3G laptop data cards (and connection speeds)
Discussion
Im not alltogether familiar with the current offerings when it comes to mobile connections. What cards can one buy which give a laptop a mobile connection, what speeds can be achieved, does anyone offer unlimited data transfer, and who offers the best packages.
I remember looking into some kind of mobile modem card years ago, and being shocked at the ludicrously high costs of using the device. Hence, I never bought one.
I remember looking into some kind of mobile modem card years ago, and being shocked at the ludicrously high costs of using the device. Hence, I never bought one.
get yourself down to a T-Mobile store. Take out their Web 'n' walk package for 29.99 per month +VAT and if you take out an 18 month contract you can get the PCMCIA datacard for free. Up to 3GB per month in data transfer. I think that if you pay an extra tenner a month you can get up to 10GB of data transfer per month. Just make sure that if you buy insurance that they cover you for every thing and not like what i did and bought from a FONE company that is based in a HOUSE that are trying to wriggle out of not providing me with a new card.
ACtully i think that you now get a USB device that can tranfer data of up to 3.6mbps, rather than the quote 1.8mbps on the PCMCIA card. The most that i got out of the PCMCIA card was around 1.2mbps and that was in the City. But the coverage was good, i was even able to obtain around 900kbps in the suburbs of Kent.
ACtully i think that you now get a USB device that can tranfer data of up to 3.6mbps, rather than the quote 1.8mbps on the PCMCIA card. The most that i got out of the PCMCIA card was around 1.2mbps and that was in the City. But the coverage was good, i was even able to obtain around 900kbps in the suburbs of Kent.
Most new cards are now R5 (HSDPA) compatible. What this means is;
For downlink (internet to you)
IF the 3G network can support HSDPA and
IF you're in an area of decent signal and
IF the cell isn't having the hell kicked out of it by other users
then you should see up to a theoretical max of 1.8Mbits at the radio.
With TCP overheads and the like, your application layer is unlikely to get much past 1.2Mbits/sec.
3.6Mbits/sec is on the way, again it will require a software update on the network side, and probably a software/firmware update on the data card also.
If there's no hsdpa available, you're stuck at R99, which should be 384Kbits/sec on the radio (so ~320 at the application).
If there's no 3G, you're on GPRS/EDGE, and it'll be pretty horrible.
For the uplink (you to the internet), HSUPA isn't yet available (although I'm seeing cards start to appear), so uplink is R99 on 3G, and limited to 384Kbits/sec maximum (so again, ~320 at the application layer).
Hope that helps.
For downlink (internet to you)
IF the 3G network can support HSDPA and
IF you're in an area of decent signal and
IF the cell isn't having the hell kicked out of it by other users
then you should see up to a theoretical max of 1.8Mbits at the radio.
With TCP overheads and the like, your application layer is unlikely to get much past 1.2Mbits/sec.
3.6Mbits/sec is on the way, again it will require a software update on the network side, and probably a software/firmware update on the data card also.
If there's no hsdpa available, you're stuck at R99, which should be 384Kbits/sec on the radio (so ~320 at the application).
If there's no 3G, you're on GPRS/EDGE, and it'll be pretty horrible.
For the uplink (you to the internet), HSUPA isn't yet available (although I'm seeing cards start to appear), so uplink is R99 on 3G, and limited to 384Kbits/sec maximum (so again, ~320 at the application layer).
Hope that helps.
Having tested them, there is no performance difference between the USB "mouse" and the PC Card variant.
Vodafone's offering seems to produce reasonable speeds (helped by the optional £17 aerial I've found), but T-Mobile seem to give quicker speeds.
Might be worth mailing GregE240 - think he was using the T-Mobile offering and getting decent speeds.
In the areas I've used 3G, the speeds have been on a par with 1-2MB broadband.
Vodafone's offering seems to produce reasonable speeds (helped by the optional £17 aerial I've found), but T-Mobile seem to give quicker speeds.
Might be worth mailing GregE240 - think he was using the T-Mobile offering and getting decent speeds.
In the areas I've used 3G, the speeds have been on a par with 1-2MB broadband.
My & others experience of 3G data cards is that upload is generally still generally very slow, like old school modem slow. This needs to be considered if you're going to be sending large emails, uploading/saving documents, etc. People aren't used to taking half an hour to send a 5 meg email these days!
I've a t-mobile PC-card - was £20 all you can eat (not sure they do this deal anymore) - it runs up to 1M - mailnly for streaming data. It's a touch slow to get it booted up which is the only downside. I've also bought an external antenna which means it runs full-strength - I'd be PH'less without it!
ThePassenger said:
Mr E said:
If there's no 3G, you're on GPRS/EDGE, and it'll be pretty horrible.
If I remember right, that'll be a 14k4 connection, so very slow. You still wouldn't want to surf for porn with it though.
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