Mobile Broadband - 3 or Vodafone?

ACDeag

liam8282 wrote: »

If you have a mobile phone and can get signal, you should be able to get a signal on your mobile broadband as it works pretty much the same way.

It could be possible that you have another problem with your setup?

Not necessarily, you could have a strong 2G signal and no 3G, 2G will be fine for calls but not for broadband. 3G signals do not penetrate walls very well (whereas Vodafone's 2G does) which is why the online coverage indicators are not very good for estimating in-building use.

liam8282

ACDeag wrote: »

Not necessarily, you could have a strong 2G signal and no 3G, 2G will be fine for calls but not for broadband. 3G signals do not penetrate walls very well (whereas Vodafone's 2G does) which is why the online coverage indicators are not very good for estimating in-building use.

If you have a strong 2G signal, then the usb stick will select GPRS as its connection, which in my experience is only slightly slower than 3G when browsing the internet, downloading anything will be a lot slower though.

You can still connect and use vodafone mobile broadband with no 3G signal at all.

As I said above the vodafone usb stick connects in 3 different ways depending on the best signal it can get.

I do not know the detailed technicalities of this stuff, I can only speak from experience from using it.

3employee

ItchieFeet wrote: »

3 offers 15GB per month for £15 - too good to be true?

3 claims best coverage, but feedback suggests slow-to-no service at peak times, precisely when I need it.

Vodafone seems next best but offer only 1GB on PAYG or 3GB on monthly for the same £15. Little feedback on this network.

Online calculators estimate usage approx 3GB per month...but as not had internet at home before, could be higher with all the surfing of this site!

Both networks claim I'm in the top service zone - just outside M25, but then surely competing with others in high population density areas?

Had Vodafone mobile phone for eons and hoped this might me access to special discount offers for MBB, but no such luck according to their customer service.

3 offer ends next week - help please!!

Hiya,

My suggestion would be to try the 3 service. Every pay monthly Mobile Broadband we sell comes with a 14 day returns policy due to coverage issues. Take the dongle away and try it. You can look at coverage checkers but as mentioned in a previous reply this is only a computer generated view of what coverage "should" be like. There are many different factors which will effect your speed on any network:
Distance from local Cell site
Amount of traffic on the network
Where you are actually using the device (Indoor coverage is generally not as good as outdoor)
SO give it a go and if it doesnt do what u need to do return it. I would recommend purchasing the device from your local 3store so you can have a face to face discussion should u need to return it.

Also the deal will state as expiring at the end of July as this is when the current brochure expires. I would be VERY VERY surprised if this offer did not continue ;-)

Hope this helps.

ItchieFeet

greyster wrote: »

nobody can say any network is best for a particular person unless they live in the same area and know for sure.

The best thing to do is go to this site and go with the network which has the closest masts to your house and/or work places

http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/

Thanks for the note on this website, I checked it out and 3 is my closest, although all networks have masts within a mile of my property....

Leaning towards 3, but not as fast as Vodafone?

Can only test Vodafone signal in my property as have a mobile phone with them...but they seem more expensive....

ItchieFeet

macman wrote: »

The only pertinent question with mobile broadband is: can I get a decent 3G signal at the place(s) I want to use it. If you can't, don't bother, as you will be on little more than dial up speeds otherwise.
Don't rely on the website checkers as they give only a general idea based on postcode. You need to check 'on site' using a SIM from the prospective provider.
The advantage of Vodafone on PAYG is that the top ups do not expire in 30 days as they do on 3.

I have a Vodafone mobile with internet on it - how do I check the strength of the 3G signal???

liam8282

ItchieFeet wrote: »

I have a Vodafone mobile with internet on it - how do I check the strength of the 3G signal???

I am not sure how you could check the actual strength of the signal, but if you can connect to the internet on your phone using 3G, it would suggest you have a good enough signal to use mobile broadband.

liam8282

You should also checkout Quidco and other cashback sites, you should get some cashback (probably around £40), if you go through them.

mandij30

Stay well clear of Three, there coverage is bad enough even for there mobile phones. Always losing signal. And it was even worse with there broadband.

My advice would be to Use T mobile, I am using that now, and the coverage is good, and always have signal strength, I think it may be a little more expensive then Three, but then you only get what you pay for

fozmcfc

I was with T-Mobile for a few years, because they don't charge you for going over your limit, ALL other mobile broadband providers do charge for going over and the rates are ridiculous.

However, with 3's huge allowance I will never exceed the allowance, so it was a no brainer for me to swap over to them.

Been using it for 3 months or so and never had any connection problems. No service is perfect and coverage will large depend on where you are likely to be using it, in 1 or 2 places or 10's of different places over the year.

moneysavingpete

mandij30 wrote: »

Stay well clear of Three, there coverage is bad enough even for there mobile phones. Always losing signal. And it was even worse with there broadband.

I think thats a pretty wild statement to make. All networks have problems in different areas. Ofcom have just released the networks 3G coverage maps as of January 2009 (I am unable to add a link but a quick google will find them) which puts the networks in this order:

1st Orange
2nd 3
3rd Vodafone
4th T-Mobile
5th O2

Wouldn't that mean T-mobile would be less likely to give some a mobile broadband service than Orange, 3 and Vodafone??

I don't want to come across as a !!!!!! but I think recommending a service to someone should be done only when you are aware of all the facts