Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Review: Need for speed
I've taken two journeys out west from London in the last week giving me chance to run my 3 mobile broadband modem from 3 mobile buzz through its paces using SpeedTest.
I've stopped using wi-fi in favour of the 3 modem. The 3G modem download speeds are nowhere near as fast as wi-fi (upload speeds are comparable) but its far easier to get a connection (subscribe to a 3G operator versus multiple wi-fi operators) and the pricing on contract is good value. And its possible to maintain a connection when moving a speed.
Steve Earl gave me a lift down the M3 out to Hook so sat in the passenger seat I did some impromptu data connectivity tests. We didn't loose the signal once during the trip and had an average upload speed of 52kbps and download speed of 600kbps.
Data connectivity was adequate for web browsing but when download speeds dropped below 1Mbps the VPN connection to my office began to struggle and Outlook froze. Here's a junction-by-junction breakdown of data speeds.
Data speeds were slower on the train route out to Reading from Paddington. Web browsing was still adequate but I lost connection twice and had to re-connect manually. The average download speed was around 270kbps and upload speed 50kbps. Its inevitable that a modem will drop connectivity occasionally so its daft that you can't set the modem to automatically reconnect. Here's a breakdown of data speeds.
Other 3 modem users have reported difficulty in maintaining a connection in other areas of the UK, particularly when on the move. I'm keen to run tests on the 3 mobile broadband service on the east coast mainline versus the in-train satellite/wi-fi connection.
I use email on my mobile phone when I'm travelling and only ever boot-up my PC when I've 10 minutes or more to kill at a station or I'm sitting on a train. In which case I want to web browse or occasionally download a document from the Rainier PR fileserver. Granted 3G speeds are not always as fast wi-fi but the ease of connection and low cost makes is a wi-fi killer. Permalink |
I've stopped using wi-fi in favour of the 3 modem. The 3G modem download speeds are nowhere near as fast as wi-fi (upload speeds are comparable) but its far easier to get a connection (subscribe to a 3G operator versus multiple wi-fi operators) and the pricing on contract is good value. And its possible to maintain a connection when moving a speed.
Steve Earl gave me a lift down the M3 out to Hook so sat in the passenger seat I did some impromptu data connectivity tests. We didn't loose the signal once during the trip and had an average upload speed of 52kbps and download speed of 600kbps.
Data connectivity was adequate for web browsing but when download speeds dropped below 1Mbps the VPN connection to my office began to struggle and Outlook froze. Here's a junction-by-junction breakdown of data speeds.
Data speeds were slower on the train route out to Reading from Paddington. Web browsing was still adequate but I lost connection twice and had to re-connect manually. The average download speed was around 270kbps and upload speed 50kbps. Its inevitable that a modem will drop connectivity occasionally so its daft that you can't set the modem to automatically reconnect. Here's a breakdown of data speeds.
Other 3 modem users have reported difficulty in maintaining a connection in other areas of the UK, particularly when on the move. I'm keen to run tests on the 3 mobile broadband service on the east coast mainline versus the in-train satellite/wi-fi connection.I use email on my mobile phone when I'm travelling and only ever boot-up my PC when I've 10 minutes or more to kill at a station or I'm sitting on a train. In which case I want to web browse or occasionally download a document from the Rainier PR fileserver. Granted 3G speeds are not always as fast wi-fi but the ease of connection and low cost makes is a wi-fi killer. Permalink |
