Huawei E270 worth it?

Crusader

Crusader

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I'm able to upgrade my Topup 75 contract. I want to stay with the Topup since it seems to meet my needs perfectly without having to worry about a variable bill each month.

I've been looking through the MTN pricelist and the phones I was considering would require around a R2000+ pay-in. The Samsung i780 (the top of my list) isn't available yet.

I saw that the Huawei E270 is only a R399 pay-in. I think this might be a good idea since I mostly use my phone for accessing the web, and if I have the E270 I can do so directly via my laptop (and be able to load data bundles!). Once my current phone gives up the ghost (it still works perfectly) I can buy a new phone.

Anyone have experience with the E270? It seems very future proof as far as features go.
 
This is unbelievable! I phoned 6 different MTN shops in a 200km radius of me and not one had any stock of any of the modems - not even the E220! One place even told me to reconsider, since they have clients still waiting for modems for over a month!

What is up with that? I'm sure as hell not gonna make a 200km trip to fill in upgrade forms and return empty handed, stuck with the hassle to arrange transport once the modem does arrive.
 
I didn't know the E270 had been released yet. Certainly the Vodafone branded E272 has been out for a few weeks.

Characteristically the shops never seem to know much beyond the simplest cellphone. I would try a bigger outlet (service centre).

There is some doubt about the advertised top speeds on MTN. In my area they are better than Vodacom so I don't have a choice. If you aren't able to get beyond 1.8 speeds they simply refer you to their terms and conditions. In that case an E220 might suffice, but I would stay ahead and stay future proof by getting the best hardware.
 
Skeptik said:
I didn't know the E270 had been released yet. Certainly the Vodafone branded E272 has been out for a few weeks.

Characteristically the shops never seem to know much beyond the simplest cellphone. I would try a bigger outlet (service centre).

There is some doubt about the advertised top speeds on MTN. In my area they are better than Vodacom so I don't have a choice. If you aren't able to get beyond 1.8 speeds they simply refer you to their terms and conditions. In that case an E220 might suffice, but I would stay ahead and stay future proof by getting the best hardware.
Click to expand...

Looks like seven is my lucky number. The seventh shop I phoned (didn't get an answer first time round and phoned back a few hours later) apparently has stock. They'll be keeping one for me until I can go get it on Monday. Hopefully they didn't misunderstand me, but I did ask specifically for the E270 and they said they had stock.

I don't think MTN has 3G access here yet, but Vodacom recently enabled theirs, so in all likelihood I'll be using a Vodacom sim in mine. I don't think I'll be getting speeds higher than 1.8 (not willing to pay the extra R49 p/m for Vodacom), but you never know what the future holds, so it's best to be prepared.

Who knows, once Seacom launches we could even get data packages to rival those on ADSL.

Edit: From what I can gather the E270 started to become available from March 2008 (at least it should have!).
 
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Let us know how it performs. Just be aware that the E272 is the upgrade for th E270 and you can use 3rd party software for MTN.
 
Skeptik said:
Let us know how it performs. Just be aware that the E272 is the upgrade for th E270 and you can use 3rd party software for MTN.
Click to expand...

Was just about to ask what the difference was between the E272 and the E270. I don't think MTN has the E272 so that's why I'm gonna have to go for the E270. And at the R400 pay-in it should still be a bargain as opposed to the roughly R1500-R1600 you'll have to pay cash for it... and I hate Vodafone branded stuff!

Huawei's site is a mess. I can't seem to be able to find a place I can download their software (dashboard) from. From what I can gather if you use that you can use both MTN and Vodacom.
 
Well, I just got home with my new E270 and after a bit of struggling I think I've gotten it working. Anyone that have tips on using a Vodacom sim on the MTN Fastlink Dashboard?

I created a new profile for Vodacom, and used 'internet' for the APN setting. *99# for the dail up number. It seems to be working (I'm posting using the E270 now) connected to Vodacom's 3G. Is there any other activation/setting procedure you need to do for the sim?

The signal strength here seems a bit low - 97dBm according to the E620Tool. I did two speedtests using Speedtest.net and these are the results:
Test 1: 608 kb/s down / 317 kb/s up / ping 155ms to Cape Town / Signal strength -98dBm
http://www.speedtest.net/result/262250114.png
Test 2: 1013 kb/s down / 319 kb/s up / ping 165ms to Cape Town / Signal strength -97dBm
http://www.speedtest.net/result/262255427.png

Not bad compared to a 52kb/s dail-up.

I haven't tried a MTN sim yet, but will do so tomorrow.

..And I need to figure out how to load some data bundles!
 
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Crusader said:
Well, I just got home with my new E270 and after a bit of struggling I think I've gotten it working. Anyone that have tips on using a Vodacom sim on the MTN Fastlink Dashboard?

I created a new profile for Vodacom, and used 'internet' for the APN setting. *99# for the dail up number. It seems to be working (I'm posting using the E270 now) connected to Vodacom's 3G. Is there any other activation/setting procedure you need to do for the sim?

The signal strength here seems a bit low - 97dBm according to the E620Tool. I did two speedtests using Speedtest.net and these are the results:
Test 1: 608 kb/s down / 317 kb/s up / ping 155ms to Cape Town / Signal strength -98dBm
http://www.speedtest.net/result/262250114.png
Test 2: 1013 kb/s down / 319 kb/s up / ping 165ms to Cape Town / Signal strength -97dBm
http://www.speedtest.net/result/262255427.png

Not bad compared to a 52kb/s dail-up.

I haven't tried a MTN sim yet, but will do so tomorrow.

..And I need to figure out how to load some data bundles!
Click to expand...
Do u know if the mtn software can be downloaded from their site.
 
Thanks for the info Skeptik.

Skeptik said:
So you say that MTN allows the use of a Vodacom SIM with the Dash? [The Vodacom software VMC ite seems nobbled for anything but Vodacom and its partners.]
Click to expand...

Yes, it seems that way - at least the one I have does.

These are the steps I followed:

Go to Settings -> Network
Check Manual Choose Network
Click on Search
It shows MTN (2G) and Vodacom (2G,3G) (for me).
Select Vodacom.

Go to the Connection Tab.
Create a new profile (Called Vodacom)
Enter *99# for the number.
APN as static. Type in 'internet' (without the quotes).
Save.

I might have missed a step where you have to click confirm, but the above should give a good enough idea of how to get it done.
 
R1500? for an E220 maybe...

Crusader said:
And at the R400 pay-in it should still be a bargain as opposed to the roughly R1500-R1600 you'll have to pay cash for it... and I hate Vodafone branded stuff!
Click to expand...

More like R2300... well, thats what i paid...
 
vodacom3g said:
Does the E270 have an external antenna connector?

I'm under the impression (stand to be corrected) that's one of the reasons we skipped it and went for the E272.
Click to expand...

No, it does not. I think the E272 is the only one with a connector for the external antenna and is exclusive to Vodafone (thus Vodacom).
 
Crusader said:
No, it does not. I think the E272 is the only one with a connector for the external antenna and is exclusive to Vodafone (thus Vodacom).
Click to expand...

Tx, there is a small connector on the E272, but that's to mate with it's cradle that carries a standard SMA connector. So no more funny pig-tails.
 
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