Using Mobile Internet Abroad

[ABO944]

Hi Guys 'n Gals !

I have recently bought a '3' modem for my laptop and it says in the booklet and on Three's (3's) website that the coverage is pretty much over the whole of the UK. Thats fine!

When I bought it in the shop, me old mucker said I could use it abroad, but I cant find any info on this in the notes or on Three's website.

Does anyone know if you can actually use it and pick up a signal abroad ?

And if so, does it use up your credit quickly ? I currently pay as I go and get 3GB for £15 over 30 days!


Thanks in advance !

HELP !:ugh:

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Check all the recent news stories about people who've been hit with bills for many thousands of pounds for roaming data. Just for downloading stuff that would have cost them a few pence in the UK, or even nothing at all if you've got an "all you can eat" data tariff.

PAYG is obviously safer, it'll just use up all your credit in a few tens of seconds and then cut you off, provided that you haven't been daft enough to put more than a few pounds credit on your account in the first place.

[preduk]

Gertrude the Wombat,

The news were making a big deal of it, it wasn't a "fenny pennies" in the uk.

In the Uk it costs £3 per mb, abroad it cost £7.05 per mb when they are connecting abroad the foreign networks make most of the money. Infact O2 were clearing most customers charges as goodwill.

I would phone Three and find out how much it will cost, roaming abroad is very expensive and will be fairly slow.

[ABO944]

Thanks guys


This pay as you go deal I have ....

I pay £15 for 3 GB and it's valid for 30 days. Not sure how quick that would drain away if using abroad!

Will give em a phone!

Thanks

[ad astra]

Three has networks in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy and Sweden; if you use the usb card in any of these countries the data costs are the same as at home - I know because I have the same card and have asked in several 3 shops about this.
As for any other countries - I don't know and can't find this info either. I hope this helps anyway.

[Keef]

The horror stories are true.

I have one of those "all the data you can eat" tariffs on my XDA in the UK. I never get charged for GPRS use. It's brilliant.

I connected to GPRS in France, to get one TAF and one METAR via WAP, and got a bill for £7 for the privilege.

I've bought a cheapo bit of software that allows me to disable the GPRS etc when abroad (the phone has a habit of "bypassing" the "off" flag when it wants to do something). That paid for itself in milliseconds!

As Gertrude says: use a PAYG and don't have a lot of credit on it - that minimises your potential losses.

I bought a Three phone (PAYG) last year, but outside the Greater London area, I can't use it. There's no signal in North Essex, Suffolk, or Norfolk where I go. I've read all the assurances about "falling back to ..." but mine doesn't.

What does work abroad is the WiFi bit of the XDA. It's a bit fiddly to connect in some places, but that will allow access to Met etc at sensible prices. At Le Touquet, it's free, and works well.