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cyril7

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#16928 5-Nov-2007 10:39
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Hi my brother inlaw has just moved back from overseas and decided to leave his property rented out till things are sorted, so I recommended Mobile BB as an option. He currently has his phone with Voda and has no intention of changing that as he does travel to Europe a bit, but I have told him that the Telecom EVDO option is very appealing so am happy to hear comments on that option as well as phone and mobile BB are quite seperate, it only means a seperate bill each month.

He is living in Hamilton, the Voda site is well out of date, I presume HSDPA service covers Hamilton metro, comments from Hamiltonians?

Which device do you recommend he has an new express card capable Vista Laptop. The Vodem is attractive as its USB based so has future flexibility options, however in the early days the suffered various problems, how do they fair now, would you still recommend one or go for a card option, if so which card Huawei or Novatel.

And for those on Telecom (I knnow this is a voda thread but I also know many of you have tested both), how have you found thier various modems, again the USB Aircard looks the go, or is the express card better. How is EVDO revA coverage in the Hamilton district.

Thanks in advance

Cyril


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chiefie
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  #93772 5-Nov-2007 11:09
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Over the weekend at Mods' Meeting, we get to pick one of many Mauricio's bag of mobile data connectivity devices.

I picked Vodem for my UMPC which doesn't have CDROM for software installation, and because there's no ExpressCard or PCMCIA slot, USB is my only choice, and without CDROM drive, the Sierra USB AirCard is out for me.

Trying to get Vodem to work with Vista on my UMPC was a challenge, I managed to get it installed and running the VMC Lite, but doesn't connect at all (I get Error: 663 - Device is already in used).

While cokemaster got to use USB Aircard on his Macbook, and it was working great... he shared out his connection via WiFi with me, and the speed was very impressive!


My recommendation is Telecom's EVDO for good coverage and good speed, I also did the same recommendation to my colleague as his parents are going to travel around NZ (especially to Wanaka) and definitely pushing them to go for Telecom's ExpressCard or USB.




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cyril7

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  #93906 6-Nov-2007 10:48
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Thanks for that Kelvin, upon wading through the various past posts I think I will advise Telecom and for convienence the Express Card over the USB but will let him make that decision as to which is most convienient. I guess my only thought here is the USB version can be placed for better reception, either buy tilting up on the Laptop or sitting on its cradle.

Do others have comments on either networks reception problems with pcmcia/express cards as opposed to usb cabled devices.

Cheers
Cyril

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#93907 6-Nov-2007 10:51
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In my experience the Vodafone XU870 (express card) performs better than the vodem. On the other hand Telecom's options are similar to each other in performance.




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  #93908 6-Nov-2007 10:54
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All Vodafone NZ 3G WCDMA sites are HSDPA as well

There is the XU870 (good card) and now the E800 data card which self installs drivers and software

John

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  #93909 6-Nov-2007 10:56
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cyril7: he does travel to Europe a bit



Just in that regard, I would actually recommend Vodafone's 3G BB, and the Vodem.  In NZ, it might not have as wide coverage as Telecom's EV-DO, but overseas, it's much much more useful.... 

As for Hamilton, I used it by the Lakeside, but as for area-wide coverage, I'm afraid I can't really advise on that.

cyril7

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  #93917 6-Nov-2007 11:45
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Thanks for that guys, my preference is for Voda, as I too spend a few weeks each year overseas with work. So the E800 is good, and I see it has a liftup antenna. So I guess it comes down to coverage, which is where we might be back to Telecom.

Voda is more attractive from a purchase point of view, the card is much cheaper than Telecom.

Cyril

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  #93971 6-Nov-2007 17:16
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I've found Hamilton 3g coverage pretty good, when on the bus from nawton to the city the signal indicator doesn't really drop from full strength (am using a Nokia N95). Far as I know the 3g transmitter for Hamilton metro is on top of the KPMG building on Alexandra Street

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