How does WiFi work?

[Kerry-Lea]

OK - I'm really embarressed to ask this - but how does WiFi work?

We have dial up at home (no, its not a joke, we do) and I see our local Mugg and Bean has a sign saying "WiFi Hotspot".

Does this mean that I can take my laptop (yes, I'll remember to unplug it from the Telkom socket!) and sit at the Mugg and enjoy "free" wireless internet?

My ISP is Absa, and I pay for a dial-up connection - do I maybe need to upgrade this to "wireless" to do the Mugg and Bean thing?

Yes - I know I need to get with the times - give me a break!

[chrisk]

yes - only the 'connection' at M&B is free - you will still need 'airtime' from your ISP (sorry, can't think of an simpler way to explain) - think mweb charges R1 something per minute, and subscribers get 300 free minutes a month (even adsl subscribers, if i remember correctly) - not sure about Absa - better check with them... so yea, connect for free, surf not for free

[Kerry-Lea]

Thanks - that sounds like a deal anyway.

I will contact Absa and find out...

And you explained perfectly!

[chrisk]

np - just one more thing - have a look at this discussion - seems you can sometimes get away with 'free' internet... interesting... anyway, maybe someone else can add 2c...?

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=33575

[Kerry-Lea]

Thanks Chris

Maybe I'll just take my computer along to M&B and see what happens?

[MichaelG]

Mugg and Bean's, Nescafe coffee shops, airports and the many other places where you see the "WiFi Available here" usually have two options.

1. They use Mweb or Internet Solutions(IS) - (Usually at the Mugg and Bean)

So if you have an Mweb Internet Account, or an IS account you can use your username and password near the hotspot to connect.

If you don't have an Mweb or IS account try 2

2. Many stores that offer WiFi connectivity also usually offer Internet vouchers - Like pay-as-you-go munites for use within the store.

This I think is similar to what Chris mentioned in his first post.

Good luck with your endevours.

[Kerry-Lea]

OK. This is great stuff. Thanks guys.

NOW.....

I phoned @lantic (who now operate ABSA's dial up) to cancel. I asked the dude there what my best option was, moving forward. He said that he wouldnt recommend investing in an USB modem as it probably wont work in Aus.

He said that if I have a 3G phone I can use this to get onto the internet - i must just buy a pay-as-you-go "data bundle".

OK - first question (I'm giving Nige from the vodacom ad's a run for his money here) - when he says "use my cell phone" does he mean use the actaul cell phone, or, connect the phone to my laptop and use it as a modem? (IE will I use the phone or the laptop to type on).

Secondly - does the "data bundle" come onto my current "weekender plus" bill or must a get a new sim card for the data and put it into my phone each time I access the internet.

Lastly - how do I know if I have a 3G phone?

(sorry - I can feel you guys cringing at my lack of knowledge and internetlessness )

[No Worries Mate]

Kerry Lea

You can use the 3G phone connected to the laptop via a USB cable. You type on the laptop...the phone is merely the modem. (or you can type on the phone but that is quite slow depending on which phone you have)

You can add a data bundle to your existing weekender package...same SIM card

What phone do you have?

Andre

Edited June 19, 2008 by No Worries Mate

[MichaelG]

What is your phone? Because even if it isn't 3G, you may still be able to connect through the older GPRS.

1. He more than likely means use your phone as a moden that connects either via a cable or through Blutooth (if your phone and laptop have it) and connecting to the Internet from your laptop, through the phone modem (type on the laptop).

2. You don't need a special sim card to connect to 3G, so no new sim, I believe you can get a databundle added to your current contract, but check with your cell provider, they can better answer this question.

3. Tell me what phone you have and I will answer this for you.

Edit: Beaten to the punch by No Worries

Edited June 19, 2008 by MichaelG

[Kerry-Lea]

LOL

Thanks guys - you are SO good at this stuff.

OK - I HAD a Samsung E700 but that is now broken so I'm using a friends Nokia 1600. Hubby has a Nokia 6070.

I'm happy to buy a new handset if need be (as I must return the Nokia 1600 as the Samsung is officially dead.) If you can recommend a cost effective cheapie which is 3G enabled?

[No Worries Mate]

MichaelG

I will leave the phone advise to you

[MichaelG]

hehe.. Thanks

Kerry-Lea, your hubby's Nokia 6070 is EDGE capable and is also a tri-band phone...

In English:

It can be used as a modem on your laptop, and it will work in Australia, but not as fast as 3G.

Some 3G capable phones:

Sony Ericsson Z750

Nokia 3120 Classic

Nokia 6120 Classic

Nokia 5320 XpressMusic

Nokia 6124

Samsung U700

Samsung G800

Samsung Z400

Not sure if they are cheap, but the list above should be the cheaper of the 3G selections available in those brands.

If you want another brand, shout and I will let you know which ones are 3G capable in that brand.

Edited June 19, 2008 by MichaelG

[Brissy Bessies]

Hi, I have a 3G card, which I bought a cheapy pay-as-you-go sim card for - I top it up with talk time (the sim fits into the 3G card) and then purchase a data bundle (pretty easy all through sms). What I want to know is will my sim card work from Oz - surely not? Do you get an international pay-as-you-go sim card? Would be cool to buy 500MB before I board the plane and then have internet access as soon as we get there?

[Kerry-Lea]

thanks to all of you.

I was looking at the cards and modems, but the computer shop people said it would absolutly not work in Aus. I dont know if I agree - surely if you buy a new sim there, it should work? or is the problem network orientated?

Hence, Brissie Bes - my query here???

Now if I can use my cell phone (maybe worth getting my dead U700 ressurected) then I can use this in Aus too...

[Brissy Bessies]

Kerry that was me speed reading through the posts... I know for a fact that they don't have data bundles pay as you though, so you would have to get a contract for that. Seems that's gonna have to be our option.

[Kerry-Lea]

Mmmmm - thanks for that info. I suppose everyone there pays their bills so no real need for "pre" paid

[Bob]

I applaud your honesty. Kerry-Lea.

Most Aussies will appreciate an honest person asking dumb questions rather than a know-it-all who doesn't know.

O.K.

Your South African mobile phone . . . . . . and we call them "mobiles" here in Australia, not "cell phones" like in Sth Africa or America . . . . will work in Australia.

The older networks where you just used them basically for talking and SMS text messages . . . . the 2G network ("G" stands for generation) . . . is broadcast on 900 and 1 800 Mhz.

An awful lot of Aussies are now getting 3G mobiles which give you the opportunity to do more with your mobile phone . . . you can get on the internet at fast speed, you can get your emails, check your weather for the day or look at what's on TV tonight, check your shares, etc.

Telstra (the name nowadays for Telecom Australia) not only has a 2G network but also a 3G network. It also has a "Next G" network which is like a 3.5G network, allowing you to do even more bits and pieces with your mobile than a regular 3G mobile phone, like video talk to each other. You can see the other person you're talking to if you hold your camera in front of you!

South Africa doesn't have any mobiles like that, so if you wanted this latest gizmo to play around with, you'd only be getting in Australia, I think.

Your SIM card, which you pop into the back of your mobile phones, is only for one particular network. If it's for the South African network, it won't pick up in Australia, unless you have an aerial on your mobile phone as high as Table Mountain to be able to broadcast across the Indian Ocean back to South Africa!

No dramas!

We do have SIM cards in Australia for your mobile phone, so just pop into a phone shop and grab one that will operate on an Australian mobile phone network. There are about half a dozen main networks in the mobile phone industry here in Australia.

Telstra

Vodafone

Optus

3

Virgin

AAPT

. . . . . . to name a few.

Just do your homework by Googling the various websites for each network to check out their call rates, etc, to see which will give you the best deal in your particular instance.

If you decide to bring your South African mobile phone along, just make sure that the crowd you were with before in South Africa haven't "locked" the mobile phone's frequency so that the phone can only pick up their network. It's no good having a mobile phone along for the ride, trying to get it to work in Australia only to find it's been locked into a South African network. You must first get it "unlocked" before you leave South Africa, so that it will work on any Australian mobile phone network.

I have a wireless broadband connection thro Telstra, here in Australia. I am typing this up in my caravan as I travel around different parts of Australia on my annual "migration" (Queensland, at the moment)

I have a little blue modem, about the size of a pack of 50 cigarettes, that hooks me into the network. I have brought my Apple desktop computer along for the ride, complete with whopping great 20" screen. It's not a laptop, but your regular home based computer.

"Wireless" broadband can mean one of two things.

Firstly it can mean bringing your laptop along to a "hot spot" such as an internet cafe or library where there is an internet service available for the public and you can use their internet. Your laptop must have a "bluetooth" to let you pick up the internet in that locality (cafe, library, etc)

Secondly, you can mean getting a wireless broadband modem, like me, and getting online thro that onto a particular internet network (in my case, Telstra). I plug a cord into the back of my computer (much like plugging an aerial into the back of the TV to get it picking up the channels).

This is also called "Wireless" broadband because there are no wires connecting me to the phone line, as in ADSL broadband or cable broadband.

If you use your mobile phone as a modem for your laptop in order for you to hook up to the internet, I think you'll find it very expensive. You pay for "browser packs" in Australia, which allow your 3G mobile phone to browse the internet, get your emails, etc. but they are the dearest way to surf. Check out the cost before you make your mind up to surf the web and get emails this way. It's usually a whole lot cheaper (in Australia, anyway) to get an internet connection subscription and pay each month.

[MichaelG]

South Africa doesn't have any mobiles like that, so if you wanted this latest gizmo to play around with, you'd only be getting in Australia, I think.

We have them, both the phones and the networks capable of running them

Your SIM card, which you pop into the back of your mobile phones, is only for one particular network. If it's for the South African network, it won't pick up in Australia

The providers in South Africa have partnership agreements with overseas network operators, so even a pay-as-you-go (pre-paid) sim from South Africa will pick up a network in Australia.... Wheather or not it will actually make a call, I don't think so, that requires a contract and roaming to be activated in South Africa first.

If you decide to bring your South African mobile phone along, just make sure that the crowd you were with before in South Africa haven't "locked" the mobile phone's frequency so that the phone can only pick up their network

Although there are still the odd phones (particularly the ultra cheap ones) "locked" to a network, SA Law now prohibits this practice. You would actually be hard pressed to find a network locked phone in South Africa that isn't 2 or more years old.

That being said.. I THINK our network operators "lock" their USB broadband units (so our white (Vodacom) or black/yellow (MTN) equivilants of your "little blue modem") another reason the salesman told Kerry-Lea that it will not work in Australia.

Is phone "locking" a practice still done by Australian networks?

Thank you for the list of network operators in Australia, I think I knew of two, or maybe even three of them - it is good to know there is a large range of choice that side when it comes to mobile and broadband network selection.

Edited June 20, 2008 by MichaelG

[Kerry-Lea]

Hi

thanks to you for that in depth information. Shew - Seems like i have a lot to consider.

I have decided to get my Samsung U700 repaird (cheaper than buying a new handset) and it is 3G enabled. I will use the phone as a modem (I'll ask MTN for a data bundle on top of my current weekender package) and use this until we make the move. Once in Aus I'll look at the other options.

Bob - I'm surprised (if I understood it correctly) that accessing the web via cell phone is so expensive in Aus? Here it is one of the cheapest methods - my daugther sits on the net all day on her cell phone and it only costs her a few cents?

[No Worries Mate]

Kerry Lea

I think your daughter is on MXit That is very cheap to use, but Inetrnet uses much more bandwidth and hence is more expensive

[Kerry-Lea]

Yes Mxit it is! OK. Now I understand. I thought she had to log onto the internet - log onto mxit site and then chat I know she also uses her phone for her Facebook.

Again - I'm severely technologically challenged

Edited June 20, 2008 by Kerry-Lea