3G Broadband & WiFi Requirements

Bigpeetee

Guest
Over the past few months I and several others have discussed issues we all experiance with satisfactory reception of wireless signals that give us connection to the outside world.

I'm looking at stocking a number of products to help solve at least some problems.

I'm asking you guys what it is that you want??

To some, connection to the web is a curse, to others, almost the last thing they can do without, be it for pleasure or business.

I've already made some suggestions of how to improve WiFi, but 3G is still giving people hard times.

Wireless can be very fickle, but you can improve your chances of getting a signal.

Even where I live 3G broadband leaves a lot to be desired, and that's in a small town, when we're out and about the problems get worse.

Options are, do you want simplicity, but less chance of a good signal, or more complex solutions that can offer a greater probability of getting a good signal.?

Those in a tin MH have more of a problem.

Please let me know your requirements.

Obviously, discounts will be available to members if this takes off.
 
This could be asking too much but I would love to get hold of a payg SIM card that would work in Europe with my 3G dongle.

Also, the wifi extender you endorsed is A1, so many thanks for that. I would fully recommend anyone to get it. Just need to find a suitable container to make it waterproof.
 
this is a very interesting topic for me too. I have to get my daily 'fix' on the net. I have excellent reception at home obviously but haven't yet given mobile wi-fi much thought to be honest.

We are preparing our van for wild camping but we are not yet there unfortunately so we invariably use ehu on paid sites. The occasional payg WiFi on site is woeful and the signal tends to drop out every few minutes necessitating re-entering endless stupid ID's passwords and telephone numbers grrrrr. Pretty annoying when you are trying to stream some drama off BBC Iplayer for pc/tv viewing.

We need to decide on a satellite solution too and could use any helpful advice or link to guides there is on mobile WiFi solutions and TV.
 
Hello All,

I am very interested in this topic as I for one greatly miss my internet connection when wilding for any length of time.
I would love a decent download/upload speed, or even internet availability everywhere I go, but as far as I am aware this is not possible, unless you go for Satellite Broadband which you need a mortgage to finance!!

So for me. I would like a connection available anywhere (satellite or not) at an affordable price? What are the options?

Cheers
 
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Here in West Wales 3G is patchy at best, even at home our BT Broadband hovere around 1.1. Out & about FON & hotspots tend to be ok but what would be great is a payg dongle that works everywhere including France.
 
Wifi - USB to external antenna via an SMA connection, so different antenna can be attached (eg to fixed antenna or magnetic/suction cup mount, omni or directional

Mifi - for above

3G - same as above. I know you can add a usb extension, but what is really needed is connectivity to external antenna. And, as already suggested, a Europe (world?) wide SIM card at a sensible price and user friendliness (SFR don't accept foreign credit cards for some peculiar reason)

Satellite for the die hards - too expensive for me, I am afraid. Actually, having a quick look round, usage rates don't seem too bad. Hmm, maybe I will have a look


Polly
 
Looking at a number of 3G options at moment.

What's the feeling on rental? The hire of say a 3G dongle and external antenna plus PAYG sims for the country required. Only need while you're away, esp those that take a 2-4 wk holiday and don't need it for rest of yr.????
 
Do 3G dongles exist that accept external antenna connections?
 
Just looking into this one, there are some.

PM me so we can discuss
 
Bigpeetee said:
Looking at a number of 3G options at moment.

What's the feeling on rental? The hire of say a 3G dongle and external antenna plus PAYG sims for the country required. Only need while you're away, esp those that take a 2-4 wk holiday and don't need it for rest of yr.????
Click to expand...


Is it likely to be that expensive that we would have to rent rather than purchase the equipment?
 
Depends on price, but as with all PAYG, if it's not used it gets stopped, then have to get it going again.

There are some very micky mouse systems out there, so I'm trying to source reliable equipment that actually does as it says. Some specs are very dubious!!

There are two types of antenna, omni directional; picks up equally bad in all directions, but still a great improvement over the built in dongle antenna or a directional yagi antenna, bit like a TV antenna. Gets better reception but requires pointing in the right direction, so more fiddly to use.

There are also routers that can connect to 3G so that you can use a number of WiFi enabled devices.

Trouble is, the more kit you have, the greater the drain on the battery, some of the devices are using a couple of Amps at 12v, also making sure that kit works on MH voltage range 12-15v without blowing up, most designed to work on mains using a wall wart power supply.

With Wifi, 3G, radio, TV and satellite antennas, you could look like an unmarked police vehicle!!!
 
PS, if you add on the Ham radio antenna you could also be classed as a sad GEEK:rolleyes:
 
Personally I think that the emphasis on wireless internet connecting whilst overseas should be on 3g (soon 4g). Of course roaming charges are prohibitive at the moment and likely to be so for the forseeable future, so knowing where/how to purchase the best local SIM be it PAYG or Rolling Contract would be very useful. I have found requirements such as residencyand/or local address to be a barrier, but someone may have a way round this.
I have used WiFi overseas for the last 5 years and find that in practice connection to be problematical eg networks password protected, signal too weak, even a decent antenna is rarely of use when remote wild camping, getting online is, at least for me, not sufficient reason to shift from a decent spot.
So,whatever happened to WIMAX, that would have been the answer or so we were told 10 years ago. I know Norwich City? rolled it out some time ago, but it now seems to have quietely disappeared.
 
Thinking about satellite broadband (and knowing what people can pay for satellite television), I found this Tooway FAQ | ToowayDirect

Satellite broadband for £350 for set up and airtime from £25 pm. Expensive, yes, prohibitive?




Polly
 
I am very happy with the Three Mobile dongle in terms of speed and coverage.

The only thing I don't like is that it is £25 for 7GB but if you don't use it within 28 days you lose it.

This is not in my opinion PAYG, it is more like a contract.
 
I use a vodafone dongle 3g, not as good as 3, but good enough. Mostly I use Wifi with BTFON which is free, after the initial set up.

But neither are international solutions (well, technically, FON is international, but not widely available overseas as far as I can see). I get a bit fed up playing with unlocked dongles, sims and finding universal log in details.
 
Consider a premicell unit if you want the mobile phone / mobile data access in remote areas. I installed one in a communications vehicle for my local mountain rescue team and the subsequent boost to signal reception through a roof mounted aerial allows mobile reception and use in areas handhelds do not work.

For myself I have sourced and recently bought a hi power plug in WiFi adaptor (Alfa AWUSO36NH High Gain USB Wireless G / N Long-Rang WiFi Network Adapter) that takes an SMA aerial. I have also bought a MagMount SMA base and larger aerial. Initial testing shows a reasonable increase in operating range. I previously tried a directional aerial from Repeatit and so far the setup I now have appears to be as good and it is Omidirectional.

I have just finished framing and installing a set of solar panels on the roof and added a coated steel angle bracket to the assembly to allow me to open the roof vent and put the MagMount easily onto the roof.

I am heading off soon so will have a better feel for the improvements once I have used it a bit more.
 
What kind of external antenna? Does it matter? I mean, could the same antenna work for 3G too. And how to fix it on a non-magnetic surface? If it was too large, I would wanted it mounted permanently - I have already broken my Solwise Rocket

Polly
 
Polly are you taking about Antennae for 3G or WiFi?

For WiFi I have added this one +9.5dBi Omni 2.4GHz WiFi antenna with RP-SMA for: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics to my MagMount together with this base NEWLink Magnetic Base for Reverse SMA Antenna,1.5 Mtr,Black (N11501): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories if I ultimately decide to go to a verfy superior aerial it would be too big to permanently mount as I would be looking at about 1 to 2m tall.

For 3G and a Premicell Unit uses a physically smaller aerial such as this 30cm aerial Hirschmann MCA 18 91 80 Roof Mount GSM Antenna

Robert
 
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