Prepaid Wireless Internet Options

[Julie]

Sue l have one of those eee PC notebooks. Ours runs off our wirelss from home, but have never used it elsewhere

Im interested to know what Kaine did to urs

[Blondie]

Julz ... Kaine updated mine to WIN7 which is fantastic ... he also suggested I upgrade to 2GB ram as opposed to the 1GB that it came with

All I'm looking for is some wireless prepaid dongle that I can take to/from work and use on public transport ... makes the trip a lot quicker

Also, we thought about having a dongle to take interstate etc. on trips and a lot of the inexpensive ones don't have the coverage ... Telstra has the coverage, but like everything they supply, you pay gold for peanuts, so to speak

[Julie]

Ah ok ours came with Linux...its so different to use..but we got it for free when bruce got a new mobile phone, so we took it as a spare incase we went on short trips rather than take the laptops

[droy333]

i dont know why people dont just get a permanent connection. Its sooo much better.

[Rocketeer]

cause it doesnt always suit what you need.....for example I dont have a home phone, and i am not going to pay for a landline just so i can have internet. Nowadays naked broadband is available, but not back when....

[Blondie]

I've spent the last 3 weeks walking up and down the train looking for the ethernet port to plug into, but can't seem to find it ... whatever am I doing wrong?? Perhaps you can enlighten me as to it's where-a-bouts Troy

hehehehehe

I have a permanent connection at home Troy ... however, it's a little difficult to take with me when I travel

[supamodel]

I have a good permanent connection at home, and dodgy mobile broadband for when I'm away. Works wonders. I use a dodo prepaid one - it was cheap, the recharges are cheap, and it's Optus' network anyway but cheaper than the same Optus option .

Worked fine in Brisvegas on the weekend couldn't drag my ADSL modem etc up there, and couldn't have that with me for the mapping shenigans using my laptop either

[L-A]

Ah ok ours came with Linux...its so different to use..but we got it for free when bruce got a new mobile phone, so we took it as a spare incase we went on short trips rather than take the laptops

You mean Xandros don't you? - I have this model of the EeePC. Its very easy to use for what it is (and what it is the low price segment of the market). Also, you're won't match Sue's (from the sounds) in any kind of specs. Processor is less and unless its been mod'd (or I'm wrong on model) its 512MB RAM. In case you're wondering 2GB Kingston memory is what its tested to by the manufacturer (had them confirm this). Some have been known to make a 4GB stick work - last I heard it could be hit and miss though. I'll confirm that the difference between that 512MB and 2GB is noticable on the Xandros version (upgraded a clients and used tested the memory before I did there's).

Sue: If you're looking for coverage use Telstra. Not questions asked they have better coverage than anyone else - and yes, you'll pay for this priviledge. If you're travelling I don't see what bandwidth usage is high in any case. Only do emails and necessary from laptop - for all else using wherever you are staying landline or internet cafe's is going to serve you better.

If you go for a cheaper provider you'll either get more dropout/no coverage or less speed once you fall off the 3G network. Probably both. I've used Optus, Virgin, 3 and Telstra. Its always the same story - for speed and reliablity its Telstra. If you don't want to pay $$$ expect to pay in pain.

L-A

[droy333]

I've spent the last 3 weeks walking up and down the train looking for the ethernet port to plug into, but can't seem to find it ... whatever am I doing wrong?? Perhaps you can enlighten me as to it's where-a-bouts Troy

hehehehehe

I have a permanent connection at home Troy ... however, it's a little difficult to take with me when I travel

Simple. Dont use the net on the train.... You're a geek sue.

[macrocephalic]

Exetel do a pretty good deal reselling Optus. It's $5/month service fee, then it's 1.5c/MB ($15/GB) for however much data you use.

I think there are some other companies reselling optus for similar prices - but I can't name them off the top of my head.

[L-A]

Exetel do a pretty good deal reselling Optus. It's $5/month service fee, then it's 1.5c/MB ($15/GB) for however much data you use.

I think there are some other companies reselling optus for similar prices - but I can't name them off the top of my head.

Out of curiosity - does it go slower than my dial-up modem when you get off the 3G network?

L-A

[macrocephalic]

Last time I wasn't connected to 3G was probably at the beginning of the year. GPRS is a slow protocol, comparable to dialup - so probably yes.

[Earp]

Go to here
http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/
and if your telstra mobile gets reception look for ones that use the telstra network and the same for optus. I sell and use exetel's wireless here at work and they aren't too bad.