WiFi Dongles V fixed Internet service

[Volusian]

Hi ... anyone here have or use a WiFi dongle ?

I currently pay £30 per month for my wifi service but only get around 3 to 4mb downloads speeds on a good day .... dropping to around 1.5mb/s weekends due to customer load.

I also pay around £80 per quarter for my phone line which i hardly use as im often out so use my mobile. I currently put around £20 per month on PAYG with O2 and this does not include internet service ... just free texts .. im sure there is a better service i could use ..

So .. im thinking of ditching both services and using a wifi dongle instead ...

I wish to use my iphone 3G to access the web while out and the PC + dongle while im at home ..

any recommendations .. thanks

 

[leaky5]

I am doing this whilst in a rented house.

I bought a T-Mobile dongle and can use my desire for tethering, both get HSDPA.

Just ran a speed test and am only getting about 800kbps. Definitely not better than a fixed connection.

Can't wait to get into my new house and get a proper fixed connection again.

 

[onomatopoeia]

I also pay around £80 per quarter for my phone line which i hardly use as im often out so use my mobile.

BT Line rental should be £10.50/month with free weekend calls, provided you agree to paperless billing and pay by direct debit. £80/quarter sounds more than a bit excessive, are you making loads of calls or do you have some kind of bundle deal (e.g. including fixed internet)?

 

[Volusian]

BT Line rental should be £10.50/month with free weekend calls, provided you agree to paperless billing and pay by direct debit. £80/quarter sounds more than a bit excessive, are you making loads of calls or do you have some kind of bundle deal (e.g. including fixed internet)?

I live in Hull and for those in the know Hull has its own monopolistic telecom network. We are only able to use this sole company as they own the whole network inc ducting etc .. BT or anyone else for that matter dont offer their services around these parts sadly ... so were stuck with what we have ( or rather dont have) ... hence why im asking for advice on alternatives such as dongles ..

 

[onomatopoeia]

Ah yes, good old Kingston Communications, who have a protected monopoly courtesy the Telecommunications Act 1981. It was very nice in the early days of broadband as availability there was much better than the rest of the country, but that situation is now reversed.

They should at the very least be forced to unbundle the local loop, but should really also be forced to provide wholesale ADSL connectivity to ISPs, just as BT have to.

 

[Nod]

WiFi dongle or mobile network?

A friend uses a mobile phone network for her internet access and (to me) it's slower than painfully slow - makes my old 56k modem look like a speedy thing!

The only reason we have a landline is for the internet - call charges are minimal and are mainly SWMBO phoning her Mum.

 

[Volusian]

Ah yes, good old Kingston Communications, who have a protected monopoly courtesy the Telecommunications Act 1981. It was very nice in the early days of broadband as availability there was much better than the rest of the country, but that situation is now reversed.

They should at the very least be forced to unbundle the local loop, but should really also be forced to provide wholesale ADSL connectivity to ISPs, just as BT have to.

yes ... anyone can come into KC territory if they want ... but they wont as KC keep the duct space rental etc very high which keeps the rest firmly at bay ..