Trialling O2 BB, Is this performance a keeper

KStaford

Hi guys

Trying out O2 broadband. I am getting Edge 4 bars signal strength. Downloading files ranges from 6-14 kbps

See image and speedtest results attached. Is this a keeper or not?
I live in Ballinafad, Co. Sligo and I have tried all other options. There's no DSL here, I have tried Three BB and that was (and still is) a disaster - virtually no coverage.

What do ye think, should I kep it or bin it ?

BTW: O2 support are brilliant

regards

Kieran

watty

Thats better than dialup. Fixed wireless broadband is better, but maybe you can't get it.
Your downloading mayb 6kBps -14kBps which is 50kbps-140kbps speed?

Downloads are measured in Bytes/s, speed in bit/s.

Due to overheads, though there are 8bits a Byte, multipler is often a bit more than 8.

KStaford

on downloading from http://www.url.ie/qv
I am getting around 14 KB's, see image

So is this acceptable? shall I keep it, what do you think folks ?

watty

Well that is 14x8 = 102kb/s, due to overheads etc close 135kb/s "line" speed, or in dialup terms about 3 to 4 times the speed of download on analogue modem.

with a "fixed" wireless product (or DSL) you would get maybe 8 to 30 times this speed depending on supplier or package.

Only you can decide if the speed vs cost suits you, and this may depend on if any other non-Mobile option is available. All three Mobile operators are selling the same modem and using the same technology. That speed is maybe low for 3G or HSDPA and high for GPRS, so either the sector is a VERY busy 3G/HSDPA or you are running on a mast with EDGE on GSM and no 3G.

matchthis

In the window where it shows you your signal, there is an option to put it on gprs, 3g etc. It is normally at 3g preferred in the case that 3g is not present it will roll back onto gprs or edge. My friend had a similar thing like yourself, but was meant to have 3g coverage. In the settings choose 3g only, this seemed to force it onto 3g after about 2 mins and its been on that ever since. As i say, if the 3g coverage is down though it will not automatically roll back to edge though, so you just have to remeber this step and all is good. Firend has had no bother(that he has mentioned) since. If it does not pick up 3g/hsdpa/umts after 2 mins it more than likely means you don't have 3g coverage, but edge ain't too bad and eventually you will get covered, just takes time i guess. All the best

Sponge Bob

This software to manage Huawei modems gives you more information and allows you to force the settings as you wish

http://www.nerve.org.za/e620tool/

read the readme that comes in the zip

KStaford

Holy bitrate batman !!!

I did what matchthis advised, I forced the settings to 3g only. It's giving me a 1 bar signal of UMTS. Tried a dowload and its comming in at 60KB approx.

Thats 3+ times better than before.

Brilliant

Now all I need is a router that will allow me to plug the datamodem into, that way I can bung the modem in the attic and get even better signals.

rahtkennades

KStaford wrote:

.....

Brilliant

Now all I need is a router that will allow me to plug the datamodem into, that way I can bung the modem in the attic and get even better signals.

That, or a cheap old computer that you can plug it into and use as a router. XP's ICS is quite good for general use.

KStaford

Yea

I'm already using ICS.
Laptop is in the window, usb modem is hanging out of the curtain rail on a usb extension cable and I'm using a wireless router to share to my PC.

rahtkennades wrote:

That, or a cheap old computer that you can plug it into and use as a router. XP's ICS is quite good for general use.

KStaford

heres my latest speedtest, some improvement eh

dunnetd

Hey guys,

I was thinking of getting mobile broadband as a back-up to my less then reliable landline broadband which is always going off. I was just wondering is there much difference between O2, 3 & Vodafone's mobile broadband or do they all use the same network. Im within the 3G coverage according to the maps ive looked at so provided I stay within 3G coverage can I expect decent speeds?

Thanks

Sponge Bob

If DSL keeps going off then the usual advice is to downgrade to 1mbit and it won't

mickger

rahtkennades wrote:

That, or a cheap old computer that you can plug it into and use as a router. XP's ICS is quite good for general use.

I have an old laptop with a wireless connection and basically want to use this to send out the datamodem internet signal as an alternative to my NTL wireless set up that i have at the moment. The problem is that the laptop picks up the internet signal from my NTL router and doesnt send a wireless signal from the datamodem. So in short i want to be able to choose between the NTL router and the Laptop acting as a router wirelessly. What do i need to do with the laptop acting as a router to achive this?????

watty

even 256k DSL is mostly always 256k and low latency. 3G/HSDPA is much worse latency and can be any speed, or even not connect.

dunnetd

Sponge Bob wrote:

If DSL keeps going off then the usual advice is to downgrade to 1mbit and it won't

If my line is slightly unpredictable how does decreasing the speed to 1gb mean it stays more consistent? Does this mean that my download limit goes back down to 10gb from 20gb.