3G Data stick providers

fov · 19th July 2008

Whats peoples thoughts on the mobile providers in the way of 3G cards?
I have a Vodafone and a Tmobile one provided by 2 companies I support but the tmob has to go back to them soon and the voda one is tied to the companies apn so you cant go anywhere except their network.
So ive been thinking of getting one of my own.
Experiance has been that tmob is more reliable, better software and better reception around here but a lot slower network.
Voda have crap software and less reception (but still good enough most of the time) and handles the swap between 3g and gprs great and better speed when your on 3g.

Three is meant to have a good reception around here too but ive not played with any kit.

O2 and Orange are unknowns..

So anyone any comments on experiance with them? I know your all down south so reception wont count for up here.

Jamie- · 19th July 2008

I have a 3 "usb modem" for 3g, have found speed and coverage to be good, haven't had it anywhere I couldnt get a signal (yet) I only use it a month or 2 per year though.

Have used it in Preston, so not overly far from you, used it in manchester, cumbria, used it in bsq a couple of times, and extensively in hertfordshire, all had good connectivity.

chrisbyrd · 19th July 2008

T-mob and Three are merging their physical 3g networks - should be done by the end of the year I believe, so the coverage of either of these should be pretty good eventually

markcastle · 19th July 2008

Getting fed up with crap signal out of main towns with T-Mobile. When it drops down from 3g it simple isn't worth using.

Jon-NC · 19th July 2008

Ive recently purchased a 3 3g USB thingy. Works very well.

othellotech · 19th July 2008

never been anywhere in the uk, that i cant get a connection with the voda express cards - will issue them as standard to all staff now, for £30/month its a negligable cost for being able to get online 100%

aXeR · 19th July 2008

I have a 3G modem with '3' although its unlocked to T-mobile and to be honest, I've had zero issues with it. Perfectly good enough to be able to remote desktop back to the office

PeteK · 19th July 2008

We've got Voda cards internally in any modern Dell laptop (or as a relatively cheap add in (don't buy from Dell, they charge a fortune, shout if you want some) and they are by far the best of our tested bunch. Oranges' data is dreadful often useless, T-Mobile seems short on bandwidth on the masts IMO, I wouldn't touch 3 and have no experience of O2. An example is myself and one of the other staff were sat in Stanstead and he couldn't get 3G on Orange at all, and the same in Belfast Int airport. I have full 3G in Belfast and was pinging THE in 80ms over Voda, he was pinging at half a second on gprs.

Another example is St. Katherines Dock, exactly same, no 3g on Orange but HSDPA on Voda.

Just buy Voda all day long. Oh and you don't have to use Voda's software on a Dell either, but tbh the latest versions aren't too bad and we do have a corporate with 600 of these on PCMCIA cards and HSDPA USB Voda's too and we don't have much trouble.

Would love to hear anyones comments on O2 tho..

aXeR · 19th July 2008

O2 operate one of the slowest networks atm at only 1.8Mit. Their packages are also more expensive than Voda, Tmob and 3G and hence why I've not even bothered chucking my O2 sim in the modem yet!

fov · 20th July 2008

Spoke to 3 and they have offered me a 2 week trial so lets give it a go!

PeteK · 20th July 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by aXeR

O2 operate one of the slowest networks atm at only 1.8Mit. Their packages are also more expensive than Voda, Tmob and 3G and hence why I've not even bothered chucking my O2 sim in the modem yet!

They might be the slowest, but I suspect like many here, I don't use mine as a replacement. Most of the time I sit gigabit cable attached to our core network. When not there I have our and an LLU ops dsl in the house. The 3g card is for use in the car or when really up a creek without a paddle. As such the speed is not really important, but good 3g coverage and reliable performance rathe than outright speed is important, and its the only OP I've not tried, hence the question.

PeteK · 20th July 2008

To all those asking about 3g cards to put INSIDE modern Dells, take a search on your favourite aution site for "Wireless 5520 Mobile Broadband"

Latitude models Dx20 and Dx30 (e.g. 620 / 820 / 630 etc) all have the antennas built in, even if the card is not installed. The card does under the keyboard and takes about 10 mins to fit. There is a chap who sells them for a shade under 50 quid on one site, and we've bought all of ours from him. You just unscrew the k/b pop the card in like a memory stick, plug in the two antennta leads, put it back together and install the Dell software.
Be aware there are two versions of software on Dell, one for the 5510 cards and one for the 5520's. Get the right one otherwise it doesn't work.

Oh forgot to mention don't forget a data enabled sim card - it goes in the edge of the battery compartment, so you can't keep nicking the one out of your phone as you have to shut down laptop and take battery out to put sim card in.

Cyberprog · 20th July 2008

Nice, added to my watch list, shall have to consider upgrading my laptop next

PT-Rob · 20th July 2008

Only good thing about O2 is that it has a good signal here in the country - every other network especially Vodaphone is shite

ChrisOlver · 21st July 2008

Telefonica are in most places in Europe arn't they?