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Three PAYG 3G Dongle - £5 Delivered.

18K views 52 replies 23 participants last post by  Dago 
JacSprat said:
oldenstar said:
As for Scotland, forget it in the Highlands with 3.

Paul
Does Braemar count as the 'proper' Highlands? If so, I'm happily using my 3 dongle from the CC site just out of town. Thing is, if you depend on 3's start-up menu to tell you there's a signal in the boonies, forget it. You have to exit their menu, go to network connections and click on 1.3g manually (your dongle's direct connection). I find that if I can get four or five bars on my Orange phone, there is usually a signal strong enough for broadband. You just have to play around a bit. I figured all this out while in Italy with jokey signals. 9/10, I got enough of one to check and send emails.
I'm heading towards Ullapool in a couple of days, will report from there (if possible!)

Regards, Jacquie
I have just come back from a visit to the Western Highlands & Skye, where we were generally able to get an internet connection using a 3 dongle, albeit normally only on 2G. A bit like watching paint dry, but usable for email. I'd also been able to use it in Northumberland recently - and in both cases sometimes where my mobile (Tesco) had no signal at all.

The day before we left I received and installed a supposed upgrade to the 3Connect software, to v2.0. When I looked at this software, though, it had removed the option, in Network settings, to select 3G Preferred, rather than the default 3G Only - so in effect removing the ability to drop back to 2G where there is no 3G signal. In their blurb 3 claim they only want users to experience their service at its best - but I suspect that the suggestion in another recent thread on here that it was more to do with changes in their contract to purchase a dropdown 2G service from Orange is closer to the truth. Of course I'd rather use 3G where a signal exists - but if not 2G is surely better than nothing.

What I was able to do - and I assume other users with an older dongle could do likewise - was uninstall the v2.0 3Connect, and reinstall v1.0 from the dongle. I think the update gets "reprompted" every now and again but there is a command to leave it for up to 3 days ("Snooze") which I intend to keep using. Unless anyone can suggest a way of stopping the update prompt altogether?

I understand that newer dongles already have the v2.0 software installed so this will not be an option for everyone, I guess.

I guess that at some point I may have to accept the update - if it is down to 3's contractual arrangements I'm sure they'll make it unavoidable - but I hope this may help anyone else who wants to use a 3 dongle where there's no 3G signal, at least for now.
 
Re: 2G is possible

DocHoliday said:
I want to correct what Solwaybuggier said. "3G Preferred" is an option with version 2 of 3Connect. You simply got to Networks>Network Mode and select from 3G Only or 3G Preferred. If you want to force it to drop down to 2G, that can be done by going to Networks>Manual Selection. Change the radio button from Automatic to Manual. Press Select Operator and the dongle will scan available networks for a few seconds. You will usually get a chance to select Orange GSM from a list. Then press Change Operator, and then OK, then Connect. I have surfed on Orange 2G for hours and hours in various locations.
Doc
I'm sure there was no 3G Preferred option when I tried it - but I will let it update again later and report back. (If I don't get back on this you can assume it's out of embarrassment!!) I did try Manual Selection but it found no operator, but that may be a problem of poor reception in my home.
 
Re: 2G is possible

Solwaybuggier said:
DocHoliday said:
I want to correct what Solwaybuggier said. "3G Preferred" is an option with version 2 of 3Connect. You simply got to Networks>Network Mode and select from 3G Only or 3G Preferred. If you want to force it to drop down to 2G, that can be done by going to Networks>Manual Selection. Change the radio button from Automatic to Manual. Press Select Operator and the dongle will scan available networks for a few seconds. You will usually get a chance to select Orange GSM from a list. Then press Change Operator, and then OK, then Connect. I have surfed on Orange 2G for hours and hours in various locations.
Doc
I'm sure there was no 3G Preferred option when I tried it - but I will let it update again later and report back. (If I don't get back on this you can assume it's out of embarrassment!!) I did try Manual Selection but it found no operator, but that may be a problem of poor reception in my home.
Well, it certainly seems to work now! So thanks Doc for pointing it out - still keeping v1 on a USB drive just in case, plus Jacquie's very helpful advice.
 
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