3G dongles -t-mobile rubbish

dylanwinter

dylanwinter

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www.keepturningleft.co.uk
I have been using T-mobile for my journey around the UK

I looked at their map of coverage and it looked pretty good

but its seems to deviate somewhat from reality

actually so far it has been rubbish - on the whole trip I have only once had 3g

most of the time is been 20K

anyone got any advice for me

Dylan
 
dylanwinter said:
I have been using T-mobile for my journey around the UK

I looked at their map of coverage and it looked pretty good

but its seems to deviate somewhat from reality

actually so far it has been rubbish - on the whole trip I have only once had 3g most of the time is been 20K

anyone got any advice for me

Dylan
Click to expand...

You could get it unlocked and then use another provider, I use 3.co.uk and have good reception along South Coast
 
3G signals are much more likely than GSM 2G signals to get attenuated by intervening obstructions. Trees, for example, are quite effective at blocking the signal and even rain will reduce or block the signal. So it is more important to try to connect from somewhere with a good line of sight to the cell.

Unfortunately, you generally need more 3G cells to cover the same area compared to 2G cells and for the most part the phone companies are still focusing on urban areas and major transport corridors rather than the upper reaches of estuaries, so you'll often find your connection dropping back to the 2G network.
 
Dylan - you are on the borders of civilisation! (depends on definition)

I have a Vodaphone dongle - the nearest mast to Bradwell is at W Mersea - OKish when the tide is in or you walk up to the carpark but at LW forget it. The Vodaphone coverage up the east coast is patchy at best. Works much better in the Solent - as if we care :p

I guess T-mob is the same.
 
dylanwinter said:
I have been using T-mobile for my journey around the UK

I looked at their map of coverage and it looked pretty good

but its seems to deviate somewhat from reality

actually so far it has been rubbish - on the whole trip I have only once had 3g

most of the time is been 20K

anyone got any advice for me

Dylan
Click to expand...

I have found that Vodafone seems to give the best coverage, but I carry a 3 dongle as a backup and have managed to get a signal in most places.

Second the use of a USB extension lead in extremis, cling film as waterproofing.
 
dylanwinter said:
I have been using T-mobile for my journey around the UK

I looked at their map of coverage and it looked pretty good

but its seems to deviate somewhat from reality

actually so far it has been rubbish - on the whole trip I have only once had 3g

....
anyone got any advice for me

Dylan
Click to expand...

You can trial the majority of the providers; eg 3 for 2 weeks & O2 for a month, and return if no good for you.
When buying online then I go via a cashback site (I'm about to get £50 back for an O2 dongle pay monthly service)

This link might help
http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/blog/2009/03/which-3g-antenna-do-i-need/
 
Last edited:
Skip the trials...

We use 3g all over the Uk.... the best and most reliable by far is Vodaphone..

Not totally reliable... but the best overall.
 
3G Coverage

Dwellers in Tollesbury know all about the reach of technology in these parts. Basically, it hasn't .......

Vodaphone dongle is best for me (as others have suggested); some of my family members use O2 and have found it satisfactory. I also use Orange for some things, which has patches of being very good.

Wait till you reach Norfolk, Dylan.
 
dylanwinter said:
I have been using T-mobile for my journey around the UK

I looked at their map of coverage and it looked pretty good

but its seems to deviate somewhat from reality

actually so far it has been rubbish - on the whole trip I have only once had 3g

most of the time is been 20K
Click to expand...

I have a T-Mobile dongle. it's a Huawei E220:

t-mobile-3g-usb-modem.jpg


I haven't yet used it on the boat, but I have used it on the train and the results have been pretty good. Is it possibly a line of sight problem: whichever dongle it is, have you tried sticking it on the coachroof or up a mast with an extension cable?

Incidentally, I like T-Mobile mobile broadband because (a) they don't soak you with obscene charges if you have a heavy month (b) you get unlimited T-Mobile wifi access and 300 minutes/month on BT and (c) it does - as you have found - drop down to 2G.

By contrast 3 mobile broadband is only officially on their 3G network and unlike voice doesn't roam to 2G on Orange. Or shouldn't - some people report that it does, but sudden connection drops seem to be quite common in these cases, perhaps when the Orange system works out what's happening.

Have you tried your dongle ashore where you'd expect good reception?
 
Simple truth is that the 3G providers are aiming for the maximum number of subscribers for the minimum amount of investment. Saturating London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester etc. was their first priority. Then rail/motorway routes. Then the market and dormitory towns.

Any coverage at sea is essentially leakage.
 
Agree with other coments that Vodafone coverage is good but I have just upgraded to Windows 7 and there is an as yet unresolved compatibilty issue with the dongle so be aware !
 
I have been using t-mobile at Glasson Dock where T-Mobile's map says there is no service - I always get 2G, and usually get 3G or 3.5G.

The word seems to be that "3" and/or Vodafone have the best coverage, but you would have to do your trip again to find out :(
 
Richard10002 said:
The word seems to be that "3" and/or Vodafone have the best coverage, but you would have to do your trip again to find out :(
Click to expand...

3 have very good phone coverage: their own 3G network is the biggest and they have use of the Orange 2G network as well. They agreed to share 3G networks with T-Mobile, but how that will pan out now that T-Mobile have been sold is anyone's guess.
 
skua said:
Agree with other coments that Vodafone coverage is good but I have just upgraded to Windows 7 and there is an as yet unresolved compatibilty issue with the dongle so be aware !
Click to expand...

Ubuntu users beware too - the utter, utter, arrogant cretins who put it together decided for the latest release that nobody would want to use Huawei dongles, and so removed all support from them - they worked fine in previous releases. Yup, an operating system aimed strongly at the Netbook market is unable to work with any of the products of the single biggest supplier of mobile broadband dongles. Latest I hear is that they are not proposing to fix this in the next (April) release, but in October at th every earliest. Sometimes even my faith in Linux is shaken.

And ... relaaaaaax
 
Ubergeekian said:
Ubuntu users beware too - the utter, utter, arrogant cretins who put it together decided for the latest release that nobody would want to use Huawei dongles, and so removed all support from them - they worked fine in previous releases. Yup, an operating system aimed strongly at the Netbook market is unable to work with any of the products of the single biggest supplier of mobile broadband dongles. Latest I hear is that they are not proposing to fix this in the next (April) release, but in October at th every earliest. Sometimes even my faith in Linux is shaken.

And ... relaaaaaax
Click to expand...

Could you provide some links for this? I'm using Huawei E220 successfully..

"The first way is the easiest: Let the kernel recognise the USB device on system start-up. This is done by attaching the USB dongle before the boot-up of the OS. The network manager should be able to detect the USB device thereafter.

The second work around, as taken from here involves removing the conflicting device drivers that comes with the dongle - the USB storage drivers. Firstly, you have to remove the USB storage device drivers"

I had to install some package to suppress mounting of the interior win driver storage die to this bug:

http://tech.firdooze.com/2009/11/09/work-around-for-ubuntu-910-karmic-koala-huawei-modem-problem/
 
dylanwinter said:
I have one of those t mobile hauai dongles

anyone tell me how to make it work with another network

D
Click to expand...

You need to get it unlocked, bought mine already unlocked from e-bay, not sure how it is done with the dongle but I was quoted £20 if I needed it doing. There are quite a few ads on the net for unlocking phones so presume they would do dongles as well
 
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