O2 pay as you go data access

Im thinking of getting 3g. Is it any good? I need something that works
in the express card slot on a macbook pro.

On 2008-03-21 17:14:35 +0000, roger.valentine@yahoo.com said:

> Im thinking of getting 3g. Is it any good? I need something that works
> in the express card slot on a macbook pro.

I've been very disappointed with 3G from Orange. It works but not very
fast. Can't comment about O2. Why does it need to be an express
card? I used a bluetooth connection to a nokia N73 which seems
reliable. What about one of the many USB dongles on the market at the
moment?


--

Ray
http://xri.net/=ray.hutchings

On Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:51:14 +0000, Ray Hutchings wrote
(in article <2008032322511416807-rayh@nospamcom>):

> On 2008-03-21 17:14:35 +0000, roger.valentine@yahoo.com said:
>
>> Im thinking of getting 3g. Is it any good? I need something that works
>> in the express card slot on a macbook pro.
>
> I've been very disappointed with 3G from Orange. It works but not very
> fast. Can't comment about O2. Why does it need to be an express
> card? I used a bluetooth connection to a nokia N73 which seems
> reliable. What about one of the many USB dongles on the market at the
> moment?
>
>
>

get a t-mobile dongle very good £15 a month for as much as you can use and it
gives you wifi connection in starbuck, mcdonalds and a few other places as
well.

On 23 Mar, 22:51, Ray Hutchings <r...@nospam.com> wrote:
> On 2008-03-21 17:14:35 +0000, roger.valent...@yahoo.com said:
>
> > Im thinking of getting 3g. Is it any good? I need something that works
> > in the express card slot on a macbook pro.
>
> I've been very disappointed with 3G from Orange. *It works but not very
> fast. *Can't comment about O2. * Why does it need to be an express
> card? I used a bluetooth connection to a nokia N73 which seems
> reliable. What about one of the many USB dongles on the market at the
> moment?

I'm using a Vodafone 3G USB dongle with a MacBook Pro.

It works really well. Slow if you're only getting a GPRS signal, but
much faster with 3G or HSPDA. The latter (if I've got it right) is far
more prevalent than I'd been led to believe. Even on 3G whilst in
Bridgend the other day we were able to use the BBC iPlayer with no
rebuffering or stuttering. Pretty impressive.

Vodafone Mac support is quite poor, though I'm now starting to get
sensible answers from their new online forum. I was recommended
Cheetahwatch, which will work with other providers if you're using the
right dongle.

<http://m.ac.nz/cheetahwatch/

Danny

On 2008-03-24 13:02:59 +0000, Rick Marks <dikm@yahoo.com> said:

> Er, Orange and data are two words that have always been strangers. If
> you've ever had the misfortune to use (sic) GPRS on O you'll know what
> I mean.

I keep looking at the Vodafone 3G option with one of the USB modems.
I've been put off because the 3G I get from Orange is very poor. My
old V3 RAZR was on GPRS and that was bad too. I would be interested in
peoples experience with Vodafone.


--
Ray
http://xri.net/=ray.hutchings

> I've been very disappointed with 3G from Orange. It works but not very
> fast. Can't comment about O2. Why does it need to be an express
> card? I used a bluetooth connection to a nokia N73 which seems
> reliable. What about one of the many USB dongles on the market at the
> moment?

The N73 only supports UTMS (a couple of hundred kbps), not HSDPA (a
couple of mbps)... Still it's faster than an iPhone outside a hotspot!
The USB dongles use HSDPA and will be much quicker.

On 2008-03-24 16:23:29 +0000, Fry <me@privacy.net> said:

>
> The N73 only supports UTMS (a couple of hundred kbps), not HSDPA (a
> couple of mbps)... Still it's faster than an iPhone outside a hotspot!
> The USB dongles use HSDPA and will be much quicker.


Hmmmm, Checking the phone's manual and a little digging with wiki suggests:

a maximum of 384 k bits with UMTS which is what the N73 supports
with Orange

a maximum of 1.8 M bits form Vodafone with their USB modem which
supports HSDPA

So on paper the Vodafone service is a clear winner. What about in real life?


--
Ray
http://xri.net/=ray.hutchings