Reply to: Mobile Broadband

[SantaClaus]

In Bloomsbury last week I was lucky to get 2kbps with Voda. Oh well.

Yep, Bloomsbury is a bit variable, especially in the Brunswick Centre.

Excellent reception in Highgate Village though thanks to the huge mast in Bisham Gardens.

I feel sorry for the residents of that street though, being fryed by numerous microwave dishes, cellphone antenna, etc

[Paddy]

Why do they call it 'broadband'. I have been trying to use a Vodafone mobile broadband USB dongle in the middle of a city centre and it's giving me speeds of 2 KBPS and sometimes speeds in BPS too. Poor value IMO and worse than dial up modems.

I had thought Vodafone had superior network capability, but clearly this is not the case.

You need a proper antenna, (cost about £30-£100) then it works.

[ASB]

Got Vodafone and it works fine in London for internet surfing.

When 3G+ connection is showing, its almost as fast as my wired connection.

In Bloomsbury last week I was lucky to get 2kbps with Voda. Oh well.

[SantaClaus]

Hey Santa, how's the dirty spekulation going?

Making some good money?

Spekulation is so dirty right now, I can smell the filthy lucre from here

[DimPrawn]

Hey Santa, how's the dirty spekulation going?

Making some good money?

[SantaClaus]

Got Vodafone and it works fine in London for internet surfing.

When 3G+ connection is showing, its almost as fast as my wired connection.

[SuperZ]

My tip is to use Firefox and disable images if you're in a poor 3G location, providing it is of course text mostly that you are reading when surfing.

I've used a Vodafone 3G dongle since 2007 and only pay £8 a month now for something like 3GB of data. Most of the places I have worked must admit have had poor transfer speeds with the thing but it has still been useful for me when in hotels and when renting apartments near client locations. I'm kinda out in the sticks with a client now and it still works albeit not at the full 3G speed. But with images turned off it's still usable and for £8 a month it's worth it.

[doodab]

Why do they call it 'broadband'. I have been trying to use a Vodafone mobile broadband USB dongle in the middle of a city centre and it's giving me speeds of 2 KBPS and sometimes speeds in BPS too. Poor value IMO and worse than dial up modems.

I had thought Vodafone had superior network capability, but clearly this is not the case.

I got a full 7.2mbps, but I was in one of their offices at the time.

[fullyautomatix]

I have Orange,Vodafone and Three dongles.

Even when it says the connection is 3G+ (HSDPA) the latency and connection speed you actually get (not what the dongle says you have theoretically) is appalling.

Apart from emergency usage, DON'T bother, it's nearly a big a scam as paying for CO2 emissions.

I agree. My experience entirely. It does look like a scam to me. If they sell me a mobile broadband dongle it should give me broadband speeds in urban areas. I do not especially care what technology they use, be it 3G or GPRS or any other. It is their problem. They sold me the dongle so it is their problem installing the infrastructure.

[DimPrawn]

I have Orange,Vodafone and Three dongles.

Even when it says the connection is 3G+ (HSDPA) the latency and connection speed you actually get (not what the dongle says you have theoretically) is appalling.

Apart from emergency usage, DON'T bother, it's nearly a big a scam as paying for CO2 emissions.

[Tarquin Farquhar]

Why do they call it 'broadband'. I have been trying to use a Vodafone mobile broadband USB dongle in the middle of a city centre and it's giving me speeds of 2 KBPS and sometimes speeds in BPS too. Poor value IMO and worse than dial up modems.

I had thought Vodafone had superior network capability, but clearly this is not the case.

A dongle will use 3G if it is available in that spot, GPRS otherwise. 3G is broadband, faster than my home connection. GPRS is the mobile phone network, slower than dialup on a landline. That's the difference, and it's not just across the country, it can change across the room.

[alreadypacked]

I am using a USB dongle here in India, same location, IST morning speed much faster than the evening

[gingerjedi]

I'm getting 460Kbps using a tethered mobile after my phone line went dead during a botched attempt to change my BB tariff within the same ISP, I have no idea how they managed to feck that up?

It's not ideal but it does make me wonder why I pay for both BB and a fixed phone line as it's an acceptable speed for browsing and retrieving email.

[FarmerPalmer]

My vodafone connection at client cos has always been comparable with my home broadband.

But then, from developing 3g networks, I know that the bandwidth allocated will it depend on where you use it, and who else is using it. I don't live or work in a city, so less competition for bandwidth from the basestation.

[Sockpuppet]

Where ? Does the speed vary when you travel across the country ? I have gotten good speeds in London centre but that is not where I want to use the dongle.

Welwyn Garden City

I get a 3G signal most places. Then again I generally use it on industrial parks that are a) covered well and b) not high rise.