[Ben]

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile-devices/review/2008/01/29/Vodafone-USB-Modem-Stick-HSDPA-Modem/p1

Boys and girls, it's as good as we knew it would be. Thankfully reviewed by TR's remaining guru Riyad Emeran, the Stick lives up to the promise - as does Vodafone's increasingly capable network.


Verdict

The Vodafone USB Modem Stick is the best HSDPA data device available - it's small, needs no cables and carries its drivers around with it. And while most 7.2mbps HSDPA hardware is limited to the far slower data speeds of the network operator, Vodafone is actually offering 7.2mbps service right now, with wider coverage rolling out throughout the year.

Yes, there are cheaper HSDPA options out there, but if you want the fastest possible data rates while out and about, coupled with the best device, the Vodafone USB Modem Stick is the one to go for. Put simply, unless your notebook has built-in HSDPA functionality, this is the mobile data solution you want.
Now, I love my original USB modem and, unlike every other time Vodafone has updated its datacards, I'm not going to rush out and buy the Stick because, realistically speaking, the performance is so good on the old modem attached to Vodafone's network that I don't yet need anything more. That said, when the 7.2mbps rollout does move further outside of London and the airports into other towns and cities then it'll be an attractive proposition.

Of course it's highly likely that Vodafone will continue to concentrate this high speed coverage in areas that will likely generate a healthy return, but the ever growing threat of WiMAX and constant pressure from T-Mobile in the data space should keep them on their toes.

Note that Riyad gets a better connection on the Stick than he can get on his home ADSL. If the price shifted to £25 inc vat rather than £25 ex vat I think sales of this thing would skyrocket.

[Hands0n]

Note that Riyad gets a better connection on the Stick than he can get on his home ADSL. If the price shifted to £25 inc vat rather than £25 ex vat I think sales of this thing would skyrocket.

This has to be where the mobile data market is heading in 2008. Because if it isn't then WiMAX will win the day for that particular slice of the market. Wireless replacement of ADSL is way past its "I wannit" date. The technology exists, is well established in the form of HSDPA but is being throttled to death by the slow and belligerent attitude of [most of] the mobile network operators - and all of the MVNOs.

To compete with ADSL though, wireless HSDPA has to meet it toe-to-toe inasmuch as price and data allowances. It is not enough to claim to be a premium service - because that is the path to marginalisation. Wireless data has to be commoditised, made a mainstream offering for the mobile networks to make any money out of data.

It is not all about being able to use your lappy on the train - rather it is about being unwired from the network. Being free to move home, enjoy stays away from home, access information without being tethered to a wall socket. And for many people also, 7.2Mbps is way faster than they can get on ADSL today!

No, I think that 2008 will be a defining year for unwired data - and for the first time ever, it will not be solely in the hands of the mobile network operators. Get it wrong and 2009 will be the year that the mobile network operators started to lose the market to other wireless technologies. WiMAX can be deployed astonishingly quickly, and effectively.

[Ben]

There's going to be one final area where Mobile Broadband will be left lacking when compared with home ADSL or cable connections. And no, I'm not talking about latency this time... 95% of broadband customers probably couldn't give a damn about anything under 200ms.

Internal IP's and aggressive firewalling limit the applications that can be run successfully over Mobile Broadband connections. AFAIK it's all just one big NAT, but, unlike with a home router where you can port forward for your favourite video conferencing app or online game, Mobile Broadband has no such facility. The lack of public dynamic and static IP addressing is becoming increasingly unacceptable in my view, despite already being technically possible on at least one of the networks (at a big, big price).

Of course, the biggest enemy to an ISP is virus infected machines that can literally batter a connection at full pelt without any regard for FUP's... having such a walled connection helps limit the potential for virus infections in the form of worms and probably makes filtering stuff out easier, so it's doubtful if anyone will move on the issue.

There's also the tiny issue of image compression, and that has got to stop, but other than that things are looking pretty good. Three is trying to sell 500,000 of its little modems... we'll see.

[Hands0n]

I hear ya. But keep thinking WiMAX. The mobile network operators must surely be watching that horizon closely.

The thing is, for them, that it can be a rapidly approaching horizon too. It takes a fraction of the time and expense to deploy WiMAX in an area, the licences are out and sold, the larger customers (many ISPs) will buy into a wholesaler of WiMAX or roll out their own nationwide.

So the mobile network operators don't have long to get it right. I'd say less than 24 months - and that is a blink in time.