User reviews of Three mobile broadband?

My daughter did have some problems with the Indian helpdesk people, but she was able to go into the shopfront in Civic and they helped to get her up and running. Sometimes I think they take the offshore help thing a bit far ….

She also lives in the inner south so it seems to be a good location for it.

I’ve been with 3 mobile broadband for just under a year. I use it as my main internet connection, so I don’t have any issues with roaming as it’s just connected to my main home computer.

Normally (and regularly) get speeds over 1000 kb/s (uploads around 250 kb/s). Currently it’s 1261/245. Never had a problem with any regular internet use (web, msn, etc).

Rarely have any drop outs – although it has happened.

I think it has a lot to do with where you live. I’m in the inner south.

Very happy with the service (the broadband service – i have no comment on customer service as i haven’t needed it).

A relative had the dongle hanging from the ceiling, as extensive testing showed that this got the best signal…

JB, I’m up for handing over my device for a day or so if you want to test the Exetel / Optus option. Maybe others using other providers would be up for it also.

As long as you don’t want to use it outside the 2100MHz 3G service then it’s fine.

Been using a ‘3’ modem for a year, speeds similar to Skimitar and mostly around Weston Creek & Tuggeranong but since Christmas the service has gone down the pan, painfully slow if it’s there at all and constant drop outs in locations where previously no problem. I’ve given up taking to their alleged ‘support’ in India and I’m happy to give it away for either Virgin when I check the coverage (apparently Tuggeranong doesn’t exist for Virgin) or any other provider. That said it may be fine where you are 🙂

Just an alternative thought JB – if you are concerned about housemates and bills, you could get the landline put on in your name with a pin number on it so only you can use it. I don’t think Telstra can require you to have a contract – there’s some basic universal service obligation stuff they have to meet for landlines …

Long time viewer, first time poster (I think)…

I’m happy with them. I use them in lieu of ADSL because of my living and working arrangements.

I usually get 100k – 150k a second on downloads with 3, but it can peak at 200-210k in bursts, in Belconnen.

I was impressed with their support – my first USB dongle (one of the older Huawei E220s) died and they had a replacement to me in 2 days after about 20 minutes on the phone. The E220 one works with Linux (which is important to me) but I don’t know about the ones they use now.

Only downside is that there web usage meter is sometimes unavailable, but if you are using Windows, that shouldn’t be an issue as the included software has a usage meter.

It’s offtopic at best and I’m sick of certain people populating what’s supposed to be informative discussion with their chit-chat.

johnboy said :

knock off the stalking peter.

no probs. just thought i knew h1ngo. sounded like a guy who used to have work dealings with, but dropped out of reseller land last year.

peterh said :

you don’t work for telstra, do you? or the large company recently bought by HP?

Negative. Without giving too much away, I work for the Government directly. I did once work for Unisys though. I don’t know who was taken over by HP. Frankly, IT doesn’t interest me much despite being my career choice.

Back on teh topic of wireless internet. If you are worried about download’s, the Virgin internet does not charge for going over its limit (which I think is about 4Gb from memory) but it drops the connection speed. Some people find this annoying but personally I prefer it.

johnboy said :

knock off the stalking peter.

No fun JB. 🙁

peterh said :

you don’t work for telstra, do you? or the large company recently bought by HP?

Me or Hingo?

I WAS recently bought out by HP, but I wasn’t working for EDS if that’s who you were thinking of. 😉

Hingo may very well work for who you are thinking of…
hmmm… maybe I can see him from my window across the road! *waves and jumps around frantically*

knock off the stalking peter.

H1NG0 said :

grundy said :

Do you mind if I ask where you friend and you were using it?

Tried in Orange and also Northern Canberra. Same deal each time. If anything, the Canberra connection is slightly better. I also set up a few for work (Remote Gov connections) and get a lot of complaints about them. Usually about the slowness of it. Luckily its Telstra’s problem, not mine, I just install it and walk away. 🙂

you don’t work for telstra, do you? or the large company recently bought by HP?

tylers, thanks heaps, I’m going to check that out actually.

Johnboy,
I’ve been using the 3 Mobile Broadband for the last month while I wait for my DSL connection to get setup.

PROs
– Very easy to setup and use.
– Cheap compared to other providers
– Fairly good coverage across Canberra

CONs
– Expensive if roaming connection is required (not in 3G range)
– Expensive if you exceed data allowance (around 10c per MB)
– Occasionally drops out (maybe once every 10 connections)

It has been very handy, but I wouldn’t substitute it for a full service.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Bailes

My daughter has been using 3 pre-paid for a couple of weeks now, and it seems to be working well for her so far.

I’m pretty sure you can actually take the phone line if you can prove you live there, JB.

If you ever need to identify your line number to drop Telstra services for a Company like iiNet, you can always dial 12722123 and your line number will be read back to you.

Some random advice – but there you go.

grundy said :

Do you mind if I ask where you friend and you were using it?

Tried in Orange and also Northern Canberra. Same deal each time. If anything, the Canberra connection is slightly better. I also set up a few for work (Remote Gov connections) and get a lot of complaints about them. Usually about the slowness of it. Luckily its Telstra’s problem, not mine, I just install it and walk away. 🙂

my bigpond link gives me:

3057 / 593

Ozhair said :

The problem with 3 (which I signed up to just before Christmas on a prepaid deal) arises if you want to access it outside a metro area. I travelled to Wagga over Christmas and could only access 3 via roaming, which costs you $1.65/KB!!!

I ended up biting the bullet, since I needed the access while away (my 80+ yr old parents aren’t big on internet access) and signed up for Optus prepaid. The charge to buy 1GB of memory is more than 3’s, but it works in a lot more places.

Now thinking about just buying an iPhone 🙂

Is there any kind of contract with Optus Prepaid?
You could just go over to exetel, even though your device is locked to optus it should still work as exetel backs off Optus.

The problem with 3 (which I signed up to just before Christmas on a prepaid deal) arises if you want to access it outside a metro area. I travelled to Wagga over Christmas and could only access 3 via roaming, which costs you $1.65/KB!!!

I ended up biting the bullet, since I needed the access while away (my 80+ yr old parents aren’t big on internet access) and signed up for Optus prepaid. The charge to buy 1GB of memory is more than 3’s, but it works in a lot more places.

Now thinking about just buying an iPhone 🙂

H1NG0 said :

I’m basing it on the fact that a mate has it and it is constantly flaking out. He is always bringing his laptop to my house to look at if for him (I am an IT tech). It may just be a shonky modem, but it will not hold a connection for more than a few minutes without dropping out. I have even tried it on another computer. Its a POS. If you get great service, then I feel happy for you, really.

That’s a shame considering it worked so (surprisingly) well when I tried it.

Do you mind if I ask where you friend and you were using it?

Hmm, Exetel now also has a zero contract 5GB plan for $37.50 – but again you have to purchase the 3g modem from them ($195).

grundy said :

So you’re still saying you wouldn’t consider them based simply on principle?

I’m basing it on the fact that a mate has it and it is constantly flaking out. He is always bringing his laptop to my house to look at if for him (I am an IT tech). It may just be a shonky modem, but it will not hold a connection for more than a few minutes without dropping out. I have even tried it on another computer. Its a POS. If you get great service, then I feel happy for you, really.

grundy said :

So we’re consistent, can anyone attempting speed tests try:
http://speedtest.velocitynet.com.au

Speed Test: D:2232 U:344

I use Exetel, which backs off the Optus Network and have had no problems.

They are good if you aren’t a heavy user, as they charge a $5 monthly access fee, and 1.5 Cents per MB up to 1GB, then 2.5 Cents thereafter. They also have a no contract option, although it requires that you purchase a 3G Donlge from them.

I recently started using 3 mobile broadband.

Generally good speeds, sometimes useless and frustrating speeds that are slower than dialup.

Depends on how many users on at once in an area. The more users who start using 3 mobile broadband in the inner north area, the worse it will get.

So if you live in the inner north, it is a hopeless service I wouldn’t recomend, if you live somewhere else, go for it. 🙂

I’m pretty sure you can actually take the phone line if you can prove you live there, JB. If you don’t have the number and it’s telstra, they’ll play silly buggers with you, usually telling you the line isn’t there and that they can’t detect it whilst everyone else can, but persistence will usually get you through the hurdles with them – especially if you’re sure there is a line going into the house. There’s also usually only one person required on an internet provider’s contract (I’m the only one on the contract for my last house, same with the phone – the people who still live there just pay it either in my name or to me).

I’ve heard 3g’s connection speed varies from where you are and how many people are online. There’s quite a bit of info on the whirlpool forums (I myself looked into it down here in Melbourne, but settled for cable with housemates instead). The only problem with 3g is the contract (which is never fun). I think Vodaphone has a pay as you top up plan provided you buy the modem, which is about 180 (?) upfront. That might be a bit more expensive, but at least you’re not going to have to fork out hundreds and hundreds if you change your mind.

but I did reluctantly try Bigpond

For the love of Pete stay away from Tel$tra at all costs! And Transact from that matter!

If you like the look of 3, find out if they offer a break in contract if heir signal where you’ll be using it sux. If they do (similar to what Virgin offer with their home broadband option) I’d suck it and see.

H1NG0 said :

Bigpond is a joke for the prices they charge. I wouldn’t even consider them.

I ‘hate’ them as much as anyone and yes, their prices are crazy, but from experience they offer the best performance, reliability and coverage for any wireless internet solution right now.
So you’re still saying you wouldn’t consider them based simply on principle?

I say JB gives Telstra a go. Hell, I tested the connection in (roughly?) the same suburb as him, so that’s gotta count for something. 😉

I use 3 mobile broadband and am very happy. Vodafone was terrible in every way.

Bigpond is a joke for the prices they charge. I wouldn’t even consider them.
My sister has Virign Mobile Broadband and it seems to work well over in Belconnen. I tested it out here in Ngunnawal and it was slower than dial-up speeds due to the mobile reception. Unfortunately I am in the situation where I am unable to get any kind of ADSL service and mobile broadband coverage is not great either. My lines are too bad to handle both voice and data. I wouldn’t mind sacrificed voice services for a broadband connection but Telsra won’t budge. Their words were along the lines of “bad luck, our priority is our voice service”.

So we’re consistent, can anyone attempting speed tests try:

http://speedtest.velocitynet.com.au

Oh and thanks to everyone actually contributing data, keep it coming.

peterh said :

perhaps JB, you could see if RA can organise one for business use for you?

TWB (Telstra Wireless broadband) plans are pretty reasonable, and have 24×7 support. You need to be a business to own one though, or it is bigpond.

speak to rocco or wayne at Technology warehouse. They can help you with Wireless business broadband.

Peter if I was after a business service I’d have asked about that. But as it would be of very limited interest to any other readers how about we stick to the subject at hand?

First test isn’t great:
Broadband Speed Test Results

Test run on 07/01/2009 @ 03:19 PM

Mirror: iiNet
Data: 3 MB
Test Time: 28.83 secs

Your line speed is 850 kbps (0.85 Mbps).
Your download speed is 106 KB/s (0.1 MB/s).

One of the recent APC magazines has done a review of all the wireless broadband services (possibly the latest one). from memory they said that Telstra was expensive but had great speed and coverage, optus (and it’s resellers) had an overloaded network and vodafone was somewhere between.

perhaps JB, you could see if RA can organise one for business use for you?

TWB (Telstra Wireless broadband) plans are pretty reasonable, and have 24×7 support. You need to be a business to own one though, or it is bigpond.

speak to rocco or wayne at Technology warehouse. They can help you with Wireless business broadband.

I’ve been using 3 broadband with one of those dongles for the past month while housesitting in the inner north – the speeds have been fine (consistent 1Mbps down, peaking about twice that).

I havn’t tried 3 (I have mobile with them) or Voda, but I did reluctantly try Bigpond. (Because of their coverage of the south coast)

http://my.bigpond.com/internetplans/broadband/wireless/plansandoffers/default.jsp

I used the Wireless Modem instead of USB Key and from my house in O’Connor I got a very reasonable speedtest of 7Mb down / 1.2Mb up!

I can’t promise the same speeds with the USB Key, since you will likely have a lower signal strength, but if you can look past the price and the ‘Bigpond’ label, it is a good service.
Make sure you get the Liberty plans though, so you get shaped if you reach your limit. Bigponds excess usage charges are horrible.

PS: I use TransACT 8Mb cable, the Bigpond wireless was for my parents who moved to the south coast. happy to report that the wireless is still kicking along down there for them too.

about 59k

Haven’t used it myself either, but have you considered the Virgin equiv:

http://www.virginbroadband.com.au/wirelessbroadband/mobile-broadband.aspx

Been using a 3 Mobile Broadband account occasionally for after hours support, haven’t had a problem as yet. Haven’t really speed tested it though – lemme get back to you. 🙂

speeds and feeds for the current mobile broadband offerings are very important. BUT not as important as the levels of service you will get.

IMHO, check out the comments about the varied offerings at whirlpool, very interesting article about 3 mobile broadband… http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-threads.cfm?f=18