Mobile broadband quality

Phibsd7

Hi,

I'm living in Dublin city centre and thinking of investing in mobile broadband (I cannot get NTL in my current location).

Has anyone experience with any of these products e.g. 3, vodafone, meteor etc.?
I would need decent speeds to be able to work from home etc.

3 are advertising speeds of up to 7.2Mbps with one of their modems... I'm sceptical.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers.

eth0_

I've never used a mobile broadband service that was good for anything other than web browsing. Youtube, internet radio, skype etc - forget it.

Get a phone line or get Digiweb wireless, I found their service very good.

RangeR

Just so there is absolutely NO confusion. There is no such thing as mobile broadband. The offerings from the likes of O2, 3, Vodefone are not broadband. More suited to narrowband / midband, depending on the time of day and direction of the wind. Don't expect anything pother than light email and browsing or you will be disappointed*.


* you probably will be anyway

babaloushka

Have a look at this thread. I would steer clear. If you like, you can get a 14 day trial and check what it's like in your area, but anyone I know who has tried it says it's useless, even for basic browsing. Web pages nowadays take a long time to download, with all sorts of pictures and graphics - with midband like 3, you might as well be on dial-up. There are some good deals around for real broadband, but you do need a landline.

RangeR

babaloushka wrote: »

There are some good deals around for real broadband, but you do need a landline.

Or be in a digiweb fixed wireless area or UPC broadband catchment area.

jor el

Check out the midband forum.

It can be good for what it is, mobile Internet access, but it is not, and never will be, broadband. The 7.2Mbps speed quoted is a fairy tale, even in optimal conditions, you realistically won't get it.

If you need Internet access on the move, then it's a very good solution, just be under no illusions as to what it is and isn't capable of.

The provider, and the provider's network, are of paramount importance.

Xterminator

I can tell you, the year i was contracted to 3 mobile was a nightmare.

lost payments, outages, different customer service agent each time, no supervisors available, calls not returned, comreg involved .....

anyway i wouldnt be reccomending them to you.

hoser expat

I have the O2 mobile 'broadband' and quite like it. Sure, I can't download movies, but youtube and most streaming video is fine.

3DataModem

I've been using 3 mobile for the past 18 months in Sutton, Dublin.

It's been grand for pretty much everything. I've played on Ps3, youtube, torrented, skype etc without any problems.

Occasionally slow, but not lately.

One or two sites blocked (e.g. Full Tilt Poker) but nothing else major.

It REALLY REALLY depends where you live and who else local to you has it.

HIGHLY recommend borrowing a modem, getting a PAYG sim and trying it out. I suggest getting a PAYG for all 4 mobile providers to see which is best in your area - test over a week say.

And yes, mobile broadband is handy.

RangeR

3DataModem wrote: »

I've been using 3 mobile for the past 18 months in Sutton, Dublin.

It's been grand for pretty much everything. I've played on Ps3, youtube, torrented, skype etc without any problems.

Until more people in your cell start using it.

krudler

hoser expat wrote: »

I have the O2 mobile 'broadband' and quite like it. Sure, I can't download movies, but youtube and most streaming video is fine.

Why not? I have it and it works fine for downloading/straming tv shows, average half hour episode takes all over 10 mins to download, there is a 3G mast on the roof of the garda station up the road though

remus808

RangeR wrote: »

Just so there is absolutely NO confusion. There is no such thing as mobile broadband. The offerings from the likes of O2, 3, Vodefone are not broadband. More suited to narrowband / midband, depending on the time of day and direction of the wind. Don't expect anything pother than light email and browsing or you will be disappointed*.


* you probably will be anyway

Overreaction: I had mobile broadband in south dublin and found it comparable to 1mb ADSL.

remus808

3DataModem wrote: »

HIGHLY recommend borrowing a modem, getting a PAYG sim and trying it out. I suggest getting a PAYG for all 4 mobile providers to see which is best in your area - test over a week say.

And yes, mobile broadband is handy.

How much does broadband cost on PAYG?

pred racer

hoser expat wrote: »

I have the O2 mobile 'broadband' and quite like it. Sure, I can't download movies, but youtube and most streaming video is fine.

+1

krudler wrote: »

Why not? I have it and it works fine for downloading/straming tv shows, average half hour episode takes all over 10 mins to download, there is a 3G mast on the roof of the garda station up the road though

Id say its because of the 10GB cap. since they dropped the price they have said they are going to enforce the cap rigidly(they didnt before the price cut)

compsys

karmabass wrote: »

Overreaction: I had mobile broadband in south dublin and found it comparable to 1mb ADSL.

I have to agree. I was with 3 for a year and found the service decent enough. I often attained speeds of up to 2mb and rarely had any connection problems. I will admit that when downloading certain content-heavy Web pages or streaming videos and songs etc. the speed definitely wasn't as quick as I would have liked, but all in all in was an OK service. If you're having difficulty getting broadband from the 'fixed line' providers then I'd definitely recommend trying mobile broadband.
The comment that mobile broadband is only equivalent to dial-up is complete and utter hyperbole. Also, a lot of the issues surrounding 3 concern their customer service (which is pretty crap) and not the quality of their products. Again, I was with 3 bill pay for a few years and found their network great.

littlejp

I've been using O2 for a year now and I find it brilliant. I live close to the City Centre though and there is a prison, hospital, fire station and garda station all within half a mile of my house. I think this helps as most public service buildings have mobile masts on the roof.
I've used it down in Kildare and it doesn't work as well but that's to be expected. Can't download bit torrents but youtube is fine as is any other streaming service. I can also Download and Upload reasonably fast.

Cabaal

littlejp wrote: »

I've been using O2 for a year now and I find it brilliant. I live close to the City Centre though and there is a prison, hospital, fire station and garda station all within half a mile of my house. I think this helps as most public service buildings have mobile masts on the roof.
I've used it down in Kildare and it doesn't work as well but that's to be expected. Can't download bit torrents but youtube is fine as is any other streaming service. I can also Download and Upload reasonably fast.

The very fault with Mobile Broadband is it won't ever be consistent, quality control on their network just can't be done as you can't control contention.

So in short, its great its good for you but it could be piss poor for someone 2 miles away

dudara

Moved to Midband

dudara