The first Gig comes with the dongle. I think, in fact, I am sure you will not be able to access the network unless it's with the Vodafone dongle.

Proximus in Belgium sells the Vodafone dongles. They are unlocked by law. They are configured for Proximus and the supplied driver is limited to that configuration, but generic drivers are downloadable, and fully configurable. So I can use any sim chip in my modem.

I would only need to be able to buy the chip by itself, and I would need to know the configuration settings. Does anyone know the configuration settings for vodafone in spain?

I understand all of that , but the PAYG sims are locked for data unless purchased with a dongle, else we would all be doing it!

Why don't we all get one of these, to circumvent the locked chip?:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12167

If that's not an option, I wouldn't mind replacing my modem with one of these:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/16/v...telefonica-es/

but I won't buy a mifi if the hardware itself is locked. What am I likely to encounter in Spain - is all the hardware locked?

The Simyo one I posted on the first page is unlocked unless I'm very mistaken, the company ethos is 'locked stuff is bad'.

The price also seems to be a lot better than Movistar or Vodafone, so if the coverage is good it would be a good option. Simyo uses Orange's network.

Movistar stocks the mifi devices, but Novatel could not tell me if Movistar locks the mifi hardware.

Does anyone know?

I called Movistar, but couldn't get through to a CSR that speaks English.

When I first arrived I needed instant internet access as I work online and needed to check e-mail at least once a day and had a 2 week wait until my internet was installed in our house. I got round this by going for a drive with my laptop around the nearest big towns ( Denia and Pego ) and had no problems finding good reliable wireless that wasnt secure. I'm not suggesting you do this as it isnt strictly legal but it worked for me to get me over a period of time until i was connected at home.
Also try not to do this to late at night as the screen glows and makes you look very sinister and dodgy and might attract the attention of either the police or the local smash and grab brigade neither of which would be helpful lol.

They can only access what you choose to let them access. IE. what you have in your "Shared" folder or you can block them all together by selecting "public location" when connecting.

Be very careful of using a UK dongle here. I used mine last year when in my motor home doing a tour and used it once to download e-mail and about 30 minutes of standard page surfing and got hit with £80 for the pleasure when i got my next bill I think it was about £3 per mb i found out later.

Simyo does not seem to be an option for tourists. They don't sell it in shops, and the online sales don't ship outside Spain. So a tourist would have to go to the trouble of using a forwarding service to get a Simyo chip.

Also, I think Movistar is the only option for folks who want to use a mifi.

Are you sure, ;-) anything can be hacked if they want to.

A Movistar retailer just told me that they never even heard of the Mifi portable hotspot. It seems to be a foreign concept to other Spanish cellular retailers as well.