[Ben]

http://www.trustedreviews.com/networking/news/2008/10/16/3-Launches-Mobile-Broadband-WiFi-Router/p1

Gorgeous!

[bsrjl1]

Mine should be delivered tomorrow...

[Ben]

It'd be amazing if you could post a 'live' pic of it, and tell us a bit about how it works/what router functionality it offers?

[bsrjl1]

Of course, as soon as it arrives tomorrow I'll get it working, take a few photos etc.. Just got a dispatch mail from them, although it only mentions the stick modem so I need to check that the router will be coming also.

[Ben]

That'd be brilliant, thank you. I can't get over how great they look in those pictures!

[gorilla]

Of course, as soon as it arrives tomorrow I'll get it working,

This could be a story all in itself. :D

[chaslam]

Personally, I think they are going to be a bigger problem then they are worth for most people. They are a great idea, but the network just isnt up for having 3 or 4 people sharing 1 connection. At PCW we are bundling them with a stick with 5GB use and a free xbox or PS3! Its a crazy idea and will never work. For a start you could potentially go over your usage in just 1 nights of xbl, and think of the ping!!! Personally, I think its a crazy idea myself!

[miffed]

um ...

Think I'll pass thanks !

[Ben]

Yeah, erm Three would not be my first choice for a gaming broadband provider :D

That said, the pings on Vodafone can be ok - not only have a couple of people played World of Warcraft at the same time over my Voda connection but my office actually had to use it for a time when no other connectivity was available. I suppose that's neither here nor there.

Still, I'm excited by this little router. I think all the networks need to get these out ASAP.

[bsrjl1]

Not coming until Tuesday - they said they're out of stock, nice of them to tell me. At least they sent the stick, which seems so much better than my Vodafone datacard. Everything works, especially VNC on a non-standard port. Woo!

[3GScottishUser]

3 broadband is a joke.... its not much use and I have never seen more than about 600Kbs even when in an HSDPA area.

This device is interesting but probably more hype than anything else.

I have the £5 a month add-on deal as I have a 3 mobile and a dongle for broadband. If when I dump the horrific phone service they increase the charge to £10 I will put up with it until it gets to the end of its term then launch the wretched 3 UMTS dongle into the Clyde.

3 Broadband has been innovative as a product but utterly dissapointing in terms of coverage and performance. I wonder how many of the dongles 3 have sold are actually used?

[Ben]

3 Broadband has been innovative as a product but utterly dissapointing in terms of coverage and performance. I wonder how many of the dongles 3 have sold are actually used?
My business is actually seeing a lot of consumer grade customers connecting from Three. It's really quite bizarre.

[miffed]

Mine has actually been behaving (relatively) well for the last day or so

Horrific uploads speeds though ! - I have noticed that sometimes when I try to perform a speedtest , it will complete the download part , and then it will hang on the upload part - it won't even start !

The problem for me isn't speed - I'd be happy to browse at 56kbps , IF it meant that I had 100% "functionality" - But I end up completely unable to use some sites , others I can log on but cannot post or do anything "form" related
E-bay is a good example - sometimes I can view all the "lists" at reasonable speed , but the second I try to open individual items , it hangs !

Half Baked product ! - I half expect these sort of issues when I am simply using a data "add on" to my phone tariff , but for a product to be sold
as "Mobie Broadband" then surely it has to be an "unrestricted offering ?

[Hands0n]

Oh dear, the router didn't get a very good review over at SMS Text News where they have a short article entitled Three WiFi / 3G Router: Crap (http://www.mobileindustryreview.com/2008/10/three_wifi_3g_router_crap.html)

They saw several issues with the new router from 3

It’s slow. Oh my god it’s slow. Speed tests are notoriously hard to do, but I never managed to get the router to operate faster than 25% of the speed achieved by using the dongle directly. Pages crawl down.

Not very encouraging. Is it the router, is it 3, or is it a mix of both?

[miffed]

My guess is that Three have gone out of their way to add some special "magic" that totally screws up an otherwise decent experience
First we had the walled garden , then the walled DNS thing - I wonder what delightful hinderance they have used to make this router unusable ?

On a plus note , If the "locked" part is on the dongle , I wonder if these routers are any use with other providers dongles ? Although TBH it is probably only a matter of time before the others have similar offerings anyway

Just read the review , Right OK , so this "mobile broadband" router cannot be used away from a 240v mains socket ? (despite three advertising it as battery powered )
OK , so I realise this doesn't render it ENTIRELY useless (if you have a bunch of computers that need access, the chances are that you'll be near a mains socket - but then it sort of defeats the object of MOBILE broadband if you ask me - even though it would probably spend most of its life plugged into the mains , the option to have it running on a battery (or even USB powered) would be a benefit IMO

[Hands0n]

And yet again 3 snatch defeat out of the hands of victory :rolleyes:

One has to wonder what grip of reality their Marketing and Technology teams have. I, too, would anticipate Mobile to mean without need to be tethered to a mains outlet. What's next? Can we expect to see power cubes for USB dongles? Why not? It is 3.


FFS