3 mobile broadband or satellite broadband?

MZK

We have a problem! We live in Leitrim and have always had limited broadband options. Currently we have vodafone at home broadband, its grand although the router can cause problems but good enough for what we need. I work online from home, do a fair bit of Skype calling and we also stream alot of TV and movies.

But we are moving and have found out we will be unable to get broadband through the phone line in the area. The previous owner used a 3 dongle, they got about 3 to 4 bars which was enough for their use, general browsing, emails and utube watching. I have heard of people in rural areas getting a free boaster from 3 as they are part of the goverment scheme but when I rang they told me Leitrim wasn't in the deal (eh wasn't supposed to be for rural areas!!??) But I saw one online for about €20 I'm going to try.

Or I was looking at onwave but have read alot of threads here saying they're awful!? Juts FYI our local provider would be fastcom but they don't have any signal in our area.

I'm wondering if anyone has had the same problem and what was the solution? Or if anyone had any luck with a boaster with a 3 dongle?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

baords dyslexic

Check on three's website and follow the NBS links to see if you are in a National Broadband Scheme area if you are you can sign up for that and if you have signal issues you can complain and may get a Repeater. BUT if you have 3-4 bars signal strenght I doubt they'll do anything for you the repeaters are only for those NBS users that can't get a connection without one. If your not in an NBS area then you won't/can't get a repeater from 3.

Nothing you can do to boost the signal is likely to get you faster speeds (starting with 3-4bars anyway) as the major factor involved is the number of other users on at the same time. Congestion in some areas can be really bad.

Best you can do is unlock your dongle get a 3Pay SIM top it up and try it out.

jor el

MZK wrote: »

I work online from home, do a fair bit of Skype calling and we also stream alot of TV and movies.

Forget satellite so. The latency will make it useless for VOIP, and the caps are very low, which makes it wholly unsuited to streaming video content. 3G services are also not suited to either VOIP or video streaming services, so don't be thinking that's the answer.

You may have to accept the fact that you're not going to get the service you want at all.

Remember too that "bars" of signal strength mean nothing. They are not an indication of the signal strength or the quality of service. It is very possible to have maximum "bars" and no Internet connection. Signal boosters are also a bit of a red herring. They are only worth getting if you have no signal at all, or such a low signal that it keeps dropping. Boosting signal does nothing for connection quality or speed.

djDaithi

I have one of the signal boosters from 3, it does nothing, in fact at times it makes things worse. As they said above, get the broadband form 3, complain and they'll eventually give you a booster but dont expect a better service! Personally I'm just waiting til the end of my contract to try satellite.

ado123

Need advice. Moved house and had upc broadband in the house. dont want to get it in the new house as they were a shour of ******** to deal with. Do people find the 3 dongle much good. Need it for cheching e mail and you tubing mainly but am wondering does this use up much of the data allowance? there are 2 options of 1 gig and 15 gig but dont want to go over allowance. any advice???

baords dyslexic

ado123 wrote: »

Need advice. Moved house and had upc broadband in the house. dont want to get it in the new house as they were a shour of ******** to deal with. Do people find the 3 dongle much good. Need it for cheching e mail and you tubing mainly but am wondering does this use up much of the data allowance? there are 2 options of 1 gig and 15 gig but dont want to go over allowance. any advice???

Make the effort and deal with a shower of ******** and get fixed line broadband. 3 is Mobile Broadband and not the same thing at all.

-=al=-

Fixed broadband > dial up > 3 "broadband"

UPC it!

orwellg84

jor el wrote: »

Forget satellite so. The latency will make it useless for VOIP, and the caps are very low, which makes it wholly unsuited to streaming video content. 3G services are also not suited to either VOIP or video streaming services, so don't be thinking that's the answer.
.

I note here your comments about satellite. I have seen Tooway offering VOIP with blueface and unlimited downloads. Is this a total con they are selling? Are you speaking from experience of sat, it's important for people who are getting increasing frustrated at the complete lack of service in rural and semi rural locations.

cashelkebabs

hi guys. .in an area where all i can get is o2 dongle and its no good to me
checked satellite out and considering onwave as seem to have fastest speeds for the money. .is anyone with them or used them. .looking for feedback before sign up. .thanks

doubter

cashelkebabs wrote: »

hi guys. .in an area where all i can get is o2 dongle and its no good to me
checked satellite out and considering onwave as seem to have fastest speeds for the money. .is anyone with them or used them. .looking for feedback before sign up. .thanks

am with digiweb. they are brilliant.Watching netflix no probs, project free tv - just let it load for about 4 minutes, works perfect, skype calling works fine, however, skype call& video will result in delays...:-). Am very happy with digiweb though.:D