Hi, desperate to get shot of BT, I note on the 3G website BB checker
they say my coverage is very good on my  postcode. I just rang and
checked and they also confirmed it. Seems strange as 02 and tmobile
coverage is pretty poor and 02 say dont go for mobile BB in my area.
Anyway 3G reckon its good for my home PC just plug the dongle in and
we are away.

What do you lot think? We only surf the net and email really,
currently running at around 2.5gb pm so the 5gb 3G should be ample.
TIA

PS its for use on a home PC and not a laptop so will be under a desk
but stay in the same room, any issues with this?

"lloyd"  wrote in message news:kgdue59m1rq2n3re1hv064hjn7sru6pi1q@4ax.com...
> Hi, desperate to get shot of BT, I note on the 3G website BB checker
> they say my coverage is very good on my  postcode. I just rang and
> checked and they also confirmed it. Seems strange as 02 and tmobile
> coverage is pretty poor and 02 say dont go for mobile BB in my area.
> Anyway 3G reckon its good for my home PC just plug the dongle in and
> we are away.
>
> What do you lot think? We only surf the net and email really,
> currently running at around 2.5gb pm so the 5gb 3G should be ample.
> TIA
>
> PS its for use on a home PC and not a laptop so will be under a desk
> but stay in the same room, any issues with this?

They will probably provide a USB 'A' male to 'A' female extension cable
so you can position the dongle for a better signal

-- 
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

On Tue, 3 Nov 2009 03:04:38 -0000, "Graham."  wrote:

>
>
>"lloyd"  wrote in message news:kgdue59m1rq2n3re1hv064hjn7sru6pi1q@4ax.com...
>> Hi, desperate to get shot of BT, I note on the 3G website BB checker
>> they say my coverage is very good on my  postcode. I just rang and
>> checked and they also confirmed it. Seems strange as 02 and tmobile
>> coverage is pretty poor and 02 say dont go for mobile BB in my area.
>> Anyway 3G reckon its good for my home PC just plug the dongle in and
>> we are away.
>>
>> What do you lot think? We only surf the net and email really,
>> currently running at around 2.5gb pm so the 5gb 3G should be ample.
>> TIA
>>
>> PS its for use on a home PC and not a laptop so will be under a desk
>> but stay in the same room, any issues with this?
>
>They will probably provide a USB 'A' male to 'A' female extension cable
>so you can position the dongle for a better signal

That will be handy, though I do appreciate I may well need to relocate
PC anyway. Sods law their mast direction is on the wrong side of the
house.

I'm going to go with the 14 day trial anyway to test it out. If
successful is there anyway to lose the dongle and have a *normal*
router type setup? My PC is not wifi presently and I don't really like
it anyhow if I can possibly avoid it. Though it's obviously a mobile
network.

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:40:37 +0000, lloyd  wrote:

>On Tue, 3 Nov 2009 03:04:38 -0000, "Graham."  wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>"lloyd"  wrote in message news:kgdue59m1rq2n3re1hv064hjn7sru6pi1q@4ax.com...
>>> Hi, desperate to get shot of BT, I note on the 3G website BB checker
>>> they say my coverage is very good on my  postcode. I just rang and
>>> checked and they also confirmed it. Seems strange as 02 and tmobile
>>> coverage is pretty poor and 02 say dont go for mobile BB in my area.
>>> Anyway 3G reckon its good for my home PC just plug the dongle in and
>>> we are away.
>>>
>>> What do you lot think? We only surf the net and email really,
>>> currently running at around 2.5gb pm so the 5gb 3G should be ample.
>>> TIA
>>>
>>> PS its for use on a home PC and not a laptop so will be under a desk
>>> but stay in the same room, any issues with this?
>>
>>They will probably provide a USB 'A' male to 'A' female extension cable
>>so you can position the dongle for a better signal
>
>That will be handy, though I do appreciate I may well need to relocate
>PC anyway. Sods law their mast direction is on the wrong side of the
>house.
>
>I'm going to go with the 14 day trial anyway to test it out. If
>successful is there anyway to lose the dongle and have a *normal*
>router type setup? My PC is not wifi presently and I don't really like
>it anyhow if I can possibly avoid it. Though it's obviously a mobile
>network.
>

PS: This is only because I find the USB dongle a tad delicate, rather
than wanting more than one internet connection to my PC, though I
guess if the dongle is on a USB extension lead I can tuck it out of
the way anyway. What's the longest USB lead you could reliably use I
wonder?

lloyd wrote:

> PS: This is only because I find the USB dongle a tad delicate, rather
> than wanting more than one internet connection to my PC, though I
> guess if the dongle is on a USB extension lead I can tuck it out of
> the way anyway. What's the longest USB lead you could reliably use I
> wonder?
> 

45 meters(!) using a cheap two part gizmo to adapt USB to work over Cat5 
network cable. Depending on the power consumption of the device (and the 
friendlyness of your USB port) you might get away with using just this, 
or additionally just use a powered hub at near the far end to supply 
enough juice to the 3G modem.

Search Aria.co.uk for item# 17185
SB Extender (UP TO 45m) - £13.53 inc. VAT

A friend has used this successfully in a remote part of Spain by moving 
his 3G stick to the peak of his roof. Reception and performance 
elsewhere was sorely lacking.


-- 
Adrian C

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:15:45 +0000, Adrian C <email@here.invalid>
wrote:

>lloyd wrote:
>
>> PS: This is only because I find the USB dongle a tad delicate, rather
>> than wanting more than one internet connection to my PC, though I
>> guess if the dongle is on a USB extension lead I can tuck it out of
>> the way anyway. What's the longest USB lead you could reliably use I
>> wonder?
>> 
>
>45 meters(!) using a cheap two part gizmo to adapt USB to work over Cat5 
>network cable. Depending on the power consumption of the device (and the 
>friendlyness of your USB port) you might get away with using just this, 
>or additionally just use a powered hub at near the far end to supply 
>enough juice to the 3G modem.
>
>Search Aria.co.uk for item# 17185
>SB Extender (UP TO 45m) - £13.53 inc. VAT
>
>A friend has used this successfully in a remote part of Spain by moving 
>his 3G stick to the peak of his roof. Reception and performance 
>elsewhere was sorely lacking.

I'll check thjat out. Thanks

lloyd wrote:
>> Search Aria.co.uk for item# 17185
>> SB Extender (UP TO 45m) - £13.53 inc. VAT
> 
> I'll check thjat out. Thanks

No problem.

Though I should really point out that this link stuff is for USB 1.1 
spec (12 Mbits/s Full-Speed), and not anything faster with USB 2.0

Not that it matters for a 3G modem, but just in case someone on google 
has other application ideas for it.

-- 
Adrian C

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:55:46 +0000, Adrian C <email@here.invalid>
wrote:

>lloyd wrote:
>>> Search Aria.co.uk for item# 17185
>>> SB Extender (UP TO 45m) - £13.53 inc. VAT
>> 
>> I'll check thjat out. Thanks
>
>No problem.
>
>Though I should really point out that this link stuff is for USB 1.1 
>spec (12 Mbits/s Full-Speed), and not anything faster with USB 2.0
>
>Not that it matters for a 3G modem, but just in case someone on google 
>has other application ideas for it.

I like this review :)

- exactly what it says on the tin! by bowier

I was unsure of the compatability of this kit with a vodafone mobile
internet dongle. I connected as in instructions, one unit in pc one
into dongle.I connected these with a 30m aria rj45 cable. I then ran
the cable into the roof space (Concrete office block) and instantly
went from zero reception to full strength signal. Saving a few hundred
quid on having a network point etc fitted. Excellent product. Many
thanks  -

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
lloyd   wrote:

> Hi, desperate to get shot of BT, I note on the 3G website BB checker
> they say my coverage is very good on my  postcode. I just rang and
> checked and they also confirmed it. Seems strange as 02 and tmobile
> coverage is pretty poor and 02 say dont go for mobile BB in my area.
> Anyway 3G reckon its good for my home PC just plug the dongle in and
> we are away.
>
> What do you lot think? We only surf the net and email really,
> currently running at around 2.5gb pm so the 5gb 3G should be ample.
> TIA
>
> PS its for use on a home PC and not a laptop so will be under a desk
> but stay in the same room, any issues with this?

I use a 3 dongle for mobile internet when away from home - and have been 
very disappointed with its performance. On my last holiday - in the New 
Forest - it didn't work at all, and when it *does* work (even at home) the 
best download speed I can get is 1Mbps - and it often only achieves half of 
that. In order to achieve that, I have to dangle the dongle out of a window 
on the end of a USB extension lead.

Something which I *haven't* tried, but which may improve the performance, is 
to use an external antenna. There is a socket on the side of the dongle - 
under a very small removeable cover - which allows an antenna to be plugged 
in.

As others have said, there is a router available, into which you can plug 
the USB-based dongle, and which then allows the connection to be shared by 
multiple PCs over ethernet. I don't know how well this works - but I would 
certainly be investigating both of the above options were I considering 
using this for my *main* internet connection.
-- 
Cheers,
Roger
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