Help for an IT illeterate

[Biscuit]

I own a mobile phone that can get the internet.
I own a laptop (once repaired) that can connect to the internet. It is a HP Pavillion
I will be going on holiday to mallorca soon.

Q1. Can I access the internet on my laptop using my mobile phone Number

Q2. If I can will it cost the earth? I have vodaphone passport.

Q3. If yes and not much to the above how do you do this?

Why I need to...
I will definately need to access these forums to work out the puzzles
I am doing an OU course and need the internet and holidays are my catch up with studying time
My daughter is studying Psychology at Uni and wants to come with us but has exams when she returns and may need access to the internet.

Other information: We stay in a house on a small estate but there is no telephone line at the house but they do have sky (just in case that helps!) Sky is not connected to a telephone line so it is just the freeview channels.

Can anyone help with my lack of understanding of how this technology works? My phone is a HTC Pro.

Regards

Biscuit

[MBH]

At work we use 3G 'cards' that plug into a regular slot in the laptop. I describe this to my visitors as "The guts of a mobile phone, that only calls one number - the Internet link".... that gets round the misconceptions of 'wireless' linking to the internet.

Your mobile phone can get the internet, so it doesn't need the laptop - but I've never found trawling the internet on a phone an attractive option

Connection your phone to the laptop to 'get a connection' is likely to need some form of linking technology to tell the browser that this is how you're connecting - and I'm guessing it will be horribly expensive in phone charges

I am NOT an expert in current hareware an options (being distinctly 'old school' when it comes to computers) - but I think what I've said is true and makes sense (sort of)

Any internet cafes near where you're staying? Might be a better bet.

[clvrlad]

my first question is do you have a lead so you can download pics etc from from your phone?
secondly did it come with a disk?


if you do and it did you'll most likely have the software to go on the internet

then phone Vodafone to see what they charge

i assume you mean the HTC touch Pro?

if so it has HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps which is the same as my mobile broadband so isn't too bad for surfing the web

but do check the charges specifically for using your phone as a modem

it can be expensive if its not part of your package

[giraffe]

My husband "test drove" a phone to be able to access his emails and the bill for one month was HUGE (hundreds). Fortunately he was test driving it for work, so they paid, and he changed to something else. He usually uses a thing sticking out of the side of his laptop (3G card?) but I think he also uses something on a phone for when he doesn't want to take the laptop along.

[Scurra]

Yes, a "3G dongle" would almost certainly be your best bet for this sort of thing. But I have no experience in using one abroad so I can't tell you how or if it will work there.

[Biscuit]

thanks everyone - I am now going to do the various checks like phoning vodafone and checking what the actual 3G wireless thing does.

I will probably be back with more questions.

Regards

Paula

[clvrlad]

just checked and yes you can use "3g" in spain but youd have to make sure you'd be connected to vodaphone spain
but it is cheaper to do it if your on a contract...but talk to vodaphone ask them on prices cause if your not on a contract it might not be cheap

if you were allready on vodaphones mobile broadband as a contract customer it would cost £9.99 per day being able to used 50Mb a day

[Biscuit]

thank you for all your help

[Bunnylump]

You call yourself an IT illiterate, but you seemed to know a lot more about it than I would. And all I can say is I am very glad to hear that Scurra knows how to use his dongle.

[Biscuit]

I think I am going to ask my son what a dongle is!!! Hope it doesn't embarrass him

[clvrlad]

I think I am going to ask my son what a dongle is!!! Hope it doesn't embarrass him

dongle is a term for a small device that connects to a computers USB port.

[MBH]

I keep hearing these referred to as 'Dongles', but I think someone heard the word and liked the sound of it... As I understand it, it was originally a bit of kit that you used to carry with you, and you fitted it into place on a computer to allow it to work - in other words, a security device.

No dongle, no working computer.

Since the computer works fine, it's a bit of a 'twist' to the original but it could be classed as an 'Internet Dongle' (no dongle, no internet) - but I prefer my reference to the 'phone line' and this being the guts of a mobile phone.

I know - semantics.

EDIT: After seeing clvrlad's answer, I remember why semantics is important....

No - a small device connected to a USB port is called:

A mouse
A webcam
A phone
A flash drive
..... or just about anything else

[Scurra]

No, it's just abuse of jargon really. And we had a discussion about the changing use of phrases not too long ago regarding one used in a recent puzzle
The extension of use of the word "dongle" to refer to something you plug into a computer in order to be able to do something (rather than just to allow you to use something already there) is fairly well-established now. But perhaps only within the IT crowd?

[clvrlad]

and the word is pretty much used to describe the internet usb devices with out any other description

and my internet dongle is about the size and shape of a mouse....hmmm now theirs an idea


oh and i agree i first heard about dongles as security devices for software but as we all know the meanings of words change all the time


ususally by the younger generation who are less constrained by how they've been using it

[Bunnylump]

I honestly do have tears streaming down my face here. I can't believe I am reading a whole conversation between three grown men about something called a dongle. Am I the only one who is finding this funny?

[LAT]

Sure you aren't jealous because you don't have a dongle?

[clvrlad]

well i brought my dongle to the last meet............

[MBH]

as we all know the meanings of words change all the time
ususally by the younger generation who are less constrained by how they've been using it

Which is when 'oldies' like us tell you "You're Wrong"....

Brian... BRIAN - where are you? I need backup.


Thanks Bunnylump - I'm now laughing at you

[Scurra]

Am I the only one who is finding this funny?

Clearly, yes. (And if you want to know why you've got a post count higher than the national debt, it's because you can't resist making comments like that. )

[Bunnylump]

Laughing even harder now. I've got mascara all down my face and scared the cat. And NO LAT I am not jealous that I don't have a dongle.