3G/laptops

[Roy and Katie]

We are unable to get a landline to our house. (I won't bore you with the reasons - but we have given up on Telefonica).

I need to access the web as well as getting e-mails. One solution might be to use a laptop with a 3G card from a local mobile company such as Vodaphone Espana. Does anyone have any experience of this?

I am currently getting my emails downloaded to my UK mobile phone, but accessing and replying is very fiddly and time consuming. I have considered a Blackberry, but I am not sure how they are for browsing the web rather than emailling.

Any thoughts anyone?

 

[pollensa]

I have used my laptop connected via blue tooth to my UK mobile for web access when really necessary. It's pretty slow & probably quite expensive (via Virgin) although I had read somewhere that the price was just charged per Mb download regardless of where you were.

Am afraid I have no other experience & have never actually seen a Blackberry - I hear they're called 'crackberries' (very addictive!).

 

[its cd]

I have a blackberry ............... not because I am a gadget addict but because I work in a Customer Service related role and use it for accessing work related emails on the move and it is much much easier than carting a laptop around.

Is it any good ?

For basic email access and quick replies ...... fantastic

For accessing your Ms Office diary on the move ..... fantastic

For having access to a massive telephone directory on the move ..... fantastic

To read attachments like word docs or spreadsheets ..... well , if you are really young and have great eyesight, you can set the font to 6 or 8 and fit quite a few characters across the screen it's great ............. otherwise forget it or alway remember your specs.

browsing the web ............. painful ............. emergency use only ........ believe me , if it gave me trouble free access to PP.com at all moments if the day I would probably never be off it ....... as it is I can count the times I have accessed the web on a single hand

I woudn't be without it ...... it allows me to be wherever I want to be and yet appear to be wherever I'm supposed to be :rollin :rollin :rollin

 

[jiggy]

I used a 3g card in my laptop last year. it was just like using normal internet. faster than dail up, but slower than broardband. It can work out a bit expensive tho, at least £25 a month. With that you get something like 250MB downloads.

 

[Roy and Katie]

Thanks folks, that's really helpful.

I was on the point of getting a Blackberry yesterday, but the helpful chap in Vodaphone (UK) suggested I have a go at the 3G/laptop route. I bought a 3G UK mobile instead, so when I am there next week I can see whether I can get a 3G signal. Mobile reception is not great where we are in Alcanada, so I am not sure whether it will work. In which case we will continue the saga with Telefonica, which has only taken 2 years to date!

Jiggy - when you used your laptop did it allow you to browse sites such as Easyjet? I intend to use it with a 3G card from Vodaphone ES. Is that what you did, or was it with a UK mobile?

 

[jiggy]

Hi Roy & Kate,
It was just using the internet, i could access ANY site, so you should have no probs getting on the Easyjet site.

Have a look at this link, vodafone.misco.co.uk/3G-Data-card/
It also shows all the tarriffs you can get on. didnt have to use my mobile at all, to get on the net.
Hope it helps

jiggy

 

[Roy and Katie]

Jiggy,

You are a star!

Providing we can get a 3G signal at our house we will go to Vodaphone in Alcudia and sign up. I know we can get a GPRS signal, so hopefully we are sorted.

You cannot believe the nightmare we have been through trying to get a landline. The problem was that contractors cut through the line when they installed a sewer pipe down the road over 2 years ago before we bought the house. Nobody will take responsibility. We were so frustrated that we got quotes to dig up the road, but they were astronomic as you might expect.

I owe you one!

Roy

 

[Roy and Katie]

I am sitting by the pool connected to the internet thanks to you guys.

I purchased a 3G card from Vodaphone in Alcudia (2 week wait) and subscribed to their net work. It is much cheaper than doing it with Vodaphone in the UK. Monthly charge is €49 compared to ..aah! (see later) 45GBP for 1GB of downloads per month.

Buying the laptop was more interesting. We went to PC City in Palma and found them very expensive compared to UK, so I remembered that Al Campo (big supermarket in Palma) sold them. I was very pleased with my purchase and thought I had a good deal. Got it back to find that Windows was in Spanish. No problem, I thought, it just needs to be reset to English. Many many hours and telephone conversation later I finally found out that it cannot be done. I had to buy a English language version of Windows in the UK at a price of 199GBP! Now you might wonder why I refer to prices in GBP instead of using the pounds sign - that is because I have a spanish keyboard and it doesn´t exist.......Moral of the story if you are going to buy a laptop do it in the UK and bring it out!

The 3G works well though, even where we live in Alcanada where the 3G signal is intermittant. If it can't find 3G it will use GPRS which is almost always available. It is a bit slower but it works. 3G seems to be almost as fast as Broadband

 

[Snowy]

Roy and Katie have you talked with this guy

 

[jiggy]

Hi Roy & Katie
Glad we could be of help, but hey, what you doin' BY the pool on t'internet. Get it the pool and get your hair wet. (not with your laptop, PLEASE!:lol )