Sharing a 3 broadband connection

A neighbour of mine can't get ADSL or cable so uses a USB modem from 3 for
internet access. For their one desktop PC it works and he's happy, however
he would also like access the net from his laptop and a couple of gaming
consoles as well.

From a quick glance it appears that 3 use some kind of dial-up application
to make the connection. I was thinking of hanging a wireless access point
off the desktop's ethernet connection and then running ICS using the 3 modem
as the gateway.

Before I get him to shell out for a WAP, has anyone done this before or know
of a reason why it won't work?

"Grant" <news@mason.sh> wrote in message
news:1198341180.58533.0@iris.uk.clara.net...
>A neighbour of mine can't get ADSL or cable so uses a USB modem from 3 for
>internet access. For their one desktop PC it works and he's happy, however
>he would also like access the net from his laptop and a couple of gaming >
>From a quick glance it appears that 3 use some kind of dial-up application
>to make the connection. I was thinking of hanging a wireless access point
>off the desktop's ethernet connection and then running ICS using the 3
>modem as the gateway.
>
> Before I get him to shell out for a WAP, has anyone done this before or
> know of a reason why it won't work?
Another option is a router that uses the 3g usb modem in the same way as a
router would use a ADSL modem .
http://www.draytek.co.uk/products/router_compare.shtml shows a list of
models the feature you want is printer / 3g.
Just connect the 3g usb modem up to it and it works like a normal router.
Never tied it but it might be worth you checking out then all PCs / laptops
etc can use the connection without the other pc having to be on.

regards
Adam

Dylan35 wrote:
> Another option is a router that uses the 3g usb modem in the same way
> as a router would use a ADSL modem .
> http://www.draytek.co.uk/products/router_compare.shtml shows a list of
> models the feature you want is printer / 3g.

Cool - didn't realise routers with USB WAN support were available. 30
seconds on Google has found the Drayteks, a Linksys and a D-Link so far.

Many thanks.

"Grant" <news@mason.sh> wrote in message
news:1198341180.58533.0@iris.uk.clara.net...
>A neighbour of mine can't get ADSL or cable so uses a USB modem from 3 for
>internet access. For their one desktop PC it works and he's happy, however
>he would also like access the net from his laptop and a couple of gaming
>consoles as well.
>
> From a quick glance it appears that 3 use some kind of dial-up application
> to make the connection. I was thinking of hanging a wireless access point
> off the desktop's ethernet connection and then running ICS using the 3
> modem as the gateway.
>
> Before I get him to shell out for a WAP, has anyone done this before or
> know of a reason why it won't work?

Just out of interest, what sort of performance does he get?

A friend has just bought a similar system for his daughter to use - the poor
girl is living in a caravan on some remove farm. I tested it here - also a
rural location - and achieved 53kbits/sec. So this might be acceptable for
text-only emails but certainly not for modern websites!

I really doubt whether there would be any point in sharing such a connection
between several computers, other than academic interest!

--
Graham J

On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 16:32:55 -0000, Grant wrote:
> A neighbour of mine can't get ADSL or cable so uses a USB modem from 3 for
> internet access. For their one desktop PC it works and he's happy, however
> he would also like access the net from his laptop and a couple of gaming
> consoles as well.
>
> From a quick glance it appears that 3 use some kind of dial-up application
> to make the connection. I was thinking of hanging a wireless access point
> off the desktop's ethernet connection and then running ICS using the 3 modem
> as the gateway.
>
> Before I get him to shell out for a WAP, has anyone done this before or know
> of a reason why it won't work?

I've done this, but on Linux rather than Windows. Works just fine. I get
reasonable speed, but the latency is not good - I don't think it will be
good for gaming.

Graham J wrote:
> "Grant" <news@mason.sh> wrote in message
> news:1198341180.58533.0@iris.uk.clara.net...
>
>>A neighbour of mine can't get ADSL or cable so uses a USB modem from 3 for
>>internet access. For their one desktop PC it works and he's happy, however
>>he would also like access the net from his laptop and a couple of gaming
>>consoles as well.
>>
>>From a quick glance it appears that 3 use some kind of dial-up application
>>to make the connection. I was thinking of hanging a wireless access point
>>off the desktop's ethernet connection and then running ICS using the 3
>>modem as the gateway.
>>
>>Before I get him to shell out for a WAP, has anyone done this before or
>>know of a reason why it won't work?
>
>
> Just out of interest, what sort of performance does he get?
>
> A friend has just bought a similar system for his daughter to use - the poor
> girl is living in a caravan on some remove farm. I tested it here - also a
> rural location - and achieved 53kbits/sec. So this might be acceptable for
> text-only emails but certainly not for modern websites!
>
> I really doubt whether there would be any point in sharing such a connection
> between several computers, other than academic interest!

I get a merry 1.2-1.3mb download from my T-Mobile PCMCIA card in my
house. My home isn't exactly rural, but it is at the bottom of quite a
steep hill. T-Mobile currently provides the only 3G signal.

I have shared it with other computers in the house when the ADSL has
been down.

--
Douglas

Graham J wrote:
>
> Just out of interest, what sort of performance does he get?

I downloaded AVG for him from download.com at a sustained 55KB/s. The
subsequent big AVG update came down at 200 KB/s. The mobile coverage here
isn't too good and the 3 app shows it frequently swapping from HSDPA and 3G.

As a comparison, my ADSL line is limited to 1Mb/s.

"Ian" <ian.groups@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:1c8440cc-8550-47a9-b320-13d8b6bf8f61@s48g2000hss.googlegroups.com...
>
> In a previous post you said 53kb/s, this one says 55kB/s. Was one of
> those a typo?

The poster who said 53kb/s wasn't me.