Why 3G broadband can be better and cheaper than ADSL

Nah

Far too many variables with mobile broadband.

- I ordered an Orange E367u mobile connection for my director
- My girlfriend uses mobile broadband now from BT
- Work colleague tried mobile broadband around his home
- I can mention a few more.

All agree that the service and quality of download was very, very poor.

Mobile broadband is most certainly a 'try before you buy' facility and you MUST double check your area for reception before considering.

This, of course, is in the North Wales area.

By rhythm on 11 May 2012

Nah

Far too many variables with mobile broadband.

- I ordered an Orange E367u mobile connection for my director
- My girlfriend uses mobile broadband now from BT
- Work colleague tried mobile broadband around his home
- I can mention a few more.

All agree that the service and quality of download was very, very poor.

Mobile broadband is most certainly a 'try before you buy' facility and you MUST double check your area for reception before considering.

This, of course, is in the North Wales area.

My comment seems to be vanishing once I click submit so i apologise if this appears more than once.

By rhythm on 11 May 2012

I can't even get 3G...

...in North London

By rcayon on 11 May 2012

Why 3G broadband can be better and cheaper than ADSL Read more: Why 3G broadband can be better and cheaper than ADSL | Enterprise | Real World Computing | PC Pro http://www.pcpro.co.uk/realworld/3745

I strongly believe that 3g internet is caped quite low, where as wired broadband is not

By invalidscreenname on 13 May 2012

VINN

We have been surprised how capable our 3G Turkcell internet dongle is. Our little house is on the side of a very big hill overlooking the Black Sea in eastern-most Turkey. It has handled full screen video Skype calls without a problem -- except perhaps for an occaisional problem on the receiving end in North Yorkshire. Can't compare it to a wired alternative because we're too remote to get a wire to the house. But overall, it's surprisingly good.

The one draw back is the data limit. While video playback from YouTube is pretty much perfect, it does eat up the data allowance pretty quickly. So no more "Charlie and Lola" kids, and uploading the holiday snaps will have to wait.

By 0thello on 14 May 2012

Out in the sticks

I've got a friend who lives out in the sticks miles from anywhere. She couldn't get ADSL at all due to the distance from the exchange and was using dial-up until last year. However, there's a usable 3G signal now, and obviously that is considerably faster than dial-up!

By valeofyork on 15 May 2012

Nigel_N

My son recently moved into a rented flat. 3G has provided a means of getting an internet connection that can be taken with him if he moves elsewhere. His phone and broadband is cheaper than a fixed line too.

By nigel_nicholson on 16 May 2012

*******nigel_nicholson*******

Nigel,
Any chance that you might ask your Son which phone & broadband package he has, please?
Stratford

By invalidscreenname on 21 May 2012

*******nigel_nicholson*******

Nigel,
Any chance that you might ask your Son which phone & broadband package he has, please?
Stratford

By invalidscreenname on 21 May 2012

*******nigel_nicholson*******

Nigel,
Any chance that you might ask your Son which phone & broadband package he has, please?
Stratford

By invalidscreenname on 21 May 2012

Low data limits

It'd be great if it was possible to do away with fixed-line broadband in the way that many of us have done away with fixed-line phones and use mobiles instead. However the real problem is the low data limits, I just checked the 3 website and saw the limits are 5, 10 or maximum (when you sign up for 18 months) 15GB.

I honestly find it hard to believe that you could use such a connection to do things like watch TV on iPlayer etc. without hitting these limits and then having to live in broadband misery of severely throttled speeds for the rest of the month.

By happyskeptic on 31 May 2012

@happyskeptic

You'd be surprised - for many people 15GB a month is more than adequate. If that's not enough, some of the networks now offer "all you can eat" data on certain plans. The trick is to look at the voice plans, rather than the specific data or mobile broadband plans.

By PaulOckenden on 31 May 2012

Not in Warwick Gates, CV34

Since the upgrade to HSPA+ in March. We have had emitter problems, they fixed this. Then it is Contentsion issues, supposed to have fixed this yesterday. Now I know why they called their network Three, you can only connect for 3 minutes.

By roberttrebor on 7 Jun 2012

Been better for me since 2008

Living in a "ADSL Broadband not spot" I've been using 3's service since 2008 when the D100 came out. But agree with others here that location plays a big part - I can't get any other mobile providers data service, but can get Orange's GSM voice service ...

Recently I've been playing with Mifi devices. The main difference is as noted by Paul is the local wifi reception area. The D100 can be seen throughout the house (and garden) whereas you typically need to be much closer to the mifi to get such good local connections. Similarly getting a dongle (or mifi) that supports an external antenna helps to ensure you are making the best out of the mobile signal.

Yes the only real contender for home use is Three with their 15GB per month tariff. Yes there are limitations - so I have two SIMs as this is much cheaper than going over the limit (hence my accounts are set to block service rather than go over the monthly limit). Aside, I do recommend reading the small print on many ADSL services and you'll be surprised at how low some big names have set the reasonable usage threshold.

The main problems I've had with Three's mobile broadband have been: contention issues which do fluctuate although streaming has been/got a lot better this summer, the stability of their DNS service - whilst I can point the PC at a third-parties, the router auto-configures for Three's DNS and so the iPad etc can get stuck - Three's DNS was off-line to me for much of last week...

By RBell6 on 12 Sep 2012

Been better for me since 2008

Living in a "ADSL Broadband not spot" I've been using 3's service since 2008 when the D100 came out. But agree with others here that location plays a big part - I can't get any other mobile providers data service, but can get Orange's GSM voice service ...

Recently I've been playing with Mifi devices. The main difference is as noted by Paul is the local wifi reception area. The D100 can be seen throughout the house (and garden) whereas you typically need to be much closer to the mifi to get such good local connections. Similarly getting a dongle (or mifi) that supports an external antenna helps to ensure you are making the best out of the mobile signal.

Yes the only real contender for home use is Three with their 15GB per month tariff. Yes there are limitations - so I have two SIMs as this is much cheaper than going over the limit (hence my accounts are set to block service rather than go over the monthly limit). Aside, I do recommend reading the small print on many ADSL services and you'll be surprised at how low some big names have set the reasonable usage threshold.

The main problems I've had with Three's mobile broadband have been: contention issues which do fluctuate although streaming has been/got a lot better this summer, the stability of their DNS service - whilst I can point the PC at a third-parties, the router auto-configures for Three's DNS and so the iPad etc can get stuck - Three's DNS was off-line to me for much of last week...

By RBell6 on 12 Sep 2012

Three Mobile Broadband

Three now provide "all you can eat" data, which is unlimited, and speeds vary between 4-6 Mbit/s for my location. The network is more reliable than my landline connection (TalkTalk).

By oentech on 7 Apr 2013