Wireless Broadband help

warrenaldo

Hi folks,

Bit unsure here.
I recently bought new laptop with a wireless card 802.11b/g.

Now i am hoping to get wireless broadband into the appartment. What options do i have?
I see these 3G cards - can i use them?
Do O2/Vodafone/3/Meteor do this stuff?
Or is it just Irish Broadband?

Thanks for the help.

ethernet

warrenaldo wrote:

Hi folks,

Bit unsure here.
I recently bought new laptop with a wireless card 802.11b/g.

Now i am hoping to get wireless broadband into the appartment. What options do i have?
I see these 3G cards - can i use them?
Do O2/Vodafone/3/Meteor do this stuff?
Or is it just Irish Broadband?

Thanks for the help.

The in-built wireless card is when you use a wireless router, i.e. you need to get a special modem to get wireless from the mobile phone providers.

If you have a PCMCIA [card slot] on your laptop, then you can use 3's data card. If not, you can use their USB modem instead.

O2, Vodafone and 3 all offer HSDPA [what they call their broadband]. All providers use the same modem from the same manufacturer but it's running different software.

Irish Broadband offers fixed wireless broadband. This involves installing a mast to allow you to use their service. You may be able to get ripwave if you're in a strong-signal area. This negates the need for installing a mast outside. Instead, you get a white modem with an antenna built in and connect it to your PC. It's much bigger than the mobile providers' modems but speeds are better. Best look at their website.

warrenaldo

I have been looking at the speeds from the mutiple providers of broadband.

02 Modem that connects to the USB - Speeds up to 3.6Mbps
Vodafone Modem that connects to the USB - Speeds up to 3.6Mbps
IrishBroadband(Ripwave) - Speeds of up to1Mb download and 256k upload

Now from what i see here it seems that IrishBroadband are NOT the way to go? Would that be right.
I dont want to look at 3 broadband as there is a thread on boards called "problems with 3 broadband" and it has over 1000 posts.

irlrobins

IBB's Ripwave is crap alright (1Mb download??? Never seen anyone even get close to that), but their Breeze product is very good. 3's 3G doesn't seem to have many fans. O2's appears to have the highest user satisfaction levels.

And since this has nothing to do with wireless, I'm moving to BB.

dub45

warrenaldo wrote:

Hi folks,

Bit unsure here.
I recently bought new laptop with a wireless card 802.11b/g.

Now i am hoping to get wireless broadband into the appartment. What options do i have?
I see these 3G cards - can i use them?
Do O2/Vodafone/3/Meteor do this stuff?
Or is it just Irish Broadband?

Thanks for the help.

You are slightly confused about the wireless side of things and who can blame you!

Firstly the wireless card in your laptop is a slight distraction for the moment.

It allows you to connect wirelessly within your apartment or house or at a hotspot to an internet connection - that is not wireless broadband. Think of a handsfree phone located somewhere around the house but getting its basic signal from the base connected to the landline.

What you need to decide is how you want to get your broadband delivered to your house.

You have various options:

DSL/Telephone

Cable - NTL

IBB or similar where you have an aerial on your roof.

All of the above can be connected to you laptop via a wireless signal from a wireless router connected to the bb source.

The other options are the Ripwaves of this world which are not great for most people and the new mobile BB where you get the signal directly to the modem attached to your laptop.