3GScottishUser
18th December 2007, 08:11 AM
It's been a couple of weeks since I started tinkering about with the Mobile Broadband offering using the LG Viewty as a handset browser and modem for the laptop.
Set-up was pretty easy but every time you reconnect the USB to the PC the software creates a new networking connection! This is annoying, takes time and you end up with a whole list of previous connections that have to be cleared out of your settings. Perhaps this is an LG issue as it is their software that is providing the connection and will probably be addressed when revised software becomes available.
So far I have used the Internet mainly from workplaces in the East of Glasgow on my laptop. In the main office I can see the 3 base station on a building opposite so no problem with connection there! It shows HSDPA and pages load on the PC quite quickly after some DNS lag. The speed is pretty reasonable for browsing but even with a full signal not quite what one would expect from a 'landline' broadband service.
Out and about it's very patchy. One minute there is a signal next it's roaming on Orange and this happens in pretty well populated areas. There is a major shopping centre called 'The Fort' right next to the M8 and it's within 1/4 of a mile of the base station sitting opposite my workplace and in Morrison's cafe there is no useable 3G signal let alone HSDPA. It's the same story in many resedential districts which are close to trunk roads.
I think I have almost given up on the notion that I will get reliable laptop use from 3's mobile broadband service where I travel for work and will probably revert to the handset browsing alternative and save myself £5 a month fairly soon. It's fine that you can do this using the handset as a secondary device but I think I would be pretty annoyed had I commited to a contract for a separate dedicated USB modem.
Handset browsing is good when it's available but the problem is coverage. You can sit in a spot and one second have the full 3 service and a few keystrokes later be presented with a page that tells you the service area does not support everything. It's frustrating to say the least and I can't imagine many customers getting to grips with this now you get it, now you don't lucky bag of a service.
So overall the proposition looks attractive but the proof of the pudding is in the eating and so far the flavour is mixed as the essential ingredient (coverage) just isn't either stong enough or wide enough and that's in populated suburban Glasgow!
Slightly off-topic but whilst it is no concern with packet data, when the Viewty switches from 3G to GSM it drops the call. It does that everytime and that can be significant bearing in mind the comments above.
Of course I'll be soldiering on and continuing to test the service over Christmas and new year when i shall be in other locations but the primary consideration for value has to be, 'is it useful as a backup tool for Internet access from the area where I travel to during work hours?' and so far the user experience suggests it's not.
Set-up was pretty easy but every time you reconnect the USB to the PC the software creates a new networking connection! This is annoying, takes time and you end up with a whole list of previous connections that have to be cleared out of your settings. Perhaps this is an LG issue as it is their software that is providing the connection and will probably be addressed when revised software becomes available.
So far I have used the Internet mainly from workplaces in the East of Glasgow on my laptop. In the main office I can see the 3 base station on a building opposite so no problem with connection there! It shows HSDPA and pages load on the PC quite quickly after some DNS lag. The speed is pretty reasonable for browsing but even with a full signal not quite what one would expect from a 'landline' broadband service.
Out and about it's very patchy. One minute there is a signal next it's roaming on Orange and this happens in pretty well populated areas. There is a major shopping centre called 'The Fort' right next to the M8 and it's within 1/4 of a mile of the base station sitting opposite my workplace and in Morrison's cafe there is no useable 3G signal let alone HSDPA. It's the same story in many resedential districts which are close to trunk roads.
I think I have almost given up on the notion that I will get reliable laptop use from 3's mobile broadband service where I travel for work and will probably revert to the handset browsing alternative and save myself £5 a month fairly soon. It's fine that you can do this using the handset as a secondary device but I think I would be pretty annoyed had I commited to a contract for a separate dedicated USB modem.
Handset browsing is good when it's available but the problem is coverage. You can sit in a spot and one second have the full 3 service and a few keystrokes later be presented with a page that tells you the service area does not support everything. It's frustrating to say the least and I can't imagine many customers getting to grips with this now you get it, now you don't lucky bag of a service.
So overall the proposition looks attractive but the proof of the pudding is in the eating and so far the flavour is mixed as the essential ingredient (coverage) just isn't either stong enough or wide enough and that's in populated suburban Glasgow!
Slightly off-topic but whilst it is no concern with packet data, when the Viewty switches from 3G to GSM it drops the call. It does that everytime and that can be significant bearing in mind the comments above.
Of course I'll be soldiering on and continuing to test the service over Christmas and new year when i shall be in other locations but the primary consideration for value has to be, 'is it useful as a backup tool for Internet access from the area where I travel to during work hours?' and so far the user experience suggests it's not.