[ubuntu-uk] USB Wireless G3 Dongle

[Rob Beard]

huet bartels wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> Has anyone got experience in using a mobile G3 Dongle with Ubuntu.
> Vodafone or 3 Network some other provider.
>
> If so could you recommend the best one to purchase.
>
> Thank you in advance
>
> Huet Bartels
>
>   
I have a Vodafone 3G dongle on Pay As You Go and it works great, well 
assuming I can get reception (I've got patchy reception for all networks 
in my area).  I have managed though in some areas to get 3G and HSDPA 
(which is faster than 3G) and it works really well.

I have a feeling that most providers use the same modems now these 
days.  My modem is a Huawei K3565.  I've also tried a Huawei E220 on 
Three and that also works fine.

As far as which network to go on, I'd look at the coverage maps for each 
provider.  Would you want to use it out and about or at home as say a 
broadband replacement?

It's also worth considering if you want to go on contract or pre-pay.  
Being on Vodafone pre-pay for the modem, £15 gives me 1GB allowance but 
the allowance doesn't expire
 which means if I only use say 100MB in a month, the remaining 900MB can 
be carried on until it's used up.  Then I simply top up again.  Although 
it's a bit more expensive than Three I find it fits my usage well (I've 
had the modem going on 5 months and not topped it up yet, I'm still on 
the original 1GB that came with the modem).

On the other hand, with Three, 1GB lasts for 30 days or until you use it 
up (whichever comes sooner).  If you don't use the 1GB then you will 
loose it at the end of the 30 day period.  However if you do use 1GB a 
month then it may worth out better as it's cheaper than Vodafone.

I would also suggest considering T-Mobile.  They do an option where you 
can pay per day, week or month.  IIRC it's something like £2 a day, £5 a 
week or £15 a month which is 'unlimited' although I gather their idea of 
unlimited is if you go over 3GB (might be 1GB) then they will throttle 
the speed down.  I haven't used T-Mobile so I can't comment how good or 
bad it is.

O2 also do a similar deal to T-Mobile where you get a fixed allowance 
for a day, week or month (and you pay for a day, week or month) but I 
have heard about outages on O2 and I gather the coverage isn't as good.  
However your millage may vary.

Rob