broadband on the move?

[JohnOnTheWey]

Can I ask also if there is much difference between the 3G coverage of the different networks, i.e. T-mobile, Vodafone, Orange?

 

Regards and best wishes, Brett

 

I thought I should perhaps clarify that. I had a look at the respective coverage maps, and Orange "appears" to have the most coverage of the Leicester circuit, which is where we will be. However, I am asking more from the practical point of view. Has anyone had experience of more than one network? Thanks very much. Brett

 

Bit of a problem this, since trying to work out who has the best coverage is akin to trying to knit fog. Masts pop up all over the place and providers' coverage changes constantly. My own experience is only with Vodafone and T-mobile in the South of England - T-mobile wins by a mile today, but who knows what the situation will be next week/month/year?

 

JOTW

[Brett]

Thank you, John. Interesting. I wonder if I should get hold of T-Mobile, Vodafone and Orange SIM cards - after all they only cost a pound each - and try them out wherever I am at the time before I top them up? Or do you have to actually register with the company before you can check the coverage? Regards and best wishes, Brett

[Yamanx]

Thank you, John. Interesting. I wonder if I should get hold of T-Mobile, Vodafone and Orange SIM cards - after all they only cost a pound each - and try them out wherever I am at the time before I top them up? Or do you have to actually register with the company before you can check the coverage? Regards and best wishes, Brett

 

The problem is that they all operate different methods of charging. PAYG (ie: not contract) is a problem for Vodafone as the cost is ridiculously high, T-mobile is better but still difficult to make PAYG justifyable and has download limits. Orange on the other hand has unlimited, yes unlimited download on PAYG for £5 for seven days. No contest.

 

If you go out of a 3G area the card will automatically conect with GPRS, which is not broadband but much faster than dial up.

[Brett]

Ah, okay, I understand now Yamanx. That makes sense, and is the reason why I need to buy one which is unlocked! Thank you - it's taken me a while, but I think I'm getting the picture. Any chance of a link to those set up instructions, please? Regards, Brett

[Yamanx]

I cant remember, I'll post the method from home as this computer hasnt got a modem so I cant find the string. Its located in control panel, phone modem options, choose the modem, but I cant remember from there.

[Lady Muck]

Bit of a problem this, since trying to work out who has the best coverage is akin to trying to knit fog. Masts pop up all over the place and providers' coverage changes constantly. My own experience is only with Vodafone and T-mobile in the South of England - T-mobile wins by a mile today, but who knows what the situation will be next week/month/year?

 

JOTW

 

It can change by the hour. I had an absolute nightmare in July when high winds damaged the 3g mast near our boat, but I suppose having a boat I could quit moaning, untie and go and find a better connection.

 

Apart from the fact we were aground so badly our prop was half out the water

[Brett]

No horror stories, please. Having never been on a narrow boat before, I'm a little nervous as it is! Thanks, Lady Muck. Regards, Brett Edited September 4, 2007 by Brett

[soffy]

Im looking to do this too being nearly an opey dopey and owning an imac G5 Im very confused how I get wifi completely everyone seems to advise I need a land line.....HELP and YES ME I use a MAC

Does anyone use a Mac??!!

Yes ME ME ME

[The Maestro]

Im looking to do this too being nearly an opey dopey and owning an imac G5 Im very confused how I get wifi completely everyone seems to advise I need a land line.....HELP and YES ME I use a MACYes ME ME ME

 

No, you don't need a landline! The Tmobile Web n'Walk is Much Better than my landline broadband and for about the same price [although as I had had it for two years, I was probably paying more than I needed to]. It costs £29 per month for 3 gigabytes [enough for most things] and this came down to £20 and a few pence with a retailer's cashback deal. As well as faster, it is much more reliable!! - I gave up on my landline connection very quickly.

 

I don't use a Mac but the info says it will work. You just have to install the drivers manually whereas the Windows drivers install themselves.

[Ian_L]

Oh, and can I ask please, why does it need to be unlocked? Could one buy one that is not, and purchase a SIM card from that company, or would that end up being much more expensive? So many questions, sorry. Regards, Brett

 

 

'3' www.three.co.uk have just launched a high-speed broadband truly mobile system. Three packages... £10, £15 and £25 per month including a free usb modem. Its currently available (I think) central London, Birmingham and Manchester with a role-out schedule for other areas. I've just ordered it. It looks the answer if you are on the canals in in these areas.

 

cheers

Ian

[Scotty]

As with all technology the usb modem is already out of date and there's a new one on the way!

 

Vodafone are now selling their 'USB Modem 7.2' which can connect with speeds of up to 7.2Mbps!

ok I doubt you'll get 7.2Mbps outside major cities for a few years yet, and vodafone are not the cheapest provider either.

 

 

Remember, when your 18 / 24 month contract runs out cancel it and get a new deal on the latest technology

[Callunna]

I use a MAC

 

ME TOO!

 

I've enquired about Web n Walk with T-Mobile and it looks like we'd have no problems. The coverage seems good (at least in my area, L&L Yorks/Lancs border).

 

I still need to check whether I need to sell my Intel Pro tower thing and get a brand spanking new all-singing, all-dancing laptop version (oh what a shame...not!) but either way it looks like I'll still be able to work efficiently once we're afloat.

[The Maestro]

I still need to check whether I need to sell my Intel Pro tower thing and get a brand spanking new all-singing, all-dancing laptop version (oh what a shame...not!) but either way it looks like I'll still be able to work efficiently once we're afloat.

 

I will be moving to my boat in the next 2-4 weeks and am wondering about the same thing. I think the critical factor will be space!

[Callunna]

I think the critical factor will be space!

 

That, and power consumption.

 

I must check it out - will let you know in due course.

[Brett]

Did you manage to find that string for the setup, please, Yamanx? We are off for England in two days, and I would like to have the info before we leave. Many thanks. Regards, Brett

[viking]

I just had to reply to this thread.

 

I am a computer nut as well as a narrowboat nut, I spend 6 months/year afloat, travel hundreds of miles and connect to the internet every day. I can say without fear of contradiction that broadband on the cut is a myth, at least it is if you ever want to go anywhere. I have never conducted any scientific analysis of this question but my gut feeling is that I get a 'broadband' connection about 5% of the time that I connect. The other 95% is all gprs (ie. about dial up speed). So forget broadband on the cut unless you want to stay in the same place all the time - it doesn't exist and probably never will because it is not in the interest of any broadband provider to provide the necessary infrastructure to make it happen.

 

It exists in cities of course, but then if you go flashing your laptop around there it will probably get stolen anyway so is it worth it?

 

Am I a cynic or what?

[Yamanx]

Did you manage to find that string for the setup, please, Yamanx? We are off for England in two days, and I would like to have the info before we leave. Many thanks. Regards, Brett

 

Crikey I'm sorry Brett, I didnt see this until now, suspect you're home by now.

 

Have a nice trip?

[mick brown]

Interesting new "gadget" here http://www.easydevices.co.uk/pp/PDA/Pocket...ETSURFER_2.html free (limited) connection, £6.00 a month unlimited, a bit restricted what you can do but, OK for surfing etc.

[Lesd]

I just had to reply to this thread.

 

I am a computer nut as well as a narrowboat nut, I spend 6 months/year afloat, travel hundreds of miles and connect to the internet every day. I can say without fear of contradiction that broadband on the cut is a myth, at least it is if you ever want to go anywhere. I have never conducted any scientific analysis of this question but my gut feeling is that I get a 'broadband' connection about 5% of the time that I connect. The other 95% is all gprs (ie. about dial up speed). So forget broadband on the cut unless you want to stay in the same place all the time - it doesn't exist and probably never will because it is not in the interest of any broadband provider to provide the necessary infrastructure to make it happen.

 

It exists in cities of course, but then if you go flashing your laptop around there it will probably get stolen anyway so is it worth it?

 

Am I a cynic or what?

 

Wht network are you using Viking ? Sounds like one to avoid, surely not all netorks are that bad ?

[Lady Muck]

I just had to reply to this thread.

 

I am a computer nut as well as a narrowboat nut, I spend 6 months/year afloat, travel hundreds of miles and connect to the internet every day. I can say without fear of contradiction that broadband on the cut is a myth, at least it is if you ever want to go anywhere. I have never conducted any scientific analysis of this question but my gut feeling is that I get a 'broadband' connection about 5% of the time that I connect. The other 95% is all gprs (ie. about dial up speed). So forget broadband on the cut unless you want to stay in the same place all the time - it doesn't exist and probably never will because it is not in the interest of any broadband provider to provide the necessary infrastructure to make it happen.

 

It exists in cities of course, but then if you go flashing your laptop around there it will probably get stolen anyway so is it worth it?

 

Am I a cynic or what?

 

Yep: When the postal strike was on, I had a graphics dvd that I urgently needed to post to a client. Couldn't do that, obviously, so I zipped the thing (80mb) and uploaded it via yousendit. Job done. Over the past two weeks I've been sending large files to my clients no problem at all. We've only cruised the London ring but I do work all over the country, off the boat, don't have a landline or landbased telephone line at all and in the 2 1/2 years we've used datacards, I've seen the service improve leaps and bounds. My clients have no idea that I'm often on a boat and have no landbased broadband.

 

I'm very interested in the new datacard mentioned on this thread, last time a new one came out I took the old one in and they exchanged it for me, at no cost.

 

Yes Vodafone is expensive, but it's reliable, and the international call saver is a godsend for me, so thats why I use them. I can't afford a rubbish service, I need reliability.

 

Anyway, I have to use IM and Skype to talk to clients and factories abroad, AFAIK, if you want to do this last time I checked the price was pretty much the same accross the board

Edited November 2, 2007 by Lady Muck

[viking]

Sorry about the extremely long time it has taken for me to reply to this, but here I am now. In response to Lesd, I am using Vodafone via a USB modem. By necessity this sits inside the boat (I doubt it is waterproof, the cable isn't long enough to reach outside, and as with all these devices they have no connection for an external antenna). So given that a narrowboat is a pretty good signal insulator maybe it is not surprising that I have such poor results. As an example I have been on a 15 day cruise over Christmas and New Year, and during that time I visited 1 location that had a 3g signal. Now admittedly it was an out and back cruise so I went everywhere twice, but I still don't rate that as very good. So much so in fact that I am now looking for an alternative to Vodafone. I have looked around the coverage maps for various providers and in my area and the one with the best coverage (or perhaps I should say best coverage map) is '3', not only that, but it is also much cheaper (£15pm for 3Gb, I am presently paying £25pm for the same allowance). The problem there is that I know full well that coverage maps have even have more artistic licence in them than estate agents house descriptions, so I wonder if anyone that uses '3' could comment on how good their coverage actually is, or possibly how good (or bad) the company is? On the same line of thought is there some kind of meter that you can buy that will accurately tell you what a particular area is like for signal strength? I am thinking a hand held, battery operated device with a signal strength gauge on it. I have searched for these online but have never managed to find one.

[Chris Pink]

So given that a narrowboat is a pretty good signal insulator maybe it is not surprising that I have such poor results.

 

I use this device and the cable supplied is very short, if you get a longer USB cable and stick the widget upright in a window it should work a lot better.

 

Vodafone 3G is a very urban-focussed service but i get GPRS at 56K most places. I'm also curious as to 3's coverage but suspect it will also be urban focussed. I did hear they are going to share 3G masts with T-Mobile, It would be just too much to expect rural 3G coverage any time in the near future.

[viking]

I use this device and the cable supplied is very short, if you get a longer USB cable and stick the widget upright in a window it should work a lot better.

 

Vodafone 3G is a very urban-focussed service but i get GPRS at 56K most places. I'm also curious as to 3's coverage but suspect it will also be urban focussed. I did hear they are going to share 3G masts with T-Mobile, It would be just too much to expect rural 3G coverage any time in the near future.

 

Hi Chris, I do use a longer cable and attach it to the window but like yourself I still get gprs most places. I too have heard that '3' are going to share with t-mobile, and I too share your pessimism about rural broadband, although having said that I suggest you have a look at the '3' coverage map for wherever you live or cruise, it is fairly impressive in my home terrirtory, more so than any other operator, in fact at my home postcode they tell me I can get speeds of 2.8Mb/s which is more than I can get through my telephone line! Then again as I hinted before, telco's coverage maps tend to be about as reliable as politicians promises.

[Ernie]

I just had to reply to this thread.

 

I am a computer nut as well as a narrowboat nut, I spend 6 months/year afloat, travel hundreds of miles and connect to the internet every day. I can say without fear of contradiction that broadband on the cut is a myth, at least it is if you ever want to go anywhere. I have never conducted any scientific analysis of this question but my gut feeling is that I get a 'broadband' connection about 5% of the time that I connect. The other 95% is all gprs (ie. about dial up speed). So forget broadband on the cut unless you want to stay in the same place all the time - it doesn't exist and probably never will because it is not in the interest of any broadband provider to provide the necessary infrastructure to make it happen.

 

It exists in cities of course, but then if you go flashing your laptop around there it will probably get stolen anyway so is it worth it?

 

Am I a cynic or what?

Hi Viking,

 

I am a liveaboard CCer and have just passed the 1000 mile barrier since May of last year.

 

I have the t-mobile ‘web-n-walk’ package and like you find that I can receive 3g about 5% of the time. 95% of the time I live with GPRS.

 

When I do get 3g reception (like here in Braunston) it is great.

 

Broadband on the move on the cut is a myth……