UK Carrier with prepaid and tethering?

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jpollock

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Topic # 108603 2-Sep-2012 19:24

My wife's got an iPhone 4 and a Vodafone account. She was travelling to the UK and looking to get a local SIM to avoid the roaming data charges. She popped into the Vodafone shop, and bought a SIM. Now, she can't get it tethered. Looking online, it seems that tethering is only available to monthly payment accounts.

She's not in a house with broadband - it's her parent's place, so to get email at all, she needs tethering.

Can anyone let me know what I should tell her to ask for to get tethering? Does Vodafone allow that?

Can anyone recommend a carrier in the UK that allows a prepaid account to tether/hotspot an iPhone?

Thanks
Jason

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johnr

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Reply # 680520 2-Sep-2012 19:42

Vodafone NZ can't answer these questions, Vodafone UK has a online forum best to jump on that and ask.

John

NonprayingMantis

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Reply # 680530 2-Sep-2012 20:03

so, looks like all is not roses when one actually goes to an overseas carrier.

jpollock

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Reply # 680551 2-Sep-2012 21:13

John,

I was hoping that VF NZ might have some information for an existing customer. There wasn't a "general mobile" forum either, so I figured this was the most likely place to find someone with experience with UK carriers. :)

Thanks for the recommendation to go try VF's forums, so far VF UK has not been very helpful. I think they've got the same franchise issues that NZ has (poor training of customer service staff). I also expect that geekzone's members are more likely to be able to help. :)

Anyways, hopefully someone else will have the information she needs.

Regards,
Jason

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johnr

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Reply # 680554 2-Sep-2012 21:16

What type of information were you hoping VFNZ had for an existing customer?

jpollock

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Reply # 680557 2-Sep-2012 21:25

johnr: What type of information were you hoping VFNZ had for an existing customer?

Recommendations on how to avoid large roaming data charges in the UK, while still allowing the laptop/ipad to share the iPhone's data connection.

I made the incorrect assumption that, given that NZ iPhones are unlocked, all you had to do was buy a SIM. Seems that's not the case.

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johnr

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Reply # 680573 2-Sep-2012 21:33

With another carriers SIM in the iphone it's not roaming

jpollock

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Reply # 680635 3-Sep-2012 08:20

johnr: With another carriers SIM in the iphone it's not roaming

That's why I used the verb "avoid". I don't care how it's done, I assumed that the best way to do that is to get another SIM. Since we've been happy with Vodafone, I recommended that she go with Vodafone.

However, a VFUK prepaid SIM doesn't seem to allow tethering.

So, I came back to geekzone and posted on the Vodafone forum because:

1) We are both long time Vodafone customers.
2) This originally involved VFUK, which has the same parent company as VFNZ.
3) We don't think there's anything special about us or our requirements.
4) I figured this would be a FAQ that VFNZ might have an answer to. Such as, "How do I enable tethering on a VFUK prepaid SIM?"
5) Even if VFNZ didn't have an answer, one of the geekzone posters might.
6) The resulting information would be useful to other people roaming to the UK.

Since 3 of the 6 reasons mentioned Vodafone, the center of gravity was towards the Vodafone forum, instead of any other telecoms forum.

I'm not demanding anything. VFNZ doesn't need to give me preferential access, or a discount, or anything. This is just a request for information. It would even be useful to other geekzone members travelling to the UK!

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Behodar

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Reply # 680643 3-Sep-2012 08:43

I had a similar issue in the UK; I was unable to tether with either Vodafone or T-Mobile. I ended up going into a 3 shop and getting a prepaid USB dongle (this seems to offer 5 GB for 21 pounds). I also looked at O2 but at the time it required a UK bank account.

Edit: Hmm, why doesn't the pound symbol work on GZ?

jpollock

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Reply # 680685 3-Sep-2012 09:59

Behodar: I had a similar issue in the UK; I was unable to tether with either Vodafone or T-Mobile. I ended up going into a 3 shop and getting a prepaid USB dongle (this seems to offer 5 GB for 21 pounds). I also looked at O2 but at the time it required a UK bank account.

Edit: Hmm, why doesn't the pound symbol work on GZ?

Thanks, a bunch! I've passed that on to the Mrs. Hopefully it will sort her out. :) Her preference would still be to use her iPhone, but this is a good fallback!

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NonprayingMantis

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Reply # 680713 3-Sep-2012 10:29

a mifi device might be your best solution

hamish225

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Reply # 680738 3-Sep-2012 11:06

It's ridiculous how providers can block you from using your data how you want it, i really hope new zealand providers don't start doing this, because i for one will not me happy.

old3eyes

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Reply # 680784 3-Sep-2012 12:36

hamish225: It's ridiculous how providers can block you from using your data how you want it, i really hope new zealand providers don't start doing this, because i for one will not me happy.

Shhhh. You'll give them ideas..

Regards,

Old3eyes

lxsw20

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Reply # 680918 3-Sep-2012 15:48

I was using a 3 SIM over there in my iPhone about two weeks ago. I was on a 15 quid prepay plan which gave me heaps of minuets, unlimited text and unlimited data and was tethering my Nexus 7 just fine.

jbard

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Reply # 680921 3-Sep-2012 15:52

lxsw20: I was using a 3 SIM over there in my iPhone about two weeks ago. I was on a 15 quid prepay plan which gave me heaps of minuets, unlimited text and unlimited data and was tethering my Nexus 7 just fine.

+1 for 3 mobile I used about 40GB over 4 months on their unlimited plan mostly while tethering last year.
But I must point out that in their T&C's they do not allow tethering - they don't seem to actively block it either though.

jpollock

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Reply # 681174 4-Sep-2012 09:36

jbard:
lxsw20: I was using a 3 SIM over there in my iPhone about two weeks ago. I was on a 15 quid prepay plan which gave me heaps of minuets, unlimited text and unlimited data and was tethering my Nexus 7 just fine.

+1 for 3 mobile I used about 40GB over 4 months on their unlimited plan mostly while tethering last year.
But I must point out that in their T&C's they do not allow tethering - they don't seem to actively block it either though.

Thanks for the information guys.

As an update, she got a dongle. The only problem? You need an internet connection to configure it! Seems it needs Java, which OSX doesn't come with, etc...

I'm starting to find this really, really funny. :)

Right now she's using the neighbour's wifi via BT's Fon service.

Again, thanks for all the information. Next time I go I'll pick up a SIM from 3. That seems to be the sweet spot right now.

Regards,
Jason

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