OT, anyone got a t-mobile usb stick 110?

Want to get a new way to connect to the net when out campin, currently use
my phone as a gprs modem (phone does 3G, but dosent seem to connect at that)
connecting via bluetooth to the laptop, but that's 2 sets of batteries to
keep charged, plus having to put the phone in the roof vent to get a good
signal (reason revealed later)

Was looking at getting one of those t-mobile 3.5G usb broadband dongles, but
cant find any 'technical' info about the fucking thing.

They say it has an external antenna connector (their words are "slot"!) but
i cant find out what connector is used, anyone with ones of these able to
tell me? or even a photo of the external antenna connection.

i know the built in antenna is supposed to be good, but it's different when
inside the motorhome, the thing is built of alli sheet, and the window
blinds have a foil backing to them for heat retention, but that does a
really good of making the interior a fariday cage, i drop 4 bars of signal
on all phones in here when the blinds are up.

Hence i put a mobile phone antenna on the roof years ago (used to use it
with a pcmcia gprs card, and always got full signal) and have a socket on
the wall, i just need to know what fly lead i need to make up to connect
t-mobiles usb broadband stick to the roof top antenna,

 

Use a USB extension lead and put the whole thing in
the skylight (or wherever). I understand that there are
significant losses in an antenna lead.

 

http://www.panorama-antennas.com/shop/index.html
Seem to be somewhat clued up on the matter. UK.

According to them O2 use 2 different sticks, one with
antenna connector and one without. They do have a
solution for the no connector case but it works by
magic (no physical connection, no active components)
and might not be very good. Seems to be called Modem
Mate.

 

This one intrigued me so I did some more digging. This
has come from a bit of googling and may be crap.

They seem to use different modems for pay monthly and PAYG.
correlating the O2.co.uk and panorama-antennas.com
sites using modem colour and appearance, the PAYG
ones (white with obvious LEDs) have an antenna
connection and the pre pay (blackish) do not.

http://broadband.o2.co.uk/mobile/
http://service.o2.co.uk/IQ/SRVS/CGI...7561,K=8615,Sxi=9,t=broadband_case,CASE=20312


PAYG seems to be
http://www.panorama-antennas.com/shop/3g_networks/O2/huawei_e160/index.html

pre pay may be
http://www.panorama-antennas.com/shop/3g_networks/O2/usb_stick/index.html

There is a third one too - look for yourself.

 

Do you have 3G coverage where you go camping?

If the dongle looks like a memory stick, it's probably a Huawei E160. If it
looks like soap-on-a-rope, it's probably a Huawei E220. Plenty of info out
there if you google for it by the manufacturer's name and number.

 

That does work, but you might need a small parabolic dish to take full
advantage of it if you're marginal. The OP said he's got an antenna
there already.

Not if you do it right.

 

Still less than through the metal.

Bought hi gain car aerials from them before they were OK.

 

I usually do, my phone is showing a full 3G signal right now,
i dunno if it's due to the bluetooth link, but i'm not getting anywhere near
as fast a connection as i used to when using the phone usb tether.

looks like a memory stick, so it'll be the E160 then,

i've noticed t-mobile do 2 sticks like o2 do as bod mentioned, the pre-pay
jobbie which i'll be getting does mention an antenna 'slot' in the
description, guess i'll have to toddle off to a t-mobile shop and have a
look see,
bet it wont be the same as the fly lead i already have which fitted my 8
year old t-mobile pcmcia card (pre 3G and all that stuff)

i do have a 5 meter usb lead routed from the big sky light to above where i
sit/lay in bed, so i could put the dongle in that, i use it for my wifi
dongle to get a good signal when i was in germany and they have lots of
stellplatz's with free wifi,
i'm on a campsite right now with wifi, but the fuckers want 4 quid an hour,
or a 24 hour pass for almost 20 quid!! ffs.

Just i also have the roof top antenna connection right next to me too, and i
could go from barely 1 bar of signal to full 5 bars on the old gprs card
when using the roof top antenna,

 

I have the Huawei E220. No antenna socket in it. I ended up getting a
PCMCIA 3G card, which does have the MMCX (or whatever) mini antenna
slot, which improves reception in marginal areas (like Co. Down). The
soap on a rope works fine in town, or back in England.

P.

 

I have an O2 E160, and managed to get a photo of the connector

http://www.duncanw.net/ukrm/e160.jpg

Apologies about the shit image quality, only camera to hand was on phone...

 

excelent, cheers for that, looks similar to the one on the fly lead i have.

 

There is available a dumb cradle the soap-type sits on which is
connected to an outside antenna. Unlike much of the other 'signal
booster' bollocks, these things actually work, albeit a dB or so down
from a proper connector.