Rachel Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 Hi all, I signed up for (and picked up) my Huawei ExpressCard and SIM that allows me to partake of Vodafone Australia's 3G "broadband". Reasons were mainly for when visiting clients, or travelling (parents, hotels...) where broadband is unavailable or hideously expensive (think hotel charges for that and dial up), or when commuting (airports, trains...). So far it has been relatively painless to set up and use, and I get 5GB/month for $39.95. I have even managed to send e-mail from Outlook 2007 on Vista running as a VM on OS X through it with minimal effort. Any of you lot over there use a data facility like this (be it Vodafone or someone else)? Any opinions or war stories? BTW - I notice the UK Vodafone only offer USB modems - I wanted the ExpressCard as I like to keep the laptop USB ports free for important things like mice or iPods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burble Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 I use it, have done for several years. I started off with a GPRS only card which at the time seemed quite fast compared to my old GSM card. I don't use mine all that much because the vast majority of the time that I'm in a position to need it I'm abroad and the roaming data charges are hurrendous, something like £10/Mb I think so I use wireless usually. The time it comes in really useful is when I'm in a taxi en route to the office and get a call with something that needs to be looked at ASAP. For things like that it's invaluable. I've got a UMTS card built into my Dell laptop (the SIM card sits in behind the battery) so no need to plug anything in externally which suits me as on my previous laptop I had a PC Card version which had a dodgy antenna. Vodafone (who I use) do have express card and PC card options but they don't seem to be on the website for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHA Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 Rachel did you have to use modem scripts for Leopard? I am really struggling to find ones for my Sony Ericsson phone that work. It runs fine in my older powerbook with Tiger but no luck in Leopard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 We have the express card here, not heard any bad reports about them so assume it all ok Roaming data charges are boarding on criminal! Europe is about £4p/Mb for us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted January 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 [ QUOTE ] Rachel did you have to use modem scripts for Leopard? I am really struggling to find ones for my Sony Ericsson phone that work. It runs fine in my older powerbook with Tiger but no luck in Leopard [/ QUOTE ] Hi, sorry I didn't. This didn't need any scripts - just ran the little supplied installer (for the GSM/GPRS/3G Huawei hardware) and use Internet Connect to connect. I've now made it active in its own network location (and under Automatic) and disabled it under all my other network configs. Runs like a treat. I'm on Tiger (10.4.11) - was waiting for Leopard to become a little more stable - I was planning to look at jumping on at 10.5.3 (I did Tiger at .3 too). Now with the Vodafone card, and my work PC running as a VM under Parallels, I'll be staying on Tiger for a few more months yet (Vodafone releasing 10.5.x drivers probably now being the main reason to hold off the upgrade). Other than the 5GB limit, the other reason I chose Vodafone was their trumpeted Mac support. My mobile (and one home line) carrier Optus offer similar hardware, but for XMAS removed all non-Windows support from their data products. As a result I might be removing my services from them and transferring to the big V (mobile) and a local telco at the end of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHA Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 There is a SE generic driver in Leopard but it doesn't work. I think you are right to hold off from Leopard for a bit. Its nice and looks good but there are so many things missing that I loved in tiger.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 My company trialed the Vodafone PCMCIA 3G solution. We had some bod who could not get ADSL Broadband where they lived (newish developments where BT had installed fibre for future investment, only then go back to copper for ADSL!!) (Peterborough - Hampton Hargate/Vale developments) However, they were also out of the main town centre where they lived, so could only get GPRS (1 signal bar out of 4) which was not suitable for data use. Ironically, as I drove about with the laptop on the car seat, I drove 0.5Km toward town and up came the 3G signal! They were only just out of range on 3G too! Other bods have borrowed the cards since and they are very happy with the speed of service and ease of use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 [ QUOTE ] BTW - I notice the UK Vodafone only offer USB modems - I wanted the ExpressCard as I like to keep the laptop USB ports free for important things like mice or iPods. [/ QUOTE ] Orange ship datacards rather than USB efforts thankfully. We're getting 1GB for £20 ($43 AUD) so you're getting a good deal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasdrury Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 We have lots of the T-Mobile ones at work. The signal for 3G is better than the standard t-mobile signal (I think so anyway!). We got 40Gb per month for £8.36 +VAT per device, and have the Huwaei external usb jobbies. Overall, very good. Dead easy and good speed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 We use a lot of these for a particular application at work - a mix of vodafone and t-mobile. I know there's been some talk of limited PCMCIA availability and I've seen some crappy t-mobile and vodafone usb "pebbles" that I refuse to use. I'll find out what the deal is as I only like cards... I hear ultra high speed mobile broadband is coming soon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] BTW - I notice the UK Vodafone only offer USB modems - I wanted the ExpressCard as I like to keep the laptop USB ports free for important things like mice or iPods. [/ QUOTE ] Orange ship datacards rather than USB efforts thankfully. We're getting 1GB for £20 ($43 AUD) so you're getting a good deal! [/ QUOTE ] You're certainly not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Chas, can I ask how many you're running to get that deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHA Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Rachel did you have to use modem scripts for Leopard? I am really struggling to find ones for my Sony Ericsson phone that work. It runs fine in my older powerbook with Tiger but no luck in Leopard [/ QUOTE ] Hi, sorry I didn't. This didn't need any scripts - just ran the little supplied installer (for the GSM/GPRS/3G Huawei hardware) and use Internet Connect to connect. I've now made it active in its own network location (and under Automatic) and disabled it under all my other network configs. Runs like a treat. I'm on Tiger (10.4.11) - was waiting for Leopard to become a little more stable - I was planning to look at jumping on at 10.5.3 (I did Tiger at .3 too). Now with the Vodafone card, and my work PC running as a VM under Parallels, I'll be staying on Tiger for a few more months yet (Vodafone releasing 10.5.x drivers probably now being the main reason to hold off the upgrade). Other than the 5GB limit, the other reason I chose Vodafone was their trumpeted Mac support. My mobile (and one home line) carrier Optus offer similar hardware, but for XMAS removed all non-Windows support from their data products. As a result I might be removing my services from them and transferring to the big V (mobile) and a local telco at the end of the year. [/ QUOTE ] Problem solved. Its not via network (the old internet connect) to connect via 3G, you now use the bluetooth option in the menubar and goto the device then select connect to network and it seems to work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasdrury Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 [ QUOTE ] Chas, can I ask how many you're running to get that deal? [/ QUOTE ] Only about 20 of the 3G cards. All out r company phones are on the same contract and the bill is, well, a lot! upto 10k per month. We are also part of a bulk buying group so get preferential rates too... We use the USB pebbles - and to be honest have never had a problem. They are good becuase they install their own drivers etc etc... Chaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted January 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 One cool thing about the Vodafone network here is that it went from 3G (384Kb/s) to HSPDA at initially 1.8Mb/s, is now at 3.6Mb/s and the company claims it'll have upgraded most of the network to 14.4Mb/s by the end of 2008. So not only are they crazy doing the 5GB for 1/2 the price of their old 1GB plan - they are souping it up too. That'll be faster than my home broadband if the true data rate is >10Mb/s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazza_g Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 [ QUOTE ] I hear ultra high speed mobile broadband is coming soon? [/ QUOTE ] I've seen some fecking quick mobiles tested - are you thinking HSDPA, Evolved HSPA or LTE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted January 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 [ QUOTE ] Problem solved. Its not via network (the old internet connect) to connect via 3G, you now use the bluetooth option in the menubar and goto the device then select connect to network and it seems to work [/ QUOTE ] I've not used Leopard yet - but Internet Connect was for all interfaces you could run an IP stack on, including modems (which is what OS X decides the Huawei device is). Bizarre... Have you just tried accessing it as a modem, not specifically a Bluetooth device? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted January 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] I hear ultra high speed mobile broadband is coming soon? [/ QUOTE ] I've seen some fecking quick mobiles tested - are you thinking HSDPA, Evolved HSPA or LTE? [/ QUOTE ] You're too quick Bazza! The numbers I quote in the previous reply are from Vodafone themselves and also appeared in the February 2008 issue of APC (which used to actually be known as Australian Personal Computer - but they've grown up and moved on a bit since then...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 I've seen rates at 7.2 with the Voda pebbles, can't complain at that as it's more than I get at home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHA Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Problem solved. Its not via network (the old internet connect) to connect via 3G, you now use the bluetooth option in the menubar and goto the device then select connect to network and it seems to work [/ QUOTE ] I've not used Leopard yet - but Internet Connect was for all interfaces you could run an IP stack on, including modems (which is what OS X decides the Huawei device is). Bizarre... Have you just tried accessing it as a modem, not specifically a Bluetooth device? [/ QUOTE ] Some of the interface has changed, internet connect no longer is an option (it does show up when errors occur but the application is no longer in apps folder). I can't see anyway of accessing the phone as a modem only, but anyway I have it to work using VPN so I am happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted January 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 So, what exactly did you do under 10.5.x to get it to run DHA? I might be able to get my hands on a leopard MBP next weekend and would like to try using the ExpressCard in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHA Posted January 19, 2008 Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 I tired to use bluetooth in networking, which didn't work. I noew use Bluetooth PAN and it works. This is in 10.5.1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted February 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 Update: Vodafone (well here in Oz) have released the new (Tiger and) Leopard compatible software for the 3G Expresscard and USB modem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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