Dave wrote: > First thing to try is a USB extension lead, to get the dongle away > from interference caused by the laptop, and to be able to put the > dongle in a window away from the steel hull. A 5m buffered extension > lead may enable you to put the dongle in a plastic bag above the roof.
I'd done this pretty successfully for a number of years, until one very windy evening in February when the bag and dongle separated from the cable, followed by a plop sound... ;) As for the original question on coverage, I've recently swapped from Vodafone to Orange, but there is little between them (other than Vodafone's customer service being worse than useless.) There are not many places where you can't get coverage for an extended distance. Towns and villages are usually OK on all networks, as are stretches by major roads, as that's where they put the masts. Railways don't seem to have associated masts in my experience, so I'm not sure what technology is being used for on-board wi-fi from the likes of Virgin Trains. All the networks publish coverage maps on-line, which I've found to be pretty accurate. Steve NB Bream
