much time on line[:D].

[MKT]

Ive been following this but am obviously missing something.... (not unusual!)

I pay orange fr €29.90 a month for 1mb broadband which comes through a livebox. there is no limit (i dont think) to how much I can be on.  If i go anywhere else, like to our gite etc, there is no phone line on so I cant use the laptop online there.

Am I understanding that for the same price I could get one of these dongles and then use it anywhere? I mean like i could keep it plugged in at home but it would also work away??? sounds too good to be true and if thats right, why would anybody pay the sorts of charges quoted in this thread.

sorry to be dense but can anybody point out why I cant just change to the dongle thing, and use it all the time anywhere for the same price?

Thanks in advance

Maria

[Slippery Sam]

Been using a 3 mobile internet dongle with my Draytek router in the uk for some time. Check compatibility before you buy though. I checked the Draytek user forums and got the dongle I know would work. 3 gives you a public ip address should you want to access the router remotely as I do (webcams)