Pay as you go Mobile Broadband advice please.

Scania · 2 Aug 2010 at 14:00

I have just got myself an Acer Aspire 7720 Laptop and a 600w 24v = 240v inverter so I can run it in my HGV whilst I work away all week.

I am getting some pretty worrying stories of poor / non existant network coverage from many of my colleagues who use similar setups.

From what I can gather from word of mouth is Vodafone seems to be pretty good in terms of coverage & speed.

In an ideal world, I'd love to use it for a bit of on-line gaming (Battlefield 1942 / Desert combat) perhaps some FS2004 on-line flying also....

In a nutshell, this is a spec me thread!

I'm inclined to go with Vodafone but thought I'd pose the question here first...

Whats the best PAYG option for me would you say? and could anybody give me a link for a site that shows coverage for the various networks?

Thanks.

PiKe · 2 Aug 2010 at 14:43

You won't be able to game over mobile broadband so forget that, pings are terrible at the best of times.

Scania · 2 Aug 2010 at 15:03

PiKe said:
You won't be able to game over mobile broadband so forget that, pings are terrible at the best of times.

Fair enough. Tbh I was not expecting to be able to...

I'll fill it up with single player stuff then!

Mr_Sean · 2 Aug 2010 at 16:08

I would expect it really depends on where you live / intend to use the mobile BB most and how close the providers masts are to you.

I've found 3 to be very good where I am but the T-mobile my friend was using was appalling, no idea about Vodaphone but there quite a lot of masts in the my area.

If you check out this website it will show you what masts are close to your postcode and who the provider is.
http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/

Scania · 2 Aug 2010 at 16:12

Mr_Sean said:
I would expect it really depends on where you live / intend to use the mobile BB most and how close the providers masts are to you.

I've found 3 to be very good where I am but the T-mobile my friend was using was appalling, no idea about Vodaphone but there quite a lot of masts in the my area.

If you check out this website it will show you what masts are close to your postcode and who the provider is.
http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/

Cheers for that, handy link too.

My biggest problem is I will be using it pretty much all over the UK, I work from tuesday to saturday travelling the length of the country parking up wherever.... Could be London, Could be Livingston!

I'll probably check out Vodafone, currently its circa £20 to get me up & running I suppose I can always try a different provider next month.

Next, I'll need something that logs Wi-Fi hotspots I guess....

GaryS · 2 Aug 2010 at 20:02

Me from another thread said:
I set up a pay & go dongle on Three for a guy at work. Even with 2 bars on the connection it was impressively quick. I am used to accessing 3G through my O2 mobile which isn't even comparable.

Would recommend it, cost £17 for the dongle then £10 top up which gives 30 days access or 1GB.

IT Troll · 2 Aug 2010 at 22:38

Vodafone offer the only PAYG service where credit is not time limited. Which makes it a great choice for occasional use. With the others credit is only valid for a set period.

Scania · 2 Aug 2010 at 22:54

IT Troll said:
Vodafone offer the only PAYG service where credit is not time limited. Which makes it a great choice for occasional use. With the others credit is only valid for a set period.

Got a Vodafone dongle earlier, it says in the blurb that comes with it that the credit is valid for 30 days......

Should be interesting to see where it works.

Scania · 4 Aug 2010 at 09:08

Thought I'd give a brief update.

Got a Vodaphone PAYG dongle, thus far, its only failed to find a signal in Lenham, Kent.

Last night, I was parked near Daventry and even managed an hour playing Desert Combat on-line - circa 110 ping!

Thus far, very pleased, I'm off into Scotland later, see how it likes hills.....

Skillmister · 4 Aug 2010 at 09:26

I saw the title and the thread starter and imagined you driving with your knees while gaming on the fly

Sounds good so far though will be interesting to see how it is up north!

PiKe · 4 Aug 2010 at 09:37

I'm quite surprised at the 110ms ping I thought it would be more like 300ms RTT.

Aod · 4 Aug 2010 at 09:54

PiKe said:
I'm quite surprised at the 110ms ping I thought it would be more like 300ms RTT.

it varies depending on how close the mast(s) you're connected to are to the local exchange. the best 3G ping i've ever had was about 90ms RTT, the worst was around 800 :eek:

on average it is about 300 though

R420, if you're still looking for something which logs hotspots, then you want inSSIDer, which has time-lapse logging which also supports GPS tagging! :eek:

overall, a very usefull program for the wardriver!

Aod · 4 Aug 2010 at 10:01

Ooops, Doublepost - please delete!

thedinks · 4 Aug 2010 at 11:57

PiKe said:
You won't be able to game over mobile broadband so forget that, pings are terrible at the best of times.

I used to play Aion fine in work over 3.

Scania · 4 Aug 2010 at 13:05

Skillmister said:
I saw the title and the thread starter and imagined you driving with your knees while gaming on the fly

Sounds good so far though will be interesting to see how it is up north!

LOL - I am resisting the temptation.

Aod said:
it varies depending on how close the mast(s) you're connected to are to the local exchange. the best 3G ping i've ever had was about 90ms RTT, the worst was around 800

on average it is about 300 though

R420, if you're still looking for something which logs hotspots, then you want inSSIDer, which has time-lapse logging which also supports GPS tagging!

overall, a very usefull program for the wardriver!

Cheers for the link (it seems not to work , but I now know what to google for)

I am currently at Wakefield Industrial park off J41 of the M1, 400+ on the pings listed for Battlefield here, it certainly seems to vary...