3G dongles in UK/Ireland?

[jaywalker]

I need a lot of advice because I know next to nothing about using the mobile phone network for internet access.

At the moment I think the easiest/most-cost-effective way is to purchase a 3G dongle with a good data plan. The target platform is a mini laptop running Mageia 2.

Do I have to worry about drivers not being available for every conceivable USB dongle I might buy?

Are dongles always tied to a particular network or can I get one to take any 3G sim?

The dongle is for use in the Republic of Ireland so any advice on a "good" 3G network will be gratefully received. I hope to do the deal on Wednesday, 21 November so I can get my brother "connected" at the weekend. He is in a hospital with no wifi access.

Richard

[doktor5000]

Normally these dongles don't need special drivers, mostly they're using the usbserial kernel module, as those are simple modems.
Some of the newer and not so commonly used ones are a bit problematic, as there is no usb_modeswitch rule for them,
or other problems switching them from usb key/CDROM to modem mode. Just search around here to rule out ones which do not
work so well.

FWIW, i've got a ZTE 110 for ~10$, together with my DSL connection, and it's working just fine.

[jaywalker]

Thanks Doc, that makes me more confident about the driver issue. I suppose that if the dongle advertises no special functions other than 3G (like data storage) then I am less likely to have to worry about mode switching...

... on the other hand, it looks like I will be getting a K3772 stick modem for Vodafone and that does need some usb_modeswitch magic, but Google tells me it has been made to work before so I have my fingers crossed.

R

[pete910]

Just set up a ZTE MF627 dongle on three UK on Mageia 2 for a friend.

Wasn't working to start with, or so I thought. Then went to KDE's network manager(easier for them coming from XP) and it was there listed as "Mobile Broadband". Hit the connect button and it worked fine.

That one also shows a cd drive up in dolphin. Shame they don't put a read-me file for *nix users in it. Has the driver etc for win.