blonde poker forum

I searched google but couldn't really get anywhere... was a lot of nothing mixed in with confusing pages

Anyways, is there a card/network/etc that would let me get wireless network anywhere in the country on my laptop? at the moment i have a wireless system in my house that lets me go into my garden etc with the lappie, but Id really love it for times when I am being driven to places 100 miles or so away, or when I am on trains etc.

Maybe there re these things, but they only work in big cities.. maybe I dont have a clue what I am talking about (this is close to the correct answer)

Anything out there that you mite know about that serves my purpose?

thanks in advance

I know some aiport lounges / hotels have wireless and also the latest GNER trains are fitted out with it, but only the latest trains not all their rolling stock. As far as I am aware, here in the UK we are not yet quite there as to being able to roam freely with wireless.

Your only option for TRUE wireless capability is a Mobile 3G card - but these are expensive and are limited to connectivity

by limited to connectivity, do you mean it would get the same kind of connection ability as a mobile fone?

that would be bout perfect if thats the case

there sometimes are a few connectivity problems with these cards but not too many..The Blonde updaters use them on a Reg ..basis. Roughly cost £25 pm for around 250 mb..

You will need to be somewhere where there is a hotspot.  T-mobile seems to have the best coverage (in many Starbucks) and you can sign up for a monthly service.

The other option you have is pop in to any Mcdonalds, they did a deal a few years back and they are wi fi hot spots now, now if your neck of the woods is anything like mine you cant cross the street without seeing a mcdonalds. the other is starbucks they have a similar deal.

If your neck of the woods is anything like mine, then there's no way you'd want to show off the fact you had a shiny, expensive laptop in McDonalds, with all the local yoot hanging around.

The yoot or Neds as we call them are relegated to the Drive through in Mcdonald's, Taking your Laptop and other business gear in to Mcdonals is common place up here.

alrite

thanks for the posts so far.

I did a search for this 3G card, and got this far:

http://online.vodafone.co.uk/dispatch/Portal/appmanager/vodafone/wrp?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=Page_BOS_BusinessStore2A&pageID=BS_0525&sku=057161



now, if you click on the 3G/GPRS Coverage link, it has the entire country in red, so it seems on first glance that this would be usable any where on this merry island of ours.. which if is true.. would be perfect

One further Q I have, is what would the maximum speed be? Naturally I guess this will be dependant on connection strength, ala a mobile fone.. but would it be better then a maggot dial up connection?

thanks again.. I could fone up support and ask, but in my experience they are rarely the correct peple to ask

hah.. last post

i did some more rooting on the website..and got this :

http://online.vodafone.co.uk/dispatch/Portal/appmanager/vodafone/wrp?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=Page_ProductDetails&pageID=BS_0701&Content_Id=AZ_074

tells you the maximum upload/download speeds and a lot more info.

OK.. ty for the recommendation on 3G card.. never heard of it before. Once again Blondepoker comes to the rescue. Gonna set this shiznitt up rite now

have a nice day all

Is the mcdonalds wi-fi access free?

I use the Vodafone card and would recommend it.  Max speed is 56kps on GPRS and 376kps on 3G which is pretty close to broadband speed.

Sheriff

its only city centre macdonalds that has wifi?

The joys of Islington

A search facillity for WiFi access points is here:

http://www.thecloud.net/

 Ac

Anyone have any experience using BT OpenZone. Wireless intrnet in participating pubs and hotels.

I tried it in Blacpool and it worked fine for me.

3G works well, although there is a loss of connection when going out of a 3G into a standard network area, it has to drop the call to switch to the other network area. So, not perfect, but pretty good, doesn't happen too often.

Ok, monkeys arent that technologically advanced either so i'm going to bump this thread to ask what if i wanted to use my laptop abroad? I'm thinking of taking it to Vegas in July/August - will the same card do or will i have to get a different card for wireless connection abroad?

Also what are their usual terms for these cards, would i have to sign up for a 12 month contract or something similar? I notice that in one of the links in this thread it says that using the laptop abroad will cost £3.50 per MB - how quickly would you use up 1MB whilst say surfing the internet or playing online poker?

If anyone knows please could you PM me, thanks in advance :)

Matt,

most of the hotel chains have free/$10 per day wireless or wired internet available. If they only have wired access available inyour room, remember to take a Cat 5 network cable with you .

where are you staying ?

Last year the package pokerstars had us staying at the Treasure Island, the email said that the Treasure Island will be the main hotel again but they have another few lined up in case it gets too busy - they will confirm with me shortly. If i remember rightly they had the internet cable in the room last year but as i didnt take my laptop i didnt pay much attention to it or how much it cost.

Hopefully i wont have the time to play a 4-5 hour tourney at the airport so may not need a wireless network card but its always handy to have one just in case if they arent that expensive to own.

If you are looking at having "wireless anywhere" whilst in vegas, then it is going to cost -

1) You can get a Vodafone 3G card here in the UK and use it over there. The costs are likely to be eyewateringly expensive though as it will no doubt slap on some roaming charges.

2) Buy a US 3G card - I think cingular are one of the leaders in this field. For a "pay as you go" you are probably looking at $300 for the card, and then your network costs on top of that.

Cheers - i think i'll leave the 3G card then, maybe i'll get one so i can go drive to somewhere out of the ordinary - then sit there for 5 hours playing poker and ignoring the scenery! I'll just stick to posting updates from my hotel room :)