Broadband dongles

[Devils Advocate]

I'm not sure about this so need some advice.

I've got 2 computers, a laptop with a pay as you go broadband dongle, and a desktop PC that is connected through the phone line.
What i need to know is this:

If i didnt have a phone line broadband service for the desktop, (i.e no BT, no sky), would i be able to stick the pay as you go dongle into it and still use it as before?
Or is the dongle only compatible with laptops?

[Vinyardo]

You can use them with any PC - they are not cheap or fast though!


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[GhostRider]

Yeah the dongle will work with anything but I'm pretty sure it
just connects you to a 3G network, which is pretty shit if you are say viewing a page which is picture intensive, plus I've heard
a few people getting stung with their bill at the end of the month.

GhostRider
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[MattHirst]

I'm currently using a t-mobile dongle in hospital and i believe it connects through HSDPA (whatever that is ).

Even the 'Last poster wins' thread it loads up reasonabley quickly, obviously not as fast as my 20mb broadband line at home but it's not so slow that it frustrates me.

Me and my dad have used this t-mobile thingy on several laptops, none of us have a desktop so haven't tried it but i can't see any reason at all why it wouldn't.

These deals where you get a free laptop with the mobile internet contract may be different, the dongle maybe tied to the laptop but i'm just guessing there and don't take my word for it, i can't see why they would though.
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[SlimRick]

I've got a BT dongle from work, so not sure about the costs but I use it on my laptop when I'm out and about. Speed is pretty decent when you pick up a 3G network, comparable to home broadband. When our BT broadband goes off on an almost monthly basis we plug it into our desktop at home, but as we're in a 3G black-spot the speed isn't fantastic.

[Dazbo666]

Yes the dongle can work with any PC, but as already mentioned, not likely to be particularly fast compared to your "normal" broadband.

Only word of warning about dongles (and mobiles for that matter) - DONT bother with the Three network!!
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[SoND]

Connected briefly with a 3 dongle @ over 2Mb/s, was quite impressed.

Had an O2 one at the same time which was barely getting 56K. Have no idea if the dongle was broken, O2 is crap or if it just had something to do with a contract or w/e.

Don't know anything about them except for the above.
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[Vinyardo]

I used a T-mobile one for a couple of weeks - barely got above a 512k connection.

Had a Vodafone one for a week after that, got about 2mb/s but because you can only download about 3GB per month without incurring silly charges, there was no point!

Both were in a reasonable 3G area.
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--| Current bike: |--
--| Previous bikes: Honda CB500 -- KTM Duke 390 -- Honda CBR1000RR7 Fireblade -- Honda CBR600 FX -- Suzuki Bandit 600 -- Yamaha TTR250 -- Suzuki GN125 |--