3G Broadband - Any Good?

arty

arty

arty

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
6,887
Location
Stamford
I'm going to be moving house at very short notice (like next Thursday :eek: ) and need to get an internet connection sorted out pretty sharpish for work-related support, which I do from home. I have no particular need for a landline telephone, and today a friend at work suggested I look into the mobile 3G broadband packages out there.

I'd really appreciate any info on the following :)

  • How stable are these connections? I don't do a lot of downloading particularly, but the Citrix client I use to connect to work would be horrendous if it keeps dropping.
  • Vodafone claim you can get a max speed of 7.2Mbps from their service. On their coverage map the house I'm moving into is in a 3G Broadband area; does this mean I'd be able to get 7.2Mbps potentially?
  • Is it feasible to use a wireless router with one of these connections? I'd rather avoid going back to the gateway computer connection sharing days if I can :)

As above, I really appreciate any information or thoughts anyone has. I've searched the forum but may have missed stuff.

Thanks,

arty
 
Can't comment on the speed you would get from Vodafone's new service, although I do get 1.8Mbit/sec out of my N95 using HSDPA on T-Mobile with Web n Walk.

It is as stable as the signal is, I find when I am on a train it will often disconnect if it moves into an area with no 3G signal as it can not migrate you from 3G to a GSM connection, but when in one location its been very good.

As for a router try and pick up a DrayTek 2910, you can normally get a good deal on one second hand from the auction sites.

Edit:

Just thought that I would mention the latency can be quite high, often around the 80Ms mark. The best thing to do would be to buy one from Vodafone or another provider but make sure you could return it within a couple of weeks and able to cancel the contract with no costs if you find that it's not working for you.
 
I've attained ~4mpbs through my HTC TyTN on vodafones HSDPA service. Its certainly quick enough so long as you are in the correct location, and is totally stable as long as the phone network is up :)
 
Thanks for the replies. I've had a chat to a lady in a 3 shop today who has given me a few useful pointers which I'm going to follow up, but I need to decide today if I'm going to suffer BT or try to minimise the pain :p

arty
 
wij said:
It is as stable as the signal is, I find when I am on a train it will often disconnect if it moves into an area with no 3G signal as it can not migrate you from 3G to a GSM connection, but when in one location its been very good.
Click to expand...

That's not too good, with an O2 Merlin 3G/GPRS data card I'm able to travel between 3G and GPRS zones on the train without any loss of internet. I would certainly notice as I mainly use ssh which would disconnect if there was a problem. I've recently travelled from Slough to Salisbury via Reading and Basingstoke and left the connection on the whole time (apart from at stations).
 
In the end I've decided to go for standard ADSL, not least because BT were surprisingly helpful when I spoke to them on the phone yesterday. As it's just a reconnection + new number, I'm hoping I'll be able to get on the net after a week or so of taking ownership of the house :)

Thanks anyway for the info...

arty
 
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