3G Mobile Internet - Solent area

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VicMallows

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I would be very interested to hear experiences of 3G internet reception in the Solent/Chichester Hbr area. (I mean using a PC with a USB dongle). What do you find reception and speed like? Which network do you use?

I am leaning towards "3 - Mobile" because their tariff offerengs appear to suit me best, but any comments? (some rather negative feedback on the moneysavingexpert.com website). WiFi access at marinas is not of interest to me since I very rarely stay at a marina.

All feedback will be most welcome.

Vic
 
We use a 3.5G 7.2mbs dongle and it works fine, the next generation is 14mbs ish and we will probably bag one of those when they come out. Some of the 3g devices i see are 3.6mbs which will be a a bit sluggish.
 
They work well in Southsea and Bembridge, Also in Exmouth and Plymouth. A bit slow when not in a "turbo" area but for the cost well worth it.
 
I've used a Vodafone 3G card in Gosport and found it ok, I've yet to use at at our new home in Chichester.
 
Mine costs £6 per month and is absolutely fine for emails/occasional googling. Coverage in Portsmouth area and Southampton is fine, Cowes is fine etc
 
Am at present sailing from the Clyde to the Humber (in Brighton at present) with a 3G dongle, oh and swmbo. Have had good connections, when within signal range, apart from Eire and speed is very acceptable--cannot give you any figures as that is beyond my intelligence.

It's been very useful for weather forecasts and any general info on places we want to call into.

Its a PAYG dongle which cost me £70 and £10 for the month we expect to be away and when the trip is over it will stay onboard until we next want to use it and then buy another £10.

dansar
 
Thanks for all your feedback. Not sure it has really helped my choice though /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Will probably go with the 'Three' PAYG deal (£69.99 for modem; then £10/1GB or £15/3GB). It's a pity about the 30day expiry on each top-up ..... but of course that's how PAYG phone service started off. so we can always hope.

I will put together a report on my experiences at the end of the season, so PM me if you'd like to be included in the distribution.

Vic
 
[ QUOTE ]
We use a 3.5G 7.2mbs dongle and it works fine, the next generation is 14mbs ish and we will probably bag one of those when they come out. Some of the 3g devices i see are 3.6mbs which will be a a bit sluggish.

[/ QUOTE ]

Aside from some places e.g. central london then I doubt anyone will see a difference between 3.6mbs and 7.2mbs dongles. I dont think there is very much coverage of the 3.6mbs or 7.2mbs networks right now. Many networks have only got the 1.8mbs HSDPA implemented and even that coverage is patchy.

One thing to note is the quoted speed is the theoretical max bit rate. To achieve those you would need to have perfect radio conditions without any other handsets in the cell. The typical rates you get in real world conditions are much much lower.

Its always interesting to see how the different connections fair with a speed test
like this one.
 
[ QUOTE ]
You need an unlocked vodafone data card circa £40 and a T mobile PAYG sim, £0. This gives you unlimited internet access for £1 / day or £2.50 for 5 days. It's priced for mobile phone access but the above hardware combination works fine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ordered a Vodafone datacard on Tuesday evening and it arrived this morning, will test it out in the Solent this weekend. You wouldn't know the datacard is refurbished, both the card and manuals/disk are in mint condition. Thanks /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Pete
 
Vic hi, we are back and it works. Took the normal sim card out of my mobile and stuck it in the vodafone widget after installing the software. You get a control panel icon on the desktop which allows you to connect. It also gives all your text messages on your sim and tracks your usage as you surf. SHMBO spent an hour on the internet and used 3mb. A page of this forum tiny. Sorry didn't test the speed but surfing forums and picking up e mails appeared similar to our broadband at home. There was a slight delay perhaps 2-3 seconds before a page loaded up but hardly a problem and could have been down to SHMBOs laptop. The card doesn't fit my new Dell laptop though don't know why yet, but the slot looks different.
So in summary, it works, will give us weather and marina info in addition to e mails for £1 a day for 15mb.

By contrast in addition to the free wifi in Cowes Yacht Haven the wifi also picked up a pay as you go wifi for the Cowes area. The wanted £5 for an hour /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif and there was I thinking Dick Turpin ended his days on the Gallows in York not still living on the IOW.

Pete
 
Many thanks Pete. Information most useful. When I make a choice and have gained some real-life experience I will update the forum. WiFi access is great when you can find it free /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif (McDonalds' works well - but usually quite a hike from the boat!). Best I have found was in Malta recently near a bus-station .... people must have wondered why I was always waiting for a bus which never arrived /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

It wouldn't be so bad if most of the marina systems allowed 'roaming' between themselves..... MDL have a pretty good monthly rate, but you can't even use it at Premier marinas, even though they both use the same service provider.

Vic
 
Vic, sat at home tonight our NTL Broadband has just packed up so out with SWMBOs laptop and fired up the Voda. Downstream Speed here in Fareham is 2110 kbps. Also found out that a pay as you go sim doesn't want to connect and the problem with my Dell laptop is the PCMCIA slot is an express one.

Pete
 
Pete (and anyone else still listening),

I eventually went for the '3' option ... spurred on by the fact Carphone had just dropped the price of the dongle from £69 to £49 on PAYG.

A dream to install, which is a pleasant change from much software I encounter.

At the house I am getting a consistent 1.3 MB download which is quite respectable. Upload though is 56 kB which is fine for most purposes but effectively rules out VOIP. (3 is the only provider which openly allows connection to VOIP providers).

I'm sure results will be very similar afloat in the Solent, but will update if anything interesting,

Vic
 
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