[Someguy]

Very interested in getting it, but from what I remember of three, well let me say this politely, IT SUCKED !!!

Last time I owned 3 phone was last year, voice calling was virtually unusable. Hence me switching to T Mobile.

I'm on Web N Walk now but I want something to use for my Laptop and that's Mac compatible.

So for £10 a month this seems, SEEMS like a great buy.

I'm in New Brighton (Merseyside), there little coverage app say's I'm fully covered but last year says different.

Will it be different because It's just the Internet? Anyone in my area have any experience with this? Any other suggestions?

[Marky1973]

Don't wish to hijack the thread, but thought I could help bump it a little - I am also looking at this method for connecting as everyone seems unable to connect me through my phone line at more than half a meg - any comments on these alternatives would be gratefully received.

I have just purchased this product - a lot of work to set up!
I have an Intel based MacBook and so the plug and play aspect of the modem does not work! According to all the literature you use the CD supplied with the driver and the application but 3 are no longer supplying the CD!
I spent over 4 hours talking to many different people and it turns out that the only thing available to download is the driver which is not enough to set it up!
i eventually got it by speaking to the guys who actually provide the specialist modem help and they directed me to a site which is being closed in the next week!
Overall if you have a Mac don't get 3 mobile broadband as the application is no longer accessible.
If you are one of the unfortunate people who have the same problem as I did check out the attachment on this post - HuaweiDataCardApp.zip which you need

Remember this is for the Intel Based Mac only

[timbur]

Markibanana

Thanks for posting this - you've saved me a lot of hassle!

This appears to be the only place on the interweb to get this file. Unbelievable

T

[dekoded]

I was also using one of these USB modems on my Intel Macbook,
I had problems setting it up and posted this at another forum of which I'm a member:

http://www.realmacsoftware.com/suppo...c.php?id=22544

Of course if you have/get a Windows Mobile pocket PC phone you can just use the Internet sharing function from your phone using bluetooth (or USB) which is easier to setup if your pc/laptop has bluetooth, this is what I use now and it works really well, hope this helps!

[sophie poult]

thanks Markibanana !!! having spent hours on the phone to three who seem to know jack ****, your zip has just worked.

very happy sophie

[bishely]

hero.

my folks just got 3 mobile broadband, because they live out in the middle of nowhere... only problem is, ive got a macbook. you're awesome, you are!

[bishely]

seriously, thank you so so so so much. finally i can come to visit the family home without getting net-withdrawal and no-email related panic attacks.

since this file seems doomed to disappear (unless 3 get their act together), i thought id take the liberty of creating a couple of mirrors for the files (the datacardapp file, which is so hard to find, AND the driver file, which is available from three.co.uk, but here for convenience). ive uploaded them to the free access fileden.com, and also to rapidshare.com

ive only put these up just incase markibanana's attachment goes down for whatever reason. i dont get anything sinister from you using these links instead (i would with rapidshare, but neither file is over 1mb, so i dont!). but feel free to use them and pass them on to anyone else who might need them...

fileden links:
HuaweiDataCardApp.zip - 24kb
HuaweiDataCardDriver.zip - 64kb

rapidshare links:
HuaweiDataCardApp.zip - 24kb
HuaweiDataCardDriver.zip - 64kb

right, once again, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU markibanana! you have made my life SO MUCH better (before this, my one hope at getting online was via a 32kbps underground phone line that was over 30yrs old+very crackly - didnt really work too well!)

Tx

[FONT=&quot]I just wanted to share a warning about our experience with the 3 mobile broadband key.

We took out the contract in London where the key was fairly slow but did work. I
asked the 3 rep prior to signing up for the service that I would be moving to Hove in a few weeks. He said that this would work which confirmed what the coverage checker on the website said. On the day I arrive in Hove it turns out that 3 don't cover this area. The result is that I'm stuck with a £15 a month contract for another 21 months for something that is worthless. 3 are refusing to budge even though I was promised that it would work. The problem is that the trial period was only valid whilst I was in London. Again, I tried going back to the fact that the 3 rep (and their website) claim that you can receive basic coverage at my new address in Hove.

I don't have any issues with mobile coverage in the flat I'm in at Hove (with Orange and Vodaphone). I'm assuming 3 just don't cover this location even though they claim to! Even more annoying is that there is an advisement board on Hove high street advertising their roaming service - yet just around the corner it doesn’t work. Amusingly I was told by a technical representative that 3 were planning to install a new mast on my road in Sept 2008! Not too useful to me right now.

How can companies get away with this? You pay for an expected level of service yet they squirm and point to the small print when things don't actually work as they are supposed to. To even get to speak to a manager it took 4 phone calls to log the same problem and then a 1 week wait. Quite disgusting service.

I would stay well clear and choose a provider with better coverage. Please spread the word about this. I can only assume that more people will go through the same problems with 3 and their broadband USB keys. The more of us that can build a case the better. Hopefully we could force them to own up and admit that they were wrong to claim that their wireless coverage would work in my area.[/FONT]

[alexmarysimp]

Thanks, thanks, thanks.
i am rarely in the UK, but needed urgent connection today. I was assured that the modem would work with mac, and now it does.

[cfar]

Originally Posted by Someguy

Very interested in getting it, but from what I remember of three, well let me say this politely, IT SUCKED !!!

Last time I owned 3 phone was last year, voice calling was virtually unusable. Hence me switching to T Mobile.

I'm on Web N Walk now but I want something to use for my Laptop and that's Mac compatible.

So for £10 a month this seems, SEEMS like a great buy.

I'm in New Brighton (Merseyside), there little coverage app say's I'm fully covered but last year says different.

Will it be different because It's just the Internet? Anyone in my area have any experience with this? Any other suggestions?

i also connected to 3's mobile internet for £15 a month -My advice to anyone thinking of doing so is DONT DONT DONT connection is appalling signal strength is extremely weak despite 3's attempts to persued me otherwise.Honestly if i could turn back the clock i really would i have 18 more months stuck with them and how i resent giving them my hard earned money.let me say it again just in case anyone is not getting this "3 mobile broadband is like throwing money down the drain -dont do it "

[prking]

I have to say that my experience is completely different. On average I get about 1Mbit/sec and in weak signal areas (1 or 2 bars) still get 100Kbit/sec. Well worth the money.

[MarkR]

Same here, I travel a lot and have found it to be very good value for money.

[omar7955]

i have the mobile brodband on my phone for 5 quid a month, you can then use the mobile as a modem and connect it to the laptop, works quite well

[ray_lam5]

ive had it for 6months and i got a very slow connection unusable for the first month. now it is completely useless and i am argueing with 3 to cancel my contract. they told me to do a speed ping test and i got 16kbps when it worked. avoid like a plague... i only pay 5 pounds a month for 1gb use as an existing 3g customer. their phones are actually improving as is their indian call centre help. you pay pennies dont expect anything

p.s. i have tried using this in london and essex to no avail and i get 4 bar signal strength.

[DT_BEN]

I've used my Three PAYG USB dongle for about 6 months now and on the whole I'm quite happy with it. I top up £15 a month (3gb) and that last me the month just fine. That's with heavy daily web browsing and some downloads. I tend to get a solid HSDPA connection about 95% of the time (Midlands Area) The 5% is when it very rarely drops to 3G, can be annoying but repositioning the dongle usually remedy's the issue. For browsing, email, you tube etc the speeds are fine, downloading large files can take some time though. I have actually played PS3 online (Pro Evo) via a wifi link to my Macbook with internet sharing turned on, that worked pretty well considering! Slight lag.

[stiffmeister]

I'm quite tempted by the 12GB / up to 12 months for just under £98. There's also cashback via Quidco so might be worth a crack.

[shaz12]

Hey guys,

I downloaded the Huawei mobile application on my mac and when I type the apn for 3, 'three.co.uk', its just says 'the device is not found' even though the usb dongle is plugged in!! I don't no what to do coz when I try to install the usb dongle on my mac I go through the 3 connect setup assistant and it can't detect the dongle so i can't finish the setup!
I could really use the help coz im stuck now...

Thanks

Shaz12

[Steven]

Try a different usb port or alternatively ring up 3 and ask them to swap out for a new dongle