Mobile broadband blues

I was so excited about my iPodtouch. Then increasingly I realised that its value was compromised because I could hardly ever find a venue with free wi-fi connection that would make it work as a web connected tool.

The BTFon network proved to be totally useless because it didn't recognise my username and password. I can't say that FON went out of its way to explain clearly whether you need a different username and password for BTFon than when you sign up to a FON network.

So I have this iPodTouch, which I want to use for checking email on the move, sometimes, because most of the email that I get is totally non-essential. And I want to be able to check my calendar and contacts which of course are up in the Google cloud somewhere. Occasionally, I might check BBC news. It's an interesting revelation that the majority of websites do not have a mobile version, including 3mobile, but the BBC does.

That's one of my objectives for this year, to build a mobile version of my website.

Paying horrendous monthly fees for telecoms costs is anathema to me. I'm a great user of email and the landline rather than mobiles. Why? Writing comes more naturally to me and use of my landline within UK is free, other than the rental.

Not even the offer of a free, or reduced cost all-singing, all-dancing do-it-all mobile phone is tempting.

I've only moved over to one of the cheaper Virgin Mobile contracts within the last six months, and I still don't use all the minutes, let alone the texts. I much prefer the option that I had in Oman. Buy the phone and pay just for what you use.

I once had a stand-up row with the manager of the local Orange shop, telling him that mobile phone contracts were a rake-off for the companies. He laughed and said that people preferred it that way. Phooey. They were just not given any other option at the time. He even brought the shutter of the shop down on my head as I was leaving.

And then there's the mobile broadband issue. I'd been an early adopter of the 3mobile broadband plan meaning that I had paid £15 monthly for the privilege only to discover that I couldn't get reception in the places that I most needed to use it. I rang 3mobile to say I didn't want to renew at the end of the contract. A very nice Scottish gentleman made me an offer I didn't think I could refuse, monthly broadband at half the price with a new dongle. It seemed fair enough.

Until I found myself on holiday up in the Yorkshire Dales last November without any 3mobile connection at all. But my Orange phone had a fairly good signal. Which gave me an idea. Since mid-year, I had been holding on to a brochure advertising Orange mobile broadband for £4.89 a month, only for 500kb, but that was enough for what I wanted. I took the Settle-Carlisle railway line one rainy day, because walking in the Dales was out of the question. Lo and behold, just around the corner from Carlisle station, I found the Orange mobile shop. I signed up and got my dongle. And it worked. In places 3 can't reach.

So if you've been following me so far, you will have worked out that I now have two mobile broadband contracts.

And then I saw the 3mobile mi-fi advertised. What's that? It's a little device that generates a wi-fi signal from a 3G connection. You can link it to up to five devices.

Well, I didn't want the contract offering an iPodTouch at £23 a month, because I already have an iPodTouch.

The no-strings Mi-fi on Pay-as-you-Go seemed a good option. Reader, I bought one.

Oh dear me. PAYG? It's a joke. You have to pay £10 a month to use it. It comes in the small print as an Add-On, which of course I had overlooked. You might think that sounds reasonable, but I can tell you now that I wouldn't get the use out of it.

Two protracted phone calls to 3mobile in a bid to try and return the thing failed totally. How is it that people simply cannot refer you to the right department??!!

I have to say, that I am enchanted that the mi-fi actually works. I was going to use it for as long as I could before the data allowance ran out and then forget about it.

However, the man Jobs, and you really should take a glimpse at the cover of The Economist for this week 30th Jan 2010 which bears the inscription, The Book of Jobs, has just launched the iPad.

Thinks. There will be a wi-fi version and a 3G version. If I have a mi-fi, would I need the 3G version.

Crucial question of all, will the mobile phone companies lock down the iPad to a contract. I do hope not.

No, I haven't mentioned Google's Nexus phone. Not in UK yet and it will be tied to a contract.

Lovin' my iPodTouch

Last week, a study showed that the British valued their communications tools more than holidays and buying clothes. Only buying groceries, toiletries and cosmetics rated higher than having a phone at home and a broadband subscription.

Mobile subscriptions were also deemed to be essential, rather than desirable. Only 19% of respondents put mobile subscriptions 1st, 2nd or 3rd in a list of items they would cut down on in the recession.

Now I happen to think that mobile phone charges in UK are extortionate. No wonder mobile phone companies appear to be doing so well. I, for one, would not countenance paying £40 a month for 24 months, just to get an all-singing, all-dancing phone such as the Nokia n97, which will be out of date by the end of the contract, irrespective of the generous allowance of minutes.

I just don't talk on mobile phones that much. Having said that, I managed to exhaust my humble £12 a month tariff in only one week whilst I was stuck in hospital in July. I haven't used the mobile since, and won't until the new monthly allowance of minutes becomes available. There are other ways of contacting people.

I did look at that £40 a month contract, I must admit. The Nokia n97 is an exceedingly powerful pocket machine with 32Gb memory and a 5 megapixel camera. But my new Nokia 6220 has a 5 megapixel camera too, and I have a little netbook which is easy to carry around and easy to use for someone of my ilk with arthritic fingers.

What finally turned me off the n97 was that the mobile operator would not carry Skype. I could have bought the phone and gone with a SIM from 3mobile, but I'm wary of 3 after I had to get REALLY angry when the call centre simply refused to let me not renew my contract. I gather I'm not the only one. I had to let off steam by writing to head office. They haven't replied.

I suppose the carrier might not be able to do anything about using Skype on the Nokia n97 when it's connected to wifi, but I didn't want to pay all that money just to find out.

Quite by chance, I discovered that Apple's iPodTouch 2nd generation enables web browsing, and Skype, when it connects to a wi-fi connection.

Reader, I bought one. Not new, mind you, but a refurbished model offered on the Amazon website. I wanted to find out what it would be like before committing to expensive mobile technology which I might not be able to use.

What is there not to like about the design of Apple products? Sleek, slim, futuristic, even holding the ipodTouch gives one a vicarious thrill. The screen resolution is brilliant.

I still have a problem with the keyboard. I can't imagine typing in emails other than one-fingered and slowly, and it's easy to hit the wrong button, which holds things up even more. Perhaps someone has made an app which provides a virtual keyboard on the desk. I shall have to find out.

So at the moment, my new gadget is a gimmick. I haven't found a wifi network I can connect to yet, other than at home, which rather defeats the object. I want to be Skype-able on the move.

But I've just checked back with FON and discovered numerous BTFon connecton points which should make life rather easier. This was what I was hoping for almost two years ago when I wrote about BT and FON teaming up. Check out BTFon and what it offers.

I've even found directions on how to connect to a BTfon hub on the ipodTouch. So there!