3G newbie questions

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Aluminari

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Hi all, I'm new to 3G connections and just had a few questions:

I am back from England and recently signed up for Afrihost ADSL. So far so good, apart from a few errant SMS, I was up and running swiftly and the speed seems good, so I am a happy customer.

I travel fairly extensively for work and had a few questions:

If I purchase a 3G mifi product, I am of the understanding that multiple people can connect to it, and the speed is as good as the 3/4G signal, right? So if I have one bar of signal, that's not going to cut it right?

My second question is whether I can use this in Europe. If I pull in to a country, grab a data sim, plug it in, will it work (provided I have signal)?

Last question: I am off to London on Saturday. Should I pick up a 3G modem from there? The Afrihost (Huawei) Mifi one in particular seems about R200 cheaper. Or should I go for another highly rated brand while I have the option?

Thanks for the info
 
Answer to 2nd question: It should work as we don't lock our devices here.

The mifi is a pretty good device and easier to use than your standard USB 3G Modem in the sense of you don't have to worry about drivers.

Does UK/London have LTE? Perhaps go for that as we slowly change to LTE.
 
nic777 said:
Answer to 2nd question: It should work as we don't lock our devices here.

The mifi is a pretty good device and easier to use than your standard USB 3G Modem in the sense of you don't have to worry about drivers.

Does UK/London have LTE? Perhaps go for that as we slowly change to LTE.
Click to expand...

Thanks nic777. Ok, I quite like the idea of no drivers. Yes London has LTE, so you're saying I should buy a LTE capable device from there that also works in SA? Sorry, real newbie with mobile connectivity.
 
Seems LTE is part of GSM family which both us and UK use so LTE should work fine. I stand to be corrected, haven't been involved with LTE compared to 3G.

I would suggest just getting the mifi since you travel a lot and its more versatile. You can connect your tablet and phone to it as well, as opposed to just your laptop. Its not badly price so it will be a good purchase and last you at least 2 years until LTE takes off and becomes cheaper (have you seen the price of a LTE modem?). Regardless, 3g/HSDPA isn't slow so it will be a good device to keep in your travel bag and use and share your internet.

To ask question 1, teh mifi is basically a router so you should get 3G/3.5G speeds but then divide that by each person using it.
 
The problem with buying a LTE device (incorrectly called 4G in the UK) in Europe is it'll be network locked and it may not be fully LTE compatible with the LTE bands here... Also, by the time LTE is mainstream here, we'll all be looking at LTE+ which is true 4G.

Popping a UK SIM into the Afrihost router will work but will probably just need the APN changed or rather a new profile set up with the new APN.
 
Aluminari said:
I travel fairly extensively for work and had a few questions:

If I purchase a 3G mifi product, I am of the understanding that multiple people can connect to it, and the speed is as good as the 3/4G signal, right? So if I have one bar of signal, that's not going to cut it right?
Click to expand...

Nope, this isn't the case. For example, the entry level Huawei E5331 is not very good with signal reception at all. Neither is the E5332. I didn't get very good speeds on either while my iPad was flying right next to the MiFi. Weak signal can be addressed to some extent with an external antenna. Other MiFi's do have external antenna ports.

My second question is whether I can use this in Europe. If I pull in to a country, grab a data sim, plug it in, will it work (provided I have signal)?
Click to expand...

Since devices are band specific, you need to compare bands. For 3G it isn't really a problem but it is for LTE. I would say don't buy an LTE device from Telkom Mobile. Their 2300MHz band is too obscure. Rather get one from MTN or Vodacom (Vodafone). Afrihost are selling the white one. :)

Last question: I am off to London on Saturday. Should I pick up a 3G modem from there? The Afrihost (Huawei) Mifi one in particular seems about R200 cheaper. Or should I go for another highly rated brand while I have the option?
Click to expand...

Look for an Huawei E5776 but one which supports 1800MHz (e5776s-32 branch model). It'll then work on MTN LTE and Vodacom 4G here. It also has external antenna support, a large 3000mAh battery which supports phone charging, 10 WiFi users (an additional 2 users over the other models) and is generally a more robust device. I've seen very high speeds on the E5776 comparable to the B593 desktop router. This suggests multiple receivers and much better reception compared to lower models.

http://consumer.huawei.com/en/mobile-broadband/mobile-wifi/tech-specs/e5776-en.htm

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=571367

http://www.4gltemall.com/huawei-e5776-4g-lte-mifi.html
 
Last edited:
Azimuth said:
Look for an Huawei E5776 but one which supports 1800MHz (e5776s-32 branch model). It'll then work on MTN LTE and Vodacom 4G here. It also has external antenna support, a large 3000mAh battery which supports phone charging, 10 WiFi users (an additional 2 users over the other models) and is generally a more robust device. I've seen very high speeds on the E5776 comparable to the B593 desktop router. This suggests multiple receivers and much better reception compared to lower models.

http://consumer.huawei.com/en/mobile-broadband/mobile-wifi/tech-specs/e5776-en.htm

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=571367

http://www.4gltemall.com/huawei-e5776-4g-lte-mifi.html
Click to expand...

Like this one?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-E5776-Unlocked-Mobile-Wi-Fi/dp/B00CXVTO0Q/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Pheweee, that's fairly pricey.
 
As are all LTE devices. It's R2696 with Afrihost - can be paid off monthly. The USB stick is R1696.
 
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