Arghhhhhh Mobile telephony and data

[Peoplesoft bloke]

My phone signal (three) seems to have got worse over the 5+ years and 4 phones I've had with them. My O2 broadband (ha) dongle is now back to the kind of crappy level that I had with my Vodafone PCMCIA "dongle" with its clip-on aerial in 2004.

Are they all as bad? Because if they are, I am seriously considering saving a bucket of cash and going back to a much simpler phone and no"mobile internet"

[Netraider]

I think a lot of it depends on location. In the centre of London, I have problems even sending mails even though I have a strong 3G signal, however in some of the smaller towns and business parks I visit, the lowest 3G signal has given me a really fast data service.

I know have a BT Openzone account £6.00 (inc VAT) for London and areas where mobile data is poor, and an O2 dongle for everywhere else.

[Spacecadet]

Contention ratios for mobile data is getting worse.

Personally, I've found my Three dongle to be very good, better than my home broadband in some cases but then I don't work or live in London

[cojak]

Contention ratios for mobile data is getting worse.

Personally, I've found my Three dongle to be very good, better than my home broadband in some cases but then I don't work or live in London

My Three Mifi is also good in London.

[doodab]

I have a three sim in my laptop, I'm lucky to get 150kbps in client co's office and I'm 200m from the "silicon roundabout"

[Spacecadet]

I have a three sim in my laptop, I'm lucky to get 150kbps in client co's office and I'm 200m from the "silicon roundabout"

have you tried using a dongle or mifi instead? The laptop is probably either not getting good reception, or can't make use of the HSPDA(?) network

[doodab]

have you tried using a dongle or mifi instead? The laptop is probably either not getting good reception, or can't make use of the HSPDA(?) network

The laptop works fine. It used to get around 3mbps on the tube in Munich and 6-7 in my flat, and it reports almost full signal in the office and connects at 7.2mbps, it's just the actual throughput is dire. I was using my android phone (on VF) but that was a bit better but not much. It's OK for some browsing and email but try and download anything sizeable and it's useless.

[nomadd]

Are they all as bad? Because if they are, I am seriously considering saving a bucket of cash and going back to a much simpler phone and no"mobile internet"

Got a Vodafone dongle, pay-as-you-go, before they started "expiring" your unused allowance at the end of the month. Been very happy with it. Mind you, the two locations I use it are pretty close to upgraded masts. No idea what it would be like in a more congested location. As ever, the only thing you can do is try out a few of the pay-as-you-go dongles from different suppliers and see which one works best for your required locations.