Mobile Broadband.

[Heat Seeking Missile]

I bought myself a laptop and a 3 network mobile broadband dongle while I was away in Ireland a few weeks ago.

Checked with them to see if my home postcode was suitable for using this network and they said it was fine and their network covered that area.

I got it home but I cant get a signal anywhere, apart from a very weak one occasionally on my bedroom window sill. Does anyone make any sort of signal booster or am I talking rubbish?

The walls at the front of the house are 18" thick, so that is probably a large factor in this problem, yet my mobile phone, which is on O2, gets a signal pretty much anywhere in the house.

Have I bought from a lemon of a provider or can I get round it somehow?

Mark

[shark_90]

You have indeed bought a lemon mate. Nothing to do with your provider as such, it's just that you can't get a signal.

They're really pushing this mobile broadband thing and I don't know why, because on the whole, it's crap. If you're in the middle of a city then great, you're probably going to get good coverage. But I've been using it for 2 years and I STILL can't get a signal at home. Which is only a problem at the one time you need it, when your broadband goes down. This is with T-Mobile. Both my Vodafone and O2 phones however - full 3G signal and brilliant browsing, no problem.

It's very hit and miss. It just isn't good enough for the mass market yet IMO. Go abroad and it's full 3G everywhere, over here it's just dire. The strange thing is that 3 use T-mobile as their preferred partner, so if you can't get a 3G signal on 3 it will try to log you on to T-mobile... so you'd expect more coverage wouldn't you?

If you're within 14 days of purchase then you should be able to return it. That's what I'd do if I were you. Unfortunately I need my 3G card so have to keep it, and sometimes it's good. And now it's gone down to £5 a month I don't mind, but last year it was £30 a month and I felt very let down by the whole thing.

Oh, and I didn't get a free laptop with it either!!

[Heat Seeking Missile]

It was trying to connect to O2 GPRS last night for some weird reason. Nothing would work on it though. I'm not too far from a large town, about 1 1/2 miles at the most, does it not travel that far? Unfortunately its been longer than 14 days now, as I decided against bringing it back with me on the plane when I came home. D'oh.

Mark

[S2central.net]

You need a good 3G signal from a provider to give you any kind of decent mobile browsing experience... I have used various dongles from 3 and Vodafone whilst travelling and they are OK when the signal is good. Some of them can drop back to GPRS (2G) and I think the O2 version uses their 2.5G Edge connectivity - as per iPhone applications. The speeds on GPRS are pretty poor... OK for light emailing but rubbish for browsing or rich content.

The mobile broadband thing won't kick off properly until something like WiMax is widely available - that will be cool !

[Ross]

I've used one too - in that 24/7 boat as well unfortunately... similar experience, mine is with Vodafone and costs £25 a month. Was a lifesaver for a while, so justified it's cost, but I won't be renewing my contract that's for sure (what plan are you on to get £5 a month?!)

Coverage still just isnt good enough, I often had issues with signal strength once you get out of city/suburbs and the 2G connection speed is pretty useless.

No way of boosting the signal that I'm aware of.

Cheers
Ross

[Jamo]

Coverage is improving i'm going to get the pay as you go version for emergency. I'm on virgin broadband and wouldn't change to be honest.

[shark_90]

I've used one too - in that 24/7 boat as well unfortunately... similar experience, mine is with Vodafone and costs £25 a month. Was a lifesaver for a while, so justified it's cost, but I won't be renewing my contract that's for sure (what plan are you on to get £5 a month?!)

Coverage still just isnt good enough, I often had issues with signal strength once you get out of city/suburbs and the 2G connection speed is pretty useless.

No way of boosting the signal that I'm aware of.

Cheers
Ross

I was with T-mobile for my first year at £29/month, then when it came to renewal time they offered me £20/month with a new 7.2Mbps USB stick or £10 a month if I took a 24 month contract.

I asked if they could make it cheaper and I was told yes, if I kept my original dongle. I agreed to do so, so they made it £10/month (12 months) or £5/month (24 months). It was £120 either way so I thought I might as well take the 24 months and keep my existing dongle.

Even better is that I got a firmware update for the old dongle.. to take it to 7.2Mbps, so I was well happy

It's still crap though!

[Azman]

I have orange mobile broadband, never had a problem and it keeps gettign quicker, now at 3G+ so a decent speed. Get full signal at home and on the go