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General discussion (archive)Wireless Home Broadband(22 posts)(22 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted October 11, 2009
Just forked out $148 (and $148 for every month after that) for a Smartone-Vodafone wireless broadband service, which is apparently just what you'd get from DSL, but in wireless HSPA, with a max speed of 7.2 Mbps. Is that any good? Anyone had an experience with wireless broadband like this, particularly at home? I also feel like there's some unknown cap somewhere and I'll experience throttles and "unlimited bandwidth" for the first time.
I'll report on the speeds later, right now I have to install this.
Post edited October 11, 2009 by michaelleung
Posted October 11, 2009
If its anything like version it'll spike to high speeds and drop to low speeds. Like a bloody roller coaster, not worth it imo. They get there speeds by talking about the peak, when in reality you'll need to average to between the peak. And Version doesn't work well on overcast days or in some buildings. It will drop your connection at the drop of a hat.
Posted October 11, 2009
I take it that's in CNY?
I get a 10MB unlimited, cabled connection for £5. The price and the fact that it's cabled are the only reasons I've stuck with the company though. As I can't say I like them at all.
Posted October 11, 2009
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Navagon: I take it that's in CNY?
I get a 10MB unlimited, cabled connection for £5. The price and the fact that it's cabled are the only reasons I've stuck with the company though. As I can't say I like them at all.

It's in Hong Kong dorrah, not RMB, and a pound in your money translates to $12 for us. That's pretty low for our standards.
Anyways, yeah, I use pretty cheap 30M fiber here, and I wanted to try out new alternatives, to see if mobile broadband would be better. I don't care much for speed as long as it's above 7M or so, and if there's no cap, so this seemed like a good deal.
Your connection is 5 a month, yeah? Right now, for us, 30M is around 1 pound in your money. Sounds like a deal, but like I said, wireless seems like a cheaper (!) deal.
Posted October 11, 2009
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Navagon: I take it that's in CNY?
I get a 10MB unlimited, cabled connection for £5. The price and the fact that it's cabled are the only reasons I've stuck with the company though. As I can't say I like them at all.
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michaelleung: It's in Hong Kong dorrah, not RMB, and a pound in your money translates to $12 for us. That's pretty low for our standards.
Anyways, yeah, I use pretty cheap 30M fiber here, and I wanted to try out new alternatives, to see if mobile broadband would be better. I don't care much for speed as long as it's above 7M or so, and if there's no cap, so this seemed like a good deal.
Your connection is 5 a month, yeah? Right now, for us, 30M is around 1 pound in your money. Sounds like a deal, but like I said, wireless seems like a cheaper (!) deal.

Well at those prices it would seem like a bargain. But I'd imagine that there is some kind of minimum contract length. In the worst case scenario, that could see you tied to a crappy connection for 6 months to a year. Or paying a lump sum just to terminate the contract. So it might be worth looking into others' opinions on that specific service first.
Is Hong Kong subject to the same restrictions as the Chinanets?
Posted October 11, 2009
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michaelleung: It's in Hong Kong dorrah, not RMB, and a pound in your money translates to $12 for us. That's pretty low for our standards.
Anyways, yeah, I use pretty cheap 30M fiber here, and I wanted to try out new alternatives, to see if mobile broadband would be better. I don't care much for speed as long as it's above 7M or so, and if there's no cap, so this seemed like a good deal.
Your connection is 5 a month, yeah? Right now, for us, 30M is around 1 pound in your money. Sounds like a deal, but like I said, wireless seems like a cheaper (!) deal.
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Navagon: Well at those prices it would seem like a bargain. But I'd imagine that there is some kind of minimum contract length. In the worst case scenario, that could see you tied to a crappy connection for 6 months to a year. Or paying a lump sum just to terminate the contract. So it might be worth looking into others' opinions on that specific service first.
Is Hong Kong subject to the same restrictions as the Chinanets?

It's contractual, but it's ending next week anyway. Non contract plans are quite popular (especially in a place where people change their phones about once a week), and they're not that much more expensive anyway.
No censorship in Hong Kong, no fancy firewall here!
Posted October 11, 2009
There are days I hate living in Australia. In fact pretty much any one in which the OFLC or prices become part of a discussion, my 14Mbit ADSL2+ costs me au$80/month and has annoying limited downloads
To be honest though, I'd not use cellphone broadband. I just don't have enough confidence in HSDPA being reliable and secure enough
Posted October 11, 2009
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Aliasalpha: There are days I hate living in Australia. In fact pretty much any one in which the OFLC or prices become part of a discussion, my 14Mbit ADSL2+ costs me au$80/month and has annoying limited downloads
To be honest though, I'd not use cellphone broadband. I just don't have enough confidence in HSDPA being reliable and secure enough

Holy... shit. Based on currency rates and poor math, I'd say that's around $550 in our money. For slow 14M broadband? Are you serious?
Anyway, back to HSPA broadband in the home. I haven't installed it yet, but this is basically what I have in the box. I'll take some pictures and put it on either Twitpic or Flickr later.
Posted October 11, 2009
That seems like a decent deal, we pay between 99 HKD and 275 HKD (converted from SEK, 1.1HKD to 1SEK according to google) depending on the speed, most ISP's have about the same price for the same speed, and the levels for wireless are usually usually 2, 6, and 10 Mbps (strangely enough as they were just a few months ago advertising speeds of 3.6, 7.2, and 14.4 Mbps - maybe they wisened up and realised they shouldn't advertise speeds they cannot deliver).
I'm on a 100 Mbit line for about 350 HKD/month, so I'm not about to switch to wireless anytime soon.
Posted October 11, 2009
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Miaghstir: That seems like a decent deal, we pay between 99 HKD and 275 HKD (converted from SEK, 1.1HKD to 1SEK according to google) depending on the speed, most ISP's have about the same price for the same speed, and the levels for wireless are usually usually 2, 6, and 10 Mbps (strangely enough as they were just a few months ago advertising speeds of 3.6, 7.2, and 14.4 Mbps - maybe they wisened up and realised they shouldn't advertise speeds they cannot deliver).
I'm on a 100 Mbit line for about 350 HKD/month, so I'm not about to switch to wireless anytime soon.

$199 for a 100Mbit line here, so suck it.
Seriously though, that's one of the cheaper ones I've seen that's not in Asia. Anyhoo, I'll post some more stuff about my "investment" soon.... soon.
Posted October 11, 2009
Damn, I wish I could get such speeds!
I get maybe 7MB if I'm lucky (off peak, especially between 11pm and 6am). Although it doesn't cost me too much, I still feel like I'm getting royally ripped off by comparison to other countries.
Broadband (mobile, wireless or otherwise) in this country, is a complete joke. We must be pretty far down on the league tables for developed countries. We even have a government that thinks 2MB broadband (as a universal minimum) is a worthwhile aspiration for 2012.
Posted October 11, 2009
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Andy_Panthro: Broadband (mobile, wireless or otherwise) in this country, is a complete joke. We must be pretty far down on the league tables for developed countries. We even have a government that thinks 2MB broadband (as a universal minimum) is a worthwhile aspiration for 2012.

It could be worse, mate. You could be using satellite Internet with 768K being called broadband.
Posted October 11, 2009
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michaelleung: It could be worse, mate. You could be using satellite Internet with 768K being called broadband.

There was once a time when I considered getting that, but the upload speeds were horrific. (Uploads were through a dial-up, downloads via satellite). It was worth considering at the time because I had a 56k, but of course these days such things are consigned to history.
Posted October 11, 2009
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michaelleung: It could be worse, mate. You could be using satellite Internet with 768K being called broadband.

Wasn't that the one where you also had to have a normal modem connection, as the satellite was just downlink?
EDIT: Oh, yeah, it was... didn't read Andy_Panthro's post :-P
Post edited October 11, 2009 by Miaghstir
Posted October 12, 2009
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Andy_Panthro: Broadband (mobile, wireless or otherwise) in this country, is a complete joke. We must be pretty far down on the league tables for developed countries. We even have a government that thinks 2MB broadband (as a universal minimum) is a worthwhile aspiration for 2012.
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michaelleung: It could be worse, mate. You could be using satellite Internet with 768K being called broadband.

heh. i remember the time when 256kb/s was called broadband.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)Wireless Home Broadband(22 posts)(22 posts)
(22 posts)