I'm waiting for BT....

An even better idea would be to find a 3G (or 4G) Ethernet modem with
PoE capability. This could be connected by up to 100 metres of Cat 5
cable to the WAN port of an Ethernet router via the necessary PoE
injector. Suitably waterproofed, this could be located on top of a pole
on the roof ...

Does anybody know of such an Ethernet dongle?

 

Google Maps can download map data for use offline - you can have 7 chunks of
about 80MB each, which can be quite a bit of terrain depending on the
density of the data. For instance, I managed about 250 miles of the A1 with
about 20 miles each side. However it needs a connection for search, so you
can't say 'take me to XXX' and expect to navigate. It will navigate if you
asked for the navigation and then turn off data.

Theo

 

Featured Products Downstream Line Rate(Mbps) Upstream Line Rate(Mbps)
Downstream Range(Mbps) Availability Date

ADSL Max Up to 1.5 -- 1 to 2.5 Available
Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available

For all ADSL and WBC Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC or WBC SOGEA) services,
the stable line rate will be determined during the first 10 days of
service usage.

This line does not have left in jumpers.

Throughput/download speeds will be less than line rates and can be
affected by a number of factors within and external to BT's network,
Communication Providers' networks and within customer premises.

The Stop Sale date for Datastream is from 30-Jun-2012; the Formal
Retirement date for Datastream is from 30-Jun-2014.

If the End User wishes to migrate from their current Broadband supplier
they will need to contact the Broadband supplier they want to take
service from to arrange for the service to be migrated.

Note: Please note that postcode and address check results are indicative
only. Most accurate results can be obtained from a telephone number check.

Thank you for your interest.
<<<<<<<<<<

No suggestion I'll ever get FTTC

Andy

 

<me too >

Andy

 

Nor did I.

When I bought this house I knew it didn't have decent broadband. However
with a completion date of November, and a planned FTTC rollout of
December that year I thought I could out up with it. At worst I've have
to go 3G, where all the providers say I have decent coverage.

They all lied.

Andy

 

En el artículo <>,

I did that earlier this year with a 5m USB extension cable. The dongle
wasn't for mobile service, but a wi-fi adapter. I tried several.
Results were mixed, some worked ok, some wouldn't work at all, some
worked intermittently, some worked for a short time then disappeared
from the host PC.

 

I suspect the problem is with the power supplied along the USB cable.
I've seen this with disk drives - if the drive has separate power it
works OK on a long cable, but if it relies on the host PC the USB cable
length can stop it working.

By contrast, PoE is better specified and should provide power reliably
over the maximum allowed 100metres of Cat 5 cable.

So is there a dongle-aerial available with an Ethernet interface and PoE?

 

Agreed. I was next going to try one of those USB Y-cables that take
power from two USB ports (sometimes supplied with external drives) but
lost interest.

 

This is why Google Maps is so much worse than (for example) Here Maps (based
on Nokia's mapping/satnav software) which allows the whole of England,
Wales, Scotland or even the whole of Great Britain, to be downloaded as
maps, together with the postcode and address database so you can do offline
searches by postcode. I keep my copy of Here set to offline to force it to
search its local database, because if it's set to online it tries to use the
internet and throws its toys out of the pram if you've got mobile data
turned off or can't get a usable signal (which is the normal state round
here, even a mile or so away from a town of 5000 people - I'm talking about
countryside where there are villages every few miles, not wild,
sparsely-populated moors miles away from anywhere).

 

There are some tiny 3/4G dongle->ethernet+wireless routers available
which may fit the bill. You could split out POE at the router end
yourself, given that they're only 100baseT. Fleabay item # 361103261651
for example. They do require 5V regulated, so a simple LM2596 buck
board or something would need hacking on to the end of the cable with a
µUSB output lead.

 

That item seems to be a router that you connect a USB 3G dongle to. No
identifiable manufacturer

Not really suitable - what I had in mind was an Ethernet device that
takes the SIM card, and behaves as a modem - so that I could connect it
to the WAN port of a proper router.

 

With a decent PoE splitter, you can run the router from PoE wherever
it needs to be to get the signal, and connect it back by Ethernet
(even GbE) to wherever you want.
PoE splitters that will supply 5/9/12v output aren't difficult to come
by, and you can use either a single cable injector or a PoE switch to
run it from.
Then, if you need it, you can have a separate WiFi access point (or
even several) - which could also be run with PoE.
It's often better to run the WAP in a different location to the router
anyway.

You don't need to be an electronics wizard to simply plug the readily
available components together - just make sure that the router can run
within the power capabilities of the PoE injector and splitter (15.4w
on class 0 or 3 PoE).
My (very) fully featured router might take a maximum of 24w (The
supplied power supply is 12v 2A), but as I only use one of the four
ethernet ports I've powered off the others, along with the WiFi. I
also use a standalone firewall, so use little of the processing
power.available. My multimeter says it is using 0.7A at 12v in steady
state on VDSL, which surges to a whole amp on startup.
That's within what can be supplied from PoE, and it's a combined
modem/router that runs either ADSL or VDSL.
I'd expect a router designed purely for 3/4G to use less power rather
than more, especially if WiFi is disabled or not installed.

 

That's what I was thinking with the very cheap, possibly crap device I
linked to. TBH, I'd switch off all the routery bits, NAPT, WiFi and
such and just use it as a bridge, doing all the important stuff
somewhere else. For seven quid, it's a dongle holder that just happens
to have an ethernet port.

I'd personally stick it at the focal point of an old (non-mini)
satellite dish in a waterproof box for 3G 2100MHz. Not much use for 4G
800MHz, though. Old band C/D or E TV aerial? Or perhaps a log periodic
that covers 800-2600MHz and have all bases covered with the
dongle/router at the masthead to reduce feeder losses.

 

Limits to the length of USB cabel you can run though.
Solar powered MiFi in a sealed polythene box is my ultimate goal.

Shortage of roundtuits means it is on the back burner at the moment
since my wired internet connection is adequate at present.

An example weatherproof from Solwise (where I got some of my bits too).

http://www.solwise.co.uk/3g-routers-rut700.htm

Not a cheap solution though.

 

That isn't the situation though. Rural broadband is something of a joke
in the UK and "rural" can often mean not far from major city centre!

Remember that Victorian houses may be almost like Faraday cages with
chicken wire embedded in the original wall plasterwork. Check signal
levels outdoors before claiming "no coverage".

Whereabouts are you? My 3G at home is faster than ADSL.

There should be a countywide Superfast Broadband initiative which may or
may not deliver. Mostly it seems to pay for expensive CEOs to do
virtually content free PPT presentations to local councils.

But there may be some details of alternative microwave link based
services in whatever neck of the woods you reside in.

3/4G will work if you put a big and high enough directional antenna on
it and are less than 35km to your nearest GPRS+ node.

 

That is the default that it tends to say whatever. It may not be true.

Mine gives exactly the same as yours except I am exchange only line with
no cabinet at all. However, despite a stated "maximum" 2Mbps I actually
get between 4Mbps and 6Mbps sync rate depending on the recent weather.
Wet weather and ingress of spiders in Autumn degrade it badly. BTs
software isn't up to date or has incorrect assumptions about rural
exchanges which leads to unduly pesimistic predictions. That said about
half the village get around 1Mbps or less.

Looking up your local exchange on Sam knows is much more likely to give
you an up to date version of reality. Eg.

https://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/NEEHL

This is an exchange recently FTTC enabled but with patchy coverage.

What sync speed do you actually obtain and at what noise ratio?

You need to find a local county website detailing what is actually
available and where - some may require strict line of sight. eg.

http://www.superfastnorthyorkshire.com/wherewhen

 

Thanks for that. I nodded so vigorously at that sentence my head nearly
fell off. Such truths should come with a health warning.

 

My experience of mobile internet on my Samsung phone is that coverage is
very variable, both in terms of different parts of the house or the
surrounding roads, and even for the same place from one minute to the next.

At best, I get download speeds of about 7 Mbps from 3G on one side of our
house whereas I get about 5-6 from ADSL. That's according to Speedtest.net.
But if I retry a few minutes later I may get ping times of 500 m sec or more
and download speeds of a few kbps. The occasional bursts of high speed do
not make up for the fact that 3G is more often than not unusably slow.

In the area where I live (a couple of miles from Malton in North Yorkshire)
it is rare to get more than 2 out of 4 bars of signal strength on the phone
call meter anywhere in the area, and there are large dead spots, even in
Malton town centre.

 

En el artículo <-september.org>,

Ensure head is well secured before reading the Rotten Boroughs column in
Private Eye.

 

Yeah, seems like a good solution, in the absence of anything
specifically designed for the job.
I do wonder why none of the major vendors haven't come up with a
suitable waterproofed design intended for masthead mounting - there
seems to be a pretty decent sized market.

I don't know a whole lot about aerials or their design.
But it seems reasonably clear that if you use anything directional,
you will be restricted to the cell tower you point it at, so have no
failover to other cells.
Whether this matters to you may depend on how many cell towers are
within range - if there is only one, you may as well go for something
directional to maximise signal gain (and therefore speed).
If, however, you are on the borderline betwen several cells, you may
be better off with an omnidirectional design.