On Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:32:49 +0100, Steve Terry wrote:

"inkle" wrote in message
...
Due to a history of difficulties and lack of patience with foreign idiots,
I'm looking into ditching my BT line (and 512 Kbps broadband) and using
mobile broadband for internet (and voip). The only useble signal where I
live is Vodafone and they seem a bit more expensive. There is a T-Mobile
signal in the vicinity, but not in the house. Would using an antenna and a
long cable to elevate it be worth trying?

If so what sort of antenna would I need?

Would I need a different sort of antenna to capture a "3" signal?

Would the cable be the same? (for T-Mobile and "3")


So no Three network in your area?

According to the map at
http://www.three.co.uk/personal/cove...rageChecker.do
it is not here but about a mile away which makes me wonder if it would be
worth trying with an antenna.

According to the map he
http://maps.vodafone.co.uk/coveragev...b/default.aspx
It is miles and miles away. (This presumably refers to Vodafone 3G as
opposed to 3 3G in the first map)



Are your tests with Voda and T Mobile on 2g or 3g?

2G


For mobile broadband you need 3g on any network,
preferably 3.5g with a turbo modem.

Well I'm glad to have discovered that before tying myself into a contract
with Vodafone who must surely be lying through their teeth he

http://tinyurl.com/67sb8q

Where they say:

"Superfast and reliable ¡V Our fantastic coverage in the UK means you can
enjoy warp speed mobile broadband wherever you get a Vodafone signal."

- I have a good Vodafone signal here and yet if you are correct (and I
assume you are), I can't get mobile broadband at at all.




So you would need a 2.1GHz carkit with aerial,
umm... I don't know any 3g phones with aerial sockets.
Are there any?

2g GPRS would give you at best 40kbp/s

- or roughly what I used to get with dialup - No I don't want to go back to
that.



Maybe you should resolve your problems with ADSL?

The problem with that is BT who seem to be getting worse and worse. I
suppose I will have to attempt to change my ADSL provider and attempt to
put up with BT for my line rental. I believe I could rent it from Toucan or
one or two others but I don't see much point as they have to go through BT
anyway.


I'm using 3 mobile internet now to post this, i wish i could get a look
at a real ADSL connection.

So is it not superfast reliable warp speed for you then??