Mobile Broadband

[JeffersonB]

Do you think this is a good investment into you IM Business?

I went and bought one yesterday for £15 a month, thought it would be good to be able to online anytime i wanted.

Do any of you use mobile broadband?

[Golelen]

My sister-in-law has one for her laptop and loves it. She says it gives her the same performance as a cable modem. I'm looking at getting it also if I can find a router that will support my wireless carrier.

[derekwong28]

Definitely Yes!

I now work most with my laptop in cafes, restaurants, malls, and parks.

It is great working outdoors. I don't really like working at home anyway.

[Neil Morgan]

I've got Vodafone Mobile Broadband (UK) and it's pretty good where you can get a 3G signal like airports, cities and big towns.

Many places are still 2G (GPRS) so be aware of that when you're out and about. 2G is slow - no better than an old dialup-up modem speed-wise.

In my opinion, mobile broadband will be a much better investment when you can use it abroad without the huge (and I do mean huge) roaming charges. That's a whole different ball game right now. It will come one day, I guess.

Cheers,

Neil

[united99]

I use 3's dongle for mobile broadband. No real issues with it and it comes with the added bonus of no extra charging if you're roaming in a country that 3 has a network in such as Ireland or Italy.

[derekwong28]

I am not sure what you have got in the UK. When I started using 3G 18 months ago in HK, it was often slow and unreliable. Now a use a service that automatically switches between 3G, 3.5G (HSDPA), and WiFi and the service is just stunning. Many people are now getting rid of their fixed land line altogether.

[Adustul]

I love it. I have the sprint solution and I use it on the train line and don't have any issues. Its about 768k download from what I've seen. Its a godsend

[alexshelton]

This is a service that I sell offline in my current day job, sadly I can't get it where I live but its a fantastic piece of technology.

Is anyone aware of a mobile broadband provider that works worldwide?

Cheers

[Neil Morgan]

Is anyone aware of a mobile broadband provider that works worldwide?

I looked into this last year and while I'd love to be proved wrong, it doesn't exist, as far as I can tell.

Even within some of the biggest companies (eg Vodafone) there is no plan that will work for the same price no matter where you are.

Last year I went to Spain and bought a Spanish data SIM for Vodafone.es before I went. It was quite expensive (mainly due to the seller's markup) but fantastic. I had 3G+ in Menorca - better than I get in many parts of the UK.

Cheers,

Neil

[camforbes]

I have Sprint Mobile Broadband here in California and I love it.

I've never had any problems with reception except for a dead spot between here and Las Vegas. It even works when you're driving 80mph on the freeway (although I recommend you have someone else driving, which I did).

I got it for my offline job, but have found it's very useful for IM work since I can do it from anywhere on my Mac. I like to use the library and the local coffee house to do that kind of stuff - far away from our screaming kids.

[Shevd]

What download limit would you recommend for a typical internet marketer 3gb or 5gb?

Which service do people think is the best out of vodaphone,t - mobile,orange and 3 for the uk

Thanks

[Neil Morgan]

What download limit would you recommend for a typical internet marketer 3gb or 5gb?

Mine is 3Gb and that's fine for email and surfing. I avoid video and audio, that's all.

Also, I use Onspeed to compress my surfing and speed things up:

ONSPEED

Which service do people think is the best out of vodaphone and t - mobile for the uk

I researched them all last year and most reviews highlighted Vodafone as being the best for speed and reliability. Maybe it's changed now, but that's what I found at the time. I've never had any problem with it and find it fast and reliable.

Cheers,

Neil

[InternetMoneyStream]

If i am far away from an accesspoint you can (If you have a cell phone with a data line) also use a nifty little application called pdanet.

Basically though you can tether your laptop to your phone using the normal synch cable and use it just like a CDMA card for your laptop. Works great and anywhere that you get signal for your data line you can be online working. I use this quite a bit when i am on the road. I have an unlimited data plan on my phone for synching my outlook items anyway so it is very useful.

Although most ISP's also warn about charges based on usage it is safe. That is if you aren't trying to download pirated movies, run servers from the line, etc. etc.

But anyway here is the website www.junefabrics.com/pdanet/

[Neil Morgan]

Many phones have a data/USB cable that allows this too, and you can use Bluetooth if your phone and PC both have it.

To keep costs down using this method it's best to pre-purchase a monthly block of data. If you don't, you will likely still be able to do it but you'll keel over when your phone bill arrives next month because they charge per megabyte.

Also, make sure you have Windows Update turned off when going mobile for obvious reasons.

Cheers,

Neil

[alexshelton]

Yeah I thought so Neil, I found one of the providers offering a business plan for worldwide, it was something outrageous like £30 per extra gig over your allowance.

[Neil Morgan]

Hi Alex

They pretty much all offer a roaming facility.

But, as you've seen, it costs the earth.

Maybe in the future they will all get together and offer a number of common networks.

That's starting to happen with wifi but even that is expensive right now despite the much lower costs of running it. That tells me a mobile equivalent is some way (years) off.

Cheers,

Neil

[Thamisgith]

I'm using Vodafone - £15/month. Usuallyit works very well and has good speed. There are certain times of day when it is useless, when the kids get out of school and start texting their mates for example - but in general it works well and I'm happy with it.

[Chris Thompson]

I think mobile broadband is well worth the money if you use it. In the UK you guys get one hell of a great price. 15 pounds for a 3 Gig plan is pretty much the going rate at Voda, T-Mo, Hutch, O2, Orange ... fantastic.

Sprint and Verizon charge about $60 for an unlimited plan in the USA, and here in Canada it costs far more than this.

If I lived in the UK I'd be buying a dongle this instant.

[Richard Tunnah]

Originally Posted by Neil Morgan

Mine is 3Gb and that's fine for email and surfing. I avoid video and audio, that's all.

Also, I use Onspeed to compress my surfing and speed things up:

ONSPEED



I researched them all last year and most reviews highlighted Vodafone as being the best for speed and reliability. Maybe it's changed now, but that's what I found at the time. I've never had any problem with it and find it fast and reliable.

Cheers,

Neil

Neil,
You're right mate. There's a huge difference between providers of mobile broadband at the moment with some only offering just over a 1 meg at best. That's the reason I got a vodafone doggle although my home town has many free wifi spots in cafes, pubs and restaurants (and in fact I'm typing this from a pub near my house that offers free wifi with my pint!).

[JeffersonB]

Ah i feel much better now and that i'm not alone lol.

I got mine with o2 - the first day i was abit worried because it was extremely slow however it's much better now.

I previously used vodaphones which was amazing - but went for o2 because i have a mobile phone contract with them for my blackberry.

[bluenose2uk]

I think that mobile broadband is great, bought one about 6 months back. There are some flat spots in areas but other then that great .