Mobile Internet Query

Randell Floyd · 5 May 2008 at 21:50

Wondering if anyone might be able to help.

Currenlty on a online 35 18 month with o2 with the Unlimited Web Bolt On with a HTC Kaiser.

I'm moving to Manchester with my new job, and for the first three month I'm being put up in a hotel foc, but sadly the don't have any internet to speak of. I can check email on the Kaiser but I use the internet a fair bit for browsing etc that just takes too much time on the mobile.

I have my laptop with me and was wondering what's the cheapest way without any long contracts that I can get the surfing for the next three months?

Dappy · 5 May 2008 at 22:04

Have a look at O2's simplicity plan, £25 per month with unlimited browsing.

Randell Floyd · 5 May 2008 at 22:18

Dappy said:
Have a look at O2's simplicity plan, £25 per month with unlimited browsing.

I already have a o2 contract, and already have "unlimited browsing", I'm looking for a way to get mobile broadband/internet on my laptop for 3 months while in being put up in a hotel.

Maybe this might be better suited in the internet connectivity forum I'm not sure, so if a Mod has a better idea on the most suitable forum.

jhmaeng · 5 May 2008 at 23:24

3 have pay as you go mobile broadband. £50 for the modem and £10 for every month that you want to use the modem - after you're done, you don't need to pay anything else.

Seft · 6 May 2008 at 00:51

You should be able to hook your phone up and use it as a modem.

At a guess (not owning the phone), either pair the phone with the laptop over bluetooth and enable internet sharing on the phone, or connect up the phone to the laptop, install a modem driver and then it should appear as a usable modem on your pc (you'll probably have to set it to dial *99# to connect)

yak.h'cir · 6 May 2008 at 03:55

Seft said:
You should be able to hook your phone up and use it as a modem.

You can do this but not with that contract add on (as I think the OP is already aware). The unlimited internet only covers web browsing from the phone itself, you're not allowed to connect a laptop to it. Mind you it's only 3 months so you might get away with some light browsing.

I'd go with the 3 option myself. This is what I'm trying to use at the moment. My problem is I want to use my built in modem but the lovely people at HP locked mine to the AT&T network which of course doesn't exist here. Neither companies have a clue what the unlock code is so I'm stuck with an expensive useless piece of hardware (until I find someone who can unlock it that is).

yak.h'cir · 6 May 2008 at 03:58

Does the Kaiser have WIFI? If it does there's a program out that turns it into a wireless access point. I've been wondering if accessing the internet this way would maybe appear more like the phone is browsing rather then a laptop...

Randell Floyd · 6 May 2008 at 11:42

yak.h'cir said:
Does the Kaiser have WIFI? If it does there's a program out that turns it into a wireless access point. I've been wondering if accessing the internet this way would maybe appear more like the phone is browsing rather then a laptop...

It does indeed have WIFI, will try and see if there's any knowledge out there for this.

Dappy · 7 May 2008 at 08:19

Randell Floyd said:
I already have a o2 contract, and already have "unlimited browsing", I'm looking for a way to get mobile broadband/internet on my laptop for 3 months while in being put up in a hotel.

Maybe this might be better suited in the internet connectivity forum I'm not sure, so if a Mod has a better idea on the most suitable forum.

Lol, I completely mis-read your question! :rolleyes:

Look on e2save's website at the mobile broadband deals, for £10 per month (with a £10 purchase of the USB dongle) you can get wireless broadband from Three with a 1GB monthly limit or for £15 per month (free dongle) you get 3GB limit.

They're both on 12 month contracts, not sure you'll find anything shorter than that tbh.

Morba · 7 May 2008 at 10:20

3gb a month though, i bet that is up and down. not good :/

Randell Floyd · 7 May 2008 at 11:25

Right does anyone know if I turn it into a wireless access point will it be fine to use under the unlimited bolt on or will o2 know it's being used on a laptop?

Other wise seeing as my tytn ii is unlocked I can just go ahead and skip purchasing a 3 usb modem and just get the PAYG SIM and use the tytn as a WAP instead of the usb modem?

Seft · 7 May 2008 at 13:33

Randell Floyd said:
Right does anyone know if I turn it into a wireless access point will it be fine to use under the unlimited bolt on or will o2 know it's being used on a laptop?

o2 probably won't know that it's being used on a laptop, but it is probably against the terms of your contract.

LeperousDust · 7 May 2008 at 14:09

Just use the phone and download the opera mini version thats designed for desktops. It makes laptop via phone browsing very usable

You get extra screen real estate of a laptop, but the mini redering and compression (for extra speed). its perfect for this i think

LeperousDust · 7 May 2008 at 14:14

MicroEmulator: The Key to Opera Mini under Windows

Opera Mini is developed as a Java Micro Edition (J2ME) application. Windows applications developed using Java are typically more associated with the Java Standard Edition (J2SE) platform. Enter MicroEmulator, an implementation of J2ME under J2SE.

Deploying Opera Mini under Windows

Be sure you have the latest Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for Windows installed.
Download and extract the latest release of MicroEmulator to a desired directory. You want the actual program, not the source files. If you need a compatible compression utility, it suggest 7-Zip. Be sure to completely decompress and unarchive the entire archive, which could require a couple of steps depending upon the compression utility used.
Download the Opera Mini *.jad and *.jar files to the same directory.
Launch "microemulator.jar" in the directory by double clicking the file. If it fails to load, verify you have the latest JRE installed (step 1). If it still fails, you can instead try using "java -jar microemulator.jar" from the command line in the directory.
With MicroEmulator now open, click options, select device, then add. Navigate to the directory where MicroEmulator is installed, then enter the devices directory. Select the "microemu-device-resizable.jar" device file, then click open. Set the newly selected device as the default. Click OK to proceed.
Click the resize button in the lower right-hand corner of MicroEmulator. Enter your desired dimensions, such as the common 800x600 or 1024x768 formats. Click OK. The MicroEmulator interface will scale to the entered dimensions.
Click file, click open JAD file, navigate to the required directory if needed, select the "opera-mini-4.0.10406-advanced-int.jad" file, then click open.
An Opera Mini selection should now appear in the MicroEmulator interface. Select it, and click start. Opera Mini should load. Read the EULA, then click accept if you agree with the software terms.
With Opera Mini now loaded, enter a web site address and start surfing.
A few notes. First, Opera Mini is designed primarily as a point-and-click interface, so keyboard shortcuts are largely useless. Second, you can improve image quality at the expense of increased bandwidth by clicking menu, tools, settings, then configuring your desired image compression level. You can also configure the desired text font size from the settings interface, along with various other configuration options.

This way you are using your PC for browsing, but in a phone manner, and the Browser User agent is still opera mini (in the very severe cases that they start sniffing and see Opera/FF/IE).

squawkBOX · 9 May 2008 at 00:10

I would recommend the 3 mobile broadband PAYG option (as already recommended). £50 for the modem then you just pay:

£10 for 1GB
£15 for 3GB
£25 for 7GB

Each valid for 30 days.