Roaming with Cel C dongle?

[Slashback]

Here's a noob question .....
I have scratched around on the forum for an answer but have not seen anything yet.
Is it possible to "roam" with your Cel C dongle? Can it be "opened" like a cel phone for roaming? I am going to Germany and Austria on business next month, and would like to use it to keep in touch with family etc back home.
Cheers!

 

[davemc]

You're asking if the modem is locked to the Cell C network.

In this country, that practice is disallowed.

 

[JerryMungo]

Here's what you do:

Download MDMA from here:
http://www.nerve.org.za/mdma/

Setup a manual dial-up connection for your modem by:
1) Connect the modem (then exit any software that 'autoruns' - you can't use the Cell C software abroad)
2) In windows 7, go to network and sharing center, setup a new connection, setup a dial-up connection, enter *99# as the phone number, leave user/pass blank, call it something like "Internet via Dongle" under connection name. Click Connect, then Skip then close. At some point you may need to specify the modem if you have more than one in your machine.

Start MDMA that you downloaded above. It should detect your dongle and report signal strength, etc. You may need to specify the APN when you get to your destination (ask the foreign cell provider). Otherwise click connect and select the dial-up connection you created above.

I use MDMA all the time, even at home, it's wayy better than most service providers own software... tbh, I bought my dongle abroad and unlocked it cos it cost me R250 cash.

 

[rorz0r]

If you want to roam with the modem follow the instructions above.
If you want to roam with the sim card, then no. I'm not sure if you can roam with it but the Cell C rep did it wouldn't be using your "bundle", which means you would be charged about R140/mb. Much better to get a prepaid sim there and use it in your modem with MDMA.

 

[Slashback]

Thanks guys...I'm gonna give it a bash.
Hopefully they will have internet connections in the hotels, but this will just be a back-up for "just in case"
I must just add, this Cel c things rocks in PmBurg! No dropped connections and downloads are a breeze!

 

[ginggs]

Is it possible to "roam" with your Cel C dongle? Can it be "opened" like a cel phone for roaming? I am going to Germany and Austria on business next month, and would like to use it to keep in touch with family etc back home.

You should just be able to activate roaming by calling 140 as with any other Cell-C SIM, see here.

Remember that using data while roaming is very expensive, you won't be able to use the data that is part of your data bundle. It is much better to just buy a local prepaid SIM when you get to your destination.

 

[Terencek]

It might also be useful to point out that your dashboard may report that you are 'roaming' even if you are in South Africa but are actually getting your Cell C signal from a Vodacom tower. I'm on the 2GB prepaid promotion and that works fine, depleting my bundle at the normal rate -- but we can only assume that if you are on contract, this so-called 'roaming' is not actually billed at roaming rates!!