Why 3G broadband can be better and cheaper than ADSL

Paul Ockenden Read more May 12, 2012

One of the subjects that always seems to get your attention is the mobile blackspot: whenever I write about these problems and their legal solutions, I end up receiving lots of mail and comments.

Why 3G broadband can be better and cheaper than ADSL

Quite often the solutions involve routing voice calls via your broadband connection, whether that be UMA, Skype, traditional SIP-based VoIP or even a femtocell. But what if you can get a good mobile signal, but your broadband is lousy?

Things seem much better now with all the UK networks rolling out high-speed packet access plus (HSPA+)

That plight is more common than you might think, because cable companies such as Virgin Media only really provide service in areas of dense population, and the same is true of BT’s fibre-based Infinity service. The rest of us are left with ADSL services running over copper telephone wire between the local telephone exchange and our homes or offices, and there are many factors that can cause the speed and reliability of ADSL to be poor. You might be too far from the exchange – ADSL performance tails off the further you are away from it (and remember that telephone wires aren’t laid “as the crow flies”, but generally follow a complex route from the exchange to your building).

The quality of that intervening wiring is also important: the copper wires connecting your house to the exchange are probably decades old and may have cracks in them. They might have only “twisted together” or badly soldered joints, and may be suffering from corrosion or oxidisation, all of which can reduce ADSL performance.

Worse still, some stretches of wire may not be copper at all, because during the 1970s and 1980s, BT would sometimes employ aluminium cable instead within the local loop. That seemed like a good idea at the time, because aluminium was cheaper and lighter for engineers to lug around, and it worked fine for voice calls, but unfortunately it has a destructive effect on ADSL performance.

Other factors I’ve seen reduce people’s ADSL performance include the weather (either too wet or too dry), proximity to big TV or radio transmitters and, of course, the quality of the extension wiring within their house (although that’s one of the few things you actually have control over, and can fix relatively cheaply). So, what can you do if you’re sitting on the end of a so-called “up to 24Mbits/sec” broadband connection that’s barely delivering 512Kbits/sec?

Mobile alternative

There’s always satellite data, but as I explained in a recent column, “proper” satellite data is expensive, it isn’t especially fast and it can be quite laggy. There’s an intermediate option that uses the satellite to receive only, while pushing outbound data through your normal phone line, but for many business users this simply isn’t sensible; when you email a huge PowerPoint file to your boss, you really don’t want it to take all night.

Is mobile data a viable alternative yet? Is it good enough to replace a fixed-line broadband service these days? Yes, I think it finally is. I remember writing about this very issue around four years ago and coming to a very different conclusion.

Back in 2008, there were fast mobile data services available – 3G from most of the mobile networks, with high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) in key cities that typically offered around 7.2Mbits/sec. When you tried to use these, however, there were plenty of drop-outs, and speed was often fine for the first few minutes but became throttled once you ramped up the data volume. Back then, mobile data could be a frustrating experience. Things seem much better now with all the UK networks rolling out high-speed packet access plus (HSPA+), which offers speeds up to 42Mbits/sec (although most UK networks run at a nominal 21Mbits/sec, and in real-world tests you’re likely to see a tad over ten). However, coverage is pretty good these days, especially on 3’s network.

An interesting aside is that in the USA, T-Mobile markets HSPA+ as “4G”, a ploy allowed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which states that the term 4G can now be applied “to other evolved 3G technologies providing a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third-generation systems now deployed”. Here in the UK, our networks mostly seem to be reserving the term 4G for LTE and/or WiMAX based networks. Other than 3, that is, which recently described its HSPA+ service as 4G, before swiftly withdrawing the statement after being exposed by the PC Pro website.

So can an HSPA+ service replace wired broadband? Absolutely. This being a Real World Computing column, I felt obliged to put my money where my mouth is, so for two weeks I’ve switched off my normal broadband router at home, and the family and I have been using the latest E586 MiFi device from 3. This is a neat gadget about the size of a small mobile phone. It runs from a rechargeable battery, but 3 supplies a charging station so tasteful that I left it plonked in that for the two-week test.

I’m slightly amazed that things have progressed this quickly

The device contains a SIM slot, and during my tests I tried both a normal 3 Pay Monthly data SIM and one of those ultra-cheap DiDa mobile SIMs I mentioned recently (which have sadly now been withdrawn). Both worked well. In addition to a mobile receiver, the MiFi also contains a full wireless router that provides a 802.11n Wi-Fi service, and despite the lack of any external antennae I was pleasantly surprised by its performance – I could see the Wi-Fi signal from anywhere in my house when the device was plugged into its dock.

When running on its internal battery, the range wasn’t quite as good; I’d guess because it drops down into a lower power mode. The router supports MAC address security, port forwarding and the rest, and it really is a complete broadband service in a tiny package. The last time I tried a MiFi device was around four years ago, and compared to this it’s chalk versus cheese.

During my two-week test, we used all of our Wi-Fi connected devices as normal – laptops, games consoles, internet radios – and they all worked flawlessly. From my laptops, I could VPN into my office and client systems, and from our TV we could happily watch hours of HD content via BBC iPlayer, with no drop-outs or buffering. Using various speed checkers, I saw my download speed hover around 10Mbits/sec, while uploads were around 2.5Mbits/sec, and ping times a respectable 35ms. That’s better performance than many people get from ADSL.

The most telling aspect of this two-week test was that Mrs O didn’t notice that anything had changed, and she’s normally ultra-sensitive to our broadband running slowly – if she tries to watch one of her favourite YouTube videos and it freezes or starts to buffer, she’ll assume it’s something I’ve done (and usually she’s right!). But for the two weeks of testing, we had near-perfect broadband service.

One feature that we didn’t use during the testing is the microSD slot in the E586. The idea of this is that you can insert a memory card (up to 32GB), but unlike previous MiFi models, this one doesn’t appear to offer any network access to the files on such a card: you need to plug the MiFi into your PC using a USB lead to read or write to the card, which frankly is a bit rubbish.

Of course, it goes without saying that you’ll need decent reception to make use of mobile broadband, although unlike a dongle, the MiFi doesn’t demand a strong mobile signal right next to your PC. You can position it at the place in your house with the best reception – perhaps near an upstairs window, or even the loft – and then connect using Wi-Fi.

I’m slightly amazed that things have progressed this quickly. A few years ago I wouldn’t have touched mobile broadband with a barge pole, yet here I am recommending it as both better and cheaper than ADSL, at least for some people.