3g technical question

Aidocles

Hi,
This is probably a very simple question, but I can't find the answer posted on this site already.
Some friends of mine living outside Ennis got one of the Vodafone 3G modems recently. They do not have a landline, so this is their only internet option. Problem is, it is only getting GPRS and even that is patchy. From what I've read, it looks as if a directional antenna may provide some hope of getting them up to 3G (post from Godskitchen refers) as they are only about 8km away from Ennis.
The question is, how exactly do you go about hooking up the three pieces of equipment, the antenna, the modem and the PC ?
The modem has two USB connectors that plug into the PC at present, do you connect one to the antenna and one to the PC ?
Any assistance appreciated.
Thanks

crawler

Aidocles wrote: »

Hi,
This is probably a very simple question, but I can't find the answer posted on this site already.
Some friends of mine living outside Ennis got one of the Vodafone 3G modems recently. They do not have a landline, so this is their only internet option. Problem is, it is only getting GPRS and even that is patchy. From what I've read, it looks as if a directional antenna may provide some hope of getting them up to 3G (post from Godskitchen refers) as they are only about 8km away from Ennis.
The question is, how exactly do you go about hooking up the three pieces of equipment, the antenna, the modem and the PC ?
The modem has two USB connectors that plug into the PC at present, do you connect one to the antenna and one to the PC ?
Any assistance appreciated.
Thanks

antenna connects to the modem - modem connects to the PC.

However not all of the modems have a place to connect an external antenna so you need to check this (usually a small screw or push in type connection)

Aidocles

Didn't notice any slot on their modem, but will check again.

Thanks,

Aidocles

oscarBravo

The PC card had an antenna connector; the USB modem doesn't. Sorry!

Sponge Bob

"Only" 8km is a long way in 3G terms , have they tried O2s 3g falling back to EDGE( not GPRS ) coverage ???

They will otherwise need an external antenna and a 3g card that can be physically connected to it like Crawler described which is impossible with the standard Huawei yoke.

Aidocles

"They" are not technical and the trial period had run out before they called me to get it up and running (crawling), so it looks like they are stuck with it for 12 months. They are happy enough with the speed because they are "on the internet"
It's more me being selfish really. I have BT BB, trying to do anything on their PC is like watching paint dry. The external antenna option looked like a handy way of increasing performance.
Unless anybody can come up with a way of attaching the antenna to the dongle, looks like thats out.
I do have my old BT ZyXel router though, wonder if I could use that to interface between the antenna and the dongle???

Thanks anyway.

watty

nnooo. The BT zyxel, if it has wireless is 2.4GHZ (2400MHz) WiFi and ethernet. There is no way to anything usefull with a 3G modem on it.

The aerial needs to be a 900/1800/2100 MHz aerial.

Unless there is a connector for an aerial (the E220 soap bar USB modem has NO such connection, the aerial is sealed inside the case), you can't connect a separate aerial.

cgarvey

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