"3" mobile broadband! A RANT!

charvelj

Prominent Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2006
Messages
1,682
Reaction score
104
Points
467
Location
Bradford
Has anyone currently in a contract with these or used one ?

I have never experienced such poor service in my life. I was guarenteed upon sign up that I would be able to recieve 3.8mb download speed , stream videos , listen to music etc.

Since I've got it (now 6 months ago) I've been experiencing only 5-10% of the speed, the connection drops out almost everytime Its used. I complained in october and they sent a replacement modem out (no better)

I again complained last week and they asked me to complete a 3 day speedtest at Namesco BroadbandMax ADSL Broadband Bandwidth speedtest | Test your ADSL Broadband connection speed - I had to ring with my username and password for them to check the results. My maximum download speed was 116kb which is nearly as poor as dialup. Amazingly when i was on the phone (i was also refreshing the speedtest website) and out of nowhere up popped a result of 1000kb (which they had obviously logged)

I have also been browsing the forums and noticed 1000's of people complaining about the product. Im just wondering how they are getting away with it.

Its meant to be "mobile" broadband, but it doesnt appear very mobile at all.

I would warn anyone to be very wary about purchasing this product. It may be a cheap and easy way to get connected to the net, but it is certainly anything but!
 
Whichever sales person guaranteed you would be able to receive 3.8mb download speed was talking rubbish. The network has a theoretical maximum speed of 3.6 Mbps and this is unachievable at present.

A little info from the Three website:


HSDPA is 3's high speed network which provides internet access at broadband speeds, whether you are at home or out and about.
When other mobile companies talk about the speed of their mobile broadband, they talk about theoretical maximum speeds, not speeds you can actually experience. At 3, we like to tell you how it really is, and so we say "up to 2.8 Mbps" even though our network has a theoretical maximum speed of 3.6 Mbps. The factors which can influence the speeds you experience include:

  • The distance you are from the mobile mast
  • Trees, buildings and other things between you and the mobile mast
  • The number of others users using the mast

Most people on our HSDPA network can expect a download speed ranging from 1Mbps to 1.5 Mbps, allowing you to download a 3-4 minute music track in 30 seconds or less.
 
I've just tested my Three mobile broadband connection at Namesco BroadbandMax ADSL Broadband Bandwidth speedtest | Test your ADSL Broadband connection speed and got the following results.

Test 1 - D/L = 913kbps (114KB/sec)

Test 2 - D/L = 806kbps (100KB/sec)

Test 3 - D/L = 904kbps (113KB/sec)

Average - D/L = 872kbps (109KB/sec)

Tested at 17:30ish (evenings will be when the networks most busy)

These speeds may seem slow, but I can stream YouTube videos, browse Web sites etc. just fine. It's on file downloads that you really notice the difference. 40mb PS3 update took what felt like a lifetime. I don't experience any disconnection or connection drop like you mention. I use the Huawei D100 wireless router, so the dongle is kept stationary (in the window)

I'm happy enough with Three for what I need the internet for. But you're right, I'm not getting the speeds they boast. Three are currently upgrading there networks to a theoretical maximum speed of 7.2mbps. Phase 1 will be complete in August 2009, phase 2 in September 2010. You can check out the areas being upgraded in which phase on the three web site.
 
At home I get around 1Mbit/sec, and this is in a 4bars out of 5 signal area. When in an area with full signal at a quiet time I get over 2Mbit/sec peak with a consistent just less than that.

It must be quite frustrating for you to get low speeds, is it possible there is a computer issue or something that is interfering with the signal?
 
Ben, Prking,

I've tried the dongle on 3 different computers and also in 2 other postcodes. Its quite poor in each.

Browsing the forums , its quite a common problem and there seems to be a lot of people dissapointed with the standard of the service.

I can understand a product not running at maximum speed. Id even accept a 50% loss of service which would at least be 1meg download speed. but this is running at less than 10% even less than 5% on some occasions which is not acceptable.

Distance, Trees and busy network times are not really feasible excuses for a product which i was assured would be fast, easy to use and reliable. The three customer service guy today mentioned it being a busy time, but its a busy time because thats when most people are availible to browse online.

heres my download results.


21st January 2009 19:11:05 39((up) Kbps 234 Kbps (down)
20th January 2009 21:49:18 63 (up) Kbps 93 Kbps (down )
20th January 2009 19:44:13 82 (up) Kbps 113 Kbps (down)
17th January 2009 18:58:25 25 (up) Kbps 211 Kbps (down)
17th January 2009 17:51:44 67 (up) Kbps 116 Kbps (down

A quite broad range of times there. This to me is extremly poor. almost dial-up speeds.
 
I have one of these payg since i wouldn't dare to waste monthly fee to surf the net as i only use it during work time, my area only get 1 bar HSDPA approx 190kbs download.

My work buddy have one as well but mine modified and he gets slower then mine, o.o pretty weird as he has the latest one
 
yeah, sometimes you just have to be careful on their sales talk. With such a high competiton market, sometimes they just questionable techniques.
 
I found it appalling, luckily rang up within my ahem ...... 2 day cooling off period :eek: and cancelled, we give our companies field workers Orange and their service is much better.
 
Has anyone currently in a contract with these or used one ?

I have never experienced such poor service in my life. I was guarenteed upon sign up that I would be able to recieve 3.8mb download speed , stream videos , listen to music etc.

Since I've got it (now 6 months ago) I've been experiencing only 5-10% of the speed, the connection drops out almost everytime Its used. I complained in october and they sent a replacement modem out (no better)

I again complained last week and they asked me to complete a 3 day speedtest at Namesco BroadbandMax ADSL Broadband Bandwidth speedtest | Test your ADSL Broadband connection speed - I had to ring with my username and password for them to check the results. My maximum download speed was 116kb which is nearly as poor as dialup. Amazingly when i was on the phone (i was also refreshing the speedtest website) and out of nowhere up popped a result of 1000kb (which they had obviously logged)

I have also been browsing the forums and noticed 1000's of people complaining about the product. Im just wondering how they are getting away with it.

Its meant to be "mobile" broadband, but it doesnt appear very mobile at all.

I would warn anyone to be very wary about purchasing this product. It may be a cheap and easy way to get connected to the net, but it is certainly anything but!


I've had nightmares with this myself. However I found a solution and now don't have any 'drop outs' and consistently run at approx 180kb/s.
Firstly you'll need to upgrade the modem firmware. Don't panic, it's official software and drivers from Huawei themselves. My modem is an old E220, but off their site you'll find yours, just get the latest version. When downloaded you may have a file that Windows doesn't recognise i.e E220. Rename this file E220.rar and use Winrar to extract the executable, run and follow the on screen instructions.

Huawei Terminal

This also will give the modem 7.2mps capability, but you've no chance!:rotfl:
You will notice the connection improve considerably after it installs, but what I found to improve even more was to totally ignore the Mobile Partner/Connect software and configure it as a dial up connection using Windows Vista itself.

If you don't fancy that try to obtain 3 Australia's dashboard for the modem. The firmware and Connection manager are seperate programs, so by installing the dash you won't interfere with your new firmware.

http://xseries.three.com.au/3/three/MobileBroadband/quickstart/HOSTA46.11.107.01.02.100.B266.exe

I've tried that too and though not as stable as setting up through Vista, it's a better alternative than any of the pre installed rubbish on the modem.

Settings for Connection. (You'll need to manually enter these)

APN: (static) three.co.uk (if you use the Aussie dash check it is three.co.UK)
Authentication Number: *98#
Leave all other settings as default. *98# is correct no. Everyone uses 99 and is set up as default, but 98 is less crowded!!

Hope it helps, not the best instructions, but it's a damn sight easier to do than explain!!!:confused:
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom