Vodafone 3G BB Issues

Mr E

Hi folks,

I borrowed a friends Vodafone PCMCIA card to test their new broadband product out in my house. According to Vodafone's website, I am smack bang in the middle of a red zone, about 1 mile from the mast.

My problem is that on connecting, I am fluctuating between 1 bar and 3 bars, and getting no more than 6k per second on a download (I just kicked off a firefox download on getfirefox.com to test it). The dashboard says that I am using 3G.

Needless to say, it has definitely swayed me against getting it.
I'm going to borrow my friends card one more time tomorrow to see if I can get any improvements. I'll also run some pings, and do some tests on http://www.irishisptest.com to see what my results are.

Before I get the card again, is there anything I can try to improve speeds?

Thanks in advance....

Sponge Bob

you may be on a sector border, while remaining 1 mile from the mast move it 100yds hither and thither , laptop and all, and see what happens. A very small tuneup of a sector by Voda may clear the issue if you prove there is a dodgy area.

Mr E

Thanks Sponge Bob.... thats worth checking out.

Sponge Bob

and do all the tests outdoors, one at the corner of your house nearest mast.

EIN

got a vodafone unlimited data connect card... one funny thing i notice is that when my n70 shows a full 3g signal, the connect card shows only 2 bar 3g signal.... thought that the 3g connect card works off the same 3g mast that the 3g fone does? is this right..



also how safe are these cards, with the supplied antenna connected to the card and stuck on to the laptop lid it leaves the user close to the antenna!

surely this cannot be good if your working on the web using the connect card for any length of time?


also is it possible to share out this connection using internet connection sharing wizard in xp? so that i can use the connection with my desktop pc as well? anyone tried this?

also speeds on the 3g network seem quite good,

finally is it possible to get an antenna that you can place outside? the antenna supplied with the card has only about 1ft of cable on it .... if i extended the cable on the card so that it could be placed outside would that work,?

i just dont like these radio waves passing through my head while sitting in front of the laptop ahh

Sponge Bob

there is a thread on antennae and tin foil hats here for ya

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054952903

EIN

snip..........

oscarBravo

EIN wrote:

dont think its healthy!

You'd be wrong about that.

Sponge Bob

that 'tingling' is psycho somatic I fear. But Tinfoil Hats are a great help .

Blaster99

If we were to gently steer the thread back onto Vodafone 3G BB issues for a moment, it's not the most stable thing I've ever come across. In Sandyford, where I'm sitting now, it works one day and not the next. Same signal strength (good), same position. But it is a purty cool thing to have semi-broadband speeds in practically any urban location.

oscarBravo

My experiences have been mostly good, except this day last week in Mullingar - no matter what signal strength, the speeds and pings were brutal. Ping times varied from 2-15 seconds.

EIN

Sponge Bob wrote:

that 'tingling' is psycho somatic I fear. But Tinfoil Hats are a great help .

i have a fix. im gonna put the card into my laptop and put it in the garden shed. then share out the internet connection and run a cat 5 cable to the office, thats after i install a faraday cage in the office, and have my desk and desktop pc placed inside it..

EIN

oscarBravo wrote:

You'd be wrong about that.

dont think so

oscarBravo

"My tinfoil hat's bigger than yours."

oscarBravo

EIN wrote:

dont think so

With respect, it doesn't matter what you think - you're still wrong.

EIN

!

oscarBravo

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs193/en/

EIN

different things affect different people in different ways, lets just say that the jury's out on this issue...


Other health risks: Scientists have reported other effects of using mobile phones including changes in brain activity, reaction times, and sleep patterns. These effects are small and have no apparent health significance. More studies are in progress to try to confirm these findings.

Several important considerations must be kept in mind when evaluating possible health effects of RF fields. One is the frequency of operation. Current mobile phone systems operate at frequencies between 800 and 1800 MHz. It is important not to confuse such RF fields with ionizing radiation, such as X-rays or gamma rays. Unlike ionizing radiation, RF fields cannot cause ionization or radioactivity in the body. Because of this, RF fields are called non-ionizing.

RF fields penetrate exposed tissues to depths that depend on the frequency - up to a centimetre at the frequencies used by mobile phones. RF energy is absorbed in the body and produces heat,

oscarBravo

EIN wrote:

different things affect different people in different ways, lets just say that the jury's out on this issue...

When you have some hard science to back up your FUD, come back to me.

I just knew some of that WHO report was going to get pulled out of context:

EIN wrote:

Other health risks: Scientists have reported other effects of using mobile phones including changes in brain activity, reaction times, and sleep patterns. These effects are small and have no apparent health significance. More studies are in progress to try to confirm these findings.

Caffeine has a a similar set of effects on people to that apparently observed by some scientists on some people.

EIN wrote:

Unlike ionizing radiation, RF fields cannot cause ionization or radioactivity in the body. Because of this, RF fields are called non-ionizing.

Oh look, you didn't highlight that bit.

EIN wrote:

RF fields penetrate exposed tissues to depths that depend on the frequency - up to a centimetre at the frequencies used by mobile phones. RF energy is absorbed in the body and produces heat,

You didn't highlight up to either.

Do you want to calculate the maximum increase in temperature of body tissues that could be caused by your exposure to less than a watt of RF energy at a distance of 50cm? Don't forget to factor in the inverse square law.

EIN

oscarBravo wrote:

When you have some hard science to back up your FUD, come back to me.
I just knew some of that WHO report was going to get pulled out of context: Caffeine has a a similar set of effects on people to that apparently observed by some scientists on some people. Oh look, you didn't highlight that bit. You didn't highlight up to either.

Do you want to calculate the maximum increase in temperature of body tissues that could be caused by your exposure to less than a watt of RF energy at a distance of 50cm? Don't forget to factor in the inverse square law.

fud???????
listen lets agree to DISAGREE.......have better things to do with my time

Sponge Bob

Here

                             ^
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cut that out of tinfoil the two of ye

oscarBravo

EIN wrote:

fud???????

Fear, uncertaintly and doubt. As opposed to facts, evidence and science.

EIN wrote:

listen lets agree to DISAGREE.......have better things to do with my time

I don't believe for a moment that I'll influence you in any way; if you want to be afraid of a tiny radio signal, that's up to you. I would hate to think that anyone else would be influenced by your irrational fears, which is why I'm countering them.

probe

EIN wrote:

also how safe are these cards, with the supplied antenna connected to the card and stuck on to the laptop lid it leaves the user close to the antenna!

surely this cannot be good if your working on the web using the connect card for any length of time?

While wireless is probably OK for short occasional use, I wouldn’t use it for long internet browsing sessions on an ongoing basis – particularly where the transmitter and or antenna is in close proximity to one’s body (such as a PC card in a laptop). Especially if you are in a borderline zone where the transmitter next to you will be spewing out at full power as a result of the distance between you and the cellsite.

A mobile handset 1cm away from your body transmitting at 1w power output exposes you to 79577.4 uW per cm2 of body tissue of radiation. The same handset one metre away from your body results in 22.3 uW/cm2 of exposure.

Distance is everything and the further away the better.

The best place for wireless kit that is used for several hours a day web surfing is on the roof using a directional antenna. Even then, radiation will probably be leaking down via any cables running between your PC and the wireless system. The best choice from a personal health point of view is fibre optic. Failing that DSL or coaxial cable if these options are available.

It is not dissimilar to the pollution from road vehicles. The odd car passing your village will not cause you any health problems from exhaust pollution. However if you are forced to sit a few cm behind the exhaust pipe of a large truck for long enough you will die from the smog.


probe

oscarBravo

probe wrote:

A mobile handset 1cm away from your body transmitting at 1w power output exposes you to 79577.4 uW per cm2 of body tissue of radiation. The same handset one metre away from your body results in 22.3 uW/cm2 of exposure.

By how much will .0000223 of a watt of radio energy increase the temperature of 1cm^2 of body tissue over, say, an hour?

probe wrote:

Even then, radiation will probably be leaking down via any cables running between your PC and the wireless system.

Dear. Sweet. Jesus.

Blaster99

I admire your restraint.

EIN

oscarBravo wrote:

By how much will .0000223 of a watt of radio energy increase the temperature of 1cm^2 of body tissue over, say, an hour? Dear. Sweet. Jesus.

hi wasnt aware that you had a medical background.... have you done much research and work in this field of the effects of RF on the human body?

sitting in front of a laptop with a pc card on UTMS browsing for an extended period of time cannot be good for you.

Sponge Bob

EIN wrote:

sitting in front of a laptop with a pc card on UTMS browsing for an extended period of time cannot be good for you.

"sitting in front of a laptop <snip> browsing for an extended period of time cannot be good for you."

a desperate idea, get some exercise willya and clear the head.

oscarBravo

EIN wrote:

hi wasnt aware that you had a medical background.... have you done much research and work in this field of the effects of RF on the human body?

I don't have a medical background. I work with wireless technologies for a living. What's your qualification to comment?

EIN wrote:

sitting in front of a laptop with a pc card on UTMS browsing for an extended period of time cannot be good for you.

I don't recall suggesting that it's good for you. I'm contesting the assertion that it must be bad for you.

Care to answer the question about tissue heating?

EIN

probe wrote:

While wireless is probably OK for short occasional use, I wouldn’t use it for long internet browsing sessions on an ongoing basis – particularly where the transmitter and or antenna is in close proximity to one’s body (such as a PC card in a laptop). Especially if you are in a borderline zone where the transmitter next to you will be spewing out at full power as a result of the distance between you and the cellsite.

A mobile handset 1cm away from your body transmitting at 1w power output exposes you to 79577.4 uW per cm2 of body tissue of radiation. The same handset one metre away from your body results in 22.3 uW/cm2 of exposure.

Distance is everything and the further away the better.

The best place for wireless kit that is used for several hours a day web surfing is on the roof using a directional antenna. Even then, radiation will probably be leaking down via any cables running between your PC and the wireless system. The best choice from a personal health point of view is fibre optic. Failing that DSL or coaxial cable if these options are available.

It is not dissimilar to the pollution from road vehicles. The odd car passing your village will not cause you any health problems from exhaust pollution. However if you are forced to sit a few cm behind the exhaust pipe of a large truck for long enough you will die from the smog.


probe

WELL SAID!!

bminish

Sponge Bob wrote:

Here

                             ^
                            / \
                           /   \
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                        /         \

cut that out of tinfoil the two of ye

Actually testing on tinfoil hats was done at MIT, the results are not that encouraging
http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

.brendan

Mr E

Bloody hell.... I just wanted help with broadband!!

Now I'm afraid to leave my house.

watty

Coil the cable or put a ferrite clamp on it and it even blocks 100W transmitters.

But at the kind of power for GSM, 3G and wireless Internet in general the aerial on your desk can be radiating for 1000 years at you will die of old age first.

Peering into active microwave wave guides or standing in front of 10KW radar will give you cateracts, but even there no other evidence of damage unless the power is enough to start cooking you (Microwave oven).

cold_filter

TmB wrote:

Hi folks,

I borrowed a friends Vodafone PCMCIA card to test their new broadband product out in my house. According to Vodafone's website, I am smack bang in the middle of a red zone, about 1 mile from the mast.

My problem is that on connecting, I am fluctuating between 1 bar and 3 bars, and getting no more than 6k per second on a download (I just kicked off a firefox download on getfirefox.com to test it). The dashboard says that I am using 3G.

Needless to say, it has definitely swayed me against getting it.
I'm going to borrow my friends card one more time tomorrow to see if I can get any improvements. I'll also run some pings, and do some tests on http://www.irishisptest.com to see what my results are.
aaaa


Before I get the card again, is there anything I can try to improve speeds?

Thanks in advance....

Why don't you wait until mid october when the network is launched publicly and your actually able to access it and then determine whether to be swayed for or against?