Wifi for iphone

[+Super Naitos]

Hi

 

Apologies for my ignorance, I have not been back to the UK in 3 years ( I live in Japan)

 

I will be in the UK this summer and excited to cache somewhere other than Japan. I have an Garmin Oregon 200 and also iphone which I like to use so I can log as I go.

I am not planning to use the iphone/internet connection with my Japanese phone provider as cost will be outrageous. I am thinking either to

 

1) Rent one of those wifi small thingymajigys that I have seem business men have here, it basically ,makes you a wifi area and lets you use computer/iphone with wifi capabilities. Sorry to be so naive but do they have those in the UK? And if so does anyone know if you can rent them, and where and approx cost for a month(phone shop/Heathrow?) My parents do not even have a computer so I am going to need something for 5 weeks while I am back......

 

Secondly if the above does not seem possible-how are inner city wifi free zones? Do they have them in major cities ( Bristol/ and of course Swansea-mega Wales here I come!!!) Would my iphone pick up on them and is the range good enough for a good downtown hunt, or is it really just a few select spots here and there

 

Thanks for any replies and help.

 

Looking forward to caching in around Bristol and Swansea and surrounding areas this summer...

[+keehotee]

Hi

 

Apologies for my ignorance, I have not been back to the UK in 3 years ( I live in Japan)

 

I will be in the UK this summer and excited to cache somewhere other than Japan. I have an Garmin Oregon 200 and also iphone which I like to use so I can log as I go.

I am not planning to use the iphone/internet connection with my Japanese phone provider as cost will be outrageous. I am thinking either to

 

1) Rent one of those wifi small thingymajigys that I have seem business men have here, it basically ,makes you a wifi area and lets you use computer/iphone with wifi capabilities. Sorry to be so naive but do they have those in the UK? And if so does anyone know if you can rent them, and where and approx cost for a month(phone shop/Heathrow?) My parents do not even have a computer so I am going to need something for 5 weeks while I am back......

 

Secondly if the above does not seem possible-how are inner city wifi free zones? Do they have them in major cities ( Bristol/ and of course Swansea-mega Wales here I come!!!) Would my iphone pick up on them and is the range good enough for a good downtown hunt, or is it really just a few select spots here and there

 

Thanks for any replies and help.

 

Looking forward to caching in around Bristol and Swansea and surrounding areas this summer...

 

Hi

 

You can buy a Mifi which will give you your broadband connection with a 3gb allowance for about £50 - but I haven't seen them to rent anywhere.

Free wifi here in Bristol's a bit hit and miss. Places like MacDonalds have it, and there may be a few other hot spots around....but no larger scale municipal networks yet.

[+Super Naitos]

Hi

 

Thanks Keehotee

 

Does the Mifi plug in (USB/) or is it wireless?

Again ignorant here, as I use unlimited wifi and do not really know what a 3gb will be? If I used my mac to surf online an hour or 2 a day, would that last a week/month?, no idea

If it is wireless and I use my iphone on it out geocaching, how long would 3gb last if I was using my iphone on and off all day to search nearest caches and log? would 3gb run out within a few days?

Again thanks for your reply and apologies for being so ignorant.

I am so use to just unlimited wireless here on my iphone for about 35 quid a month I just don't think about how much it is using! Going to have to rethink how often I use it/get online when I am back for the summer ;(

 

 

Hi

 

You can buy a Mifi which will give you your broadband connection with a 3gb allowance for about £50 - but I haven't seen them to rent anywhere.

Free wifi here in Bristol's a bit hit and miss. Places like MacDonalds have it, and there may be a few other hot spots around....but no larger scale municipal networks yet.

[+Munkeh]

mifi is wireless

 

you could just move into macdonalds

 

3gb without playing videos would most likely last you more than 2 months perhaps a lot longer

[+Arenalife]

There's a service called BT Openzone which is available in all built up areas and near every public phone, it's also transmitted by BT wireless customers from their home modems (although not many know that, BT are using the connection you pay for to sell on to others!).

 

You just log on and can buy wireless access with your credit card. It is available for free in McDonalds and big cities have free zones too, Cardiff does.

[+Super Naitos]

Thanks, this mifi looks good. If BT open zone is mainly in built up areas, may not be so good if I go caching out in the countryside. Is Mifi pretty much available anywhere a mobile phone reception would be?

Thanks for the information.

Glad to hear 3gb might last me the month for just online surfing and iphone use,(no video watching.)

Edited June 28, 2011 by Super Naitos

[+SaltercreaseRangers]

Buy a Starbucks card and then you can use their WiFi whilst you're logging caches and drinking a coffee

[+Guanajuato]

Many pubs and restaurants have free wifi - MacDonalds already mentioned., I think Starbucks, Costa coffee and Weatherspoons pubs generally do. But the speed tends to be rather limited.

 

You could buy a dongle to plug into a USB port with a set allowance - see here. An alternative is a MiFi-type thing.

 

Another alternative might be to get a one-month contract Sim-only deal. GiffGaff are a pretty good value sim-only supplier. But this option would need an unlocked iPhone.

[+Super Naitos]

All iphones are locked here in Japan to one provider.

Again ignorant- May see if I can get my old iphone unlocked as it is out of contract. I would love to be able to just add a sim card,would I be able to pay as I go and use iphone as a phone as well as wifi?

 

No idea how it all works at all, but think I will be lost without mobile phone also in UK.

 

Weatherspoons sounds a good option, beer while logging finds, cant go wrong....

 

Another alternative might be to get a one-month contract Sim-only deal. GiffGaff are a pretty good value sim-only supplier. But this option would need an unlocked iPhone.

Edited June 28, 2011 by Super Naitos

[+''mykez'']

I don't see the point in Mifi at all, it isn't really broadband, it's just a slightly faster internet connection like dial up, don't expect more than 1mb speeds with 'mobile broadband.

 

Mobile broadband uses 3g signals, like normal calling and texting signals but these signals are for data not for calls.

 

Your phone might have a good signal, but no 3g signal, making it useless for internet.

 

I'm with vodafone and 3g signal is shocking.

 

If you going down this route for mobile broadband I would use the three network.

 

As for BT openzone - waste of time I have not managed to find a bt openzone connection whilst I have been out and about apart from mcdonalds.

 

If your iPhone is unlocked, or on three, buy a three sim with unlimited data and use your iphone.

[+drdick&vick]

I don't see the point in Mifi at all, it isn't really broadband, it's just a slightly faster internet connection like dial up, don't expect more than 1mb speeds with 'mobile broadband.

 

Mobile broadband uses 3g signals, like normal calling and texting signals but these signals are for data not for calls.

 

 

I use a 3 MiFi whenever I am away in the caravan (a lot of time) and at the moment I am about 8 mies from Truro and am clocking a sped of 2.8Mb, since I got the MiFi I have never got less that 2Mb. The 3 netwrok has really improved recently, to the extent that a campsite I use in Devon now has reception that gived me around 3Mb whereas 2 yrs ago there was absolutely no signal at all.

MiFi is the way to go for me.

[+''mykez'']

What devices are you using with the Mifi?

[+keehotee]

I don't see the point in Mifi at all, it isn't really broadband, it's just a slightly faster internet connection like dial up, don't expect more than 1mb speeds with 'mobile broadband.

 

Mobile broadband uses 3g signals, like normal calling and texting signals but these signals are for data not for calls.

 

Your phone might have a good signal, but no 3g signal, making it useless for internet.

I'm with vodafone and 3g signal is shocking.

 

If you going down this route for mobile broadband I would use the three network.

 

As for BT openzone - waste of time I have not managed to find a bt openzone connection whilst I have been out and about apart from mcdonalds.

 

If your iPhone is unlocked, or on three, buy a three sim with unlimited data and use your iphone.

 

True - what the providers call mobile broadband in this country isn't actually broadband at all....but it'll do at a push

 

The mifi uses exactly the same setup as your phone's broadband connection - so obviously if you have a poor data connection, it will apply to both devices.

 

Surprised you've had problems with Vodafone. We had a hiccup with one of the masts being torched by yobbos in Bristol a few months ago - but data signal strength is usually around 4 bars where I live, and work.

 

It's worth mentioning that every new BT phone box (if you can find one) is also an openzone hub - or at least they used to be. Been a few years since I was last a BT customer

[+''mykez'']

Oh my Vodafone signal is fine for ringing and texting, just the 3g signal is terrible. Hardly any coverage at all.

[+drdick&vick]

What devices are you using with the Mifi?

 

I use a laptop, an Android phone and a PS3. I can happily stream videos and iPlayer using the MiFi.

My Android phone is on Vodafone and I can use it as an access pointm on the occasions that I have I have clocked up to 3Mb download.

Edited June 28, 2011 by DrDick&Vick

[+Wonkey Donkey]

Plenty of "free" wifi in the coffee shops / bars in Bristol city centre and most only require you to buy a drink for them to give you the code.

 

Last time I used it McDonalds restricted you to one hours usage at a time, but I believe you can just disconnect and then reconnect.

 

When you say Bristol, do you know were in the city or surrounds it will be as acess to free wifi outside the main centre will be likely hard to come by.