Tell me more about 3G
Datacards are devices which connect to the mobile phone network and allow you to transmit and receive data to and from your PC. Most datacards are in PCMCIA (PC card) format, but increasingly new PCs don't have PCMCIA card slots.
If your mobile phone operator is offering a data service, it is most likely using one of the new high speed technologies which are collectively called '3rd Generation' or 3G services. There are different services in use in different parts of the world, but these include EDGE, UMTS, CDMA and HSDPA. (If you are interested in finding out more we recommend Wikipedia as a good place to start reading.)
Your operator supplies you with a card, and sometimes with a seperate SIM card that you plug into the card. You plug this card into your laptop and use it to connect to the internet - so that you can surf the web and get your email where-ever you are. An Elan adapter is needed if you can't plug your card directly into your computer because you don't have the right kind of slot. Lots of new laptops have an Express Card slot instead of a PCMCIA slot, and some don't have any slots, but they almost always have USB ports available.
Paying for 3G
Most operators sell data services much like phones; you get a contract which costs you a monthly fee and includes a certain amount of data which you can send and receive via the card. Generally the more you can use the card for free, the more you have to pay as a monthly charge, but these charges are coming down as the operators compete with each other for new customers. If you use more than your included megabyte allowance, you will be charged per megabyte. Many operators are now offering 'unlimited' packages which include up to 1 Gigabyte of data - such a large amount that this is essentially a 'use as much as you like' package.
Some operators will also sell you a card on a 'pay-as-you-go' or pre-pay basis. This means you pay per megabyte of data used. Usually you have to pay a significant amount for the datacard itself, which is cheaper (or even free of charge) if you take out a contract.
It's worth seeing what different operators are offering in your area before you sign up to any one of them to make sure you get the best deal.
Do I have to get my Datacard from an Operator?
It does not matter where you bought your data-card from; as long as it is one of the supported models you will still be able to use it in a USB reader. The important thing is who manufactured the card, not which operator has 'branded' it. Usually the manufacturer and model name are printed on the back of the card. Cards are not usually locked to your operator (as phone handsets sometimes are); in our experience you can remove the Vodafone SIM from your Vodafone datacard, put it into a card supplied by Orange and connect to the Orange network without any problems.
Some companie's sell 'un-branded' cards which are not associated with an operator. You can then purchase a contract from which-ever operator you like and they will give you a SIM card to plug into your card.
Note that you cannot take the SIM card out of a mobile phone handset and put it into a datacard, in our experience that doesn't often work even if your SIM has been 'data enabled'.
How Fast Will It Go?
This is the million dollar question... each different standard (UMTS / EDGE / CDMA 2000 etc) states the theoretical data speed that you can get. In practice data rates can be very different. To be fair to the operators, it is quite difficult for them to tell you how fast your web surfing will be because there are such a large number of factors that are involved. The speed you actually get will vary :
- The technology you use - HSDPA is faster than UMTS
- The coverage in your area - your operator may offer HSDPA, but if your house isn't covered by one of their masts you'll only get UMTS
- How close you are to the nearest mast - the better the signal, the faster you can go
- The number of other people trying to share the same connection as you
Interesting Note :
When you make a connection, Windows will tell you how fast it thinks this connection can be. This is not necessarily a good reflection of the speed you will actually get. This is true not just for 3G cards but for other types of connection too, sometimes the real speed will be faster than Windows is telling you !
