3G and mobile broadband

sikes

hi

just wondering if anyone can give me a link to articles or point me in the right direction

I want to subscribe to a 3g service so i can get the broodband through my laptop when i am travelling around the country. How is this possible at the moment? can i create a bluetooth connection between the phone and the laptop so the phone can act as a gateway or must i purchase one of those awful looking vodafone type things?

What kind of speeds can i get and who should i go with in ireland?

thanks for your time

legs11

just buy a 3 data card, use the sim card in that with your mobile phone.
if you got a 3g phone you will get a 360k connection, give or take. 3 have coverage in most parts on the land, if they dont have 3g coverage in an area it will be gprs which is prob worse than dial up.

as for connectivity, use a usb cable or bluetooth.
if your in a car which is moving and open to interference a usb cable is the preffered method to connect IMO.

you could just get a pay as you go sim and add on a data package, but better off getting a pay monthly quota which is 3g's.


* edit, if you got a new ish laptop with an express slot you will have to use bluetooth or usb to connect, if you got an old laptop with a 32 bit type II pcmcia slot you can use the 3 data card.

culabula

And remember, apart from HSDPA, 3 lets you use your monthly allowance without penalty in the UK, DK, SE, IT, AT, HK and AUS. Total bargain.

If you can hang on, the USB modem is on the way from 3 though I was told today it had been delayed until May.

Urban Weigl

In all likelihood, you would be best served with a data card. There are really only three options available:

Vodafone: €49 a month for 5 GB monthly data transfer.
O2: €48 a month for 2 GB monthly data transfer.
3: €40 a month for just under 3 GB monthly data transfer.

I have rounded the packages to the nearest euro inclusive of VAT. I'd recommend researching each option to figure out which one suits your needs best.

caster

legs11 wrote:

just buy a 3 data card, use the sim card in that with your mobile phone.
.

Do you mean get one of the Mobile Broadband add-ons? Or is there a Data Only sim card available i.e. for laptops, which can also be used in a phone?

There seems to be conflicting reports about being able to use non-3 Phones with their sim cards. For me it is essential, that I can use my own phone rather than one of the limited choice of phones that 3 have available....

legs11

if u got a non 3 phone then you most likely wont be able to use the 3 data card sim with yours.
so your stuck with using the sim from 3 with their data card.......

i got a 3 phone and can use the data card with it to use the net no probs

culabula

caster wrote:

Do you mean get one of the Mobile Broadband add-ons? Or is there a Data Only sim card available i.e. for laptops, which can also be used in a phone?

There seems to be conflicting reports about being able to use non-3 Phones with their sim cards. For me it is essential, that I can use my own phone rather than one of the limited choice of phones that 3 have available....

There is *no* problem using any modern non-3 phone with a 3 SIM: I regularly stick my dataSIM in an unlocked Vodafone SE v800 when the battery runs out on this old 6630.

The "data only" SIM is the one supplied with the 3 datacard. It offers a tariff called Mobile Broadband 3000 but can also be used for voice -at your own expense.

culabula

legs11 wrote:

if u got a non 3 phone then you most likely wont be able to use the 3 data card sim with yours.
so your stuck with using the sim from 3 with their data card.......

i got a 3 phone and can use the data card with it to use the net no probs

Yes, you can: I use the dataSIM in a variety of handsets. They don't have to be branded 3, just unlocked.

caster

culabula wrote:

Yes, you can: I use the dataSIM in a variety of handsets. They don't have to be branded 3, just unlocked.

So you can subscribe just for a data Sim without buying a handset? Is there a minimum contract just like the standard price plans?

culabula

caster wrote:

So you can subscribe just for a data Sim without buying a handset? Is there a minimum contract just like the standard price plans?

You subscribe to Mobile Broadband 3000 on Pay Monthly: in return you get a datacard which comes with a SIM. You either use the datacard in a Windows laptop or remove the SIM and stick it in a handset to use as a bluetooth modem. If you do the latter you will not get access to the HSDPA network (unless you have one of several very recent handsets) but will connect at an acceptable midband speed. If you use the datacard, you will connect to the HSDPA network.

billbond4

I have a K800i and use bluetooth to connect it to the O2 3G Network, and
have jsut signed up to the O2: €48 a month for 2 GB monthly data transfer.

Im only getting 100Kbps speed though, dont know why that is for sure, maybe because Im not using a datacard.

caster

culabula wrote:

You subscribe to Mobile Broadband 3000 on Pay Monthly: in return you get a datacard which comes with a SIM. You either use the datacard in a Windows laptop or remove the SIM and stick it in a handset to use as a bluetooth modem. If you do the latter you will not get access to the HSDPA network (unless you have one of several very recent handsets) but will connect at an acceptable midband speed. If you use the datacard, you will connect to the HSDPA network.

Ok... I presume though you can access the web on the phone itself through this?... Planning one getting one of the HSDPA enabled phones like N95 or E90 and want to be able to access the net via the phone itself.

I guess I just want to be sure that it will be possible to subscribe to the appropriate plan and use one of the above phones on it. Really not interested in any of the handsets that 3 are currently offering....

culabula

Yes, you can stick it in a handset and use the on-board browser, no problem. Also use any other apps on the phone such as Messenger, Google Mail and so on.

culabula

Or you can be online using the phone as a BT modem as I am right now with a MacBook the whole way from Kilkenny/Muine Bheag to Belfast. Has not dropped the connection once.

eko

This all sounds pretty useful. I travel quite a bit between here, the UK and Hong Kong. If I get the datacard and SIM, looks like I can use it in the UK and HK just like at home, right?

I'm not on 3Ireland yet, but the Mobile Broadband Unlimited add-on sounds interesting. Is this a similar thing to the Mobile Broadband 3000 tariff that's used with the datacard/SIM combination, but has no cap (fair usage notwithstanding)? I assume this SIM then only works in a phone, so can I use that as a Bluetooth modem too with my laptop?

culabula

eko wrote:

This all sounds pretty useful. I travel quite a bit between here, the UK and Hong Kong. If I get the datacard and SIM, looks like I can use it in the UK and HK just like at home, right?

I'm not on 3Ireland yet, but the Mobile Broadband Unlimited add-on sounds interesting. Is this a similar thing to the Mobile Broadband 3000 tariff that's used with the datacard/SIM combination, but has no cap (fair usage notwithstanding)? I assume this SIM then only works in a phone, so can I use that as a Bluetooth modem too with my laptop?

One word in answer to your first question: yes. More words: it's fantastic.

The Unlimited add-on is a misnomer; officially it's a 2GB cap, so why it's called unlimited is anyone's guess. Not sure if they will actually penalise you if you go over as they seem to be a very fair bunch. For example, they sent me an SMS this weekend advising me that I had now used 6MB on my UK SIM (I have a 5MB monthly allowance) and was now over my limit. Oooooh!

The SIM you mention will work in a dataCard or phone and will work as a BT modem.

eko

Excellent, good to hear it, thanks! I was stuck in HK for 3 weeks recently with no internet connection in the apartment where I was staying, so this is going work nicely.

Actually, I was going to move my account (and number) from Vodafone to 3Ireland just for the decent roaming tariffs they seem to have in the UK and HK, so this is an added bonus.

Rather than getting the datacard/SIM combo, what if I got a new phone and account with 3Ireland plus one of the Mobile Broadband add-ons, and tried to use that as a BT modem? That should work too, right?

culabula

Yes, that is just exactly the same: remember there is no longer any "roaming" -while there MO calls to Ireland come out of your minutes, MO to HK are at a preferential rate and MT calls are free. SMS-MO come out of your text allowance too. Data is just like 'at home'.