Mobile internet access - buyer beware!

Mobile internet access has been around for a while but is finally going mainstream.  You add a USB 'dongle' to your PC, pop a SIM card in it, and hey presto you can access the internet anywhere you can find a mobile signal.

All the providers are on board with pay as you go and contract deals and despite being a fairly new product prices are reasonable.

However!  Tiny Island Computers urges you to decide exactly what you need to do with your dongle and be sure to buy the right one.  I have several customers using Vodafone dongles (both pre-pay and contract) to access secure VPN's via Citrix but not all providers would allow this.  Amazingly I have heard that the Virgin product doesn't even allow SMPT mail server access!