Mobile Broadband in Ocean Grove Hit or Miss
In recent times Mobile Broadband has seen a massive increase in popularity. Mobile Broadband plans are cheap, and with the pre-paid option, all that is required is to go down to your local supermarket and top-up if you run out of credit. It can be very handy if you are on the move and theoretically all you have to do is plug the dongle into your PC or Laptop and it installs itself and you are browsing the internet within minutes. The problem is when you get it home and try to connect to mobile internet you have no signal you have just wasted your time, money, and possibly your sanity when you have to get online and convince the telco that it is not working properly.
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I had a customer this week who called me to her house to see if I could get her mobile internet working. When I got there I discovered that her location prevented her having a full signal because she lived just below the sand dunes in Collendina. Her story was that she had a new laptop that had Windows 7 64bit installed on it. She went to the Virgin store in town and selected a plan from them. They told her that the only way that she could get their plan was to use a Vodafone dongle with their sim card in the hardware. Vodafone quite happily sold her a broadband modem, she took it back to Virgin where they gladly inserted their sim card into the modem.
When she got home she found problem after problem. Eventually out of sheer frustration she called me. Virgin uses the Optus Mobile Network, when I first got into the house I checked the signal and there was little signal in her house. I was able to get her internet working, but only with 2G signal (dial up modem speeds). After doing all I could to resolve the problem I called Virgin, their response was that they could not help me because I was using a Vodafone modem. Because I was not using a Vodafone sim card Vodafone could not help me either. I told her that she had to put up with slow internet until she bought a wired modem. When I left all I could do was advise her to give it away to someone who had good coverage.
Two days later she called me again saying that her internet had stopped working altogether. I went around to her house and tried for 2 hours to get it working again, including downloading and installing the latest software for the modem. I called Vodafone and they said that I had to un-lock the modem to work on a Virgin sim card, and the only way I could do it was online, otherwise they would have to charge me $25.00. I tried to do this from my mobile phone with no avail. I phoned Vodafone again and they said to leave my customers name and number and they would get back to me within 10 days.
The problem is that the mobile signal hits the Wallington and goes straight over the top of Ocean Grove so people living in low areas like Collendina, and around the lake get little to no reception. If I want to make or receive a mobile phone call form my house I have to go out to the street and make one.
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With wired broadband there is a requirement that the telco’s have to check whether you can receive broadband in your home BEFORE they can sell you anything. Mobile broadband has no such restrictions; Sales people check the coverage on their maps, and because Ocean Grove has theoretical full coverage they have no problem selling you a modem and a plan. The problem with that is sales people aren’t actually technicians.
The mobile broadband signal runs over the top of the mobile phone network signal so if you are considering buying mobile broadband go to where you use your computer, pull out your phone and see if you get full 3.5G or Next-G coverage, which in effect means it connects at 7.2Mbps. If however you have bad mobile reception where you are living the likelihood will probably be the mobile broadband reception will be the same. The signal strength will be indicated usually at the top of your phone screen. If you just get bars without “3G” or “Next G” beside the bars you are probably just getting 2G or GSM coverage and it would be pointless buying a mobile broadband plan
Mike Griffiths
any comments questions or suggestions please do not hesitate to drop us an email. helpdesk@seecureit.com |
