USB Modem Recommendations for 2Degrees

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › USB Modem Recommendations for 2Degrees

jmosen

551 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#147324 16-Jun-2014 11:24

It appears the modem available online with 2Degrees is a little old. It claims for example not to be compatible with Mavericks.
I'd like to find a good USB modem compatible with 2Degrees and which also supports LTE for when that gets turned on later in the year.
I'm assuming that the Vodafone one isn't locked down and will work on 2Degrees, but are there better options not sold by the carriers?
Thanks for any recommendations.

Jonathan

Spong

1005 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1066548 16-Jun-2014 11:46

If you can't get a 4G capable modem yet, why not pay $20 more and get the 2Degrees Huewei Hotspot? No drivers to worry about and more flexible should you want to share with a tablet or another laptop? I hate modem sticks with a vengence. They always seem to conflict with something else at sometime in their life.

Tivo upgrades to operate with the new OzTivo EPG, support and service. Over 400 performed here so far. See: www.hillcrest.net.nz

jmosen

551 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1066567 16-Jun-2014 12:18

I have my iPad Mini for that, which gives far better battery life than the hotspot devices.
There are times when I just want to be mobile with my Mac and nothing else.

Jonathan

uglyb0b

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1066576 16-Jun-2014 12:30

Spong: I hate modem sticks with a vengence. They always seem to conflict with something else at sometime in their life.

+1 to this. I have seen sooo many issues with the sticks and it's almost always software or driver related. Avoid at all costs.

Spong

1005 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1066584 16-Jun-2014 12:44

jmosen: I have my iPad Mini for that, which gives far better battery life than the hotspot devices.
There are times when I just want to be mobile with my Mac and nothing else.

Simply plug the hotspot into a USB port of your Mac to keep the hotspot's battery topped up. Battery life shouldn't be an issue.
Sure, it'll be on the end of a short cable, but you'll never have to worry about whether drivers are available as they won't be needed.

It also means you won't need a seperate SIM for your iPad as you can share the same SIM inserted in the hotspot for Mac and iPad, and change to using your iPad in wifi mode.

Tivo upgrades to operate with the new OzTivo EPG, support and service. Over 400 performed here so far. See: www.hillcrest.net.nz

jmosen

551 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1066608 16-Jun-2014 13:31

Yeah I can see that if you can charge it from USB, it pretty much achieves the same purpose.
It looks as if the 2D device doesn't support LTE and has pretty poor battery life anyway given the 1500 ma battery.
Telecom doesn't appear to list the specs of the Huawei E5776 which will be great when LTE arrives. . A Google has turned up that it supports WCDMA, but I'm unclear if it supports 2100. Anyone know?
If not I guess the one Voda is selling would be the way to go if I took this route.

Jonathan

SaltyNZ

8236 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

2degrees

Lifetime subscriber

#1066617 16-Jun-2014 13:40

jmosen: Yeah I can see that if you can charge it from USB, it pretty much achieves the same purpose.
It looks as if the 2D device doesn't support LTE and has pretty poor battery life anyway given the 1500 ma battery.
Telecom doesn't appear to list the specs of the Huawei E5776 which will be great when LTE arrives. . A Google has turned up that it supports WCDMA, but I'm unclear if it supports 2100. Anyone know?
If not I guess the one Voda is selling would be the way to go if I took this route.

I would be very surprised to find a 3G device that did not support WCDMA 2100. That's the only band that's worldwide.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

jmosen

551 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1066620 16-Jun-2014 13:41

Yes and Telecom has a bit of 2100 coverage so it would be odd for it not to. I just have yet to find it specified anywhere.

Jonathan

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

jmosen

551 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1066623 16-Jun-2014 13:44

OK, found it now. A little more than I was wanting to spend to solve the problem, but it appears to be a great device and gets good reviews.

Jonathan

Spong

1005 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1066703 16-Jun-2014 15:06

jmosen: OK, found it now. A little more than I was wanting to spend to solve the problem, but it appears to be a great device and gets good reviews.

2100Mhz shouldn't be a problem but if you're going to use a product sold by Telecom, you may find it's 850/2100 Mhz only. You'll want one that does 900MHz also if you want the best coverage on 2Degrees (and Vodafone while roaming). That could be hard to find out as I have an idea Telecom probably wouldn't tell you, even if they knew their version was 900Mhz capable. That sorta leaves the door open for you.

Tivo upgrades to operate with the new OzTivo EPG, support and service. Over 400 performed here so far. See: www.hillcrest.net.nz

jmosen

551 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1066743 16-Jun-2014 15:54

Thanks, I'm aware of the frequencies the networks operate on. It does 900 as well so will be perfect.
It's not on Telecom's sales page, but digging a bit deeper on their support pages reveals the following page: http://help.telecom.co.nz/app/answers/detail/a_id/34187/~/huawei-e5776-lte-support

Jonathan