My Vodafone data contract is cancelled and in future I’ll be using the iPhone’s Personal Hotspot feature when necessary. But to lighten the load I’ve at last succumbed to taking out a £15-per-month contract with BT OpenZone.
Over the past couple of years OZ hotspots are everywhere in London. The ability to connect my MacBook Air or the new iPad will help, particularly since I am now relying on one carrier for 3G data.
The sheer ubiquity of OpenZone and the reciprocal arrangements with other services around the world is definitely something to appreciate.
On the other hand, I do have some minor niggles. It’s inevitable, I suspect, that you have to log in with username and password every time. But to have to remember to log out is a big chore and, in some cases, potentially disastrous.
The problem is that BT charges by the minute rather than by the megabyte, if you forget to log out – which is ridiculously easy – you run the risk of the clock continuing to tick. A data charge, rather than a time charge, is clearly a preferred option.
My plan with BT includes “unlimited” minutes, so I don’t worry on a day-to-day basis. But roaming on other networks, especially abroad where extra charges apply, can bring risk.