Best Mobile Broadband ready to go offer?

sham69

Excuse my igonarance on this but I havent a clue about the mobile braodband scene.
My niece want to get one of those dongles (doesnt matter what provider).
My question is, can I buy one from adverts, get a sim and surf away or is there more to it?
Basically I want to buy the modem on adverts, get the sim and top up as I go.
Who offers the best tarrif and what are the prices.
How long would 20 euro get you on one of these?
It will only be for light use, facebook, emails etc... mainly at weekends morning and afternoon.
Any advice appreciated as I am too lazy to look at all the sites seperately (most of them are blocked in work)
Many thanks
Sham

jor el

sham69 wrote: »

Any advice appreciated as I am too lazy to look at all the sites seperately

There are only 2.

sham69

Apologies, I thought that 02, Vodafone, Meteor and 3 provided broadband on the USB dongle thingys?

CutzEr

sham69 wrote: »

Apologies, I thought that 02, Vodafone, Meteor and 3 provided broadband on the USB dongle thingys?

There is no "better provider" they are all terrible, however in the circumstances it may be ok for what you suggested the uses would be.

The speed you will get depends where you live. If you have a 3G phone, check for coverage from different providers. Most people would advise you to ask others around the area. This will do no good. The more people that are online at once, the slower it gets. And slow indeed. If you get the same as your neighbor, both your speed's will be affected.

I believe everyone does a free trial, so go and try them free of charge and see which one works best.

I'm not knowledgeable in top up "tariffs", only "bill pay".

Shouldn't be too hard to figure out the rest.

www.vodafone.ie
www.three.ie
www.o2online.ie
www.meteor.ie

jor el

sham69 wrote: »

Apologies, I thought that 02, Vodafone, Meteor and 3 provided broadband on the USB dongle thingys?

Three and Meteor are the only ones that do pre-pay. Even 4 wouldn't be that much to look up though. The prices are all pretty much the same. Service varies wildly on each providers network. All depends on what is actually available to you.

Sponge Bob

eircom best bet till they fill their network up by christmas in Dublin .

CutzEr

Sponge Bob wrote: »

eircom best bet till they fill their network up by christmas in Dublin .

They are just Meteor I thought?

Firetrap

I dunno - saying you're too lazy to look the information up yourself is a great way to get yourself off on a bad footing I'd have thought :rolleyes:

Anyway, the only way to really know if a dongle works is to borrow one from someone else or to get one on a trial from a phone shop. And be aware that all the providers tell porkie pies about how good their "broadband" is. Mobile internet is absolutely no replacement for proper broadband. Problem is that more and more people are signing up for the mobile internet and it's gradually grinding all the providers to a halt. Meteor which is only really available in the cities is probably the fastest because it doesn't have as many customers. Yet.

sham69

Cheers for the replies folks.
Maybe lazy was the wrong word but it was kinda said in Jest.
I didnt think people would react like this, god its gone so stuck up on this site lately.
Anyway thanks for the replies.
I assumed that given so many of thse dongles are for sale on adverts, at least one person would know about buying the dongle second hand, lashing a bought sim card into it and using it for the web.
I have full 3g coverage where I live as its more or less city centre.
I was curious as to what 20 euro credit would get you on the dongles.
I suppose I will check it out over the weekend.
Sorry if I upset anybody with me laziness and thanks all who replied.

jor el

sham69 wrote: »

I didnt think people would react like this, god its gone so stuck up on this site lately.

What's stuck up about thinking someone could look up TWO websites on their own?

sham69 wrote: »

I assumed that given so many of thse dongles are for sale on adverts, at least one person would know about buying the dongle second hand, lashing a bought sim card into it and using it for the web.

Meteor will not let you do this. Only Three will.

sham69 wrote: »

I have full 3g coverage where I live as its more or less city centre.

With which operator though? Signal means very little anyway. It's possible to have full signal, but no Internet connection, because of the way the technology works.

sham69 wrote: »

I was curious as to what 20 euro credit would get you on the dongles.

Not a lot, it costs €25 for 1 month with Three.

sham69 wrote: »

I suppose I will check it out over the weekend.

A 1 day pass will cost €5, plus SIM, plus modem.

sham69

Thanks, thats the info I wanted and I didnt have to look up any sites...;)

The bigger question was actually about buying the modem and lashing a sim into it, you also very kindly answered.
Thanks.

I thought my query was fair but it still seemed to pi** people off notably you jor el.
The websites would not have told me anything about putting a pre bought sim into the modem.

Anyway we got there in the end.
Apologies.

none

Ok, here's my 2c as I've been also interested in this for a while.

Modem first.

I bought an unlocked on eBay, from Germany. It's Novatel Ovation MC950D and it's grand. I actually then got 2 free Meteor modems (Huawei E180) which are also great but that's another story and they're also locked. And after that, I decided to get a netbook with built-in 3G so I don't have to plug it in/out constantly. So if you're also planning a laptop upgrade, consider one with 3G - this is the best option, IMO. I think most modems sold in Ireland directly by operator are locked.

Now, SIM. As I mentioned, I got two Meteors (thanks to participation in their trial) and I also got 3 before that.

In Dun Laoghaire, 3 was rubbish while Meteor was very good. At least, during their trial as I haven't used them afterwards. But I do use 3 now and it's grand but only in City Centre (near the Iveagh Gardens [2270/360]), in Dun Laoghaire it's still crap [690/60]. In brackets D/U speeds according to speedtest.

Price. 3 is unrivalled but only if your appetite isn't too big. EUR 9.99 for 30 days with 1GB limit. This is advertised as a phone option rather than a computer broadband but it works a charm with my netbook.

sham69

Thanks for the reply.
This is what I was looking for, somebody who actually has used the service.
I think I will go with the 3 option as I am in the city centre.
There is one for sale on adverts which I am in line for, then buy some credit and see how long it lasts. I think I read somewhere you can buy the sim and then set it up online for data.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply.
Sham.