Satellite linked laptop ...

[simonwar]

I was reading this article:

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co....anco_camp.html

and was wondering is it possible to buy a laptop with a direct secure link to the internet, that was good for all over the world or at least europe?

I want to take Actinic on the road with me?

Simon.

[pinbrook]

I use HSDPA when travelling. Most Mobile Providers can supply/rent a card

[Mark H]

I've used a Vodafone red 3G card in the UK and rest of Europe - very good, about £25 per month.

[pinbrook]

I've used a Vodafone red 3G card in the UK and rest of Europe

thats the same as I mentioned also called HSDPA

[simonwar]

I've got a Nokia N90 on O2, not sure if they are upto 3G yet.

Thanks for the details, I'll check them out.

[pinbrook]

The 3G card plugs into your laptop.

[Duncan Rounding]

I use my 3G phone on bluetooth to my laptop. If there's no 3G coverage then GSM is still usable at least for emails.

If you want to upload using Actinic to your store then you might be better of using your 3G/GSM or other connection and VNC into your base ('home') Actinic PC and use the desktop remotely - personally I find that best.

[simonwar]

The 3G card plugs into your laptop.

I knew that.... honest! (LOL)

So my laptop will talk to my Phone via a 3G card, and then my phone logs onto the web as it does now.

Do you find this expensive/cheap ?

[Duncan Rounding]

The 3G card plugs into your laptop and is a phone - it has it's own sim card.

The vodafone 3G card contract costs about £25/month plus data usage - it can work out expensive. You could also buy the 3G card outright for about £250 and then get a 3G pay as you go sim for it which would save the monthly charge.

The other option is to use your 3G phone and connect it to your laptop using bluetooth (your laptop would need to be bluetooth equiped or you would need a usb bluetooth dongle for it - only maybe £20. The laptop then can see the phone as a connection. This saves you having a separate contract for the 3G card.

Either way you should find out about data charges on your network - maybe they have a some package deals.

[pinbrook]

The other option is to use your 3G phone and connect it to your laptop using bluetooth

Duncan, if you do this, and you are overseas, are you then paying for the call, per second, international mobile rate?

what speed can you acheive?

[Cheapprices4u]

i use a 3g data card vodafone and a pda/smart phone via bluetooth
work ok

but if i had my choice i would buy a datacard off good old ebay
i use logmein.com to remote access home

works fine for me 256bit encryption

[Duncan Rounding]

Duncan, if you do this, and you are overseas, are you then paying for the call, per second, international mobile rate?

what speed can you acheive?

Depends where you are, vodafone have packages in some countries (France and Portugal at least) where you pay the same price for the voice call and can speak for up to an hour - you still get stung with data charges though. Here in the UK of course you only pay for data when connecting via 3G unless it's a voice call. I don't know how other networks charge.

The speed via the phone is the same as if you are using the 3G card - bluetooth is faster than the 3G data rate.

I suppose it depends what countires you roam in and how much data usage you need. I guess you could also get a local 3G sim in some places, that might cut costs.

When I'm away I make use of internet cafes if possible - much cheaper - there are a number of internet based services that allow you to connect to your desktop.

[Goz]

Vodafone now do a USB 3G card which - based on my experience of deploying around 30 of them after having deployed countless PCMCIA cards previously - is considerably faster than it PCMCIA predecessor and also self-installs software (assuming you have administrator rights).

Andy

[simonwar]

Thanks for all the details.
Looking at this 3g card and about to buy a laptop to boot. Any advice?

I was looking at some options....

Airtime Manager - http://www.vodafone-data-card.com/3g...d/pricing.html

Unlimited monthly data (Uk only) - £23 + Vat for 18 months, card free.

Any pitfalls from experience.

Thanks, Simon.

[Duncan Rounding]

What kind of up and download speeds can you get now with HSPDA?