3g Wifi routers

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raytaylor

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#80742 4-Apr-2011 01:04

Hi all

I see vodafone have those new 3g wifi routers.
Does Telecom have something similar or does anyone know of something that will run on a telecom XT 3g connection and share it via wifi.

I have a client who is with telecom and has a fleet of mobile technicians with eee laptops. I was thinking of loading android on them and using a 3g wifi unit in the tech's van parked outside so they can access information on their terminal server using an RDP app.
Techs keep screwing up their XP installs - with only 4gb of hdd space its easy to do and it stops their crappy samsung cellphone tethering software from being stable. Im thinking android will be a bit better for them. But it wont talk to a Tstick so the 3g wifi router is the next choice for their mobile internet connection.

Any thoughts?

Ray Taylor

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corksta

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#454950 4-Apr-2011 01:19

This:

http://store.telecom.co.nz/mobile/pay-monthly/mobilebroadband/netcomm-wireless-router

Or this:

http://store.telecom.co.nz/mobile/pay-monthly/mobilebroadband/telecom-turbo-router

raytaylor

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#455121 4-Apr-2011 14:32

oooh thats perfect
didnt even see that on the site

Ray Taylor

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akia

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#455173 4-Apr-2011 17:13

Yea sorry Ray it's in the 'mobile broadband' section

corksta

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#455185 4-Apr-2011 17:27

I have the NetComm one and it's pretty good, probably the biggest benefit of this one in your situation is that you can charge the battery via a USB port on a laptop, whereas with the other one you'll need a wall socket to power it, so the NetComm router might suit you better out in the field.

akia

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#455188 4-Apr-2011 17:33

Yea the great thing I used the Telecom Turbo Wireless Router for was providing internet connectivity for my VF/2degrees friends when we were out at a bach in the remote Wairarapa. Was quite fast for them (even with approximately 3 - 4+ of us on it at a time) and they found it great.

Otherwise I find that the Netcomm is quite good for 'mobile' situations :)

raytaylor

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#455324 4-Apr-2011 21:47

Cool
Im thinking perhaps just mounting the netcomm in the roof of the vans running directly off the battery via a 12v to usb charger.

Getting excited about this project now.

The techs keep installing crap onto the windows eee's which only have 4gb SSD drives in them, and when the drive gets full, the crappy samsung software stops working which is needed to tether to their phone.

Ray Taylor

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charles2011

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#456989 9-Apr-2011 12:49

it is too expensive to buy sticks in store. you can use an android phone,and install an app called wifi-teher.apk, a software of huawei. it is free!

corksta

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#456995 9-Apr-2011 13:10

charles2011: it is too expensive to buy sticks in store. you can use an android phone,and install an app called wifi-teher.apk, a software of huawei. it is free!

That's subjective as it depends on an individual's financial circumstances, and whether they buy the stick outright or sign up on a plan, in which case the stick can be free.

nitrotech

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#457005 9-Apr-2011 13:54

I like the design of the netcomm but it does have the issues:

1) Speed - it's slow, much slower 3g data than you get with a good quality stick and much slower than the huawei E5

2) The battery is not user replaceable - so in a couple of years it'll be useless

3) The sim card slot in this device makes it difficult to remove/change the sim

4) Wifi devices seem to take forever to connect to the device

It does have some positives though,

Nice design, can connect upto 10 (from memory) devices, battery can last over 5 hours, chargers while in use and plugged in (the E5 doesn't)

corksta

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#457007 9-Apr-2011 14:03

I certainly agree with 3) above, but never experienced any issues with 4) - all my devices connect pretty much straight away.

timmmay

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#457388 11-Apr-2011 10:02

I got an unlocked Huawei MiFi device from trademe and put a 2degrees SIM in. Works well.

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BarTender

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#457602 11-Apr-2011 20:03

I've used a Netcomm N3G002W and Sierra 880 from Trademe and had excellent speed. You can't really souce the N3G002W's anymore which is a shame, but the PCMCIA interface is a lot more robust than a USB one. And I had excellent speed with 8 different people were connected. You do however need an external 12V supply.

raytaylor

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#457789 12-Apr-2011 12:15

We got the cheaper netcomm myzone unit from telecom.
I had one of their techs install a 12v cable for me from the roof and they are going to get another of their techs to put a hole in the roof once i give the go ahead. They have a rubber bung that happens to be a part they usually always have in stock from a popular model of dishwasher they often repair.

Will see if i can solder on a small external antenna like a tplink TL-ANT2405C which if i remember right has a nice strong magnetic base

Ray Taylor

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JacksonL

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#461215 21-Apr-2011 09:37

Living a bit rurally our ADSL line is rather dicy so we use a Sierra 885 modem for the times when our landline doesn't function. This is connected to an aerial on the roof (used an old pole that held TV stuff previously) and we get great reception.

This is all fine when the modem is plugged directly into the PC and we get between 2 and 3Mbps which is better than we get on ADSL.

I have a Netcomm 3G18Wn which allows us to have both ADSL and 3G plugged in to the router and it uses the 3G when there is no connection to ADSL - great idea. I have no problem seeing the connection but can't get it to work - the 3G Sierra stick is compatible too. Interesting I tried to send an SMS from the 3G connection and it worked fine.

When the 3G modem was plugged directly into the PC we accessed the internet via the little app "3G watcher" but this app has no idea what is going on in the router.

Any ideas please - telecom are of little to no help.

Incidentally as a next step though I should get a wireless router that has an ADSL modem internally and this would save an extra device but appears as though the Netcomm 3G15Wn isn't compatible with the Sierra 885 - rather odd all of this.

corksta

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#461218 21-Apr-2011 09:41

You should start a new thread as your issue has nothing to do with the OP's issue, and you might get more help by starting a new topic with your own title/subject.