 right....... 1. I have moved areas and currently am restricted massively to internet usage 2. I have a lap top 3. I dont like sitting in MacDonalds car parks whilst surfing (and even less going inside) 4. I cant be arsed to browse for the best deals since I am currently sitting in a MacDonalds carpark writing this 5. Please could someone recommend a WiFi USB modem dongle/service that is cheap 
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I can't Dave, but I know a man who can. (Money Saving Expert is great for stuff like this. You might want to check some of the forums as well as the linked article for any updates.)
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 get your self a cheepish WiFi dongle a 5m usb cable and a "pringle can" antenna and point it at the nearest free* WiFi spot (if you are in line of sight) *dont use your neighbours unsecured home network as that is just wrong 
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 I have a THREE mobile, I'm on 500 minutes a month for £15, just got a dongle for half price as I have a mobile phone with them. £7.50 a month for 3.6GB (can someone explain that in real money?).
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 3 films a month from BitTorrent? Oops 
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 Think it is 3.0GB/month (not 3.6Gb/month) actually for £7.50 (i.e. half price - assuming you have a 3 contract phone already) and it's actually quite a lot of 'data' as long as you are not downloading DVD images off BitTorrent or streaming video continuously! Plus they also give you the USB modem (dongle) for free. Three also let you monitor your actual usage using their My3 web pages - probably makes a lot more sense if you are mobile a lot than trying to find free (and legal) WiFi hotspots. Three's network also seems pretty good for 3G / HSDPA access - but if you do not have Three already pretty much all the networks (Three, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange - but not O2) are offering about 3Gb usage for ~£15 per month.
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| Edited: 23/05/08 12:41 |
 Don't get caught using your neighbours wireless without there permission its actually a criminal offence under the communications act 2003. several people have recieved police cautions for it in the last few years.
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But it is almost illegal to give permission to your neighbour unless you follow all the draconian
data gathering laws (BB is watching or at least wants you to be able to tell them "who,where,what...") in this country...
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thanks for the info so far..... the O2 dongle is a mega rip off the vodafone dongle is still expensive the BT fone zone thingey sounds ok others....?
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 What's your mobile phone ID? If it's a Windows mobile device then you can connect it via USB to a PC or laptop and use 'Internet Sharing' for it to act as a modem. Of course that depends on your existing tariff's rules and charges for data....
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phone is a Nokia N95 Matt and the charge for wifi is about 8 quid a month..... does that mean with a usb it will automatically work or is there alot of fannying about......?
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It works automatically on mine, other than needing to click on a 'Connect' button, but that's Windows Mobile. AFAIK Nokia use the Symbian operating system so I don't know how that behaves. But I'd be surprised if the N95 couldn't do it. Edit: I've got Nokia PC Suite on my laptop because of the work phone, and one of the applications in it is labelled 'Connect to Internet', so that at least looks promising.....
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| Edited: 23/05/08 21:50 |
It works automatically on mine, other than needing to click on a 'Connect' button, but that's Windows Mobile. AFAIK Nokia use the Symbian operating system so I don't know how that behaves. But I'd be surprised if the N95 couldn't do it. interesting....i wonder if I go to the local O2 shop whether they will have a clue about it all or am I getting my hopes up about the technical know how of mobile phone shop staff........? 
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I'd dig around a bit yourself first. I think it was O2 that I was looking at the other week, costing their data add-on as an alternative to my current deal, and somewhere in the Ts&Cs small print around fair usage I think I saw something about not connecting to other devices! But when I've used mine that way for surfing and email, even for a whole day's work, I don't think I've ever gone beyond 20Mb in the day so it's hardly excessive. I'm not downloading movies or music or any such.
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yeah sounds sensible but as you say...I'm not downloading movies or music either so my usage is pretty low cheers for that 
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