Mobile Broadband - which provider?

I'm looking to get a PAYG Mobile Broadband dongle.
I'm only going to be using it for general email/Usenet and browsing use, so
nothing to heavy.

Thanks.

---

› See More: Mobile Broadband - which provider?

For the best national coverage "Three" is the best, in my opinion, plus
they allow voip. I have used them for 8 months now no problem. If you live
in a City or large town you can take your pick of all other providers but
most do not allow voip.

"mark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:423930f1-1c58-43cc-acbf-29019670dc0a@y29g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
On Oct 13, 10:52 am, "Section <31T>"
<[email protected]> wrote:
> Thanks...
> I was thinking about Three as well as theire Executive Office is 15 mins
> walk from my front door!

LOL ... in which case you would expect pretty excellent coverage.

You would think so! Just spoke to my neighbor, he has (lack of a better
word) crap coverage!

On 13 Oct, 14:52, "FSC" <[email protected]> wrote:
> "mark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> news:423930f1-1c58-43cc-acbf-29019670dc0a@y29g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
> On Oct 13, 10:52 am, "Section <31T>"
>
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Thanks...
> > I was thinking about Three as well as theire Executive Office is 15 mins
> > walk from my front door!
>
> LOL ... in which case you would expect pretty excellent coverage.
>
> You would think so! Just spoke to my neighbor, he has (lack of a better
> word) crap coverage!

If you can get coverage 3 have just launched a pay and go dongle for
£99.95 upfront which comes preloaded with a 12GB allowance that lasts
for 12 months. then it's their normal pay ang go rates, considering I
think they used to sell them for £49.95 with no credit that seems
quite a good deal......(phones4u sell them for this price they are
£149.95 on three's website)

On 12 Oct, 18:03, "Section <31T>"
<[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm looking to get a PAYG Mobile Broadband dongle.
> I'm only going to be using it for general email/Usenet and browsing use, so
> nothing to heavy.

I tried a 3 dongle in Edinburgh and returned it. Connection speeds
were fine but data throughput was appalling - typically 60kbps. I have
heard others say that 3 can be very variable.

I now have a contract with T-Mobile. I'm very happy with it, not least
because it includes unlimited use of T-Mobile hotspots and 300
minutes / month on BT Openzone.

Ian

In message
<6d733e68-e89d-41aa-b539-a7aaef38ca10@d31g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>, Ian
<[email protected]> writes

>I now have a contract with T-Mobile. I'm very happy with it, not least
>because it includes unlimited use of T-Mobile hotspots and 300
>minutes / month on BT Openzone.

I've got 2 contracts, one with 3 and one with T-mobile. There was an
overlap going from T-mobile to 3, but as the T-mobile performance is
better I retained the contract (with a 50% discount).

Apparently 3 and T-Mob share their 3G radios, but with the sustained
bandwidth advantage I get on T-mobile (irrespective of the high claimed
link speed with 3) I suspect that the T-Mob back end infrastructure is
bigger/better.

I have been in some rural situations where only the 3 dongle works
however as (as I understand it) that drops back to Orange for 2G/GPRS
connectivity
--
Gyp
Change to dotcom to reply

Gyp wrote:

>
> I have been in some rural situations where only the 3 dongle works
> however as (as I understand it) that drops back to Orange for 2G/GPRS
> connectivity

I've just come back from Wales (on the coast in Fishguard) and had
no 3 coverage on the dongle at all. A 3 phone works fine, using the
fall back to Orange (100% signal strength indication).

I've spoken to 3 and they are clear that their data service is 3G
only - i.e. there is no fall back to 2G (although the modem appears
perfectly capable of support it, if there were).

I would have put this down to 3's poor customer support knowledge,
but it appears to be borne out in practice.

regards, Ian

Ian Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
> I've just come back from Wales (on the coast in Fishguard) and had
> no 3 coverage on the dongle at all. A 3 phone works fine, using the
> fall back to Orange (100% signal strength indication).
>
> I've spoken to 3 and they are clear that their data service is 3G
> only - i.e. there is no fall back to 2G (although the modem appears
> perfectly capable of support it, if there were).

I was in west Wales earlier this year using a 3G phone on Three. Outside of
the bigger towns (Shrewsbury, Aberystwyth, Wrexham) there was no 3G signal
and the phone fell back to 2G. It wasn't fast, but it definitely worked up
to a point. There was quite a few occasions where 'reload' was frequently
required and long pauses. I think I worked out some of these was Opera Mini
getting its settings confused, but some of it was patchy signals in
buildings. It seemed like when it worked there was full 2G data rate, but
actually making the connection in the first place was the problem.

I'm pretty sure it was working in the main square in Fishguard. It was
definitely working a few miles down the coast.

I've also used it quite frequently in other places when it's fallen back to
2G: not 100% reliable but definitely some data throughput.

Theo

In article <iFz*[email protected]>, Theo Markettos
<[email protected]> scribeth thus
>Ian Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
>> I've just come back from Wales (on the coast in Fishguard) and had
>> no 3 coverage on the dongle at all. A 3 phone works fine, using the
>> fall back to Orange (100% signal strength indication).
>>
>> I've spoken to 3 and they are clear that their data service is 3G
>> only - i.e. there is no fall back to 2G (although the modem appears
>> perfectly capable of support it, if there were).
>
>I was in west Wales earlier this year using a 3G phone on Three. Outside of
>the bigger towns (Shrewsbury, Aberystwyth, Wrexham) there was no 3G signal
>and the phone fell back to 2G. It wasn't fast, but it definitely worked up
>to a point. There was quite a few occasions where 'reload' was frequently
>required and long pauses. I think I worked out some of these was Opera Mini
>getting its settings confused, but some of it was patchy signals in
>buildings. It seemed like when it worked there was full 2G data rate, but
>actually making the connection in the first place was the problem.
>
>I'm pretty sure it was working in the main square in Fishguard. It was
>definitely working a few miles down the coast.
>
>I've also used it quite frequently in other places when it's fallen back to
>2G: not 100% reliable but definitely some data throughput.
>
>Theo

Some.. Even in Ely Cambs not the back of beyond, my 3 G modem on Voda
manages the staggering rate of 31.2 K/bits;!!...
--
Tony Sayer

Theo Markettos wrote:
> Ian Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
>> I've just come back from Wales (on the coast in Fishguard) and had
>> no 3 coverage on the dongle at all. A 3 phone works fine, using the
>> fall back to Orange (100% signal strength indication).
>>
>> I've spoken to 3 and they are clear that their data service is 3G
>> only - i.e. there is no fall back to 2G (although the modem appears
>> perfectly capable of support it, if there were).
>
> I was in west Wales earlier this year using a 3G phone on Three. Outside of
> the bigger towns (Shrewsbury, Aberystwyth, Wrexham) there was no 3G signal
> and the phone fell back to 2G. It wasn't fast, but it definitely worked up
> to a point. There was quite a few occasions where 'reload' was frequently
> required and long pauses. I think I worked out some of these was Opera Mini
> getting its settings confused, but some of it was patchy signals in
> buildings. It seemed like when it worked there was full 2G data rate, but
> actually making the connection in the first place was the problem.
>
> I'm pretty sure it was working in the main square in Fishguard. It was
> definitely working a few miles down the coast.
>
> I've also used it quite frequently in other places when it's fallen back to
> 2G: not 100% reliable but definitely some data throughput.
>

Looking at Fishguard (SA65 9HA) on the coverage checker (and
ignoring the colouring abnormalities on their mapping) it shows no
Internet or HSDPA until 3G cuts in.

Maybe there is a difference between using a phone for WAP browsing
and using a dedicated dongle on a data contract. I've got the Hauwai
E220, which appears to support GSM 900/1800/1900 and 3G. Using a 3
phone I could see no 3 3G coverage, but there was 3 2G coverage,
which I could deduce was being provided by Orange by looking at the
network list. The modem reported no signal at all. I called 3 and
they confirmed that data doesn't fall back to 2G.

regards, Ian

Ian Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
> Maybe there is a difference between using a phone for WAP browsing
> and using a dedicated dongle on a data contract. I've got the Hauwai
> E220, which appears to support GSM 900/1800/1900 and 3G. Using a 3
> phone I could see no 3 3G coverage, but there was 3 2G coverage,
> which I could deduce was being provided by Orange by looking at the
> network list. The modem reported no signal at all. I called 3 and
> they confirmed that data doesn't fall back to 2G.

I wonder if it's that the dongle is configured not to drop back to 2G? That
might be plausible because if you're in a 2G/3G marginal area you'd rather
it tried to stay connected to the 3G signal rather than switching to 2G and
dropping all your network connections. And it'd also save Three some cash


FWIW my phone is the other way around - can be configured 3G/2G or 2G,
but not just 3G. Which is annoying when doing this kind of thing.

I didn't have a laptop with me then, but I'm pretty sure I've used the phone
as a modem with a laptop in a 2G area (well, I've definitely used it in a
marginal area and I think some of that was on forced-2G). Indeed, my PAYG
bytes-left counter decreased as expected.

Theo

Theo Markettos wrote:

>
> I wonder if it's that the dongle is configured not to drop back to 2G? That
> might be plausible because if you're in a 2G/3G marginal area you'd rather
> it tried to stay connected to the 3G signal rather than switching to 2G and
> dropping all your network connections. And it'd also save Three some cash

It isn't a marginal 3G area. There is no 3G coverage, full stop, not
even in the upper town.

Maybe it is the opposite of what you suggest - e.g. it requires 3G
coverage and registration to allow you then to drop back to 2G if 3G
gets too flakey?

regards, Ian

In message <kFz*[email protected]>, Theo Markettos
<[email protected]> writes

>I wonder if it's that the dongle is configured not to drop back to 2G?

Mine does.

And the light's prettier too.

--
Gyp
Change to dotcom to reply

In message <[email protected]>, Ian Smith
<[email protected]> writes
>Gyp wrote:
>> In message <kFz*[email protected]>, Theo Markettos
>><[email protected]> writes
>>
>>> I wonder if it's that the dongle is configured not to drop back to
>>>2G?
>> Mine does.
>> And the light's prettier too.
>>
>
>What network and what dongle?

3

The white one (Huawei E220)

I mention it as the behaviour is at odds with what others have seen/been
told by 3
--
Gyp
Change to dotcom to reply

Gyp wrote:
> In message <[email protected]>, Ian Smith
> <[email protected]> writes
>> Gyp wrote:
>>> In message <kFz*[email protected]>, Theo Markettos
>>> <[email protected]> writes
>>>
>>>> I wonder if it's that the dongle is configured not to drop back to 2G?
>>> Mine does.
>>> And the light's prettier too.
>>>
>>
>> What network and what dongle?
>
> 3
>
> The white one (Huawei E220)
>
> I mention it as the behaviour is at odds with what others have seen/been
> told by 3

What indication are you getting that makes you think it is on 2G
(and what colour is the LED?).

regards
Ian