Mobile internet?

[redflex]

Dont have a landline and would like to be able to connect my laptop to internet.

Anyone know how to do this, cheaper the better.

Thanks

 

[ArkAngel]

Does your laptop have wireless capability? If not you will need either a mobile phone connection or a PCI access card which can be expensive to buy. Each service provider offers their own package but in comparison to landline internet it's very expensive.

There are sites all over the UK now that provide free internet access for the price of looking at a few sponsers adverts. (Harrogate was trying to set up a service, don't know if it's active). Failing that most hotels, conference centres, main train stations etc now offer some form of internet access for a reasonable fee.

 

[JonnyP]

If you get a wi fi card for the laptop you can find some places where you can get internet access. I think starbucks and some mc donalds offer free connection, also, a lot of people have unsecured wifi connections in their houses and if you park nearby you may be able to get online. I was working near a pub a few months back and managed to get on line during my lunch break with my pda through the pubs unsecured connection. I know some towns offer wifi spots, but I don't know if you have to pay or not, others will know, I am sure.....
Hope that help you.....

 

[rik_uk3]

Jon your right about the McD places bieng a hotspot, the majority are now, lots of pubs going into the scheme as well

Take a look at
http://www.btopenzone.com/

you can do a search, or download a pdf / excel file list

 

[Jodie]

If you have a Maplin store near you the staff are very helpful and would
probably be able to sort you out with whatever's needed.
http://www.maplin.co.uk

For entertainment purposes I used my mobile phone to connect up to
the internet once but then the bill came in so I decided against that

Jo

 

[Moonraker]

Dont have a landline and would like to be able to connect my laptop to internet.

Anyone know how to do this, cheaper the better.

Thanks

redflex it depends where you are and how you can access the net as the other guys say. I am guessing you want this from home generally?

In cities you may be able to get a cable service like Telewest which requires no landline.

If you are in a urban area then it may well be possible to access via wifi (wireless) but it depends on coverage and if that covers your home. If you are travelling around then there are more and more wireless spots and check that from the other links provided.

IF you do have wifi coverage where you live then you need to connect to it via a data card which slots into your laptop. Or you can use a mobile phone as a modem.

The 3G type services available offer fairly decent speeds and are fine for checking emails, browsing web sites and VOIP too usually, but will not be much good for heavy downloading etc.

The services available are improving if still quite expensive but but loads more than say BT broadband if it is your only option. I don't use these services so can't recommend one or comment on them in use but as an example you could get a mobile package like T-Mobile's new Web 'n walk packages

Relax 25 + web 'n' walk Plus
150 minutes & 100 texts / month
Great value plans with a fixed number of minutes and texts to call any UK network at any time. Plus unlimited internet access.

£37.50 / month
(12 month contract)

That is more than landline broadband for sure but not bad for inclusive minutes/ texts and unlimited internet access. You can have this with both data cards and using mobile phones as modems. They offer a variety of packages but this seems the cheapest and they chuck in a data card if you go that way. They state a 3GB/ month bandwidth limit which seems fine for most use.

And gets you access where you can get T-Mobile signal. Obviously there are other packages.

There are a few satellite services for out of the way places and I used to use one in France until broadband arrived recently. It was around £20/ month but the downside to most is that you actually need a landline to sent the data and it returns the requested data via sat broadband. It is possible to get two way sat but that's really expensive. The actual dish is not expensive but the transponder/ receiver would be. Just for receiving you can use a cheap sat PCI card. For true no landline two way satellite check out and example here 'from £60 + vat/ month' but I expect the cost of equipment is high (like £1000 for equipment/ £250 installation but for info:

Fixed Satellite Broadband

List of sat providers her although most are disappearing as broadband reaches most places.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/broadband/sat.shtml

The other option which is happening in France and soon here is WiMax which is a much faster version of WiFi and is very good for 'last mile' services in rural areas etc for wireless coverage. But it is not available yet in UK I don't think.
Probably starting next year and growing. Some details in UK;

ZDNet - Why you should care about WiMax

There is perhaps a version of what Jon is talking about, i.e. using other peoples unprotected wireless access although it is dodgy legal wise. If a neighbour has access you could either see if you can use there's with a separate secure pass/login and share the cost without a landline. Or use other technology to connect to another users service. I am for instance sharing my parents broadband right now over a 100+ metre electric cable used for supplying power to this building

For wireless hotspots there is a good list in the UK here:

wi-here

MyHotSpots just enter the city. Mostly paid access.

The Cloud

Try checking out the ADSLguide.org.uk web site and message boards where you will find quite a bit of info here;

ADSLguide.org.uk

Lastly there is one company doing their own wireless thing specifically for broadband without a phone line". It's called;

MyNow.co.uk

Check it out for details as I really don't know myself. There is a postcode checker here:

Can I get it?

Hope that gives you a few more ideas.

happy surfing

 

[redflex]

Thanks moonraker

That is what I was looking for let you know how it goes.

 

[mark a.]

Using a neighbour's unprotected wi-fi is theft. And even if they did give you permission, you'd also have to check their internet provider's terms and conditions, as many explicitly don't allow sharing or renting of their connection with anyone outside that address.

Other options are T-mobile Web 'n Walk, or a 3G card from e.g. Vodafone. Neither will be particularly quick.

When you say you don't have a landline, is it a physical thing i.e. no wires or do you just not want to pay BT the monthly rental? If the latter, it actually might work out cheaper to go with BT, NTL, Carphone Warehouse etc to get a line just to get a cheap internet package that will also be faster than any mobile phone connection.

 

[redflex]

I am currently very mobile moving about not in one place long so need to take internet with me.

For this reason cant use BT as would have to keep discounting and then connecting