O2 mobile v Eircom(any landline)

Newbielad1

We all know Eircom has brutal customer service, but there have been no problems since getting it in this summer, have 2MB line, 100 mbps speed (at least thats what comes up speed connected , surprised at this at thats kind of speed on company LAN), no real issues with contention either, have heard 02 have a huge advantage with HSDPA , is this the case, friend is asking about 02, is it worth going that route, the area is pretty well covered on 02 mobile map, ( i know that doesnt mean everything!!), any body any experience of this???

jor el

The 100Mbps speed reported is the connection between your router and your PC's Ethernet cart, not the speed of the broadband, that's still 2Mbps.

I don't think HSDPA is a huge advantage over DSL, it's merely different. If mobility is a requirement then that's an advantage, but reliability, contention, latency and cap limit are all disadvantages with HSDPA.

If you don't want to get a landline, or can't get DSL on your line, then HSDPA is a good option. I have O2 broadband myself because I wanted it to be mobile, it's very good and I've used in various parts of the country. Consistency of speed is variable though, weather, and location both play a part. I also have DSL at home and there's really no comparison.

Newbielad1

So you would go DSL over O2 every time, same here, thanks for the response.... what about 02s 3.6 MBps compared to Eircoms???

Newbielad1

Why does speed between netopia and network card differ so much???

smellslikeshoes

Newbielad1 wrote: »

Why does speed between netopia and network card differ so much???

Because the what the netopia router says is the speed of your internet connection but the network card is the speed your home network is capable of.

As for your other question there really is no comparison in quality between Dsl and mobile wireless from any of the providers. Only reason why you should even think about it is if you can't get broadband from any alternative source or if you need it for mobility.

watty

Newbielad1 wrote: »

So you would go DSL over O2 every time, same here, thanks for the response.... what about 02s 3.6 MBps compared to Eircoms???

1Mbps DSL will beat 3.6MBps HSDPA ALL the time on ping (<50ms vs > 150ms).
On average 1Mbps DSL is 5 times faster than HSDPA, and can be 20 times faster.

HSDPA is mobile dialup. If the sector as already 24 users you can't even connect. Unless the phone line or exchange is broken, DSL always connects.

DSL the contention is spread over maybe 500 users. The number of users is known.

HSDPA is mobile. They can't control how many people want to use it. If 30 in a sector people want to use it only 24 get connected and they get much less than 1/24th of the total 3.6Mbps per sector due to the way the radio protocol works. It's a totally different type of contention. In fact as more connect the the range shrinks/Signal level drops so those on weaker signal will disconnect.

Conclusion:
Only two advantages for HSDPA, if you really need mobile or there is no other internet access. It can be as slow or slower than dialup.

jor el

Newbielad1 wrote: »

So you would go DSL over O2 every time

Basically what watty said. HSDPA/EDGE/GPRS brings one thing to the table and that's mobility. I like to have internet access in various locations so this makes sense for me. I wouldn't dream of getting rid of the DSL at home though.

Since you're on DSL, stick with it. Maybe consider upgrading to 3M if you want higher speed. You're friend should also weigh up his options but seriously consider fixed wireless, DSL or cable before 3G if they are available.