Forum Discussion
Data only USB dongle
Hi all
Asking for an elderly friend.
He is looking to get a USB dongle with a data only SIM to give him internet access in his house.
I can see there are e.g. £5 for 2GB plan which rolls over each month.
My question is will my friend need to buy a USB dongle first or does that come with the plan? If he has to buy one, any recommendations?
Once plugged in, is it a simple installation process?
Cheers
Andy
7 Replies
Very valid points from MSF there, AndrewC_1273566
When using mobile broadband to access the internet, 2 GB of data isn’t going to last very long.
As you neighbour is elderly, I wonder if he would qualify for the “social tariffs” offered by the likes of British Telecom amongst others.
BT offer a social tariff on fixed line broadband with unlimited data for £15 a month. (My concern would be that your neighbour may start with 2 GB a month, for £5, use that 2 GB, and then need to part with more money for another data package, so £15 a month for unlimited data on a social tariff may actually work out cheaper)
This would be worth a read :
Yes indeed, as they are elderly, they may be in receipt of pension credit.
The BT social tariff is for fixed line broadband, where the Smarty tariff is a mobile tariff, which, as you yourself quite rightly point out, isn’t a replacement for fixed line broadband.
AndrewC_1273566 A few points here.
The 2Gb data plan does not roll over as far as I can see. It lasts for 30 days or until used if that comes first.
Smarty do not recommend using mobile data as a broadband replacement.
Your friend would not receive a USB dongle with the sim - he would need to buy one (afraid I cannot advise due to lack of knowledge)
Are you certain that the friend has a good signal in his home and also will not need more than 2Gb data per month?
If he gets a dongle, he would need to ensure that the APN setting was changed to mob.asm.net; this change should be explained in the manual.
