To Dongle or not to Dongle, that is the question...

[Guest Noodle]

Hi all, after a little advice! In layman's terms whats is a Dongle? Will it give me internet connection for the laptop whilst on our travels (when and where)? in other words how will it help me. :unsure: Need help, have read internet and even more confused now! Thanks Leila xxx

[calNgary]

They do sell Pay As you go dongles here, its a little USB device you plug into the side of your computer and it gives internet access. They are ok whilst your on the move but are expensive and reception varies like on a mobile phone from area to area. Make use of the free Internet at places like Macca's en route to save a few $$$.

 

Cal x

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Hi hun

If you are travelling then they are great. However, be warned that the service in and around Melbourne can be terrible with some service providers. I think the best one you could get although not cheap is Telstra, we did a full trip from Alice to Darwin across to Cairns and down to Brisbane, Sydney etc and the Telstra worked a lot better than the Optus. When you get to Melbourne be careful with Three, their service maps show them covering most of the Metro area but they don't.

[chalkyhill]

It depends on where you are - if you are in one of the major cities then the vividwireless dongle is good.

[Guest Noodle]

Thanks for the replies, so if I want to buy one in the UK to travel with (flight) can I? if so which one? I am assuming that I will have to buy another when we get to Brisbane first then Geelong second? Grief I am sooo confused... Leila x :confused::wacko::goofy:

[chalkyhill]

Thanks for the replies, so if I want to buy one in the UK to travel with (flight) can I? if so which one? I am assuming that I will have to buy another when we get to Brisbane first then Geelong second? Grief I am sooo confused... Leila x :confused::wacko::goofy:

 

It won't work on the flight as it is essentially a mobile phone. You can get free wifi in most airports and hotels though.

[Guest sh7t man no way]

we use a dongle when in aus --we are with 3 mobile--after the first year of the contact with them we had paid for the dongle--now we dont have a contract with them but still use the dongle when in aus--we just top it up when we need it--we travell a lot in queensland so the dongle is a must for internet access--the reception is pretty good except when you go bush--i would advise a dongle when getting to aus-i think the cost about $100--this will give you acess to the net till you settle down,and find a better deal:wubclub:

[pablo]

Good question Ley! i allways thought it was a lead or something that yer plugged into yer laptop and it dangled(dongle?)down!:embarrassed::yes::laugh:

So cant yer just use a smartfone to do the same job?wont that pick up ariels/wifi folks?

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Thanks for the replies, so if I want to buy one in the UK to travel with (flight) can I? if so which one? I am assuming that I will have to buy another when we get to Brisbane first then Geelong second? Grief I am sooo confused... Leila x :confused::wacko::goofy:

 

As someone else said I wouldn't bother getting one for the flight, we bought a pre paid Telstra it was $100 to buy the dongle and then something like $100 for 6 gig, but you can top up with less etc. You could use this all across Australia

[chalkyhill]

My dongle was $75 and is $75 a month for unlimited bandwith but only works in the cities.

[ozzbound]

we had a Telstra dongle as in Mt Martha the phone and internet signals were very unpredicatable with other networks.

We put $70 a month on the broadband recharge so the kids could do Facebook etc and look at pictures as its those that cost the $$$ the top-up/recharge only lasts for a month or so anyway.

[Pumpkin]

One of the first things I bought when I got here was a dongle as the serviced apartment was charging $25 a day for internet access. So my $99 dongle paid for itself within four days. I kept it for about three months until we finally got broadband set up in the house. I found it generally very good and I thought that was value for money, occasionally it would drop the signal but not too bad. I had optus, my husband got a vodaphone one and that was terrible, he hardly ever managed to get connected.

 

This is not something you should buy in the UK, that would be like buying a mobile phone in the UK just before you move to Australia. You wouldn't do it.

[Ike]

Given that you have a good signal, has anybody had any experiance using Skype with a dongle? Both videos and voice calls.

[pablo]

Good question Ley! i allways thought it was a lead or something that yer plugged into yer laptop and it dangled(dongle?)down!:embarrassed::yes::laugh:

So cant yer just use a smartfone to do the same job?wont that pick up ariels/wifi folks?

 

Yeah thx for that:no:

[Petals]

We had two in the UK and both were woeful on cover in the country where we were. Even having the two. We had to drive into the nearest large town to get cover.

 

Here in Aus we have a Big Pond one, bit more expensive but good cover if you want to go into the country areas. Certainly a better experience than we had in the UK.

 

My daughter has just got an Optus one but she will only be using it in Melbourne. As it arrived this morning waiting to see what she thinks of it.

[fish.01]

Yeah thx for that:no:

 

Yeah I think you can with a lot of them pabs. The plans the telcos offer for a dongle might differ from a mobile phone plan though...not sure which is best but you would think as you are not paying for calls the dongle might offer better data value and you'd be less likely to go over your data limit.

[pablo]

Yeah I think you can with a lot of them pabs. The plans the telcos offer for a dongle might differ from a mobile phone plan though...not sure which is best but you would think as you are not paying for calls the dongle might offer better data value and you'd be less likely to go over your data limit.

 

Allways rely on you fish,thankyou:notworthy:

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Yeah thx for that:no:

 

Sorry Pabs didn't see your question.

Yes you can use a smartphone but sometimes it can be hard trying to work on a mobile. You can also tether your mobile to a laptop and use any data allowance you may have. IT's ok if you are just wanting to go on now and again and you have a good network provider but if you are wanting to do a lot of downloads etc it can be expensive if you don't have the right data plan.

Kate

[pablo]

Sorry Pabs didn't see your question.

Yes you can use a smartphone but sometimes it can be hard trying to work on a mobile. You can also tether your mobile to a laptop and use any data allowance you may have. IT's ok if you are just wanting to go on now and again and you have a good network provider but if you are wanting to do a lot of downloads etc it can be expensive if you don't have the right data plan.

Kate

:wubclub::wubclub::wubclub:

[simon and deb]

Given that you have a good signal, has anybody had any experiance using Skype with a dongle? Both videos and voice calls.

we were using a dongle down on dicky beach for skype video calls, signal occasionaly dropped but really not too bad

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Given that you have a good signal, has anybody had any experiance using Skype with a dongle? Both videos and voice calls.

 

Depends on the area, but when we have been on our road trips we haven't had any problems using skype

[Guest chris955]

Yes I used one with Skype while in the UK to chat to family back here and friends in the UK. Always had good reception and Skype worked fine even up in Yorkshire away from the towns. I used it for video and voice calls, of course video calls use much more bandwidth.

 

Given that you have a good signal, has anybody had any experiance using Skype with a dongle? Both videos and voice calls.

[rockola57]

we bought one out of desperation when we got here,what a load of old horlicks they are IMO.A mega rip off,like a measly 6 gig allowance cost's a fortune,and they advertise it like it's a major amount of data.Wellied it into touch ASAP.Better using an internet cafe and getting a connection to your new residence sorted as soon as you get in.Beware of the crap packages the Big Boys offer,whilst tying you into long term deals.We use 100 gig per month and it cost's $50 dollars PM,no phone line,naked dsl.Simple,fast and cheap.Ask around who everyone uses.

[Ike]

Brillant, thanks for that all, it's good to know. From the research I have done, Telstra seems the best bet. Although more expensive they seem to have the better coverage.