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Hi,

We land late evening, so i want to be online more or less when we land, straight away. So can i call into a 7/11 or some kind of shop which hopefully sells SIM cards for unlocked dongles, fully charged up with credit. So you just pop the SIM into your dongle and you are online till the credit runs out?

Any advice on the one to go for, the best value, or the best reception in my area, i will be in the New Farm/Kangaroo Point area of CBD. I do not wan to rely on a wireless public reception. Prefer my own service.

Thanks.

Pollyana

Never found a dongle that works cross-countries, I'd be interested to know if there is one. I currently have two Telstra ones for Aus, and a vodafone one for the UK and the sims aren't interchangeable. Even the vodafone Aus one I used to have wouldn't allow a sim swap with vodafone UK. Be better off getting an Aus dongle I reckon

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Polly, got an Australian Vodafone dongle, from my previous expadition over there..... Works fine in the UK..........I unlocked it, works with all service providers...in the UK.....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Huawei-K37...item2c650a1877

£15.00 not bad....Exactly the same as mine, cost me $50 bucks....

http://3g-modem.wetpaint.com/page/Hu...5-HV+(Vodafone)

Huawei K3765-HV (Vodafone) manufacturer: Huawei
model: K3765-HV
interface: USB 2.0 (A plug)
chipset: ?
GSM frequency bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
UMTS frequency bands: 900, 2100
HSDPA: 7,2 MBit/s
HSUPA: 5,76 MBit/s
EDGE: 236,8 KBit/s
GPRS: 57,6 KBit/s
CSD: ?
connector for ext. antenna: + but inaccessible
connector type: CRC9
internal antenna diversity: +
voice telephony: +
NAND-flashmemory: +
microSD-drive: + (up to 8GB)
rebranded versions: -


Thats the one, works anywhere in the world, great dongle, had it for two years now.......

Register and unlock here....

http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/archive/t-1038401.html

or here

http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/f88/

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BTW.....

The Australian Vodafone SIM card which came with my Australian Vodafone dongle, well it has expired, not been charged up with credit for over two years, so cannot just add credit to it.....

Tramps_mate

You cant buy sims in Aus like you can in the UK anymore I dont think.

You have to sign up and give your details even for pay as you go..

No doubt im wrong on that but its what iv found.

Penny45

You are correct, I've had to buy one recently for a visitor and had to give all sorts of details/ID at the phone shop.

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http://www.touristsim.com/en/product...FYpjfAodQRkGYw

Thoughts?

http://www.touristsim.com/en/product...pack-4-gb.html

Australian Data Pack - 4 GB
4 GB Data Pack (Optional):

A Large data pack which gives you 4 GB of data for 30 days. SIM card not included.

An excellent data compliment to your Prepaid AS YOU GO service for SmartPhone users or if you plan to use your iPhone as a modem for your PC. The regular Prepaid AS YOU GO airtime/refill credit comes with data, however at a cost of 5c per MB.

Also perfect, as pure mobile broadband for unlocked tablets. dongles, USB Sticks, Pocket Hotspots, MIFIs or other unlocked 3G devices.

Accessing the net a few times a day probably doesn't warrant buying this data pack. If you, however, plan to use online maps, apps or upload photos and use all the benefits of travelling with your SmartPhone, we recommend the Data Pack. Read our Data Usage Guide to help you gauge your approx. data usage. You may also find our SmartPhone Tips for Travellers helpful for reducing data costs.

Also take a look at our Data Pack section in the FAQ -Australia.

Data Pack Validity: 30 days
£19.80

bumble69

Interesting, I bought one at my local Woollies 2 months ago and they just handed it over and charged me 2 bucks....

GarryP

Few things

1) If you have a smartphone (particularly an Android) I'd investigate using it as a Wifi hotspot. That way you only have to sort out one SIM initially.

2) You have to provide proof of identity/address when you try to buy a SIM, so take the passport, and use any suitable address, they don't really care.

3) Supermarkets are the best bet for SIMs. Telstra is on a weird frequency, so your stuff may well not work with it. It does have the best country coverage though. Optus is normal, but does stupid things with the broadband accounting such that you get screwed. I went with Virgin, and Amaysim gets good reviews (but is difficult to source the SIM, Dick Smiths is best). Both camp on the Optus network.

4) You might like to think about getting a dongle/SIM and prepaid bandwidth at the same time. The supermarkets seem to do regular deals and you know its going to work.

5) Vodafone stinks, and their 900Mhz network is closing/closed down. Since your dongle from them worked in the UK, it looks like its 3G is 900Mhz. So you couldn't really get a vodafone SIM anyway.

Penny45

Who knows then? Maybe it's a vodafone requirement but the sim had to be registered in my name with proof of ID - I've bought 3 in 18 months but all from Vodafone. Just assumed would be the same everywhere.

Amazulu

Yep. I bought a Telstra Sim pack at Coles a few weeks ago (very good deal - $10 for $30 credit and sim) and they never asked for ID, just handed it over in exchange for $10.

GarryP

Yep, they often don't bother - but it seems to be a government legal requirement. I think they don't want to do it because its a faff; I assume they just lose the paperwork.

Dumb ruling anyway, but since when has that ever stopped a government?

litepurple

Utms 900 and 2100 are the Optus 3G frequencies so you'd need to get a sim for their network to get the best speeds. I am on tpg which uses the Optus network. Only prob is, you can order online but have to wait a couple of days for the sim to arrive in the post.

Tramps_mate

Makes sure you have a data plan. I used a $50 vodaphone sim card in an hour online..

Also... If you want broadband, dont get a usb dongle. I had a Voda dongle and got 1-1.5mb connection. Put the same sim card in a wireless hub and got 3-4mb..

Telstra is best but expensive, iv got 12gb a month with Vodaphone for $40 a month..

EvannTel

Go to bed, get up the next morning and buy a 4G dongle.
Blistering speed, you won't look back