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clovey

By clovey
in General Boating

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clovey Contributor

clovey

Posted
Posted

Has anyone tried to use a 'Dongel' to provide a internet connection on a narrowboat, do you need to hang the dongel out of the porthole on a USB lead to get it to work? or is there some other clever bit of kit which can help.

I am thinking about going via the PAYG 3 mobile broadband route.

Any thoughts or info would be most welcome

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Theo Veteran

TheoDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted
Has anyone tried to use a 'Dongel' to provide a internet connection on a narrowboat, do you need to hang the dongel out of the porthole on a USB lead to get it to work? or is there some other clever bit of kit which can help.

I am thinking about going via the PAYG 3 mobile broadband route.

Any thoughts or info would be most welcome

 

 

I have a monthly contract with 3 and use a Nokia with bluetooth. No dongle. I use the phone itself as the modem. It costs me £10/mth for 1GB. Connecting the laptop to the phone with Bluetooh is brilliant because you can put the phone anywhere without a lead to trip over.

 

Nick

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Liam Veteran II

LiamDonate to Canal World

Posted
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I use a dongle aswell, also on 3. I did get the USB cable but it was practically pointless as it was only about 12 inches long so it stays at home...

 

I've used it quite a lot on the boat, both on the moorings and out and about and only had problems connecting once but that was in a dip on a really awful day so can't complain. I think its good as it works fine for me.

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Pretty Funked Up Rising Star

Pretty Funked Up

Posted
Posted

this question pops up almost once a week!!!

 

they work pretty well, dont expect anything like a wired performance though.

I tried 3 and tmobile and found tmobile to be the better one.

 

Any device with an internal aerial has always proved to be inferior to one with an external aerial.

I'd recommend something like this to get the most you can out of the service...

router

 

Has many bonuses but with 1 draw back... uses power (although not much).

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ifor Explorer

ifor

Posted
Posted

As promised here is the experience i have had since the arrival of my O2 dongle.

First thing i was not expecting was the new phone.

Plugged all the bits in and away it went. not as quick as home broadband but i get on line every time that i log in.

Next thing to do is to convert to my old number which according to the literature should not be difficult.

I plug the dongle in which is hanging on the curtain rail on the boat and away it does so to speak.

 

Ifor

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ditchcrawler Veteran II

ditchcrawlerDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted
Has anyone tried to use a 'Dongel' to provide a internet connection on a narrowboat, do you need to hang the dongel out of the porthole on a USB lead to get it to work? or is there some other clever bit of kit which can help.

I am thinking about going via the PAYG 3 mobile broadband route.

Any thoughts or info would be most welcome

I have a 3 dongle and lots of things effect its performance, In some locations I just lay it on the seat beside me, some places it has to go in the porthole whilst on our home mooring it has a 3 mt extension lead and hangs on the TV aeriel in a small polly bag as we are in a bad signal spot, if it starts to rain the signal gets even worse.

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Peter R Collaborator

Peter R

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Posted

I have a '3' dongle that I use on the boat, generally it works very well but is dependent on where you are. The best performance i've seen to date is about 1meg, and the worst was on a trip up the Leicester line last year - it was fine up to crick, but I only got a 3G signal once between crick and market harborough.

 

Some dongle's have a connection for an external antenna which should help, but it hasn't yet been enough of a problem to temp me to lay out the money to buy one.

 

Peter

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steelaway Influencer

steelaway

Posted
Posted
I have a '3' dongle that I use on the boat, generally it works very well but is dependent on where you are. The best performance i've seen to date is about 1meg, and the worst was on a trip up the Leicester line last year - it was fine up to crick, but I only got a 3G signal once between crick and market harborough.

 

Some dongle's have a connection for an external antenna which should help, but it hasn't yet been enough of a problem to temp me to lay out the money to buy one.

 

Peter

 

 

Hi There

 

There is also a huge gap with the '3' connection on the Llangollen. I could only get a reliable signal at either end.

 

Alex

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Nickhlx Veteran

Nickhlx

Posted
Posted
I find it does when reception is marginal

 

 

Yes - speed will be improved when....

1) its winter, and the leaves are not on the trees

2) Its not raining

3) Fog can affect things

4) Distance (from the cell site) will affect things.

 

Generally high pressure is better but over the short distances these things can work it probably won't significantly affect the speed.

 

The best / cheapest / easiest way to improve signal is with height gain - tape the dongle on the end of the tallest pole you can safely accommodate with the longest USB cable you can find - of course if you are already at full strength, you cant get more than 100%, but you rarely are. - The other thing that might affect it is moving it just a few inches, ( i.e. 1 to 3 inches) so it is sitting in a peak rather than a trough of the wavelength or a few feet if nothing as it may pick up a reflection if at the other end of the boat.

 

Nick

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ditchcrawler Veteran II

ditchcrawlerDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted
I have a '3' dongle that I use on the boat, generally it works very well but is dependent on where you are. The best performance i've seen to date is about 1meg, and the worst was on a trip up the Leicester line last year - it was fine up to crick, but I only got a 3G signal once between crick and market harborough.

 

Some dongle's have a connection for an external antenna which should help, but it hasn't yet been enough of a problem to temp me to lay out the money to buy one.

 

Peter

On the Leicester Line at the moment by Weltonfield Marina and have a very good signal, the dongel is sitting on the table, not even in a porthole.

Brian

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