DC-HSDPA or DC-HSPA????

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7
Forum Member
Hi Everyone,

I've been trying to find a DC-HSDPA dongle or MiFi to work on O2 but after lots and lots of reading I'm now confused. Do I need a DC-HSPDA or DC-HSPA(+) for O2 or are they all the same?

Reading through I think one is 5Ghz and the other 10Ghz so completely different is that correct? Do O2 run on DC-HSDPA and three on DC-HSPA?

My iPad mini 3G works great but looking into it the thing does both so I don't know which one to buy? Arrrrh! :-)

Ideally I'm looking for a dongle which works with my draytek 2910 but that might be too much to ask! :-)

Thanks so much!


Regards,
Dom

Comments

  • jabbamk1jabbamk1 Posts: 8,942
    Forum Member
    They're the same.

    But no point getting a DC-HSPA+ mifi for O2 because their network is terrible for internet and their DC-HSPA+ coverage is minimal.

    Better to go with T-Mobile/Orange/Three.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7
    Forum Member
    Hi jabbamk1,

    Thanks so much for the quick reply! :-)

    The reason for using O2 is that I have a sim only for £15 which gives me unlimited data with no fair usage policy (grandfathered from an old contract). I want to use it as my main broadband connection when we move as ADSL is very very slow in the local area (local exchange too far or something) when I tested with my ipad mini outside the house I got a good 8mb down and 1mb up I checked with O2 and they confirmed my local mast had been upgraded for DC.

    What do you think? Is it worth going to all this trouble?
    The sim was for an iPhone so ill have to use their idata.o2.co.uk APN but I thought its better than ADSL.


    Thanks,
    Dom
  • jabbamk1jabbamk1 Posts: 8,942
    Forum Member
    No worries.

    See i thought you were a new customer or something and at the moment O2 only do 1GB for £10pm which is pretty abysmal for 2013.

    I'd say it's worth getting a DC-HSPA+ Mi-Fi as it'll allow you to take advantage of the faster speeds in your area. Or you could buy a DC-HSPA+ mobile like the Nexus 4 and tether to your devices. That way you can use the supplied mins/texts on the sim as well (assuming it's a phone sim)

    Only thing i would say is that i'm pretty sure that O2 stopped their unlimited data plans (even the old ones) and send you a fair use message if you start to exceed 2GB? I don't know if you can confirm that though?

    Edit: WOAH! you signed up 8 years ago but this is your first post?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7
    Forum Member
    Great thanks jabbamk1,

    Ill see how I get on, I hope my usage won't be too high although my little one does like kids tv on netflicks I'm sure that eats up the data! :-) I bet I get a message and ill have to move to rubbish ADSL.

    Yes crazy, when I tried to register it said I already had an account, tried my old password and bingo I was in! :-)


    Thanks again,
    Dom
  • jabbamk1jabbamk1 Posts: 8,942
    Forum Member
    daftdom wrote: »
    Great thanks jabbamk1,

    Ill see how I get on, I hope my usage won't be too high although my little one does like kids tv on netflicks I'm sure that eats up the data! :-) I bet I get a message and ill have to move to rubbish ADSL.

    Yes crazy, when I tried to register it said I already had an account, tried my old password and bingo I was in! :-)


    Thanks again,
    Dom


    Yeh sounds good. I'm guessing you don' have fibre optic in your area just yet then :p

    That deal with O2 should be fine unless they start imposing a fair use restriction. Other alternatives can be found on T-Mobiles/Threes mobile broadband deals with 10GB for £15pm.

    Or on Three's phone sim called the one plan with unlimited data and tethering.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7
    Forum Member
    Great thanks so much for all your help!! :-)
  • steffanglsteffangl Posts: 436
    Forum Member
    iPhone SIMs can use use the mobile.o2.co.uk APN as well as the idata.o2.co.uk APN.

    If you want to disable the image compression use mobile.o2.co.uk and username/password 'bypass'.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7
    Forum Member
    Hi steffangl,

    Wow!! I didn't know that thanks! I thought I would be stuck with rubbish pictures! I didn't even know you could use the mobile. APN.


    Thanks again,
    Dom
  • steffanglsteffangl Posts: 436
    Forum Member
    daftdom wrote: »
    Hi steffangl,

    Wow!! I didn't know that thanks! I thought I would be stuck with rubbish pictures! I didn't even know you could use the mobile. APN.


    Thanks again,
    Dom

    No problem! I use the bypass on my iPhone - prefer the uncompressed images, even if it uses more data. Speed tests are often a little faster to, as data is not going through the proxy.
  • jabbamk1jabbamk1 Posts: 8,942
    Forum Member
    steffangl wrote: »
    No problem! I use the bypass on my iPhone - prefer the uncompressed images, even if it uses more data. Speed tests are often a little faster to, as data is not going through the proxy.

    A huge plus as i know O2 compress the hell out of their data.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7
    Forum Member
    Hi Guys,

    I'm going to buy a Huawei E3256 which will cost me £40 then hook it up to my Raspberry Pi ( I knew that thing would come in handy! Lol) following the guide below, this way I can connect it to the wan port of my time capsule. lets hope it all works! :-)

    http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=38392

    What do you think?


    Thanks,
    Dom
  • jabbamk1jabbamk1 Posts: 8,942
    Forum Member
    daftdom wrote: »
    Hi Guys,

    I'm going to buy a Huawei E3256 which will cost me £40 then hook it up to my Raspberry Pi ( I knew that thing would come in handy! Lol) following the guide below, this way I can connect it to the wan port of my time capsule. lets hope it all works! :-)

    http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=38392

    What do you think?


    Thanks,
    Dom

    Should work according to the guide.

    One thing to bear in mind is that if you buy it from Three then the dongle will be locked to them You'll have to get Three to unlock it for you and i'm pretty sure it'll cost something like £15. But if you can buy it unlocked for £40 then it's a no brainer
  • danielmeahdanielmeah Posts: 461
    Forum Member
    jabbamk1 wrote: »
    They're the same.

    But no point getting a DC-HSPA+ mifi for O2 because their network is terrible for internet and their DC-HSPA+ coverage is minimal.

    Better to go with T-Mobile/Orange/Three.

    You sure?

    Maybe am wrong but

    dc-hsdpa would be faster download and around 5mbps up?

    DC-HSPA would be Faster Download and around 10-11Mbps Up?

    Granted we would likely never see those speeds.
  • dazpotdazpot Posts: 447
    Forum Member
    Orange t mobile ie EE rubbish stay away
  • jabbamk1jabbamk1 Posts: 8,942
    Forum Member
    danielmeah wrote: »
    You sure?

    Maybe am wrong but a

    dc-hsdpa would be faster download and around 5mbps up?

    DC-HSPA would be Faster Download and around 10-11Mbps Up?

    Granted we would likely never see those speeds.

    No they're the same. It has different variants though.
  • KesterKKesterK Posts: 3,485
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    dazpot wrote: »
    Orange t mobile ie EE rubbish stay away
    Maybe in your experience. In my experience they are the best network I have been with and would recomend them above others.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7
    Forum Member
    Hi Everyone,

    Just to let you know that I got my E3256 with my o2 sim (bypass APN) working with my raspberry pi (which makes a little 3G router) then plugged it into the WAN port of my time capsule and got 9Mb! Wow!

    Everything works great with the exception of LoveFilm, they seem to block access to their systems (tired from iPad, laptop and Sony bluray player). iPlayer HD streaming, netflix streaming, web browsing all very responsive.

    I'll write up how I got it wall working next month and post on my blog, let me know if anyone would like a link to the write up.

    Thanks again for all your help.


    Regards,
    Dom
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