Hi, desperate to get shot of BT, I note on the 3G website BB checker
they say my coverage is very good on my postcode. I just rang and
checked and they also confirmed it. Seems strange as 02 and tmobile
coverage is pretty poor and 02 say dont go for mobile BB in my area.
Anyway 3G reckon its good for my home PC just plug the dongle in and
we are away.
What do you lot think? We only surf the net and email really,
currently running at around 2.5gb pm so the 5gb 3G should be ample.
TIA
PS its for use on a home PC and not a laptop so will be under a desk
but stay in the same room, any issues with this?
"lloyd" <plums@none.co.uk> wrote in message news:kgdue59m1rq2n3re1hv064hjn7sru6pi1q@4ax.com...
> Hi, desperate to get shot of BT, I note on the 3G website BB checker
> they say my coverage is very good on my postcode. I just rang and
> checked and they also confirmed it. Seems strange as 02 and tmobile
> coverage is pretty poor and 02 say dont go for mobile BB in my area.
> Anyway 3G reckon its good for my home PC just plug the dongle in and
> we are away.
>
> What do you lot think? We only surf the net and email really,
> currently running at around 2.5gb pm so the 5gb 3G should be ample.
> TIA
>
> PS its for use on a home PC and not a laptop so will be under a desk
> but stay in the same room, any issues with this?
They will probably provide a USB 'A' male to 'A' female extension cable
so you can position the dongle for a better signal
On Tue, 3 Nov 2009 03:04:38 -0000, "Graham." <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>
>"lloyd" <plums@none.co.uk> wrote in message news:kgdue59m1rq2n3re1hv064hjn7sru6pi1q@4ax.com...
>> Hi, desperate to get shot of BT, I note on the 3G website BB checker
>> they say my coverage is very good on my postcode. I just rang and
>> checked and they also confirmed it. Seems strange as 02 and tmobile
>> coverage is pretty poor and 02 say dont go for mobile BB in my area.
>> Anyway 3G reckon its good for my home PC just plug the dongle in and
>> we are away.
>>
>> What do you lot think? We only surf the net and email really,
>> currently running at around 2.5gb pm so the 5gb 3G should be ample.
>> TIA
>>
>> PS its for use on a home PC and not a laptop so will be under a desk
>> but stay in the same room, any issues with this?
>
>They will probably provide a USB 'A' male to 'A' female extension cable
>so you can position the dongle for a better signal
That will be handy, though I do appreciate I may well need to relocate
PC anyway. Sods law their mast direction is on the wrong side of the
house.
I'm going to go with the 14 day trial anyway to test it out. If
successful is there anyway to lose the dongle and have a *normal*
router type setup? My PC is not wifi presently and I don't really like
it anyhow if I can possibly avoid it. Though it's obviously a mobile
network.
On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:40:37 +0000, lloyd <plums@none.co.uk> wrote:
>On Tue, 3 Nov 2009 03:04:38 -0000, "Graham." <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>"lloyd" <plums@none.co.uk> wrote in message news:kgdue59m1rq2n3re1hv064hjn7sru6pi1q@4ax.com...
>>> Hi, desperate to get shot of BT, I note on the 3G website BB checker
>>> they say my coverage is very good on my postcode. I just rang and
>>> checked and they also confirmed it. Seems strange as 02 and tmobile
>>> coverage is pretty poor and 02 say dont go for mobile BB in my area.
>>> Anyway 3G reckon its good for my home PC just plug the dongle in and
>>> we are away.
>>>
>>> What do you lot think? We only surf the net and email really,
>>> currently running at around 2.5gb pm so the 5gb 3G should be ample.
>>> TIA
>>>
>>> PS its for use on a home PC and not a laptop so will be under a desk
>>> but stay in the same room, any issues with this?
>>
>>They will probably provide a USB 'A' male to 'A' female extension cable
>>so you can position the dongle for a better signal
>
>That will be handy, though I do appreciate I may well need to relocate
>PC anyway. Sods law their mast direction is on the wrong side of the
>house.
>
>I'm going to go with the 14 day trial anyway to test it out. If
>successful is there anyway to lose the dongle and have a *normal*
>router type setup? My PC is not wifi presently and I don't really like
>it anyhow if I can possibly avoid it. Though it's obviously a mobile
>network.
>
PS: This is only because I find the USB dongle a tad delicate, rather
than wanting more than one internet connection to my PC, though I
guess if the dongle is on a USB extension lead I can tuck it out of
the way anyway. What's the longest USB lead you could reliably use I
wonder?
> PS: This is only because I find the USB dongle a tad delicate, rather
> than wanting more than one internet connection to my PC, though I
> guess if the dongle is on a USB extension lead I can tuck it out of
> the way anyway. What's the longest USB lead you could reliably use I
> wonder?
>
45 meters(!) using a cheap two part gizmo to adapt USB to work over Cat5
network cable. Depending on the power consumption of the device (and the
friendlyness of your USB port) you might get away with using just this,
or additionally just use a powered hub at near the far end to supply
enough juice to the 3G modem.
Search Aria.co.uk for item# 17185
SB Extender (UP TO 45m) - £13.53 inc. VAT
A friend has used this successfully in a remote part of Spain by moving
his 3G stick to the peak of his roof. Reception and performance
elsewhere was sorely lacking.
On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:15:45 +0000, Adrian C <email@here.invalid>
wrote:
>lloyd wrote:
>
>> PS: This is only because I find the USB dongle a tad delicate, rather
>> than wanting more than one internet connection to my PC, though I
>> guess if the dongle is on a USB extension lead I can tuck it out of
>> the way anyway. What's the longest USB lead you could reliably use I
>> wonder?
>>
>
>45 meters(!) using a cheap two part gizmo to adapt USB to work over Cat5
>network cable. Depending on the power consumption of the device (and the
>friendlyness of your USB port) you might get away with using just this,
>or additionally just use a powered hub at near the far end to supply
>enough juice to the 3G modem.
>
>Search Aria.co.uk for item# 17185
>SB Extender (UP TO 45m) - £13.53 inc. VAT
>
>A friend has used this successfully in a remote part of Spain by moving
>his 3G stick to the peak of his roof. Reception and performance
>elsewhere was sorely lacking.
On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:55:46 +0000, Adrian C <email@here.invalid>
wrote:
>lloyd wrote:
>>> Search Aria.co.uk for item# 17185
>>> SB Extender (UP TO 45m) - £13.53 inc. VAT
>>
>> I'll check thjat out. Thanks
>
>No problem.
>
>Though I should really point out that this link stuff is for USB 1.1
>spec (12 Mbits/s Full-Speed), and not anything faster with USB 2.0
>
>Not that it matters for a 3G modem, but just in case someone on google
>has other application ideas for it.
I like this review
- exactly what it says on the tin! by bowier
I was unsure of the compatability of this kit with a vodafone mobile
internet dongle. I connected as in instructions, one unit in pc one
into dongle.I connected these with a 30m aria rj45 cable. I then ran
the cable into the roof space (Concrete office block) and instantly
went from zero reception to full strength signal. Saving a few hundred
quid on having a network point etc fitted. Excellent product. Many
thanks -
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
lloyd <plums@none.co.uk> wrote:
> Hi, desperate to get shot of BT, I note on the 3G website BB checker
> they say my coverage is very good on my postcode. I just rang and
> checked and they also confirmed it. Seems strange as 02 and tmobile
> coverage is pretty poor and 02 say dont go for mobile BB in my area.
> Anyway 3G reckon its good for my home PC just plug the dongle in and
> we are away.
>
> What do you lot think? We only surf the net and email really,
> currently running at around 2.5gb pm so the 5gb 3G should be ample.
> TIA
>
> PS its for use on a home PC and not a laptop so will be under a desk
> but stay in the same room, any issues with this?
I use a 3 dongle for mobile internet when away from home - and have been
very disappointed with its performance. On my last holiday - in the New
Forest - it didn't work at all, and when it *does* work (even at home) the
best download speed I can get is 1Mbps - and it often only achieves half of
that. In order to achieve that, I have to dangle the dongle out of a window
on the end of a USB extension lead.
Something which I *haven't* tried, but which may improve the performance, is
to use an external antenna. There is a socket on the side of the dongle -
under a very small removeable cover - which allows an antenna to be plugged
in.
As others have said, there is a router available, into which you can plug
the USB-based dongle, and which then allows the connection to be shared by
multiple PCs over ethernet. I don't know how well this works - but I would
certainly be investigating both of the above options were I considering
using this for my *main* internet connection.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Roger Mills wrote:
> Something which I *haven't* tried, but which may improve the performance, is
> to use an external antenna. There is a socket on the side of the dongle -
> under a very small removeable cover - which allows an antenna to be plugged
> in.
Get the original 3G stick up high first, encase it in some waterproof
box and place it outside. External antennas are costly and many do not
work quite as well as advertised.
> As others have said, there is a router available, into which you can plug
> the USB-based dongle, and which then allows the connection to be shared by
> multiple PCs over ethernet. I don't know how well this works
Solwise do something called a NET-3G-3GWIFIMRW
(3.5G plus WLAN mobile Server Router)
Roger Mills <watt.tyler@googlemail.com> wrote:
> I use a 3 dongle for mobile internet when away from home - and have been
> very disappointed with its performance. On my last holiday - in the New
> Forest - it didn't work at all, and when it *does* work (even at home) the
> best download speed I can get is 1Mbps - and it often only achieves half of
> that. In order to achieve that, I have to dangle the dongle out of a window
> on the end of a USB extension lead.
My idea is to glue a sucker to the dongle, then it can be stuck to an
appropriate window.
Not having taken mine apart, anyone know if the antenna is particularly
polarised? So does it matter the angle it is presented to the base station?
That'll matter where I position the sucker.
> Something which I *haven't* tried, but which may improve the performance,
> is to use an external antenna. There is a socket on the side of the dongle
> - under a very small removeable cover - which allows an antenna to be
> plugged in.
I wouldn't bother with a long cable run (the loss will swamp any antenna
gain). But it might be worth fitting a bigger antenna than the tiny PCB
strip in the dongle (and then hanging dongle+antenna out the window, or
whatever). Netbooks have antennas that run around the whole of the screen,
and seem to get better reception.
On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:43:00 +0000, lloyd <plums@none.co.uk> wrote:
>Hi, desperate to get shot of BT, I note on the 3G website BB checker
>they say my coverage is very good on my postcode. I just rang and
>checked and they also confirmed it. Seems strange as 02 and tmobile
>coverage is pretty poor and 02 say dont go for mobile BB in my area.
>Anyway 3G reckon its good for my home PC just plug the dongle in and
>we are away.
>
>What do you lot think? We only surf the net and email really,
>currently running at around 2.5gb pm so the 5gb 3G should be ample.
>TIA
>
>PS its for use on a home PC and not a laptop so will be under a desk
>but stay in the same room, any issues with this?
Tried it and it was the pits. Best signal I got was one bar and that
was not usable. So much for a very good coverage area! 3G are
obviously just trying it on to claim their signal is very good,
whereas 02 were honest enough to admit the coverage was too poor for
BB.
3G mobile broadband at home? 
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