tictag Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 I'm currently on a C&CC Certificated Site overlooking Hope Valley in the peak district. ..and I do love it but I don't love the mobile infrastructure. Far from it. I have a gazillion bars, no really, I could put my phone in a lead-lined box and still get 5 bars but the only connection I can make is GPRS, that's a 2. 5G technology which was around with the dinosaurs. ..and flares. I have it connected to my external antenna, getting a signal strength of -71dBm (which is good) and the fastest I am downloading at is around 4kb/s - I remember dial-up modems getting faster throughput. Do you remember when images used to download line at time? That's what I got. I just managed to upload a 3. 3MB photo. ..took 38 minutes. Still, the view is fantastic and a bit of Internet downtime isn't going to hurt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFM Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 It shouldn't be that slow, even on GPRS. Have you tried rebooting the phone? They sometimes have trouble with powerful low bandwidth signals. Quote Enjoy every minute of every day. It doesn't last nearly as long as you'd like, and there's no guarantee of coming this way again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tictag Posted December 29, 2013 Author Share Posted December 29, 2013 "Recycling the system" is so ingrained in my head these days that I just do that as a matter of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamD Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 It shouldn't be that slow, even on GPRS. Have you tried rebooting the phone? They sometimes have trouble with powerful low bandwidth signals. OK can I please be told WHY anyone would transmit a powerful but low bandwidth signal? Colour me thick! Quote Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KontikiKid Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Is that Vodafone by any chance? Russell Quote Online blog and travels, although sometimes there is a lack of travel due to work! It's an uncharted sea, it's an unopened door but you've got to reach out and you've got to explore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFM Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 OK can I please be told WHY anyone would transmit a powerful but low bandwidth signal? Colour me thick! The bandwidth is a function of the encoding device, and which system it is working on. The power transmitted depends on the power of the radio amplifier used. The user's proximity to it and any interfering features such as trees will affect the received power. As tictag is up the hills he's probably got a line of sight view of the transmitter. Quote Enjoy every minute of every day. It doesn't last nearly as long as you'd like, and there's no guarantee of coming this way again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreadly Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I hate being 'off grid', I stay in hotels all week for work and now I ONLY book into hotels with free 'good quality' wifi. .. Holiday inn express appear to have the best wifi so far , the food could be a lot better though Quote An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. Mahatma Gandhi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyPoole Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Be thankfull for that the site we were on for out main holiday in Nth Devon No Phone signal at all no wi-fi was lovely Quote Bailey Pageant Bretagne Series 6 - LR Discovery Td5 Auto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre19 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Tictag . ... you wish . .. we haven't even got 3G at home . .... and less than a mile from a mast . .. as the crow flies . .... . ..... there goes another dinosaur . ... passing the window . .... Hey Ho . .... Cheers Pete Quote Mine : Land Rover Defender 90, big, black and shiney. Polly's : Land Rover Discovery Sport, HSE in Scotia Grey . ....... Towing : A 2011 Coachman Pastiche 545, on the driveway . ....... and now a CT Ninja, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tictag Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 Is that Vodafone by any chance? Russell It is, actually. Are they renowned for not upgrading to 3G around these parts? I don't mind it actually, it kind of adds to the charm and you can get on a read after you click the link or hit Send! It's the timeouts that are infuriating. Waiting 3 mins for a page to load then you get a timeout! And. ...relax. .. Could I live without an Internet connection? Probably. But would I want to? Probably not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KontikiKid Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Before THREE got into the mobile dongle lark. I used T-Mobile and Vodafone. Neither were ever fast, but always a connection. Russell Quote Online blog and travels, although sometimes there is a lack of travel due to work! It's an uncharted sea, it's an unopened door but you've got to reach out and you've got to explore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tictag Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 Just checked Vodafone's coverage for this area and there is no 3G coverage at all. Looks like I'm stuck with 2G. Managed to get EDGE for a little while the other day but haven't since. Even using my external antenna. ..just sticks with GPRS. Uploaded a panorama I shot the other day to the site owner (she liked it). 53MB, not that big in the whole scheme of things. ..took 6. 5 hours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tictag Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 Last few days have been horrendous with vodafone. Spent 4 hours trying to make a Paypal payment the other day! Had to refresh around 20 times this morning just to get Google - and seriously, this is not an exaggeration. I could accept a slow connection (patience is a virtue, right?) but not one that works one minute but times-out the next. This is nothing but digital torture. I have had ENOUGH! So I went into Sheffield and got myself a '3' SIM. ! Wish I had done this four weeks ago! I've now got 3. 5G (HSDPA) downloading at about home broadband speeds (2Mb/s)! £18 for unlimited data, more minutes/texts than I have friends for and for once a reliable, stable Internet connection. Vodafone suck! Long live '3'!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreadly Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 I have just started using my new EE card 'PAYG'... See ---> http://cgi. ebay. co. uk/ws/eBayISAPI. dll?ViewItem&item=331109956722 6GB prepayed for 3 months, similar to the '3' PAYG cards but double data. Very good signal coverage, very good speed. No complaints other than you do have to register it on their website, but only very basic info. Quote An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. Mahatma Gandhi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honk Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Tictac, a little off topic but have you thought about using apps to reduce your image size? 3 I use are Pixlr Express Quickpic Photo editor All free on andriod. You can then resize your images which will upload quicker and the web doesn't need big images for display. When you get better signals etc, you can upload the full size for backup etc, I backup to dropbox only over wifi and it works a treat. As for cheap sims, have a peak at giff gaff but I think that uses O2 network. H. Quote Finding things funny since 1968 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamD Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 As for cheap sims, have a peak at giff gaff but I think that uses O2 network. H. . .and even cheaper (i. e. nowt!) is Samba Mobile. Quote Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreadly Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Tictac, a little off topic but have you thought about using apps to reduce your image size? 3 I use are Pixlr Express Quickpic Photo editor All free on andriod. You can then resize your images which will upload quicker and the web doesn't need big images for display. When you get better signals etc, you can upload the full size for backup etc, I backup to dropbox only over wifi and it works a treat. As for cheap sims, have a peak at giff gaff but I think that uses O2 network. H. Tictac, a little off topic but have you thought about using apps to reduce your image size? 3 I use are Pixlr Express Quickpic Photo editor All free on andriod. You can then resize your images which will upload quicker and the web doesn't need big images for display. When you get better signals etc, you can upload the full size for backup etc, I backup to dropbox only over wifi and it works a treat. As for cheap sims, have a peak at giff gaff but I think that uses O2 network. H. The EE Simms work out around half the price of GiffGaffs goody data bag. You cannot use the standard unlimited SIMM in an iPad. Quote An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. Mahatma Gandhi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.