Broadband dongle in area of poor coverage??? Advice please?

For various reasons, I'm looking for a broadband dongle (PAYG or
contract) that will work in an area of poor coverage.
The main (only?) suppliers of broadband dongles are:
Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, 3 and O2
We've already tried a 3 dongle and it doesn't work.

The postcode is CO10 7QF, and the coverage maps don't give a great deal
of hope on any of the networks. Orange seems to be the best with
moderate/low. Orange also seem to be offering a gadget (option 515?)
that may improve signal: would this help?

Separately, I have a T-Mobile G1 phone and it connects at 2G, but not 3G
(maybe a dongle needs 3G?)

Any advice welcome?

Thanks

Allan <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> The postcode is CO10 7QF, and the coverage maps don't give a great deal
> of hope on any of the networks. Orange seems to be the best with
> moderate/low. Orange also seem to be offering a gadget (option 515?)
> that may improve signal: would this help?

Basics for dongles:

Put them on a USB cable away from your computer
Place them up high, with as clear a line of sight you can get to the base
station. Outside is even better, or else try suckering to a window.
A dongle on the end of a long thick USB cable is better than an external
antenna on the end of a long RF cable
Try a woktenna:
http://www.usbwifi.orconhosting.net.nz/
(wifi is 2.4GHz, 3G is 2.1GHz, so they should be usable for 3G too)

It depends how much work you want to do. For example, a dongle on the
chimney like this:
http://www.usbwifi.orconhosting.net.nz/wanbrow.jpg
may well get signal where you can't get it due to the lie of the land. But
if there's no 3G base station nearby, you won't get anything. Try a nearby
hill or tall building and see if you can get signal on your phone. Or stick
it to a pole and wave it around (then use Bluetooth to check the signal
strength from a laptop)

> Separately, I have a T-Mobile G1 phone and it connects at 2G, but not 3G
> (maybe a dongle needs 3G?)

Some dongles (eg Three's) are barred from connecting on 2G, but there are
ways around that. Generally they will fallback to 2G.

Theo

Allan wrote:
> For various reasons, I'm looking for a broadband dongle (PAYG or
> contract) that will work in an area of poor coverage.
> The main (only?) suppliers of broadband dongles are:
> Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, 3 and O2
> We've already tried a 3 dongle and it doesn't work.
>
> The postcode is CO10 7QF, and the coverage maps don't give a great deal
> of hope on any of the networks. Orange seems to be the best with
> moderate/low. Orange also seem to be offering a gadget (option 515?)
> that may improve signal: would this help?
>
> Separately, I have a T-Mobile G1 phone and it connects at 2G, but not 3G
> (maybe a dongle needs 3G?)
>
> Any advice welcome?
>
> Thanks

Glemsford eh? just down the road.

Your a F**ked basically.

Cant you get a fixed line to work??

"Allan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...

> We've already tried a 3 dongle and it doesn't work.

We just bought a 'holiday home' where the only 'mobile BB' service available
is from Three.

You wanna sell me that dongle?


--
J B

Great info. Thanks for the time and help.
Progressing inquiries.
Quite like the idea that both Orange & T-Mobile (haven't asked others)
will let me return the dongle under the DSR if it doesn't connect.

"Allan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> Great info. Thanks for the time and help.
> Progressing inquiries.
> Quite like the idea that both Orange & T-Mobile (haven't asked others)
> will let me return the dongle under the DSR if it doesn't connect.
>

So, do you wanna sell me that Three one?


--
J B

On 17/02/2010 17:50, J B wrote:
> "Allan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> Great info. Thanks for the time and help.
>> Progressing inquiries.
>> Quite like the idea that both Orange & T-Mobile (haven't asked others)
>> will let me return the dongle under the DSR if it doesn't connect.
>>
>
> So, do you wanna sell me that Three one?

Sorry: forgot to reply.
The original 3 dongle is still in use, cos the laptop spends most of its
time in London, with infrequent use in Suffolk. The dongle is fine in
London, but not receiving in Suffolk. It's valid for 3 months and
expires at the end of this month (so it wouldn't be much good to you) so
we're going to use up what's left and we're looking for a dongle that
does connect in Suffolk (hopefully). But thanks anyway, and apols for
not replying sooner.