DOVADO UMR - 3G USB router (For use with O2, Three & Vodafone)

Marlow

dondwyer157 wrote: »

I looked up the HUAWEI i-Mo, and the Novatel Wireless MiFi 2352, and neither seem to offer any wired LAN sockets, they both seen to be WiFi only devices. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! )

I also went onto the FRITZ!FON website, and though it does include a USB port, I couldn't see any reference to UMTS-stick
suitability being included. It also only includes only 1 USB port. Some mobile devices need two to get the power they need!

I bought a UMR and i find it does everything i want in a mobile router. The only downside i could see for some people is that it can't be battery powered, but that just isn't a problem for me. Also, if you're on this page, you can see that the Dovado community and support is pretty top-notch.

The Fritz! box you are talking about is the Fritz! Fon Wlan 7270 and that starts at 180 EUR and up + shipping, depending on where you buy it. The lab firmwares are also currently german only, if i recall correct.

The reason why the Fritz! Box only has one USB port, is that it wasn't designed to feed a 3G device, but was intended to be attached to a USB harddrive. If you needed the extra power, you could use a USB hub, but you've got the add that then to the cost of the Fritz! box and it would still be untested, if it works.

The Fritz! boxes are very neat boxes, I've got two older ones of them, 2 Dovado routers and one Linksys WRT54GS3G (which takes a PCMCIA card for 3G). Each of them works and does the job.

At the end of the day, your decision lies with how much money you want to spend and what you want from the device. As you said yourself, the 3G implementation of the Fritz! box is still experimental, while the Linksys and Dovado boxes have been well-proven. There's also a Draytek 3G USB router out there with VoIP support, if you want VoIP. Then again VoIP over 3G at 200ms and up latency and a lot of jitter ? You must be joking !!

/M

henry66

Thank you for the replies, so far.

HUAWEI i-Mo - Novatel Wireless MiFi 2352 - neither offer any wired LAN sockets: Correct, so to this degree they are difficult, but not impossible to compare, for many user the fact that they would work on batteries and are small and portable, might compensate for it, too.

FRITZ!FON: More comparable already, the experimental software not really being that anymore, and the new model that was introduced at the CEBIT already having it all-in.

Dovado community and support being top-notch: Absolutely right, and not only here, but also on their own website. This is what prompted me to ask these questions here openly, because I would get honest replies, possibly from DOVADO too.

Fritz! Fon Wlan 7270 - starts at 180 EUR - lab firmwares german only - very neat boxes: 170 EUR is possible, and english lab software too. Very neat with all they do, true, but maybe an overkill if you don't need it (VOIP/ISDN/DECT and and and). If you can use it, or if you need it, wow!

VoIP over 3G at 200ms - latency - jitter - joking !!: Though exactly the same. Untill I was able to try a ZTE MF600 3G for a few days, with built-in VOIP lines, and was amazed how well it worked on simple 384 UMTS and even GPRS connections - I kept looking for some secretly hidden land line cable in the back. Delays, yes, but bearable. Voice quality, better than good. Dont really know how they do it, could be that the box and the providers otimized whereever they could. But it was not a test setup, ordinary household.

The more I seem to check, the more amazed I am - and confused as to where it ends - and what I really need.

- Henry

watty

I found the Dlink DIR450/DIR451 good for 3G. The DIR450 is EVDO (USA) and the DIR451 is 3G-UMTS, but my test box with DIR451 firmware had DIR450 on the model sticker. It has PCMCIA and USB support. I was disappointed I couldn't figure how to get OpenWRT on it. However unlike the Dovado they don't seem to want to sell it to anyone.

The PCMCIA Dovado works off 12V, can't you use an external battery pack instead of the mains adaptor? Ask Dovado what the min & max UMR supply voltage is.

I found the Linksys WRT543G router though with a 12V power unit worked down to 9V so I fitted 8 x NiMH 2500mAH AA cells and trickle charger inside its roomy box. Rather solid but a backpack / car / bus/ train mobile WiFi point with WPA. I added OpenWRT and a Transparent SIP proxy so that E65 and other gadgets with no STUN/TURN/ICE SIP Firewall support would work. (I tested with WAN Router to the 5th WAN ethernet port rather than 3G). It only does PCMCIA cards, though in theory you could via OpenWRT and a USB PCMCIA adaptor add any 3G USB modem supported by MIPS driver for Linux/OpenWRT.

Marlow

VoIP can be made work on 3G, with a lot of effort and depending on the provider. With the oversubscription of 3G services in Ireland, I wouldn't bet on it though.

As for battery packs, the Dovado UMR works perfectly on a 12v battery pack or the car cigarette lighter, too. It handles a bit margin in voltage, so that's no problem either and it's price is not easy to beat. When looking at the price of the PCMCIA version of the Dovado, I prefer the Linksys.

For PCcard express again, you can use the Dovado UMR with a PCcard Express to USB adaptor, that the Dovado suppliers sell. Works brill, too.

As for the Fritz! box, it has a lot of bling and is a top notch device, but it is at the top scale of the pricing scale and as I said before, right now it's a lab firmware, no guarantee's and no support until it's released.

/M

DOVADO

henry66 wrote: »

HUAWEI i-Mo - Novatel Wireless MiFi 2352 - neither offer any wired LAN sockets:

I actually saw both of these products during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Telefonica Moviles also showcased the Novatel MiFi. I wasn't able to even lay a finger on the Huawei i-Mo as it was behind a glass case and nobody there could answer any of the questions I had regarding it beyond that it was a 3G modem of sorts. The Novatel gang were able to demonstrate it and answer all the millions of questions I had about it.

It's a nice device, must say, but it fits a different league of users. It'd suit people like you and me, the technophiles, but we are an absolute minority despite our numbers. The fact of the matter is, 95% of the global mobile broadband subscribers today own a USB modem. The other 5% comprises integrated routers such as this one. To give you an idea, Huawei announced that they sold (to date) 20,000,000 USB modems worldwide as of last week or so.

As a router, the devices mentioned above offer quite limited feature sets from a functionalistic point of view, but also from a hardware perspective. For instance, you can hook up a maximum of 5 WLAN clients (which isn't too bad), but you only have a max reach of 10 meters. My Nokia E71 phone can do about the same by having "Walking Hotspot" installed on it. The battery will drain and heat up in no time, but if a quick and casual multi-user Internet connection is necessary, then sure, it's convenient. I just don't see too many using this at home because you might have a low signal in one part of the house, and as soon as you relocate the device, it might be far away from your computer (remember, that's 10 meters WITHOUT walls!).

One thing this product suits well of course, is the business traveler, who wants to share the connection with traveling colleagues, but again, let the EU and operators settle a low roaming fee which makes sense first. From my own traveling experience, I see most people are connecting in this order (from popular to least popular).

1) Public WiFi (still majority)
2) USB modem (increasing, but limited when it comes to roaming)
3) Pairing via mobile phone (A bit old school, but everyone can do this as the phone itself is a modem)
4) Embedded modem in laptop (Very, very few people buy this according to retailers, but those who do, are not always aware of the heavy roaming fees - they get their "shock and awe" bill a few weeks later).

The DOVADO UMR was made for the 95% market. The fact that operators are selling different kinds of USB modems is at times a burden for our customers who are waiting for us to add support for them, we do our best to do so, and continuously improve our offering by listening to the feedback we get from forums like this one. Please take a look at the set of features we have added in our latest firmware release, version 3.0, which is a perfect example of the innovation we bring to existing and future owners of the DOVADO UMR: http://www.dovado.com/umrfirmware

henry66

Thanks to all that chimed in, and special thanks to DAVODO for being so open and neutral.

I have found my solution: The UMR is already ordered, should have it middle this week.

And either the HUAWEI i-Mo or/and a Novatel Wireless MiFi 2352 will be on my 'Gadget List', meaning I will get one as soon as they are available.

Meantime I will also get a ZTE MF600 for a trial period of 8 weeks, soon, and that looks most interesting, too.

And before anybody wonders: NO, I will not be paying all this out of my own pocket.

- Henry

DOVADO

Hi,

Just to inform you we are looking into the issues with NTP not updating when using hs.vodafone.ie

Best Regards
Dovado

halolma

hey all, just a quick question, not sure if its been posted, as there is alot of info here


I bought the Sierra Wireless Modem model 888 from O2.

Would this be available to use with the DOVADO UMR - 3G USB Router say with my xbox360?

when I plug my modem into the 360, it cant pick it up, but if I buy the router, and then plug the modem into the router and then a ethernet cable from the router to my 360, would it work fine?

my connection speed I got was 7MB download and 5MB upload

Cheers in advance for any or all help on this issue

DOVADO

halolma wrote: »

I bought the Sierra Wireless Modem model 888 from O2.

Would this be available to use with the DOVADO UMR - 3G USB Router say with my xbox360?

Hi Halolma (was about to type in "Haloumi" - starving for lunch!)

We've added in several Sierra Wireless modems, both old dongles and new stick shaped modems. We intended to release the firmware a week ago, but having tried it on a couple of Irish folks, we were able to spot some bugs and nail them down. We just need to conclude the testing over the weekend and see if there are any pending issues. If everyone's happy, we'll release the official firmware next week.

The setup you've described is something which the UMR can deliver, definitely. You mentioned XBOX 360. Just make sure to appropriate the specific port for XBOX Live, and that you're using an APN from O2 which provides you a public IP address. This should easen things up for you.

Here's a good guide on how to handle port forwarding in the DOVADO UMR for XBOX Live: http://www.portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/DOVADO/UMR_Broadband/Xbox_Live_360.htm

In the meantime, make sure to sign up for firmware updates on http://www.dovado.com/umrfirmware

Enjoy your weekend

halolma

Grand, thanks for the quick reply!!

davmigil

I am currently using mobile phone paired to PC (also laptop via ICS) for internet access. Your product looks like it would suit my needs better. I don't want to start a new subscription with my carrier for a usb dongle. Is it possible for me to purchase a USB dongle for my carrier and transfer the sim card from the mobile phone into it and use with it with your router? Thanks!

watty

AS long as the USB modem is not locked to a different supplier, you can use a 3Gmodem compatible with Irish 3G and the Dovado or OTHER SIMILAR products of which there are a few. You can use your existing SIM.

Your own carrier is most expensive place to buy one unless it is with a SIM for a new contract.

davmigil

watty wrote: »

AS long as the USB modem is not locked to a different supplier, you can use a 3Gmodem compatible with Irish 3G and the Dovado or OTHER SIMILAR products of which there are a few. You can use your existing SIM.

Your own carrier is most expensive place to buy one unless it is with a SIM for a new contract.

Thanks Watty!

Was thinking of getting a 2nd hand one or is there a good place to buy a cheap unlocked one?

watty

Adverts.ie ?

Be carefull with eBay. Non-Europe modems may not work. modems may be really locked.

Research FIRST which modems the Dovado, Solwise, Dreytek, Linksys, Netgear, Cradlepoint or whatever router takes.

Older modems only do UPTO 1.8Mbps or UPTO 3.6Mbps. Newer ones do 7.2Mbps or 14.4Mbps. However you could have a Modem that does channel bonded 42Mbps or 56MBps and NEVER even get 1.8Mbps, so the Max speed is not everything.

You might get a 2nd hand "up to" 3.6 or 7.2 PCMCIA Modem (AKA Data Card) cheap, in which case you can use a Linksys WRT54G3G without a USB adaptor.

The Dlink DIR451 takes USB OR PCMCIA. Linksys and Netgear have expresscard adaptors that are really USB for older PCMCIA slot routers.

Buy modem 1st making sure it's supported by at least some cheaper routers and then AFTER testing it on Laptop, buy the Router.

DOVADO

Here's a list of USB modems supported by the DOVADO UMR:

http://www.dovado.com/modems

A lot of these can be found on Ebay (we buy many from there, without bidding of course). Just make sure to buy something that suits your requirements, operator's capabilities, and by most means; unlocked. If it needs unlocking, there are sites for that, which charge for that kind of self-service.

In addition to adding support for Sierra modems, we have also added in support for a couple more of the latest BandLuxe modems. So far so good.

muffo

I had been using a MacBook Air and a Canon iP5200R connected wirelessly through a Time Capsule.

I have just switched to a Dovado UMR with a 3G dongle and this gives me WiFi connectivity for the four computers that I have around the house.

However, I have not been able to get the Canon printer to work wirelessly.

I inserted the printer lead into the USB port not being used by the 3G dongle but nothing happens when I try to print. The UMR manual makes no reference to printing.

Is there a simple solution to this problem, please?

DOVADO

Hi Muffo,

The DOVADO UMR does not have a print-server functionality. The only option is to print via a LAN interface on the printer or to use a seperate print server. You can always print on your LAN via a separate computer which will share that printer.

Thanks

heinz57g

we had discussed this earlier: after trying both a SIM locked
as well as an unlocked version of a ZTE MF626 i can confirm
it works fine and stable as it should be. tried it in several countries,
with several providers, no problems whatsoever on the UMR.

greetings - heinz -

PS: but this also brings up a question on this and many similar
units -> how to access the extra SDmicro slot thru the UMR - anybody
worked out a trick yet? it would raise the usability of the UMR
by 100 points in my book ...

andyq

DOVADO wrote: »

Hello Ireland!

We are here to assist or answer any questions to you may have regarding the USB Mobile Broadband Router (UMR) for 3G.

All the best,

Team DOVADO!

Hi I recently purchased a Asus EEEPC using Linux and I have a Huawei E180 mobile broadband which works fine on windows XP, this is my first time using linux and I cannot connect to the net, is there a driver to make the modem work or a setup that has to be altered

Any help appreciated thanks

Commsoft

andyq wrote: »

Hi I recently purchased a Asus EEEPC using Linux and I have a Huawei E180 mobile broadband which works fine on windows XP, this is my first time using linux and I cannot connect to the net, is there a driver to make the modem work or a setup that has to be altered

Any help appreciated thanks

You might want to try the Unix forum, e.g. similar request re: E160G if you're looking to get the E180 working directly with Linux. A 3G router such as the Dovado UMR discussed in this thread is platform-independent and would be an option for you if you wish to share your 3G connection to other wireless/ethernet enabled devices.

Regards
--
Gerry Mulvenna
mulvenna.org | commsoft.ie | 3G-router.ie

watty

Yes. you can use the Modem directly on EeePC or Aspire One on Linux. Wrong Forum.

dondwyer157

DOVADO wrote: »

Hi Muffo,

The DOVADO UMR does not have a print-server functionality. The only option is to print via a LAN interface on the printer or to use a seperate print server. You can always print on your LAN via a separate computer which will share that printer.

Thanks

Are there any plans to introduce print-server functionality to the Dovado?
I know you could use a LAN port or WiFi, but then you'd have to buy a compatible printer! The seperate print server is a pain because you'd be forced to either leave it on the whole time, or go and turn it on everytime you want to print! A USB print-server functionality on the Dovado would be really handy, and if I'm not mistaken, the Fritz people do it on their router?

DOVADO

dondwyer157 wrote: »

Are there any plans to introduce print-server functionality to the Dovado?

We have no plans right now to incorporate that due to that it requires a lot of storage resources on the flash memory and would open up a can of worms due to supporting the wide range of printers out there. It would slow down our ability to provide the public with all the USB modems that keep coming out. Our focus this summer will be on supporting the 21Mbps modems, and our general focus is mobile broadband and the features and services associated to that.

Thanks

halolma

just a quick question, in relation to contention ratio... does the USBs contention increase with the UMR router? or will it be the same?

as I would like to hook up my Xbox 360, as if this was the cash, having your USB modem would be a better alternative than using a modem from the usual sources...

DOVADO

halolma wrote: »

just a quick question, in relation to contention ratio... does the USBs contention increase with the UMR router? or will it be the same?

as I would like to hook up my Xbox 360, as if this was the cash, having your USB modem would be a better alternative than using a modem from the usual sources...

Hi,

I'm not 100% sure what you mean with your question, however, the UMR only relays the same amount of speed the USB would provide a computer directly.

Does that answer your question?

Thanks

halolma

I mean the rate at which the broadband is transfered... as the contention for USB is not good enough...

Contention means:

The "contention ratio" is the maximum number of other people you will have to share the connection infrastructure with. So a contention ratio of 50:1 would mean that the maximum number of people you could be sharing the connection with at anytime is 49 other people. If all 50 people were downloading at the same time then your download speed could drop hugely, in reality though this doesn't happen and you can enjoy much faster download speeds.



thats why you need an ethernet cable! I don't think that your UMR Router will work for online gaming, it will probably work for PC/LAPTOPS, but not PS3/XBOX 360 online gaming


cheers anways!

DOVADO

halolma wrote: »

thats why you need an ethernet cable! I don't think that your UMR Router will work for online gaming, it will probably work for PC/LAPTOPS, but not PS3/XBOX 360 online gaming


cheers anways!

Hi Halolma,

Yeah, I understood "contention ratio", but not exactly what you were getting at, though now I understand your requirement a bit better. I didn't understand what you meant by Ethernet cable in the context of the UMR, but I guess you're talking about a fixed-line broadband like ADSL, where the latency is between 10-20ms.

As for online gaming over 3G in general; UMR or no UMR, it's all a question of round trip latency between you and the server and other players. Regular 3G is somewhere between 100-250ms, and HSPA is between 55-100ms. These latency times are decreasing with each new 3GPP release. The UMR has no impact on improving/worsening your latency. It's between your modem and the mobile network.

watty

halolma wrote: »

just a quick question, in relation to contention ratio... does the USBs contention increase with the UMR router? or will it be the same?

as I would like to hook up my Xbox 360, as if this was the cash, having your USB modem would be a better alternative than using a modem from the usual sources...

It's nothing to do with the modem being USB, nor exactly directly with contention. The Mobile service is terrible for XBox 360, not because it uses USB.

A DSL exchange, Cable or Fixed wireless may have hundreds or 1,000s sharing a 100Mbps to 1,000MBs resource.

Mobile everyone in the area you are in is sharing the up to 3.6Mbps or 7.2 or 14.4 Mbps speed. It's not the same kind of contention at all. It's much more severe. For an average 1Mbps service you can only have 3 people on a mast. (one per sector). 50:1 contention is number of CUSTOMERS sold a a resource divided by the number of users that can get full package speed. On DSL maybe 200 users can get full speed. The number of customers can be 2,000 for 10:1 contention. You can't control how many customers are in a Mobile Mast area. That's a completely different number from the number using the Mast.

But it's worse than that. As distance from the mast increases, or interference increases the speed is turned down to make it still connect, so the AVERAGE sector throughput over the whole area covered is 1Mbps to 2Mbps, Not the max speed of 3.6, 7.2 or 14.4Mbps. That 1Mbps to 2Mbps is shared. Thus with 10 simultaneous users you get 100kbps to 200kbps.

http://irishwattystuff.com/comparewireless/CompareHSPAandFixed-v4.html


It gets worse...

The latency is high for several reasons:
1) Often ATM/ISDN back-haul used
2) It's CDMA which raises latency
3) A limited number of CDMA codes are used, once than number of users connect, the system must schedule you along with voice calls, latency on data is thus 100ms to 2000ms, compared with 15ms to 70ms on Fixed Wireless, DSL or Cable. Gameplay needs less than 50ms. VOIP less than 100ms

The EDGE/3G/HSDPA/HSPA systems are designed for short bursts of data and short term mobile usage, not for continual fixed usage.

It's Mobile Internet, not Broadband. It does the Mobile thing very well. Though voice calls do get priority*

If you can get Fixed Wireless, Fibre, DSL (phoneline) or Cable, get it. Even cheap satellite with its fixed 790ms can be better than Mobile for some users.

Rule of thumb:
For same spectrum capacity, Mobile systems (ANY MOBILE SYSTEM EVER), will inherently on average have about 1/8th to 1/20th capacity of fixed wireless. DSL your phone line is not shared. Only the exchange backhaul, so it can outperform Mobile by about x10 at 5km and about x240 at 200m. Cable has potential using HFC/FTTC to give 200Mbps at 10:1 contention, thus about 2000times better than HSPA or 400 times better than the "fattest" LTE can be on average.

Mobile WiMax, LTE etc is better than 3G/HSDPA, but that extra speed will in long term be used for more capacity (x5 users at same speed, not the same number of users at x5 speed) as capacity is a real problem as Mobile is more popular. (Smart phones, PMP, Satnavs, Internet gadgets/tablets etc with built in Mobile)


* The cost ratio for the operator for the same sales value of Data package and Voice Minutes is varying from 150:1 to 500:1. Expect the price to really really go up once customers stop signing up in droves. The 200 Euro to 500 Euro per gigabyte over cap charges for Mobile Data should sound the warning bells too. i.e. Your data package of 20 Euro a month maybe costs the Operator over 100 Euro to 500 Euro a month. Depending on how massive their voice margin is.

halolma

watty wrote: »

It's nothing to do with the modem being USB, nor exactly directly with contention. The Mobile service is terrible for XBox 360, not because it uses USB.

A DSL exchange, Cable or Fixed wireless may have hundreds or 1,000s sharing a 100Mbps to 1,000MBs resource.

Mobile everyone in the area you are in is sharing the up to 3.6Mbps or 7.2 or 14.4 Mbps speed.

But it's worse than that. As distance from the mast increases, or interference increases the speed is turned down to make it still connect, so the AVERAGE sector throughput over the whole area covered is 1Mbps to 2Mbps, Not the max speed of 3.6, 7.2 or 14.4Mbps. That 1Mbps to 2Mbps is shared. Thus with 10 simultaneous users you get 100kbps to 200kbps.

http://irishwattystuff.com/comparewireless/CompareHSPAandFixed-v4.html


It gets worse...

The latency is high for several reasons:
1) Often ATM/ISDN back hauld used
2) It's CDMA which raises latency
3) A limited number of CDMA codes are used, once than number of users connect, the system must schedule you along with voice calls, latency on data is thus 100ms to 2000ms, compared with 15ms to 70ms on Fixed Wireless, DSL or Cable. Gameplay needs less than 50ms. VOIP less than 100ms

The EDGE/3G/HSDPA/HSPA systems are designed for short bursts of data and short term mobile usage, not for continual fixed usage.

It's Mobile Internet, not Broadband. It does the Mobile thing very well.

If you can get Fixed Wireless, Fibre, DSL (phoneline) or Cable, get it. Even cheap satellite with its fixed 790ms can be better than Mobile for some users.

Cheers mate, much appreciated

I am currently with eircom as well as with O2, but just thought if I could use my O2, it would be a cheaper alternative no worries, thanks for all your help

Dr. Nick

Watty explains the whole thing very well, probably better than anyone in this country.

However, mobile b/band remains the ONLY option to many, many people and as one who has moved from a town (7.2) to the country, I've actually been pleasently surprised by the (o2) mobile experience (and maybe that's because my expectations were low thanks to Watty's posts!)