mobile broadband (UK)

[Big G]

Tried the mrs' Vodaphone mobile broadband last night and it was painful. Browsing single sites at once is bearable, but I can't log into World of Warcraft due to lack of bandwidth and loading up 2 pages at once just grinds it all to a halt. It's 56k all over again.

Does anyone have an Orange dongle for mobile broadband since I have one coming this week to get me through the period of not having a phone line in my new house.

surely it's down to the area I'm using it, but so far 2 places 15 miles apart are very 56k on vodaphone

[DCM]

well, don't forget, you are on a very limited badnwidth, when it comes to mobile internet, and they can be miserably slow, to bareable, but these are not designed for gaming, more things like facebook and stuff.

[Big G]

they say it's 3.6mbit download with promises of going up to 7.2mbit soon.

are they just pulling our legs and really it's 56k or nothing?

[peetbee]

They probably have the words 'up to' in the blurb to cover them!

[Answer-RC-Pete]

Yeah - its variable to say the least - if you get a solid 3G signal its good for browing and emails (never tried gaming) but on a GPRS connection its painful just opening a email with attatchment..

I suspect its not unique to Voda though..

[MatJohnson]

Its contended bandwidth as well so the more people using it, the slower the connection.

[Big G]

did a postcode search with orange on my postcode and I have 4/5 3G and 3G+ so fingers crossed at home at least it could be decent.

[Lee]

Now personally i wouldn't do this ........ but

You can get a booster for your laptop to pick up wifi signals, either find an unlocked one or use a WEP cracker

Like i said, it's naughty but some very naughty boys do it

[toooldskool]

I don't want to alarm you but in Hereford the Orange signal was showing as v good so I bought a dongle - had to return it as it was s..l..o..w

[Big G]

I'm in leominster myself. all the HR1 checks I did were saying a lot lower than my HR6 scan. strange that given the size of hereford compared to leominster.

well if it's shit they can stick it. I'll send it back. Good old distance selling regulations.

[welsh man]

it all comes down to how muich u actually paid for it because when i bought bought it i bought the best option and it was almost and quik as my normal connection

[Big G]

I got the orange one for £4.89/month and it works pretty good around here. usually connects at the fastest speed possible which gives about 100kb/s download. Good for days out racing too since it keeps the Mrs in touch with facebook lol

[welsh man]

Originally Posted by Big G

I got the orange one for £4.89/month and it works pretty good around here. usually connects at the fastest speed possible which gives about 100kb/s download. Good for days out racing too since it keeps the Mrs in touch with facebook lol

BIG G you should buy a vodaphone dongle and just top iot up with credit lkike you do with a phone this way you only pay for what you need and the broadband if very very fast

[i4n]

Originally Posted by welsh man

BIG G you should buy a vodaphone dongle and just top iot up with credit lkike you do with a phone this way you only pay for what you need and the broadband if very very fast

Read the first post mate - he's tried Vodaphone and I'm guessing from what he's written, continental drift is quicker.

[welsh man]

Originally Posted by i4n

Read the first post mate - he's tried Vodaphone and I'm guessing from what he's written, continental drift is quicker.

yeah i know that but he just pays monthly which in my opinion is pointless u should pay for what you usebecause this way it might work out cheaper if u dont go on the web and also the internet is really quick

[samd]

Stampy?

[sldmodels]

I have a t-mobile one, and sometimes it's quick, sometimes I'm pressing reload for all I'm worth. Playing warcraft just isn't going to happen I'm afraid. I tried walking in Secondlife, and it was painfully slow with a good signal.

[Big G]

I looked at the pay as you go options, but the credit is lost after 30 days if you don't use it. In all fairness I haven't used my orange MBB in ages now. Kinda wasting £4.89 a month lol.

Gotta call Orange to remove the itemised bill option that they are charging me £1.80 for anyway so I'll ask.

yeah Vodaphone is painfully slow where I live. Even facebook is a no go.

[Titch]

Originally Posted by Big G

they say it's 3.6mbit download with promises of going up to 7.2mbit soon.

are they just pulling our legs and really it's 56k or nothing?

Bit's are not to be confused with Bytes.. Bit's are much smaller.. 8x smaller infact. there are 8 bits in 1 byte - so that impressive sounding 3.6 mbits is not even half a megabyte. So yes, it is about 45 to 56 k - aka dial up

[jimmy]

I can get about 300kb a second with my three dongle - loads faster than dialup. I downloaded a few tv proggies on it yesterday.