Ok I'm starting a new thread on the the very important dongles issue....or so I think!
I think they are the best option to avoid IP detection, and even better cheap enough to use one per computer, and still remain more or less on the same budget as with the home broadband.
I pay £13.50 for a BT line and £15.50 for broadband. Total:£29
x3 PAYG dongles from O2 (giffgaff) will cost you £10 each. Total:£30
and by using 3 computers life is much easier
(I have 3 computers and 2 laptops in my house LOL! Plus a lot of spare parts)
Now I was thinking of sharing my experience with the 2 companies I've tried so far and if others here do the same we will have a good understanding of which is the best one to go for.
1) Three mobile, on 1 month rolling contract (basically PAYG) 5gb download for £15/month. (dongle cost only £4.99).
a)Service: Its very good and the best of the 2 I've tried. Fast reliable connection but of course this can vary so better do a postcode check on the 3 website or even better at the 3 store (its more accurate).
b)IP variation: very variable IP ranges....I think it is nearly impossible to get the same IP twice ever! this is because the combinations are probably around 200.000.
It gives IPs from random surrounding areas within 100 miles of my location.
IP websites report it as dial-up DSL internet.
2) Giffgaff (basically O2) at a cost of £20 per dongle, free sim from giffgaff.com and £10 goodybag with unlimited internet.
a) Service: Very bad signal in my area, and I know many areas have a problem with the data transmittance. This is an issue with O2 and Vodafone because their network is old, and build for telephone conversations, not for data high volume transmitting....basically their masts are too far apart...which cause some areas to have no broadband capable signal at all.
Anyway I have managed to connect by hanging the dongles on the first floor window and using a 4 meter USB extension cable I get 2 to 4 lines and and a bit of switching between HSPA and WCDMA mode sometimes
b)IP variation: First of all, the variation is not much...only the last 2 numbers change but not much, so you get maybe just 10 IP variations...but something crazy is going on with the IPs!
OK this is what is what i know....
whatismyipaddress.com says my IP is for example xx.100.166.52 and is a London IP
whatsmyip.org says my ip is xx.100.166.60
IP-address.com says it is xx.100.166.53 and it is located in the middle of nowhere between Harrogate and Leeds
IPBurger.com says my ip is xx.100.166.52
Refreshing the pages without disconnecting from the internet something even more strange happens...the last bit of the IP changes example from xx.100.166.52 to xx.100.166.66.
And the most strange of all after refreshing the whatismyipaddress.com page a few times it sometimes give a a much different IP xx.100.166.52 to xx.100.66.244
I've not tried using these with ebay/paypal yet.....do you think their system will like this very regular IP variation. Although their system may also be confused with the amount of people logging-in with the same IP.
Strange thing is the IP does not vary in the same way for all sites. and sometimes 2 sites that may agree on the IP number, suddenly they change and don't agree any more...like if the IP is assigned to the website instead of the dongle.
I keep refreshing both sites at the same time....different IPs shown.
I'm not sure if this giffgaff is good or not.... but we will find out soon i guess...and then I'm thinking what is the difference between this and a
VPN? Because bottom line is, it is a
VPN! whatismyipaddress.com does show "suspected network sharing device" for some of the IP's
This is all my knowledge on the subject for now....
I'm basically more interested on how variable the other networks IPs are, and if they stay stable or the change as you browse. In my examples you can see that 3mobile is very variable and keeps the IP until you disconnect while giffgaff constantly changes, and there is no much variation in IP range.
That's it for now...
Next i think I may try the T-mobile.
Coverage is good...but it is more expensive that 3mobile....£20 for the dongle and £15/month for 1GB data. (see above for 3mobile)
So please somebody comment on the T-mobile IP range...is it any good?