Mobile Broadband

[yerself]

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

[derekgas]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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!

[K.S.H]

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]

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]

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]

my phone has a 800x357 resolution internal screen so nope

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]

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]

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