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yerself 28-07-2008 16:48

Mobile Broadband
 
Does anyone have one of these USB modem dongles? If so what are download speeds like and which network has the best coverage?

derekgas 28-07-2008 18:08

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
It is similar to the coverage you get with a mobile phone, download speed is down to the size, I have a 3g one, but you can get 7.2g off vodafone

vera 28-07-2008 18:19

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
i have a 3 one, it works on the same principal as a mobile phone, the download speed is no different to a phone line modem, well i don't think so anyway, it cost me £15 per month for 3gb and that gives me 100 hours surfing, 2000 e-mails and download 200 music tracks and 100 2 minute videos, as i do not send so many e-mails i think thge time is added onto the internet. i went into phones 4 u near me and they were really helpful

entwisi 28-07-2008 19:28

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
its purely data that counts, not emails, web pages etc, I can do a web page in a few K or a hundred megabytes, they aren't equal when it comes to data caps.

coverage depends on where you are, voda may be brill in one location and crap in another, similar for 3, orange, t mobile etc. you need to check teh real signal whereever you are likely to use it.

I use my phone as a modem and get ~3Mbps most of teh time, in city centres you may be lucky and get 7.2 if teh HSDPA signal is good.

WillowTheWhisp 28-07-2008 21:18

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
It's a lot slower than broadband but at least you can use it in a field! Our reception of whatever you call it is really manky here for most things though so it's very slow.

Neil 28-07-2008 22:34

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
As far as I am concerned its the same as wireless networking is compared to wired.
Its not as fast and its not as reliable.

entwisi 29-07-2008 05:12

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
Posted via Mobile Device

Not as fast as what though. You are comparing with 20 meg cable, the OP might have been on a 1 meg line and it will be faster than that. I use my phione a heck of a lot and its fine.

K.S.H 29-07-2008 06:31

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
I use my phone as a modem on Vodafone and you get 3 options, £1 a day - 500mb, £5 a month to the end of your contract - 500mb per day, or £7.50 per month and can cancel at any time, just pay for the month you need it - "unlimited" - note the ""'s before anyone says nothing is unlimited :)
OR you can get the dongle and pay £15 a month? I think it was last time I looked

entwisi 29-07-2008 06:38

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
yep KSH, thats how I use mine, £5/month to end of contract. Some networks don't let you use the phone as a modem though.

I also have a useful bit of software called JoikuSpot which makes my phone into a wireless access point so I don't even have to muck about with Bluetooth! :D

K.S.H 29-07-2008 06:56

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
I use the £7.50 one because I will only need it for 6 month of the year max, keep meaning to check if its start of month to end of month or if it's a 30 day period from when you start it - off now to check before I forget again!

entwisi 29-07-2008 07:57

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
I use internet all teh time so its worth it for me, having data really changes how I used my phone, I think nothing now of emailing a picture home or uploading it straight to FlickR. Google maps when in a strange town to help me get about,etc.

WillowTheWhisp 29-07-2008 10:47

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
Don't you find it fiddly on your phone though? I used to try doing that and it was so much hassle, especially trying to look at websites even with a 'big screen' which is nowhere near as big as a laptop screen.

entwisi 29-07-2008 11:19

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
my phone has a 800x357 resolution internal screen so nope :D

Also some sites have mobile versions that render better on small screen devices, my old N80 was brill with a 450x370 screen res, OK, text was tiny but I have good eyes!

yerself 31-07-2008 04:48

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by entwisi
Some networks don't let you use the phone as a modem though.

o2 being one. I phoned and asked them if I could use my phone as a modem and they said yes but I would be charged for any data, it would not be counted as part of my allowance. Something to do with my phone being a Blackberry.

cjrockman 31-07-2008 05:44

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
i have an icon 225 from orange witch is pretty fast its not quite as fast as standard broadband but its not bad im getting 7.2mbps witch is way faster than dialup

andrewb 03-08-2008 09:14

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
As entwisi says it is entirely down to the signal in your area. Even vodafones supposed 7.2 will be mostly in London or major city centres I suspect.

I've used a dongle from Three £15 for 3Gb (Can get pay as you go but need to pay £50 for the usb device). Where I was near Hull it was very good signal and I always found the 3g device to be faster than standard broadband connections, especially when I was using the Hull provider Kingston Communications!

However I only found it fast when I was in HSDPA areas or 'turbo' as Three call them. In standard 3g areas it definitely wasn't as fast as home broadband connections.

Neil 03-08-2008 14:30

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by entwisi (Post 612144)
Not as fast as what though.

I was taking about networks not broadband. Wireless is not as fast or as reliable as wired networks. Then again if we are talking broadband 802.11 g might only just cope with my 20 Mbits/s download speed (when I get it).

802.11n is not as fast as a standard wired 100Mbits/s network in real terms either. They like to pretend it does 300Mbits/s but not in real throughput tests it doesn't.

As far as security is concerned you said yourself the other day that the countries biggest ISP, BT has set its customers up with an encryption method that can be relatively simply cracked. I had a read about that and could not believe how stupid they have been.

WiFi is good for when you can't use wired. As long as you don't expect it to be ultra reliable that is ;)

flashy 22-10-2008 08:24

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
my contract was up with my broadband, i've just cancelled with BT both phone and broadband (have had to give 30 days notice) and there's a £6 cancellation fee to pay

i want to go with pay as you go broadband, dont want a contract, just want to be able to top up whenever i want to

anyone any ideas of which one to go for? i know i will have an initial lay out to buy the stick and then whatever to top it up

which is the best?

Neil 22-10-2008 08:44

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
Why do you want to do it?
Is it not more expensive?
Do you have Virgin cable?

Does your dad not have broadband? You could share.

flashy 22-10-2008 08:49

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
yeah mi dad has broadband, this is how i see it.....

i'm going back to work
my broadband cost me £14.99 a month now
my line rental for my landline is £11 odd a month, then i have my calls on top (about £40 a quarter)
so thats £25.99 a month without my calls
i pay ABOUT £130 a quarter for broadband, line rental and calls (plus VAT plus the charge for billing you)

if i buy one of those pay as you go stick things for about £50 (argos) i can top up whenever i want, no contract and no pressure on TO top up

i want to be saving money when i go back to work, not having more money to fork out than is necessary

Mick 22-10-2008 08:52

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
If your dad has broadband then you could both go wireless and share his broadband and cost.
its surprising how far a wireless signal will reach:D

flashy 22-10-2008 08:56

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
lol, he's not technical enough to realise all this Mick, and what happens when we fall out? which we do every other month, he's just as evil as me and would block it lol

but i know what you mean

entwisi 22-10-2008 09:14

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
plus its breaking teh T&Cs of teh supplier :D

the big thing is to make sure you get a good signal on whatever network you go with at the places that you need it(home, work, etc). Be warned that a good voice signal does not equal a good data signal.

depending on your mobile contract, with Voda you can get 500mb for 5 quid a month contract or 7.50 a month as and when and use your phone as a modem(phone dependant but most modern phones will do it). T mobile do web n walk for 7.50 for 1 gig but it seems they let you go to 3 gig occasionally(according to me colleague here). not sure about Orange or O2

Neil 22-10-2008 09:17

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by entwisi (Post 643531)
plus its breaking teh T&Cs of teh supplier :D

Which I believe you do when you use your phone as an access point :rolleyes::p

Neil 22-10-2008 09:17

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
Check the download limits carefully Shaz

andrewb 22-10-2008 09:24

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil (Post 643533)
Which I believe you do when you use your phone as an access point :rolleyes::p

Not on Vodafone at least. :p

andrewb 22-10-2008 09:29

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by flashytart (Post 643522)
yeah mi dad has broadband, this is how i see it.....

i'm going back to work
my broadband cost me £14.99 a month now
my line rental for my landline is £11 odd a month, then i have my calls on top (about £40 a quarter)
so thats £25.99 a month without my calls
i pay ABOUT £130 a quarter for broadband, line rental and calls (plus VAT plus the charge for billing you)

if i buy one of those pay as you go stick things for about £50 (argos) i can top up whenever i want, no contract and no pressure on TO top up

i want to be saving money when i go back to work, not having more money to fork out than is necessary

If you are after real 'mobile broadband' as in the USB stick to plug in your laptop, and want pay as you go, I think Three is the best option, providing you have good 3g or 3g+ signal in the areas you want to use it.

Its £15 for a 3Gig cap or £10 for a 1Gig cap, which you can just topup whenever you want, however it only lasts a month each time.

Have a look at 3 - Mobile Broadband - HSDPA coverage areas for a coverage check. Click the radio button next to 'HSDPA' as that is the one you're really interested in having coverage for if you want true mobile broadband speeds, basic 3g doesn't quite cut it in my opinion.

entwisi 22-10-2008 09:36

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil (Post 643533)
Which I believe you do when you use your phone as an access point :rolleyes::p

As Cyfr has also said, not on Voda. I checked when I was taking out my contract as this one one thing I particularly wanted to do. My colleague here reckons he too checked with T mobile and does use it regularly.

flashy 22-10-2008 09:56

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
i dont want it for a laptop, i just want to use it on my pc, i can plug it into my usb port on this cant i?


when it comes to it, its all about saving money

my mate has one plugged into her pc, thats on 3

entwisi 22-10-2008 10:28

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
They all work on USB whether its your phone or a Dongle. Your phone can also usually do it over bluetooth or in the case of some super duper phones like mine as a wifi access point. :D

mthead 22-10-2008 11:46

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
My son goes to Accrington Academy (Moorhead), a couple of weeks ago they started a project which is being run all across the country with the government and was fortunate to be selected to get a free laptop to help with his studies,the whole pack came with one of these dongle things which is a 'Buisiness Everywhere' Icon 225 on Orange,with free intenet access till the end of the school year.It seems ok but slower than the normal connection we have at home.But its not stopped him using it,he seems to be quite happy with his new educational toy.:)

AccyLass 22-10-2008 11:47

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
If ya just want to pay less than you are now why not go with some one like these?
Why have cheap broadband when you can have Free Broadband, compare our broadband deals

£13.75 a month
for the first 3 months
£16-99 thereafter
+ one-off set up fee of £29.99

This is the price for both Broadband and phone line

Line rental is the biggest proportion of that which is £10-50
Ya get free evening and weekend calls too

Although I wouldn't know what the service is like cos I have never used em but I would of thought that unless you will be downloading a load then normal internet surfing should be fine

Obviously this is under a contract tho

pipinfort 22-10-2008 17:53

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
You beat me to it, i was just gonna suggest Talk Talk......

entwisi 22-10-2008 18:31

Re: Mobile Broadband
 
But that still works out at ~18 quid a month for 12 months.

not exactly "free" broadband.


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