Not sure what these are help please?

[Calverley Lad]

There is a service for laptops available - 'pay as you go' with a dongle!
See most service providers for info.
 Brian

[jc26red]

When abroad don't use a dongle with a British 3G sim, that's when you incur high charges it might not even work abroad depends on where you are going, using hotel wifi usually incurs a charge from £10-20 per day, check to see if your hotel offers free Internet before you book.  Otherwise go and have a coffee at one of the international coffee shops, they offer free Internet.  Heathrow wifi is very expensive £5 per hour! use your British dongle here but airports in other countries may or may not charge, it depends on where you go. 

You may possibly be able to buy a 3G sim in the country you are visiting, but most 3G sims abroad are contract only or extremely expensive.  In the USA for example, you have to provide proof of permanent address to purchase a sim 

Also don't leave your 3G phone or tablet on roaming whilst abroad it will drain your balance in less than a blink of an eye most people only find this out when they either can't  connect or come home to an enormous bill if on contract, hence the EU legislation.

[diplodicus]

I have an iPhone 3s. When I'm travelling, I switch off everything but the phone to keep preserve the battery charge.  When I'm abroad, I always switch off "roaming" (i.e. 3G) and only once purchased some wifi and found that 5Mb of data lasted almost no time at all.

I'm with T-Mobile and as an example. you can see their overseas data costs here:

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-broadband/euro-broadband-booster/

Modern websites are so much larger than they use to be so they will use up Megabytes of data very quickly indeed.

If you're staying in the UK, you can purchase a "dongle" which, usually,  looks like a USB stick and these are a lot more reasonable.

OR

You can try a survive the genealogical withdrawal symptoms and actually communicate with the rest of the family

[Nick29]

Take a look at Trustive - http://www.trustive.co.uk/

They have wifi access in 130 countries.  There are several different plans available - if you're only going to be using it on holiday they have pre-paid plans for 2 days, 1 week, or 1 month (from £12 to £29).  They also have monthly plans for more frequent travellers.  They also give you a program to put on your laptop/tablet/smartphone which finds the nearest wifi hotspots for you.  They also do wifi + 3G accounts.

If you are a BT or Sky Broadband user, you may also have free access to wifi hotspots, but these are limited to the UK only.

[mhg]

If you are a BT Internet user you have free access to WiFi hotspots throughout the EU.  You just connect to a FON hotspot using your BT Internet username & password.  You may have a limit on the minutes you can use, it depends on your BT package.

Often the cheapest way to use 3G overseas is to buy a Pay As You Go SIM when you get there on a local carrier.  This is certainly true outside the EU.  In places like Japan it can sometimes be the only way.

[1pds]

Really? do you have to pay then if you use it abroad, I thought you could take your laptop in a wifi place and go on the net?

Yes you can - if it's free access.  It works the same as in the UK.  For example, go to a MacDonalds and you get free wifi.  Go to cafes or bars offering free wifi and you may have to get a password from behaind the bar when you buy something but you can log on for free.  Depending upon which country you're in, sit outside a public library and log on to their wifi for free.  However, if you don't have access to free wifi (ie there's none in range) you may want to consider buying a Dongle and paying-as-you-go, but beware, if you are outside 3G network coverage you might not get onto the net at all     You can also pay-as-you-go without a dongle at many locations such as airports, shopping centres etc.   Confusing isn't it!   

[jc26red]

Take a look at Trustive - http://www.trustive.co.uk/

They have wifi access in 130 countries.  There are several different plans available - if you're only going to be using it on holiday they have pre-paid plans for 2 days, 1 week, or 1 month (from £12 to £29).  They also have monthly plans for more frequent travellers.  They also give you a program to put on your laptop/tablet/smartphone which finds the nearest wifi hotspots for you.  They also do wifi + 3G accounts.

If you are a BT or Sky Broadband user, you may also have free access to wifi hotspots, but these are limited to the UK only.

But the trustive sim costs £55 plus £12 delivery before you even buy airtime  for one off short trips abroad, I'd rather go and have a coffee or bar...not sure free wifi is enough to get me into a McDs 

[Mavals]

Take a look at Trustive - http://www.trustive.co.uk/

They have wifi access in 130 countries.  There are several different plans available - if you're only going to be using it on holiday they have pre-paid plans for 2 days, 1 week, or 1 month (from £12 to £29).  They also have monthly plans for more frequent travellers.  They also give you a program to put on your laptop/tablet/smartphone which finds the nearest wifi hotspots for you.  They also do wifi + 3G accounts.

If you are a BT or Sky Broadband user, you may also have free access to wifi hotspots, but these are limited to the UK only.

But the trustive sim costs £55 plus £12 delivery before you even buy airtime  for one off short trips abroad, I'd rather go and have a coffee or bar...not sure free wifi is enough to get me into a McDs 

Nothing is enough to get me in to a McDs....

It is always worth contacting your supplier for advice on the cheapest options. Several years ago ( Pre 3g) I was going to Canada with my mobile for the first time and contacted my supplier. I was advised it was cheaper to send a MMS with text attached rather than just send a text.... and it was! I sent my husband a daily message updating him about our trip.

[1pds]

Nothing would make me eat in a MacDonalds either, but I'm happy to sit in their carpark and get free wifi