Value of 3G capability

lumphammer

lumphammer

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I'm very tempted by the nexus 7 tablet, but the one I'd like i.e. the one with 3G capability is sold out. Being an impatient soul I wonder how useful having mobile internet would be abroad and whether if I get the wifi only I will regret it?
 
lumphammer said:
I'm very tempted by the nexus 7 tablet, but the one I'd like i.e. the one with 3G capability is sold out. Being an impatient soul I wonder how useful having mobile internet would be abroad and whether if I get the wifi only I will regret it?
Click to expand...

For 3G capability, I find a dongle that can be used to share a single connection - a la Mifi style to be the ideal.
I have a small router that runs off the 12v with a small 3G USB dongle connected to it.
 
I run a Huawei (hi-way) mobile wifi router with an ipad, comes highly recommended, I get 5mps download speed. It also has a battery power supply.

The package here in Ireland is £20 month for 20gigs on DD, or 7 gigs pay as you go.

My last dongle got 500 Kbps in comparison!!
 
I think a nexus is a good choice. I've got my sons old iPad, it's rubbish, clunky, the os is totally illogical, give me a ms windows system anytime. I challenge you to write on the beast.
Ipad the Best touch pad, what a joke, how much we're they paid to say that?

Marks: 3/10.
 
lumphammer said:
I'm very tempted by the nexus 7 tablet, but the one I'd like i.e. the one with 3G capability is sold out. Being an impatient soul I wonder how useful having mobile internet would be abroad and whether if I get the wifi only I will regret it?
Click to expand...

Same dilemma for SWMBO, but won't be used abroad. She's decided to wait until we can get one with 3G.

Personally, if I were abroad on a boat, I'd have my Internet provided by a phone with a hotspot, or a MiFi type gizmo - so 3G wouldn't be necessary. Having said that, if it can be had for an extra £40, it seems worth the wait, as you never know!

I've got an iPad with 3G, and can count on one hand the number of times I've needed the inbuilt 3G - using either my onboard/portable Mifi gizmo, or wifi at home, at work or in cafes etc..
 
Richard10002 said:
I've got an iPad with 3G, and can count on one hand the number of times I've needed the inbuilt 3G - using either my onboard/portable Mifi gizmo, or wifi at home, at work or in cafes etc..
Click to expand...

I have the same but I use the 3G far more often than I do the wifi. In Greece I have a microsim on a PAYG basis. In UK the £5 per month I pay Vodafone covers the occasions I am not at home with wifi, e.g in Milford Haven on the motorsailer, driving the camper around the country, etc.
 
If you have a 3G phone that can act as a hotspot, that is the way forward. One sim card, one contract and as long as you have your phone with you, you always have internet.

EDIT: BTW I believe that the Nexus 7 can use its bluetooth connection to tether to a suitable phone.
 
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rustybarge said:
I think a nexus is a good choice. I've got my sons old iPad, it's rubbish, clunky, the os is totally illogical, give me a ms windows system anytime. I challenge you to write on the beast.
Ipad the Best touch pad, what a joke, how much we're they paid to say that?

Marks: 3/10.
Click to expand...

Please, Please. dont tell me that now I have bought the 64mb Wi fi cellular Ipad
 
On my tablet, IPad as it happens but it really doesn't matter, I find having the 3G facility invaluable, but then I don't have a phone that I can tether too.
 
3g is invaluable if youy spend any amount of time at anchor. Weather forecasts in understanable form on demand. VHF forecasts are often unintelligble or unobtainable. If you spend most of the time in marinas then wifi might suffice.
 
Spend all my time at anchor and have never used 3G. I use an Alfa wi-fi booster for my laptop onboard but find that it is a pain to take ashore (bulky, don't want to get it wet, battery life etc).

So I invested in a Nexus 7 (with just wi-fi capability) and find it ideal to take ashore to a bar (most have wi-fi), sip a beer and catch up online. Battery life is exceptional and I find it great for watching video's, reading, listening to music etc. Google maps, built in GPS, Andriod apps galore, syncs your Google accounts between laptop/phone/tablet with all content stored in "The Cloud"??- for me it's a good combination.
 
rustybarge said:
I think a nexus is a good choice. I've got my sons old iPad, it's rubbish, clunky, the os is totally illogical, give me a ms windows system anytime. I challenge you to write on the beast.
Ipad the Best touch pad, what a joke, how much we're they paid to say that?

Marks: 3/10.
Click to expand...

You're going to love Windows 8.

As big a security nightmare as all the previous versions and a glorious new, illogical, GUI.
 
navionics app

Will the Nexus fit with the navionics chart app, wi fi or 3g? I am very ignorant on these things but the alternative iPad 3g is not cheap.
 
rustybarge said:
I run a Huawei (hi-way) mobile wifi router with an ipad, comes highly recommended, I get 5mps download speed. It also has a battery power supply.

The package here in Ireland is £20 month for 20gigs on DD, or 7 gigs pay as you go.

My last dongle got 500 Kbps in comparison!!
Click to expand...

+ 1 for the MiFi.........

I have got a Spanish contract...........

Works even 5 miles offshore and at most anchorages we visit.
 
To rely on wifi is going to be a limiting factor, I started off with that and ended up a few times paying the exhorbitant charges for roaming data. You need either a 3g device or your on wifi system with a dongle. Some of the early devices like the D100 should be around for reasonable money, and mine works perfectly. You need to watch for network locks, the d100 is capapble of being locked to a network as is the dongle, both need to be able to work on your sims network.
 
I'm going to buy a Nexus 7 in the next week or so and the comments here are very useful. I believe I'll only use the 3g occasionally and as I already have unlimited Data with my Orange contract the idea of linking my Blackberry to the Nexus by Bluetooth, and using it as a king of 'modem', seems a perfect set-up. But does it work? Has anyone experience of this setup? It makes me think that if this was possible why would anyone buy the 3G version? I really hope it is possible because it would be a perfect solution! :-)

Regards
 
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