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Mobile Broadband - can someone tell me about it?

posted by smurfette on Tuesday, 2nd September 2008, 07:38

Elite Donator

Looking for some advice really.

My husband works out of a van most of the day, travelling to his customers, and has commented for a while how useful it would be to have the internet on the road.

Until about 2 months ago, we hadn't heard of mobile broadband, and we've been taking more interest, the more adverts we see. You think you are up on modern technology and then something new comes up and slaps you round the face!

His laptop is well out of date (Windows 2000, I think) and his PC in the workshop is knackered - we bought it second hand, so he is now considering a new laptop plus mobile broadband. Knock the broadband connection at the workshop on the head and just have the mobile one.

We noticed that Carphone Warehouse were doing deals where you get an Acer laptop plus unlimited mobile broadband through T-Mobile for £30 per month (2 year contract). Is that a good deal?

Are we right in thinking that you can only pick up the broadband in the same places that a phone on that network could connect? How good is the connection? Is it still a dodgy system in its infancy or would it be reliable enough to warrant switching off a landline bb connection for?

Basically, he would only load a simple pricing program from our wholesalers onto the hard drive, and then access the internet and read emails on it. He doesn't do any word processing or anything heavier than that or download anything, so a real budget machine will do the job.

His phone is on O2, but we haven't seen any good offers through them. At the yard, he knows that T-Mobile, O2 and Orange can get connected - not sure about other networks. We are out in the sticks.

Any advice or recommendations? We don't really want to fork out a large sum of money for a new laptop - credit crunch, you know.

RE: Mobile Broadband - can someone tell me about it?

posted by ste_p0270 on Tuesday, 2nd September 2008, 08:17

Elite Donator

Sue,

before you take the plunge with any of these "mobile" broadband offers, read the small
print.

most have very small data allowances despite saying that they're "unlimited". if you go
over your allowance, you can be charged an extra £1 to £3 per megabyte over your limit.

Ste.

RE: Mobile Broadband - can someone tell me about it?

posted by bytemaster on Tuesday, 2nd September 2008, 12:47

Elite

As above, read the small print very carefully. You should also check the coverage maps for the various networks. 3G/Broadband coverage areas vary considerably vs GSM coverage.

I recently bought a deal from PCW (Ugh!!) Vodafone 1GB/month £20, with a free Advent 4211 Netbook. 2yr deal.

I don't like long contracts but I did want the Advent, and don't need a large data allowance, so £8.33 per month for the connection suits me. However they screwed up and put me on a 12 month contract

This item was edited on Tuesday, 2nd September 2008, 12:50

RE: Mobile Broadband - can someone tell me about it?

posted by jeffthegun on Tuesday, 2nd September 2008, 13:58

Elite

Ive got a couple of O2 dongles with work and they are pretty good. They dont pull up any trees, but they are perfectly servicable for browsing (as long as you block flash content) and emails.

Its a 3G dongle so its only as much use as your mobile signal. I went with O2 as their data network seems to be the most robust and widespread but ymmv.

Check 3G coverage of your area before you commit to anything.

Oh, its worth mentioning that the O2 dongle will log onto any cloud hotspots rather than use 3g, so you get that for free, so, say if you are in a mcdonalds or something, it will log you onto their wifi service, rather than use your 3g usage automatically.

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RE: Mobile Broadband - can someone tell me about it?

posted by rvshah on Tuesday, 2nd September 2008, 17:32

Elite

The Vodaphone ones are really good most areas tend to get HSPDA speeds 7.2Mbps download, and they have one with a 3GB download limit. However they do cost more than O2 or 3.

Like everyone has mentioned check the download limit and speeds for upload and download.

RE: Mobile Broadband - can someone tell me about it?

posted by smurfette on Wednesday, 3rd September 2008, 08:06

Elite Donator

I was quite busy yesterday, but I did find time to go to each network's website and check the coverage area.

What I discovered was that where our workshop is located, my husband could only expect to get a 2G connection on any network, not even 3G, let alone that high speed one!

When he is on the road at customers, they are mainly in large towns like Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone, Ashford and Hastings, so then he should get faster speeds.

Upload and download speeds are irrelevant. The only things he ever downloads are updates for his anti-virus and spyware programs. He has never downloaded an MP3 or MP4 file in his life!

So I have 2 basic questions - how quick do web pages load on a 2G network? Is it as slow as the old dial up used to be? We need to know this as the intention was to replace the existing landline broadband connection at the workshop to save money. It would be extravagant to pay for both!

And do you get an email address, even if it is only accessed through an online server? I have not seen email mentioned anywhere in any of the packages, only texting.

RE: Mobile Broadband - can someone tell me about it?

posted by MADTheOgster on Wednesday, 3rd September 2008, 18:17

Elite Donator

bytemaster.... which deal are you on ?

I recently bought a deal from PCW (Ugh!!) Vodafone 1GB/month £20, with a free Advent 4211 Netbook. 2yr deal.

or

so £8.33 per month for the connection suits me.

oh, & your a swine btw, cos now i just went & had a look at the rebadged MSI WIND (Advent 4211) & now i need one, or i won't live to the end of the week

Also, just in case anyones interested, Pc World have the Acer One on at £199 (£229 online ) same cpu as the Advent, but smaller screen (8.9") & a smaller unit overall, running linux, not XP, tho "allegedly" you can easily install XP if you want to

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This item was edited on Wednesday, 3rd September 2008, 18:23

RE: Mobile Broadband - can someone tell me about it?

posted by bytemaster on Wednesday, 3rd September 2008, 18:39

Elite

Oink Oink.

The deal was posted in store. Vodafone £20pcm, free USB Modem, 1GBpcm, free Advent 4211. Second deal down on this page.

This is a two year deal, but they actually screwed up and the contract paperwork I have is for 12 months- yipee!!

oh, & your a swine btw, cos now i just went & had a look at the rebadged MSI WIND (Advent 4211) & now i need one, or i won't live to the end of the week Winking

Hope you survive, I think stock availability is patchy, although half of my nearest stores have them.

From what I have seen of your posts, I think you will have a lot of fun with this. Really easy to work on and plenty of good pointers over at msiwind.net.

BTW use MSIWindOSX.iso not Kalyway or iatkos if you are thinking of OSX.

[EDIT] Just re-read your question. £20pcm, but if you allow for the £280 Advent the net cost of the connection is £8.33pcm. Sorry for the confusion.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 3rd September 2008, 21:17

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