On Thu, 2011-03-03 at 18:33 +0000, Rob Malpass wrote:
> Hi all
>
> In short - if I buy a SIM card from three.co.uk for £15.99 a month and
> stick it in _any_ 3g router that accepts SIM cards, I'm told I will
> get what I need. However their sales guy wasn't quite forthcoming
> when I asked why I'd need a usb dongle if I have a router which
> accepts sim cards.
1) Don't expect any support whatsoever from Three.
2) I presume you are talking about buying a monthly subscription.
3) If you exceed your 2GB "unlimited internet", you will pay at a rate
of 50p per MB (last time I checked).
> Question 1: [2] seems to be the device I need. As far as I can tell,
> I put the SIM card into this, hook it up to power and the rest of my
> LAN via ethernet and bingo. Therefore if ADSL goes down, I have a
> backup. Correct?
You may also need to obtain PPP credentials, the normal mode of
operation is that they are embedded in some Indian made, proprietary,
take over your desktop type Windows or OSX application. Your mileage may
vary.
> Question 2: I currently have a wireless ADSL router. Any known
> issues to worry about here? For example, the routers would likely be
> next door to each other. I don't need 2 Wifi networks, could I just
> switch the wifi network off that's associated with the 3g connection?
Erm yes, see point 3, I hope nobody ever uses it for downloading, say
the latest season of 'Star Trek'.
> The reason I'm cautious is the sales guy wanted to sell me a USB
> dongle and while I can see there may be routers out there that
> effectively use the dongle as an antenna - I can't see why I'd need
> one if the router itself accepts SIM cards.
If the sales guy wasn't working there, hustling you to buy the dongle,
he'd probably be out robbing pensioners, don't trust anything he says.
If you did buy the dongle alone you would need a wireless/ethernet
bridge such as the ASUS WL330g
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320041&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Network+-+Wireless+AP/Bridge-_-ASUS-_-33320041
> From what I can tell, [1] for example, is pretty much what I need but
> a) why can't I get one that just accepts a SIM card - no faffing with
> USB modems and b) it looks to run off batteries - I want something
> always on. Any issues here?
Dongle takes power via USB or power adaptor.
You can't get a commodity device because Three/Huawei are run by a ex
PLA officials - they want to get as many multi-purpose, remotely
programmable network devices under their control into Britain as they
can and they want you to install desktop software with 'Administrator'
privileges on their behalf.
I have absolutely no idea why....
> Sorry this has been a bit of a ramble but this looks to be just what I
> need - I don't want to get going with any sort of contract if I'm
> making the wrong move.
Caveat emptor.
>
> Cheers
>
> Rob
Regards,
Bryan Hunt
