Mobile Broadband Modem Type & Supplier (Ennis)

matsil · 15-08-2009 10:25pm #1

I am about to purchase mobile broadband, but I am undecided between O2 and Three.

O2 seem to have a great selection of modems: Huawei E1752, Compass 888, E170........

Three have two modems: E160G and E180

My question is, does the modem make that much of a difference? I want the best download / upload speeds that I can get, but at the same time I don't see the point in having a super-dooper modem if the network isn't capable of the higher speeds.......

Is there any difference between the Huawei E1752 and Compass 888 from O2 - they both have download / upload speeds of 7.2 / 5.2 ?

The E180 from Three also has 7.2 download speeds, but Three don't advertise its upload speed.......

Generally, Three seems better value - the modem is cheaper and you get 15GB monthly allowance on a 12 month contract - twice that of O2 for the same monthly charge. But is O2 a superior network / service? I'm in Ennis, Co.Clare...... out the Tulla road, just before the turn onto the motorway.

Many thanks for any input,

Matsil

watty · 15-08-2009 10:40pm

It's Mobile, but not Broadband.

See Midband Forum. Unless you need Mobility or can't get Broadband, don't bother.

There is small difference in practice between modems as the usage and distance of the Mast you are connecting at is the major determining feature, those speeds are ONLY for a single connection close to a mast.

Ricky91t · 15-08-2009 10:58pm

Not 3

Cabaal · 15-08-2009 11:07pm

moving to midband

Amalgam · 15-08-2009 11:12pm

Watty will hit me over the head with a, foam, aerial shaped hammer if I argue his point, which is sadly, a large monolith of fact.

Having said that, I would, given the choice, plump for the Huawei E180, over the Huawei E170. The Sierra Wireless 888 has some great after-market plug in aerials, for use in rural areas, but these are hard to purchase over here, in Ireland, at a sensible price. eBay is your friend..

Both the 888, E170, E180 are Linux friendly. Huawei also provide Mac software for use on the Apple operating system.

The E180 has the same upload speed as the E1572. Depends if firmware enabled and network ability/capacity.

Amalgam · 15-08-2009 11:18pm

matsil, forgot to say, O2 are doing a trial service at the moment, you can bring the 888 modem home for a set period of time, this might be worth investigating before commiting yourself to a frustrating contract etc..

Why not try O2 Broadband today - for free?

We're curious. It's in our nature. We like to try things out. We test. Now you can try our broadband for free. Download music, go on to facebook, watch youtube, and check out our speeds.

Ask to try our broadband today - for free. You can borrow a modem from any of our stores - so you can test. Satisfy your curiosity.

http://www.o2online.ie/wps/wcm/connect/O2/Home/Explore+Services/Broadband/Mobile+Broadband/More+Information/

matsil · 16-08-2009 9:55am

Thanks guys,

I'm not expecting an equal service to land line broadband. I'm actually working away from home and I'm only in Ennis 3 or 4 night a week. Its more for web browsing and emails, using forum based websites such as this (boards.ie), online banking, booking the odd ticket and that sort of thing.... I'm not going to be trying to download music or movies, or play online games. At the moment I just use my vodafone nokia E51 mobile phone..... although I just about manage to get the info I need it really is painful - so its got to be an improvement on that?????

Folks reckon Three is a no go then........??? The initial purchase price of a modem is no real incentive to be honest..... I was just looking at the download limit (15BG against 10GB), although in reality I doubt I'll ever get close to the 10....... and an 18 month contract if you want the €20/month rate from O2versus 12 months with Three.......

watty · 16-08-2009 12:59pm

O2 rather than 3 for many reasons.
I think the E51 only does EDGE/3G (Up to 240k / 340k), not HSDPA/HSPA. Also some older phones only connect at 115k to laptop.

If you're using a few locations and occasionally the train, then Mobile is OK. It would 5 to 20 times better for genuine Mobile Users if they stopped marketing as Fixed Solution and real Broadband was generally available at €20 inc Line rental.

The external aerial option is good to have. Especially in Train or House with energy saving coating on glass that blocks Mobile.

matsil · 16-08-2009 6:09pm

Ok, I got the O2 package - with the "Compass 888" modem.

So far, to be honest, I am quite impressed (based on 10 mins of usage). Its easily a match for my standard 1MB Eircom connection. How that fairs out over the week we'll see, but so far so good.

1 question - does anyone know how to configure "Microsoft Windows Mail" so that I can use my eircom.net email address via the O2 modem?

Thanks for everyones help.

watty · 16-08-2009 7:01pm

you can fetch from the eircom mail box.

You need to use O2's mail server to send mail.

Amalgam · 18-08-2009 7:36pm

Nice choice matsil, I'm partial to that modem. Have a gander on eBay for plugin aerials for it.

That modem generally has a higher resale value , to the Huawei's too. If things don't work out, or you decide to go back to cable.

friday1 · 19-09-2009 12:56pm

For the record, I have the OPENSUSE 11.1 LINUX.

I can confirm the Huawei E1752 tested using o2 ireland works with this distro if I boot into vista first and restart.So it is not great really.

As does the Huawei E180 tested using 3 irelands network.(but a poor network, lots of drop outs!!)

As does the Huawei E220 tested on Vodafone's network.

cocoa · 25-09-2009 11:17pm

Those modems will work in linux (ubuntu anyway) with a bit of work... The key to fixing the problem is usb_modeswitch, a clever little bit of work that will turn off the memory stick functionality, allowing you to access the modem functionality.

Once you've unpacked usb_modeswitch you'll have to add the code below for the E1752, most of the other models are already covered.

Once you've done that, run usb_modeswitch (as su, otherwise it won't work) and it should be fixed. Use lsusb before and after to check. I found ubuntu was able to figure out the rest after that but there's a variety of programs available once you can actually recognise the modem. You will have to run usb_modeswitch every time you connect the dongle but again, there's various ways of automating this (udev seems popular).

########################################################
# Huawei E1752
#
# Contributor: 

DefaultVendor=  0x12d1
DefaultProduct= 0x1446

TargetVendor=	0x12d1
TargetProdct=	0x1001

MessageEndpoint=	0x01

MessageContent=	"55534243000000000000000000000011060000000000000000000000000000"

Hope that helps someone

EDIT : actually something very strange is still happening... it only connects when it thinks it's being shut down soon... Quite possibly a separate and unique problem though...

minogudk · 09-05-2010 7:11pm

cocoa,

thanks for your post about using mobile broadband with linux. when i try and add the code to the usb_modeswitch file it won't let me save it, 'you do not have the permissions necessary to save the file. Please check that you have typed the location correctly and try again'. (i'm new to all this). then in the terminal window it aborts because there is no default vendor. i'm using ubuntu 9.04. am i supposed to be able to save it?

do you know why this happens? i copied and pasted your one when typing it didn't work. your post was so helpful so far thank you!

cocoa · 09-05-2010 10:20pm

minogudk wrote: »

cocoa,

thanks for your post about using mobile broadband with linux. when i try and add the code to the usb_modeswitch file it won't let me save it, 'you do not have the permissions necessary to save the file. Please check that you have typed the location correctly and try again'. (i'm new to all this). then in the terminal window it aborts because there is no default vendor. i'm using ubuntu 9.04. am i supposed to be able to save it?

do you know why this happens? i copied and pasted your one when typing it didn't work. your post was so helpful so far thank you!

Hi minogudk,

you'll need to either give yourself permission to edit the file (type 'chmod u+rw filename' in a terminal, if this doesn't work try 'sudo chmod u+rw filename', where 'filename' is the name of the file you want to edit, in this case usb_modeswitch.conf) or just edit the file as super user ('sudo gedit filename').

You can put sudo (short for Super User DO) in front of any standard command to run it as the super user, or you can type 'sudo su' to run all commands as super user. You will be prompted for a password when you use sudo, just use the one you log in with.

Hope that helps,

cocoa.

minogudk · 10-05-2010 7:59pm

thank you so much that worked perfectly. would you happen to know why vcl won't play my dvds? i've done loads of installing have libdvdcss2 i think and it won't seem to play them. it opens but there's no screen (it looks like a music player or something). no worries if not you've helped so much! thanks. totem won't play them either.

cocoa · 10-05-2010 9:09pm

Sorry, I don't have any experience with that, I was lucky enough to have my DVDs just work. I'd recommend the ubuntu forums (assuming you're using ubuntu) for help, and always google your problem, using the error name if there is one.

Mobile Broadband Modem Type & Supplier (Ennis)

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