Wireless broadband?

missmatty

I'm not much good at this techy stuff so any help or advice would be much appreciated!

I have a Dell Inspiron laptop that I used for writing my thesis ages ago (bought in 2001) and I'm thinking I might as well get wireless broadband for it. We don't have a phone line in our apartment by the way. It's still quite modern, has Windows XP and all that. I'm afraid I can't remember all the exact specs but it was mid-upper range.

I've done a bit of looking around online and the 3 mobile broadband with the modem looks good (not sure if my laptop is modern enough to have the proper slot for the datacard). I don't mind shelling out a bit initially but i don't want to pay more than 20 quid a month, so it fits my requirements. Speed seems faster than Irish Broadband in a box thingy.

Anyone any advice? I tried reading through the stickies but there are SO many pages and I don't understand a lot of the technical terms, sorry!

NullZer0

missmatty wrote:

I'm not much good at this techy stuff so any help or advice would be much appreciated!

I have a Dell Inspiron laptop that I used for writing my thesis ages ago (bought in 2001) and I'm thinking I might as well get wireless broadband for it. We don't have a phone line in our apartment by the way. It's still quite modern, has Windows XP and all that. I'm afraid I can't remember all the exact specs but it was mid-upper range.

I've done a bit of looking around online and the 3 mobile broadband with the modem looks good (not sure if my laptop is modern enough to have the proper slot for the datacard). I don't mind shelling out a bit initially but i don't want to pay more than 20 quid a month, so it fits my requirements. Speed seems faster than Irish Broadband in a box thingy.

Anyone any advice? I tried reading through the stickies but there are SO many pages and I don't understand a lot of the technical terms, sorry!

Hey,
You should probably take a look at this?

Where are you located? - If you have NTL cable you could get broadband through NTL ?

bushy...

missmatty wrote:

I've done a bit of looking around online and the 3 mobile broadband with the modem looks good (not sure if my laptop is modern enough to have the proper slot for the datacard). I don't mind shelling out a bit initially but i don't want to pay more than 20 quid a month, so it fits my requirements. Speed seems faster than Irish Broadband in a box thingy.

It should have the slot , there might be a blanking plate stuck in there to stop debris getting in. Its on the side near the back at the left side of it afaik on those . There is also a little fold out push button for ejecting the card.

missmatty

Yeah a friend told me that last nite. There is a black card-type thing in it but i couldn't get it out, and there didn't seem to be a button (but i didn't know it was a fold-out one). I'll have another look again later thanks! Can always get modem anyhoo.

Now I'm thinking between Clearwire and 3mobile broadband. I am in Dublin 6W. Long story short, i can't do ntl.

NullZer0

missmatty wrote:

Yeah a friend told me that last nite. There is a black card-type thing in it but i couldn't get it out, and there didn't seem to be a button (but i didn't know it was a fold-out one). I'll have another look again later thanks! Can always get modem anyhoo.

Now I'm thinking between Clearwire and 3mobile broadband. I am in Dublin 6W. Long story short, i can't do ntl.

While Clearwire isn't suppose to be the BEST thing from what I've heard I would choose them over 3

missmatty

I'm a bit worried after reading this stuff on the sticky about 3's 50 yoyo 'deposit'. How can they justify that if you pay 129 E upfront and then it's a direct debit, you're hardly going to get out of that.

Clearwire is more expensive per month though. I'd prefer to pay more upfront and then less a month. Anyone else got advice or info on clearwire vs 3mobile?

patpark121

I went against the grain & got 3 datamodem 3 weeks ago. It may have flaws but its a damn sight better than dialup. Where though are they asking for a deposit? That shouldn't be the case. I got mine in carphonewarehouse. Had to wait 2 days for stock. It was 129 & no mention of deposit. It depends on your needs regards provider. If its for general browsing & downloading then maybe 3 or the other mobile networks? If its more intensive & heavier use then definitely look for another provider.

missmatty

Thanks Patpark, it's just for general use.

About the deposit, I read it in the thread here called '3 broadband credit check', on this page.

Just remembered my landlady's son lives downstairs and he might have the internet so I'll talk to him as well.

thebman

3 and Clearwire are both pathethic providers. My Dad is with 3 and well just read the sticky thread here.

My friend is with Clearwire and they block ports for everything but Internet browsing. Also, the speeds went down after his trial and the price goes up to something ridiculous.

The point being, he's considering switching to ripwave from IBB just to get away from Clearwire for being so expensive for such a crap service.

NullZer0

brim4brim wrote:

3 and Clearwire are both pathethic providers. My Dad is with 3 and well just read the sticky thread here.

My friend is with Clearwire and they block ports for everything but Internet browsing. Also, the speeds went down after his trial and the price goes up to something ridiculous.

The point being, he's considering switching to ripwave from IBB just to get away from Clearwire for being so expensive for such a crap service.

I know but if all a person wants is some internet browsing, email etc... would be reasonable?

missmatty

To be honest everyone here seems to have lots of bad things to say about EVERY provider.

I should be ok, I only want basic browsing, shuffling pictures around, bit of music.....none of that other complicated stuff I've read about in this BB section

NullZer0

missmatty wrote:

To be honest everyone here seems to have lots of bad things to say about EVERY provider.

I should be ok, I only want basic browsing, shuffling pictures around, bit of music.....none of that other complicated stuff I've read about in this BB section

Hope goes well either way!

jor el

missmatty wrote:

To be honest everyone here seems to have lots of bad things to say about EVERY provider.

Says a lot about this wonderful e-hub we live in doesn't it, thanks to a decade of FF fcking up our communications infrastructure. Bar Smart Telecom, there isn't a single decent internet provider out there.

I should be ok, I only want basic browsing, shuffling pictures around, bit of music.....none of that other complicated stuff I've read about in this BB section

Don't be so sure, if you read the last page of the 3 broadband thread stickied on the top you'll see that for a lot of people, even simple web browsing and email doesn't work. Personally, I'd stay clear of 3. Also, don't even consider Clearwire, it's worse than useless.

Vodafone or O2, at €30 and €40 a month, would be your best bet. You're simply not going to get a usable internet service (let alone broadband) for €20 a month.