[jiffy]

4G LTE Unlocked WIFI Wireless USB Dongle Stick Mobile Hotspot Modem SIM Card | eBay

1 x 4G LTE USB Modem. Wireless access is available on 3G, 4G network and Wi-Fi networks. USB: standard USB interface. Due to the difference between different monitors, the picture may not reflect the actual colour of the item.

www.ebay.co.uk

Thought I would take plunge and buy one of these cheap Wingles for my data sim! Working fine on my drive, not been out yet, but sure it will be OK. Connects up a minute after ignition on, and connects to Carnet straight away! Will keep you posted!

 

[Welshchris]

Handy bit of kit - I have one in my Golf GTI. I was tempted to get one because of the free data offer from 3 that allows you a small amount of data every month for nothing without a contract etc., but these sim deals are a bit flaky in that they run out and never seem to work consistently. Do you have a paid-for data sim in yours?

 

[jiffy]

I bought the 3 card about a month ago, don't think they do it now. 200mb of data should be enough for traffic I reckon, and I have a 3 live chat transcript about the free data. The wingle itself is ok, seems to work, stuck in the glovebox. Hope it stays working ok.

 

[Welshchris]

Interesting that they don't do it anymore. It's easy enough to buy cards with prepaid data but they all expire quite quickly so force you to top them up.

 

[jiffy]

Oh, and I can use it as a WiFi dongle on laptop, useful at my pa in laws 92, he has no internet!🤣 Check 3 again, but pretty sure it's not available any more.

 

[Impala]

I bought a Huawei E8372 wi-fi router usb dongle 3 years ago for about £40, which is considerably more expensive than those that are now widely available but still worth the money.

At the same time (July 2019), I got a Data Reward SIM from Three. At that time, the SIM itself was free as it didn't come with any pre-loaded data but gave 200MB of free data every month without having to top up. The free 200MB can be used in the UK or 71 other countries at no extra cost.

The free SIM was only available for a limited time and since then, Three have charged for a pre-loaded SIM but it still has the 200MB of free data every month without needing any further top ups. Currently it costs £10 for a SIM pre-loaded with 1GB of data ... see Three Data Reward SIM - How to get 200MB free data every month

I was a bit sceptical at first, but the 200MB per month is more than enough for Car-Net etc. and I've never paid a penny for the SIM or data in the 3 years I've had it.

 

[Welshchris]

Ah that's useful Impala - Much appreciated!

 

[jiffy]

Terms & Conditions | Three.
Impala, if you click on the link in your link, this is what comes up, as i thought, no longer available!!
The MY3 app is awful, have to keep logging in or resetting my password. I thought i would try this cheap wingle as against the Huawei because I wasn't sure if I was going to pay for carnet, but as it is now up and running i will probably keep it!

 

[Impala]

Thanks for pointing that out @jiffy - very misleading web pages by Three. I did a Google search for Three Data Reward SIM and the first result is the link which I posted. To leave that promoting the 200MB per month free and then hide the fact that it is no longer available in the T&Cs is ridiculous.

Anyway, if someone is willing to take the gamble, there are sellers on eBay advertising 'Three Mobile Sim Card With 200MB FREE Data Each Month' for around £5. Do a search on eBay for 'three data reward sim 200mb'. The SIM has to be registered with Three after purchase, so that may or may not actually get the 200MB free.

 

[jiffy]

Thats why i did the live chat, and confirmed i get the free data, then had the transcript emailed to me! But the app is awful!

 

[jiffy]

Thats why i did the live chat, and confirmed i get the free data, then had the transcript emailed to me! But the app is awful!

Hi Impala, my 1st months allowance ran out yesterday, I was expecting my free 200mb data to be showing in my account today! is this normal, just says I have no data left!!!, thanks.

 

[Impala]

Hi Impala, my 1st months allowance ran out yesterday, I was expecting my free 200mb data to be showing in my account today! is this normal, just says I have no data left!!!, thanks.

Certainly that would NOT be normal for my car. I don't think it has ever used more than about 30MB in a month and it has certainly never run out.

My wingle is permanently plugged in to the USB port, so it is always on when the car is switched on. However, even though I use the car every day it is only used for 2 short 10-15 minute journeys each day, so that may account for my low data usage. During those journeys, it uses the internet for Guide & Inform providing 'real time' traffic info and occasionally I use it to search petrol prices but I don't use the wingle as a wifi hot spot for anything other than what the car uses.

I know that newer cars have more online services than I do, but I don't know how that is split between the VW built in SIM and an owner provided internet connection.

You can top-up the wingle like a phone, but I'd wait till the next due date for the free 200MB to see what happens, then keep a close eye on it to try to determine how much data is being used each day and what for. If you log in to My Three using the wingle number, it should show the data allowance and remaing, and an expiry date. This screen shot for mine shows that I've used less than 1MB in the 6 days or so since the last renewal ...

 

[Impala]

Addendum

Does you car have Sat Nav ? Just wondering if it is doing map updates in the background.

The Mib3 units can update just the sections of maps for your local area (based on your driving history) and they do so over the air. These are much smaller than the full map database, but could still quite easily consume your data. Changing your privacy settings can disable this I believe.

I don't know of any way to check the update status as I believe the map version info displayed relates to the full database, which would be ~20GB of data.

 

[jiffy]

No, my point is that my free 200mb should start today, but my account on the terrible app shows I have no data! Your screenshot shows what I should have! So gonna have to chat with them. Grrrr. And usage so far shows that 200mb should be sufficient, just need to fight for it😡😡😡

 

[jiffy]

So, after a 2 hour live chat, all I got was an extra 1 mb for 1 month only, even after saying i have transcript saying I WILL get the 200mb a month. Also told this is going to stop for all customers, despite the 3 website saying it will be honored if you bought before a certain date!, I did, So you may need to keep an eye on your Data, Impala!
I feel cheated!