O2 HSDPA MODEM REVIEW

[emdos]

Hi all.

Noticed abit of curiosity on CS about these Mobile Broadband Modems (aka HSDPA High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) So I thought i'd give you my experience of it.

Ok, I needed this modem to be connected to the internet when im out and about with work.

It terms of the hardware, the dongle is quite good looking however its not exactly small, it's slighty bigger than i thought but its fine. It can also act as a 2GB usb drive (provided you insert a 2GB micro SD card in the side)

My job involves alot of Remote Desktop work (which enables me to control another computer via mine regardless of it's distance from me as long as its connected to the internet). I was worried that HSDPA modems would not be able to handle its bandwidth.

Ok, I decided to go for o2 PAYG mobile BB just incase it didnt do the job i wanted.

The data plans are...

£2 for 24 hours upto 500mb Bandwidth.
£7.50 for 7 days upto 1gb BW
£15 for 30 days upto 3gb BW

(Just to let you know when i go it i paid for the £2 just to test it and it's lasted longer than 24hours)

In terms of general surfing, its just as quick as your home BB (provided your connected to the HSDPA/3G cell sites)

In terms of remote desktop it works very well

But please don't think they can be compared to todays landline BB because it's no where near in terms of downloading films etc...

I have also tested it out on Speed Test Websites...
I noticed it gets a little over 260kbps. I remember the days of 128kbps home BB!

Hope this helps you all decide. i'd recommend them!

any questions just ask

 

[meady100]

Interesting, thanks! I remember having 64k home BB...

 

[Cookie]

I've got some of these at work, and some Vodafone ones too... can't stand the o2 software

 

[Tom]

Pretty piss poor speeds from o2's network.

With tmobile im double that, voda is quick too.

 

[H182]

Agree we have loads of these at work, and o2 have been the worst. T-mobile followed by voda are best in our experience.

 

[Initiale]

I've got the same as emdos, great value for occasional use. You get free wifi use at The Cloud with it too (I think supposed to be when you've paid for a day/week/month use on O2) but when I tried it at LHR last week, I hadn't paid O2 anything and I still got into The Cloud for free. Win!

 

[Cheeky_Chappie]

How do you pay for minutes for the PAYG? is it at any paypoint similar to Mobiles?

Are the T-mobile and Voda ones the same too?

 

[PinkoCommie]

I never quite figured why people buy the 3g modems, the likelyhood is that if you have a laptop, you already have a mobile phone, just bluetooth it to your PC and off you go. No stupid software needed.

In fact I'm posting this through my mobile (stupid work booking me into a stupid Travelodge). I get 0.36 Mbit download and 0.11 up which is pretty damn good.

 

[UncleGrumpy]

Mines with 3, 5gb a month and a hp mininote for £18.95 a month.

Never failed to get a signal, the HSDPA goes like fuckery

Well happy, especially when a systems monkey walks past my desk and asks - how are you managing to view redtube through our servers - thats a serious breach of.... let me stop you there dimwit - points to dongle - jog on shithead.

Filth on demand at work - ooh missus, get in.

 

[DMS]

I never quite figured why people buy the 3g modems, the likelyhood is that if you have a laptop, you already have a mobile phone, just bluetooth it to your PC and off you go. No stupid software needed.

In fact I'm posting this through my mobile (stupid work booking me into a stupid Travelodge). I get 0.36 Mbit download and 0.11 up which is pretty damn good.

+1 TBH.
I can see a use for them in a business only environment where travelling / off-site work is required, but for personal use you might as well use your own mobile and get on a decent data tariff.

 

[Phill1978]

Mines with 3, 5gb a month and a hp mininote for £18.95 a month.

Never failed to get a signal, the HSDPA goes like f**kery

Well happy, especially when a systems monkey walks past my desk and asks - how are you managing to view redtube through our servers - thats a serious breach of.... let me stop you there dimwit - points to dongle - jog on s**thead.

Filth on demand at work - ooh missus, get in.

but your at work, so in fact they could argue (unless its lunch) that you shouldnt be using other laptops/networks as your meant to be working. not only that if you view p**n in the office it would exactly send out a good message..

still i take the point its a good way to 'silently' watch banned websites and get non monitored internet access as long as you are stealthy with the laptop or pda

 

[Rasclart]

Pretty piss poor speeds from o2's network.

With tmobile im double that, voda is quick too.

So you sat in EXACTLY the same location as he did when testing

 

[UncleGrumpy]

Pretty piss poor speeds from o2's network.

With tmobile im double that, voda is quick too.

I tried the speed test this morning, was getting 880kb downstream, thats good enough considering I can get that pretty much anywhere.

 

[Tom]

So you sat in EXACTLY the same location as he did when testing

No it was a general statement based on the entire network.

 

[Initiale]

How do you pay for minutes for the PAYG? is it at any paypoint similar to Mobiles?

Are the T-mobile and Voda ones the same too?

With the O2 one, when you first start using it, it brings up a payment website and allows you to pay for 1 day/week/month by credit card.

I never quite figured why people buy the 3g modems, the likelyhood is that if you have a laptop, you already have a mobile phone, just bluetooth it to your PC and off you go. No stupid software needed.

In fact I'm posting this through my mobile (stupid work booking me into a stupid Travelodge). I get 0.36 Mbit download and 0.11 up which is pretty damn good.

Works for me because I have an iPhone so no tethering possible anyway. Plus having a USB modem means I'm not wasting my phone battery when it's connected to the PC. And it means I can also make calls while I'm online.

 

[PinkoCommie]

Works for me because I have an iPhone so no tethering possible anyway. Plus having a USB modem means I'm not wasting my phone battery when it's connected to the PC. And it means I can also make calls while I'm online.

I never quite figured out why you can't tether an iPhone. I thought it was pretty much a standard feature of phones these days.

You can still use your mobile to make calls when its tethered (well, at least my two can (SE K800i & HTC TyTN II), I suppose it might not be the same for all handsets), and if battery life is an issue you can just USB tether it.

Each to their own though I don't really use it enough to warrant a standalone modem I suppose, and when I do I like the ability to be able to stick my mobile on the other side off the room to my laptop if it's in a crappy reception area.

 

[Initiale]

I never quite figured out why you can't tether an iPhone. I thought it was pretty much a standard feature of phones these days.

You can still use your mobile to make calls when its tethered (well, at least my two can (SE K800i & HTC TyTN II), I suppose it might not be the same for all handsets), and if battery life is an issue you can just USB tether it.

Each to their own though I don't really use it enough to warrant a standalone modem I suppose, and when I do I like the ability to be able to stick my mobile on the other side off the room to my laptop if it's in a crappy reception area.

That is an advantage. Every phone I've used for a data connection, it suspends data transfer when a call comes in?

 

[emdos]

I never quite figured out why you can't tether an iPhone. I thought it was pretty much a standard feature of phones these days.

You can still use your mobile to make calls when its tethered (well, at least my two can (SE K800i & HTC TyTN II), I suppose it might not be the same for all handsets), and if battery life is an issue you can just USB tether it.

Each to their own though I don't really use it enough to warrant a standalone modem I suppose, and when I do I like the ability to be able to stick my mobile on the other side off the room to my laptop if it's in a crappy reception area.

You can't tether an iPhone due to it's American influence with network AT&T which states tethering will over run your fair usage allowance. However tethering is possible with a jail broken iPhone. Only reason I haven't done it with my iPhone is because it's the older 2G model

 

[Rasclart]

No it was a general statement based on the entire network.

We have customers from ALL 3G providers. They all have their good/bad spots.

The problem is providers saying they will get static broadband/cable speeds ALL the time everywhere and their sales gimps actually believing this!

 

[Tom]

No i agree, its just that i feel that o2 is the slowest 3G network of the 5

 

[-Leigh-]

I got a 3 usb dongle thingy last week. Get 3gb for £15 a month, as I only use it for simple things, and didn't want a BT landline for £11 a month, then broadband on top.

I get HSPDA coverage at home, and work, and it's fooking quick for a mobile network!! For example, Facebook loads up pretty much instantly, I've never really waited for a page to load. Youtube is pretty quick too!! Only problems I would run into is possibly downloading things, but I can do that at work or take laptop to the parents if need be.