[Stu]

I'd put it in your mother's name. If you are not on the electoral role and don't have UK employment, they'll probably want a deposit. On a data only plan, they might not, but your mother will definitely pass.

With respect to dongle v. tether, I have both in my war chest. I like tethering better for most jobs. I can connect to the internet as quickly with either a dongle or a phone. On an all you can eat data plan, I can use my data when running around town for a Blackberry type experience, and I an go back to the room and tether.

I use a dongle for a more fixed connection type experience. I have a Cradle Point router and can also convert my mobile data into a wifi device and this was nice earlier this year when I was in a studio apartment that we rented for two weeks. My wife and I shared the connection, I also had a voip handset in the apartment, and streamed my music off my Sirrius Stilleto which is a satelite radio which falls back on Internet connections. If I can find a good French data plan, I plan on doing this in the South of France next month where we are sharing an apartment with our best friends.

Tomorrow, I am driving to a neighboring town for an overnight business meeting. The hotel charges $10 a night for internet and I'm just going to web surf and check e-mail. My PDA, notebook, and a tethering cable is all that I am going to take.

One thing I would note is that my PDA is not usually my voice phone so I can still take calls while online. Technically you can do this with a 3g handset, but you will probably be held to your computer by a 1 meter cable.