Vodafone Mobile Connect

[bogeyman]

Anyone use it?

Thought it might be a good idea so got their mobile broadband dongle for use with my MacBook.

Slow? It's like the old days of 56K dial-up - only worse. I get 4 bars on my Vodaphone 3G phone but this turd of connectivity limps along so slowly that even the Google homepage takes 30 seconds to render.

I was using it in the middle of Oxford, not in the outer Hebrides FFS!

I have a Verizon dongle I use in Canada and it goes like shyte off a shovel, even out in the bush.

Have I got a duff dongle or is the Vodafone service generally shyte?

Needless to say, I get no help from Vodafone - they claim I must be in a reception blackspot or some such bollocks.

[ASB]

I use the pcmcia card. I get one bar on the 3G connection inside, it's not too bad. Speedtest says its about 1mbit.

Try on the Voda forums rather than CS. If you give them the postcode you are in then they can try and see if the cell is playing up. They do try and be helpful on the forums. It does seem to me from searching that quite a few people do get localised problems from time to time.

I get the google home page in about 5 secs. That going throug VPN to the corporate proxy and the DNS is bloody slow. At night when everybodys gone home it's about 2 secs.

Dunno if this is any help whatsoever but I don't get that many problems - except with the VPN corporate network.

[bogeyman]

Thanks ASB.

Will try the forums.

[Spacecadet]

couple of things I've found with the Three Mobile BB dongle

1. don't use the wireless mouse at the same time, there seems to be a bit interference

2. Whenever possible use the USB cable and position the dongle away from the laptop, when i'm in a hotel and using it I try and hang it over the desk lamp

[FarmerPalmer]

if it is slow then its probably going via GPRS (GSM) - you can force it in software to go 3G only. You can tell on my Vodafone PCMCIA card by the led: Green = GSM GPRS, Blue = 3G, Cyan = 3G+ HSDPA

[dinker]

Stand on a chair and hold the dongle above your head, reception won`t be any better but it will give everyone a laugh.

[bogeyman]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone (except Dinker )

[London75]

I found Vodafone to be turd. Returned it within 14 days for full money back although they denied all knowledge until I told them which of their little junior thieves had signed for it and got a three dongle with free laptop. Capped at 3.6Mb but I get that everywhere rather than in the 7 square metres of the UK Vodafone works at full speed!

[ASB]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone (except Dinker )

Actually Dinkers suggestion isn't entirely without merit. I get a 3g signal in one very specific place. Also you can get an external aerial for the PCMCIA card, this is supposed to be a significant improvement (though I haven't tried it). The dongle may have a connector. I beleive external aerials are all a standard fitting.

http://www.antennas-online.co.uk/

[bogeyman]

Actually Dinkers suggestion isn't entirely without merit. I get a 3g signal in one very specific place. Also you can get an external aerial for the PCMCIA card, this is supposed to be a significant improvement (though I haven't tried it). The dongle may have a connector. I beleive external aerials are all a standard fitting.

http://www.antennas-online.co.uk/

There's no ext antenna connection on the Vodafone dongle.

Have tried using it on a short USB extension cable but no discernible improvement.

As I said I use a Verizon version of the same dongle when I'm working in Western Canada and that works very well indeed, almost anywhere - even where the bears go to shyt.

If Verizon can cover huge tracts of British Columbia with 3G wireless broadband then why can't Vodafone even cover the City of Oxford?