Stick Modem in UK
 

Need help from people more knowledgeable on this than I am. Now that I have a nice small notebook which is easy to cvart around with me than the bulky lap top, I will be bringing it with me to France and England next month. The trip includes a Baltic Cruise but I know wi fi prices and cell phone prices while at sea cost two arms and a leg so that's not the issue.

In France, my hotel has free wifi so no problem there. However unlike the good old USA (somethingh we do right) where every cheap and moderately priced hotel provides free wifi or ethernet connections (lnly the high priced hotels charge for this here), that is not so in the UK and the hotel I stay at in London wants quite a bit for wifi. So I have begun to investigate stick modems and T Mobile UK seems to have a good deal there. Anybody with any thoughts on how useful these are say for a stay which in the end will be the entire month of June just about although broken up by a 12 day cruiser....T Mobile seems to have a plan with a stick modem that will cover an entire month for less than 10 quid or so.

Thanks in advance.

It's a good deal and there shouldn't be trouble getting good signal in Central London. But as 3G signal weakens considerably inside buildings, make sure your room faces outside (some single rooms may face inside courtyard). There are other mobile providers with a smilar deal - such as Vodafone, O2 and Three. You buy the USB modem from £0 to £10 and just top up (buy credit). Voda deals is particularly good for 3G download.
Good comparison of various deals/offers at
http://www.broadband-expert.co.uk/mo...ile-broadband/

Thank you Alec...I knew you would come through!

So Alec...which would you recommend...where I stay in London there are company stores for all providers within a block or two of the hotel and my otel knows that I need a room on an upper floor with a window from previous visits and problem with my cell phones.....I'll be in London for three days Sunday 06 June through 09 June...the Baltic Cruise from Dover runs from 09 June to 21 June and then back to London for a week....then have to go home to teach a course in summer school but will be back in Scotland to join a tour of Scvotland and Ireland (most of the Irish hotels have wifi and I know the UK thing won't be needed) from 09 August to about 21 August when I leave Scotland.....you advice will be greatly appreciated on this (I don't understand the limits either...I'm technologically deprived...I just turn my computer on and let the wirelexss connection do the rest!).

You should have no trouble getting connected in London, or other large towns and cities. But away from centres of population, the signal becomes weaker or non-existent. For much of Scottish Highland, for example, USB modem is next to no use - only 2G signal is availale. You should be ok in towns - St Andrews, Dundee, Perth, Stirling, Inverness, as well as Edinburgh and Glasgow. Look at network's coverage map on their website. You enter the post code of where you'll be staying and they can tell you whether 3G signal (for mobile broadband) is avilable or not.

Oh, you should do well with any of them in London. 3G coverage is spotty in sparsely-populated areas of Scotland with any of them. In terms of coverage, Orange, O2 and Vodafone lead, followed by T-Mobile and Three.

I use one of these during the week with no problems, mines from three but before you invest check out how close to a McDonald's your hotel is - McDonald's all have free wifi.

Just check that they sell you the service and the hardware for 1 month only, not on 12-24 month agreement.

There is easy access to free wifi everywhere in the UK, pubs cafes, coffee shops, motorway service stations etc.

But if you get a mobile broadband using a USB dongle, you buy the dongle and then you can get data on PAYG....O2 gives you 30 days unlimited for £15, or 7 days for £7.50

Yes I know wifi is readilly available everywhere...except the most important place of all for me i.e. my hotel room when I come back after a tough day (or easy day) of bopping around....my routines at home always involve checking e-mail, reading newspapers (I haven't bought a newspaper in years and years, love reading great newspapers like the New York Times, the Washington Post and Boston Globe...check my bank accounts that my credit card has not been compromised, pay my bills where necessary, buy theatre tickets for the next day, listen to the radio from home (just can't do without WFAN) (don't think the connection will be fast enough, as a matter of fact I'm almost sure it's not, but I have this thing called a sling box attached to my television system which means with a fast enough connection, I can watch all 300 channels available on my cable system.....which includes watching my Mets but like I said, don't think these connections are fast enough while wifi generally is)...I am such a creature of habit...15 quid for a month is fine and will serve the purpose well...

TV will probably be rather glitchy...haven't listening to radio online via a dongle. Will do videos, but buffers a lot. Personally I like being away from my home routine when on hols...half the point really...experiencing things local including crappy Italian TV etc!