Mobile broadband dongle.

[hank]

Anyone here using a Vodaphone mobile broadband dongle? How good or bad is your connection? I have found the service to be really slow, almost unuseable even when signal meter shows 4 bars. Can these devices be unlocked to take any sim card? I chose Vodafone pay & go as I only need mobile internet for the odd trip away from home and so don't want to be tied to a contract.

 

[rob mac]

Unlocked my 3G one from an internet download for about a tenner so I can use pay as you go sim cards whilst abroad. If you don't fancy the hassle the same web sites sell unlocked ones, ready to go for about £30!

 

[polecat]

Use a Vodafone dongle for my work laptop. It's painfully slow

 

[Buz]

Are you connecting GSM or 3G? Thats a bit like dial up or broadband.

 

[polecat]

Are you connecting GSM or 3G? Thats a bit like dial up or broadband.

Connecting via 3G

 

[Buz]

Have you checked the COVERAGE in your area?
I think 3G should give up to 7.2 MBPS, but as everyone knows thats not a gaurantee

 

[Loiq]

I've got one it's alright using 3G but if your abroad I would just search out the nearest wifi and hop onto that...

my vodafone thing work right around europe and into russia...

 

[GunZenBomZ]

Visit www.mobilefun.co.uk for an external aeriel for your dongle.

 

[John Armstrong]

I've used an 02 dongle and a times it was painfully slow.

 

[chipsonfriday]

The bars just indicate signal strength. The other consideration is the amount of bandwidth that is available and who else is using it. I have had zero bars and a reasonable connection speed, as well as having five bars and the connection is oh so slow....


Its abit like sharing your home broadband with another three or four computers in the home (teenagers!!!). You only get xMbit bandwidth to the house and that is then fought for by the users of that connection.

Typically inner city mobile broadband will provide high signal strength but a bucketful of users will be sharing that transmitter.

 

[GunZenBomZ]

Hank, your on about the new 4G dongles, not a 3G one. Get it!

 

[hank]

Thanks for the input folks, I have done a bit of searching and came up with this http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/vodafone-broadband.htm seems to be lots of people are having problems with Vodafone. When I first used the dongle the service was ok but in the last couple of months it has become almost unusable, I even purchased an upgrade dongle and though I now get a much stronger signal the connection is still very slow.

I think I will get my dongle unlocked and use my 3 sim.

 

[andyclift]

Used to have a 3 dongle and it could be very slow. Then I got a Vodaphone Blackberry with an unlimited data plan. This can "tether" to my laptop via Bluetooth or USB and browsing the web on my laptop this way can be faster than my home broadband connection - and it's cheaper than dongles.

Note that the service provider can tell if the data plan is being used for the smart phone direct or via tethering and not all providers allow tethering and some plans cost extra. E.G when checking price of iPhone discovered that Vodaphone charge an extra £5.00 per month to allow tethering.