 3 Mobile 3G in Trim
I've been using 3 mobile 3G broadband in Trim since last July. To be honest, it's not the worst service in the world and at €19.99 it is the cheapest alternative to phone-line broadband around here.
Service is highly assymetrical: typically 200-700kbps downstream (1.2Mbps this morning) and 50-60kbps upstream. This is fine for normal downloading, but sending a 10MB email attachment is a pain.
When the service came out it was terrible, intermittent and seemed to randomly block access to certain IP ranges. But in fairness to 3, the put their hands up in the media and admitted that they had underestimated uptake and were having trouble with bandwidth. Since then service has improved every month. I have not had any downtime since July 07. The speed here is approximately the same regardless of indicated signal strength or weather. Even when my mobile phone can't get 3G the broadband works fine. It has not gone to GPRS since July 07, but when it did it was dire.
The 'normal' internet experience is fine - no problems with general surfing, ebay, online banking, etc.
I find that 1 out of 3 large downloads (>10MB) 'hangs', so I use a download manager for everything. Not sure if this has improved. Bittorrent was extremely slow and practically useless due to the slow upload speed, but I revisited it recently with a different client and it seems to work ok.
It is handy to be able to go online anywhere in the house with a laptop without having to have a wireless network (unlike one of my neighbours who unwittingly supplies free , slow, internet access).
Set-up is simple, as the installation application and drivers are stored on the adapter. It can be switched between any PC, and I don't need to remember passwords as its all SIM-based.
Overall, I'm happy with the service and I consider it value for money.  |