Mobile Broadband strange question inside.

[kinkladze10]

Not quite sure how to word this but here goes.

My employers have given me a mobile broadband stick (T-Mobile) for use when I'm away with work on the laptop.

My question is can I take my own personal laptop for my own surfing and MMO gaming needs?

The work laptop is locked down so I can't install anything on it and practically every decent site of interest is barred so I just can't surf on it, I end up spending a lot of time in hotels and it costs a fortune to use the broadband in the room, I wondering if I can plug in the T-mobile stick and use that with them knowing?

The worry is that they can see what I've been upto and I'd busted bigtime if they knew I was playing games and sending personal emails on their equipment.

I did try the stick on my laptop and it did work in that I could get online but it blocked me from one downloading site for apps, thing it was CNET so it's a clever device but is it touch with my work network?

If they can see what I've been doing obviously it's a no go and I'll have to invest in my own mobile broadband, are there any pay as you go sticks? I don't want to pay £30 a month for one when I'll probably only use it once a week?

Any advise is welcome

[kasavien]

I can't say whether or not it would be acceptable to use your work mobile broadband in the way you proposed, although I doubt they would appreciate it as there will probably a download limit on, which I presume you would have no way of knowing how much it is and how much of it you have used.

I used O2 mobile broadband for a while, paid £15 a month which gave me a 3Gb usage limit and I could cancel the contract with a months notice. I'm sure there'll be cheaper alternatives out there. Also don't expect to be able to play many games on line. My O2 dongle wouldn't even let me connect to steam, and any games that do work I expect the latency would be high.

[burble]

There's nothing physically stopping you doing it.

Would they know you're using it? Possibly. If it is intended for light or occasional use then there will most likely be relatively low amount of bundled data included so anything over that would be chargeable. I assume they'd notice that.

If there is an 'unlimited' data package on it then they'd probably not notice but it's your choice if you want to use it knowing that they intend it for work use only.

That aside, using a 3G stick for gaming won't be nice - the latency with 3G connections is pretty nasty.

[kinkladze10]

Right thanks didnt know that.
Well I could just use it for emails and surfing but if they can tell I've doing that on another laptop it's basically a breach of the IT policy and I'd probably get a written warning.

I'll see if I can find a pay as you go gig somewhere,

One question which network has the best overall coverage for mobile broadband?

[Funkstar]

Other than volume of data, I can't see how the company would know what you were using it for. I think they would need some kind of insane agreement with the mobile provider, and if you think they are the sort of company to do that, then you don't need to ask this question and have already signed a heavy duty, legaly binding, multi page document stating you can't bite your finger nails without getting clearance first

[kinkladze10]

Other than volume of data, I can't see how the company would know what you were using it for. I think they would need some kind of insane agreement with the mobile provider, and if you think they are the sort of company to do that, then you don't need to ask this question and have already signed a heavy duty, legaly binding, multi page document stating you can't bite your finger nails without getting clearance first

Do you work for the same company?

[Funkstar]

no, none of our systems are locked down. there is a content filter in place that doesn't have filtering turned on, phones are not monitored and I don't think anyone looks at the email logs any more (they used to, but that was for a specific reason).

[kinkladze10]

Got any jobs going, sounds like heaven

Been doing some research looks like I'm screwed on the PAYG mobile bb, it expires after a month.
Ridiculous! It should be called Pay as you go, but then we'll take it off you if you don't use it. FFS!

[Funkstar]

There are also daily PAYG deals. Something like £1 a day, when you use it that day, nothing if you don't use it.

[scaryjim]

You can get contracts from £5, but some of them depend on your being a network customer already. I certainly wouldn't recommend gaming on a 3G dongle. Quality and speed of connection vary massively - when I used to live near Salford Quays I was lucky to get a consistent connection of more than 100Kbps - when I moved to the other side of Manchester I started getting a consistent 1.5Mbps instead (with the same dongle and sim, that is)! Vodafone have a good reputation, and I rarely find myself without a reasonable data connection on my smartphone with them. My dongle was with 3, and as I said that connection was very variable...

[lodore]

my friend have a 3 dongle and uses it for gaming alot, when i go round his place we even share it and its fine. both of us on messenger,gaming and ventrilo.

[Lee H]

when I used to live near Salford Quays I was lucky to get a consistent connection of more than 100Kbps - when I moved to the other side of Manchester I started getting a consistent 1.5Mbps instead

A good reason for this is there were probably more people connected near Salford Quays as that area is quite dense in regards to the amount of people living and working there. Just think of all those 3G handsets people are connecting up as well as 3G dongles and I think you'll get the idea

I used a 3G dongle for aprroximately 4 minutes when my missus got one and told her to take it back ASAP. In the end I resorted to getting a PCI wireless card for my PC with an additional antenna relocation kit and a few RP-SMA high gain antennas and ended up using a friends wireless nearby.

[Ceefer]

I subscribe to 3 for a 3G dongle. This costs £10 a month. My data allowance is only 1gb per month but I have found that is plenty for my limited needs when I'm away from home on business - mostly just email. However, I do play a bit of Guild Wars using the dongle and the frame rates are great most of the time.

[kinkladze10]

Do 3 do a reasonable PAYG deal?

[mr-zeeman]

do you connect into work via a vpn with it ? Some companys force the user to connect into work then use works web acces so they can filter what employees do