Three 3g service, how do I go about it?

niallb

Well, you have signal with just the card!
Does it tell you which network you're locked onto?

Is there a socket for an antenna on the card?

Can you get the laptop up into the attic?
I tried it myself and so did matthiku,
getting it up high makes a lot of difference.
Even stand it on a stack of books, or put a steel tray behind it :-)

This kind of antenna should make a big difference seeing as you have some signal.
I'm in the process of ordering something from expansys.
Now the connection is working, I need to make it less obtrusive!

NiallB

niallb

A suggestion if you're finding it real slow at one bar.
Can you try and change the MTU value for the modem connection?
I'm no windows expert, so you may have to google how to do it.
There are tools you can download to change the settings,
or you can go straight in to the registry.
There's one here I've heard of before.
Try dropping it way down (start at 576, and work up towards 1492
in multiples of 8 until performance starts to degrade again), and see
if your performance increases. The link will still be lossy, but you'll
lose less each time something is dropped.

NiallB

matthiku

niallb wrote:

(...)

This kind of antenna should make a big difference seeing as you have some signal.
I'm in the process of ordering something from expansys.NiallB

Looking at those prices I'm disgusted that I fell again into that trap of buying something overprized form the UK! I paid at least 100% more there!!!

My advice: look it up in UK stores (due to the language) and when you found the right thing, buy it in Germany (or France, for that matter, which is equally cheap)...

Slaanesh

Well lads,

I brought a laptop home from work that had more than 30 seconds battery power and I was able to bring it up into the attic.

1-2 bar of GPRs coverage on Voda so I just set it to 3g only. Didn't get anything .... I then held the laptop up as high as I could and *BANG* almost full 3g coverage, only at the apex of the house. It's too painful to hold it up that long to run any tests!

Niall, did you get that aerial in the end? I'm gonna have to get a long extension lead and run my old laptop into the attic. The aerial might do the job for me too. Nowhere to bloody walk or anything in the attic so I want to make sure it's worth my while going through all the effort of making the attic a bit safer for working in It also said the card connected at 3.6Mbps, sounds a bit fast.

jimmycrackcorm

A long aerial lead can produce a db signal loss and might affect signal quality.

StickyMcGinty

Slaanesh wrote:

Sorry I guess I was asking do you get a sim card with the data card contract?

I have rang them about coverage and they said I wasn't 3g covered(Kilmessan). I'm just interested that Niall picked up their base station.

Niall queried the vodafone USB modem and it was apparently unlocked.

Kilmessan Co. Meath?

My girlfriends from there, i've been trying to sort out a decent connection for her for ages.

can you let me know how you get on with the 3 datacard?

niallb

Hi,
I've got a pretty solid connection most of the time now.
I didn't order the antenna yet - suffered a shoulder injury
which is filling my week with physio etc.

What I've done is moved my SIM to a Nokia 6680 which is
more portable and has a better radio than the Vodafone USB one.
It's in the "sweet spot" in the living room
(plugged in on charge), and I connect to it using a bluetooth dongle
through the wall. It also means I can grab it when I leave the house
without unplugging anything :-)
I've also got a Nokia USB cable on an extension which works
just as well.

I'd be happy to give you a hand setting up the old laptop
as a permanent access point in your attic.
I've one here set up to share the 3G through the house via wired and wireless, and offer ISDN backup if I've a bad weather day on the 3G.
I have a few old PCMCIA ethernet cards too if you need one.
I'll be in tomorrow evening if you're about.
I'd like to check out the Three card as well having seen both of Vodafone's.

I'm trying to pick up a three 3G phone to allow me scan for service in
other locations. I'd appreciate if you could check one nearby location for me!

Good to hear about your progress.

NiallB

Slaanesh

I've decided it's too much effort for little gain. The main use of broadband in my house I'm guessing would be gaming and I don't think the three card would be suitable. I had it in work getting full 3g reception and the pings spiked to 1000ms quite frequently and only bottomed out about 150ms.

Have to return it before the 14 days anyway. Looks like the broadband search continues. Thanks for your help Niall.

Crummy2

slaanish, did you ever get BB in kilmessan?

Moving there in a couple of weeks....

thanks.

watty

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

A long aerial lead can produce a db signal loss and might affect signal quality.

http://www.ocarc.ca/coax.htm

loosing 3dB is 1/2 the signal
6dB is down to 1/4 the signal

For 10m (33ft) @ GSM 900
RG174 = 10.3dB
RG58 = 5.9dB
RG213 = 2.5dB
LMR 400 = 1.3dB

For 10m (33ft) @ 3G
RG174 = 18dB
RG58 = 8.9dB
RG213 = 4.3dB
LMR 400 = 2.2dB

Conclusion:
The "pigtail" cable, RG174 or similar is ONLY for pigtails!
RG58 (normal 6mm ish cable as used for ethernet and 50 Ohm Radio, RG59 & RG6 are 75 Ohm) is only for aerial pigtails or SMA (or FME) pigtail to N-Connectors.

RG213 (nearly 3/4" diameter), using N-Connectors, is only just suitable as long as your outdoor aerial budget takes the 3dB to 6dB loss into account.

For more than 10m, or for weaker signals you absolutely need LMR400 (screw on compression N-Connector. No specialist tools, Spanners, Hacksaw & file to fit connectors).

Andrews Heliax LDF6-50A is 0.5dB @ 10m for 3G. and you can have 65m before it gets to 3dB. It's the kind of stuff the phone companies run up 15m to 30m masts However LMR-400 is MUCH cheaper and isn't like working with 1" water pipe.