I have seen the advertisements for the little USB attachment that will link your laptop to the Internet over the Cell Phone Network. However, a Taiwanese co-worker checked CHT and their only deal is for 2 years. Are there any other ways to do this without having to commit for 2 years? Also, do you get a phone as part of the package?
[quote=“flatlander_48”]I have seen the advertisements for the little USB attachment that will link your laptop to the Internet over the Cell Phone Network. However, a Taiwanese co-worker checked CHT and their only deal is for 2 years. Are there any other ways to do this without having to commit for 2 years? Also, do you get a phone as part of the package?[/quote]I’m not aware of any way to get data services through a phone company without signing up for a contract. It might be possible to find a company with shorter contracts, though. You could try Taiwan Mobile.
The little USB thing has the SIM card inside. And no, you don’t get a phone as far as I know!
But if you sign up for a phone contract with data services with a company, and you get a discount 3G phone with the contract, you should be able to use the phone itself as a modem, either through the USB sync cable or over Bluetooth. If you need a phone anyway, that might be the best way to go.
I think all the networks here offer data services, even PHS (albeit much slower than 3G).
They all have different deals and I think you can get shorter contracts if you pay for the dongle, as they’re pretty much giving you the dongle for free if you sign up for two years.
Fareast Tone has has some deal on the old Huawei dongle fetnet.net/estore/deviceStor … b68b6c0a23 which is a bit big and clunky.
There’s also the option of getting a 3G data contract for your phone and buy your own dongle, they start at around NT$5,000.
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]There’s also the option of getting a 3G data contract for your phone and buy your own dongle, they start at around NT$5,000.[/quote]So they give you a separate SIM card for the dongle, but one that uses the same account? Those dongles look a bit fiddly to me, and the ones that are all one piece (as opposed to the ones with a plug and a cable) look very easily broken. Actually, I know someone who snapped one of those off and spent some time getting the remains of the plug out with a pair of pliers.
If you’ve got 3G on your phone anyway, I really don’t see why not to just use that as a modem via USB or bluetooth rather than paying for a separate dongle. If it were a PC Card/Express Card modem, that would make a little more sense, as those stay in the body of the computer itself. But the current things the phone networks are promoting are all USB dongles, unfortunately.
[quote=“joesax”][quote=“TheLostSwede”]There’s also the option of getting a 3G data contract for your phone and buy your own dongle, they start at around NT$5,000.[/quote]So they give you a separate SIM card for the dongle, but one that uses the same account? Those dongles look a bit fiddly to me, and the ones that are all one piece (as opposed to the ones with a plug and a cable) look very easily broken. Actually, I know someone who snapped one of those off and spent some time getting the remains of the plug out with a pair of pliers.
If you’ve got 3G on your phone anyway, I really don’t see why not to just use that as a modem via USB or bluetooth rather than paying for a separate dongle. If it were a PC Card/Express Card modem, that would make a little more sense, as those stay in the body of the computer itself. But the current things the phone networks are promoting are all USB dongles, unfortunately.[/quote]
No, there is no current phone involved. I have one for work, but not a personal one. What we’re talking about here is personal use…
[quote=“flatlander_48”]No, there is no current phone involved. I have one for work, but not a personal one. What we’re talking about here is personal use…[/quote]OK, and you sounded as if you might want to get a phone, which is why I wrote:
“But if you sign up for a phone contract with data services with a company, and you get a discount 3G phone with the contract, you should be able to use the phone itself as a modem, either through the USB sync cable or over Bluetooth. If you need a phone anyway, that might be the best way to go.”
The bit you quoted was me replying to the Lost Swede, who had talked about “getting a 3G data contract for your phone”.
[quote=“joesax”][quote=“flatlander_48”]No, there is no current phone involved. I have one for work, but not a personal one. What we’re talking about here is personal use…[/quote]OK, and you sounded as if you might want to get a phone, which is why I wrote:
“But if you sign up for a phone contract with data services with a company, and you get a discount 3G phone with the contract, you should be able to use the phone itself as a modem, either through the USB sync cable or over Bluetooth. If you need a phone anyway, that might be the best way to go.”
The bit you quoted was me replying to the Lost Swede, who had talked about “getting a 3G data contract for your phone”.[/quote]
Yes, I know. I just wanted to clarify that point as it was mentioned in one of the other messages. Anyway, that decision is secondary. The primary issue is the Internet access.
Well, I think you can get pre-paid 3G Data SIM cards here, but I couldn’t swear on it.
If you have to sign a contract it would be for at least a year.
You can get unlimited 3G data for about NT$850-999 depending on the network.
Turns out some of the cheaper USB dongles are less than NT$4,000 now on their own without a contract - shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=stor … _NO=AGAC24
Sony Ericsson also has a couple of products here - shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=stor … 3&pageup=0 but at higher prices than the local brands.
There are also a couple of Express Card 34 options if your notebook has a suitable slot and they also come with a “dock” which allows you to hang them on the back of the display and connect them via USB.
I wouldn’t get any device that support speeds slower than 3.6Mbit HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) , as they’d be really old and you might as well splash out on one that can do 7.2Mbit, especially if you plan to use it outside of Taiwan in the future and you might want to make sure you get one that works in your home country as well.
Taiwan uses HSDPA 2,100MHz, which is the same as Europe, but the US use different frequencies.
You might also want to get a card with HSUPA support for faster uploads up to 2Mbit if that’s important to you, but I don’t know if it works in Taiwan as yet.
If you go for a phone, make sure it’s one with cable connection as Bluetooth isn’t fast enough for HSDPA speeds.
You might also want to consider the FarEastone MMI31 as it doubles up as a very basic mobile phone, HSDPA data modem and MP3 player/USB key…
And the thing about breaking off a USB device, well, that can happen with anything USB, it’s not just going to be a 3G dongle that can snap in your USB port… I’ve busted a couple of SATA ports, but never a USB port, although I’ve seen computers with busted USB ports and they can actually short out the whole machine, so please don’t do that :no-no:
Update:
I got the CHT 3G service without the hardware ($2900NT down and $890NT per month). This account has no specific duration and is cancelable at any time. Then I bought a Sony-Ericsson Mobile Broadband Modem, EC400. This is an ExpressCard device with max 7.2Mbps download and max 2.0Mbps upload. There are others that run at 7.2 down, but none that I could find that also do 2.0 up. Anyway, I loaded the software on my wife’s HP laptop and was very impressed with the device! Very snappy performance. However, one thing that I don’t understand: why couldn’t the ExpressCard connector be a straight push-pull deal rather than the push to insert and push to remove set up? Seems like a great way to ruin a connector…
It won’t damage it, it’s spring loaded, much like the SD card or whatever memory card you have in your camera.
It’s better than the stupid eject button that used to be standard on PC Card slots, as they always used to pop out when you didn’t want them to.
Not sure if you’ll ever get the full speed both ways here, although I haven’t actually been able to find out exactly what speed is on offer in Taiwan.
You seem to be right about the upload speed though, as I can’t find any other models on sale here without a contract that offers HSUPA (2Mpbs upload speed).
[quote=“flatlander_48”]Update:
I got the CHT 3G service without the hardware ($2900NT down and $890NT per month). This account has no specific duration and is cancelable at any time. Then I bought a Sony-Ericsson Mobile Broadband Modem, EC400. This is an ExpressCard device with max 7.2Mbps download and max 2.0Mbps upload. There are others that run at 7.2 down, but none that I could find that also do 2.0 up. Anyway, I loaded the software on my wife’s HP laptop and was very impressed with the device! Very snappy performance. However, one thing that I don’t understand: why couldn’t the ExpressCard connector be a straight push-pull deal rather than the push to insert and push to remove set up? Seems like a great way to ruin a connector…[/quote]
Good choice if you’re going to be doing a lot of mobile Internetting. Nice to have the modem permanently inside the ExpressCard slot, not dangling flimsily out of a USB port.
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]It won’t damage it, it’s spring loaded, much like the SD card or whatever memory card you have in your camera.
It’s better than the stupid eject button that used to be standard on PC Card slots, as they always used to pop out when you didn’t want them to.
Not sure if you’ll ever get the full speed both ways here, although I haven’t actually been able to find out exactly what speed is on offer in Taiwan.
You seem to be right about the upload speed though, as I can’t find any other models on sale here without a contract that offers HSUPA (2Mpbs upload speed).[/quote]
Not too sure about that. I broke the SD connector latch in my iPaq before I learned how it worked. The only cure was a repair by the HP folks. However, perhaps this one is more robust.
Also, it seems that this device may actually work in the US, as it does the different frequency (1,900 I believe). Is that correct?
Yes, it should work in just about every country in the world, as long as you get a local SIM card or have roaming enabled (Expensive!!).
Just try to be careful 
Computer stuff is generally quite well engineered, but not always, but I can’t say I’ve ever managed to break an SD card slot, maybe you should read the instructions next time 
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]Yes, it should work in just about every country in the world, as long as you get a local SIM card or have roaming enabled (Expensive!!).
Just try to be careful Computer stuff is generally quite well engineered, but not always, but I can’t say I’ve ever managed to break an SD card slot, maybe you should read the instructions next time[/quote]
Whippersnapper!! I’ve been around computers off and on since IBM 360’s and and punched cards. Back in those days Memory (note the capital M) was something more than about the size of a corn flake!!
I’d recommend an Express Card or PC card modem in an old laptop. Check carefully what type of slot you have before you buy though. Depending on age you’ve got 16 bit PCMCIA, 32 bit Cardbus or one of the express card form factors.
Next time you buy a new laptop, get one with a two internal PCI Mini Express card slots, one for Wifi/WiMax and one for 3G. Each slot has USB 2.0 and 1 lane PCI Express.
Actually I’ve seen netbooks with 3 PCI Mini Express card slots, one for Wifi, one for a Solid State disk and one for 3G. There’s even a high performance (16 lane PCI Express) slot in the same formfactor for notebook graphics cards called MXM.
Most likely most of these won’t be an end user upgradeable system though, more like a way for laptop companies to build lots of variants cheaply. Actually in the US Wifi cards need to be non upgradeable because doing do would break FCC approval. There are serious issues with upgradeable graphics cards too, namely that notebook thermal and electrical design is usually so close enough to the limit that upgrading your graphics card to a higher performance once would probably kill reliability.
[quote=“KingZog”]I’d recommend an Express Card or PC card modem in an old laptop. Check carefully what type of slot you have before you buy though. Depending on age you’ve got 16 bit PCMCIA, 32 bit Cardbus or one of the express card form factors.
Next time you buy a new laptop, get one with a two internal PCI Mini Express card slots, one for Wifi/WiMax and one for 3G. Each slot has USB 2.0 and 1 lane PCI Express.
Actually I’ve seen netbooks with 3 PCI Mini Express card slots, one for Wifi, one for a Solid State disk and one for 3G. There’s even a high performance (16 lane PCI Express) slot in the same formfactor for notebook graphics cards called MXM.
Most likely most of these won’t be an end user upgradeable system though, more like a way for laptop companies to build lots of variants cheaply. Actually in the US Wifi cards need to be non upgradeable because doing do would break FCC approval. There are serious issues with upgradeable graphics cards too, namely that notebook thermal and electrical design is usually so close enough to the limit that upgrading your graphics card to a higher performance once would probably kill reliability.[/quote]
Check the 9th message on Page 1…
KingZog what are you on about?
Did you read any of this post to start with?
Secondly, the internal MiniCard slots can’t easily be fitted with 3G modems, as you can’t just buy those in any old computer shot and besides, the SIM card slot is usually located behind the battery on notebooks with a built in 3G modem and you will never ever be able to fit you own SIM card reader to a notebook like that. 
[quote=“flatlander_48”][quote=“KingZog”]I’d recommend an Express Card or PC card modem in an old laptop. Check carefully what type of slot you have before you buy though. Depending on age you’ve got 16 bit PCMCIA, 32 bit Cardbus or one of the express card form factors.
Next time you buy a new laptop, get one with a two internal PCI Mini Express card slots, one for Wifi/WiMax and one for 3G. Each slot has USB 2.0 and 1 lane PCI Express.
Actually I’ve seen netbooks with 3 PCI Mini Express card slots, one for Wifi, one for a Solid State disk and one for 3G. There’s even a high performance (16 lane PCI Express) slot in the same formfactor for notebook graphics cards called MXM.
Most likely most of these won’t be an end user upgradeable system though, more like a way for laptop companies to build lots of variants cheaply. Actually in the US Wifi cards need to be non upgradeable because doing do would break FCC approval. There are serious issues with upgradeable graphics cards too, namely that notebook thermal and electrical design is usually so close enough to the limit that upgrading your graphics card to a higher performance once would probably kill reliability.[/quote]
Check the 9th message on Page 1…[/quote]
You mean this one
viewtopic.php?p=911410#p911410
?
You need to be careful with laptop cards for the reason I stated. 32 bit and 16 bit PC cards and sockets are always not compatible. E.g. I’ve got a PC card modem which only works in a 32 bit PC card socket. I have old notebooks which only support 16 bit cards. There are still notebooks being produced with PC Card slots. And Express Card is different again.
Perhaps you guys understand this, but it just seemed like a good thing to point out.
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]KingZog what are you on about?
Did you read any of this post to start with?
Secondly, the internal MiniCard slots can’t easily be fitted with 3G modems, as you can’t just buy those in any old computer shot and besides, the SIM card slot is usually located behind the battery on notebooks with a built in 3G modem and you will never ever be able to fit you own SIM card reader to a notebook like that. [/quote]
I think as a consumer you’re better off buying a notebook with a built in PCI Express Minicard modem. I’m not sure what you mean about fitting your own SIM card reader. If you buy a notebook with a built in Minicard modem it’s connected to the SIM card under the battery. And if you buy and Express Card modem it has its own SIM card reader.
[quote=“KingZog”][quote=“flatlander_48”][quote=“KingZog”]I’d recommend an Express Card or PC card modem in an old laptop. Check carefully what type of slot you have before you buy though. Depending on age you’ve got 16 bit PCMCIA, 32 bit Cardbus or one of the express card form factors.
Next time you buy a new laptop, get one with a two internal PCI Mini Express card slots, one for Wifi/WiMax and one for 3G. Each slot has USB 2.0 and 1 lane PCI Express.
Actually I’ve seen netbooks with 3 PCI Mini Express card slots, one for Wifi, one for a Solid State disk and one for 3G. There’s even a high performance (16 lane PCI Express) slot in the same formfactor for notebook graphics cards called MXM.
Most likely most of these won’t be an end user upgradeable system though, more like a way for laptop companies to build lots of variants cheaply. Actually in the US Wifi cards need to be non upgradeable because doing do would break FCC approval. There are serious issues with upgradeable graphics cards too, namely that notebook thermal and electrical design is usually so close enough to the limit that upgrading your graphics card to a higher performance once would probably kill reliability.[/quote]
Check the 9th message on Page 1…[/quote]
You mean this one
viewtopic.php?p=911410#p911410
?
[color=#0040FF]Yes, that is the one.[/color]
You need to be careful with laptop cards for the reason I stated. 32 bit and 16 bit PC cards and sockets are always not compatible. E.g. I’ve got a PC card modem which only works in a 32 bit PC card socket. I have old notebooks which only support 16 bit cards. There are still notebooks being produced with PC Card slots. And Express Card is different again.
Perhaps you guys understand this, but it just seemed like a good thing to point out.
[color=#0040FF]Well, it is sort of irrelevant. We had the laptop already. It’s an HP dv9xxx (don’t know what the specific model is). Anyway, is supports ExpressCard34 and 54. I was pretty sure that it would work as the computer came with an ExpressCard TV adaptor. The specs for the TV card and the mobile modem were similar. This deal was never about buying a new laptop and then getting attached to the cell phone network. It was only about getting on the network. If the ExpressCard didn’t work out, the fallback would have been a USB device.[/color]
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]KingZog what are you on about?
Did you read any of this post to start with?
Secondly, the internal MiniCard slots can’t easily be fitted with 3G modems, as you can’t just buy those in any old computer shot and besides, the SIM card slot is usually located behind the battery on notebooks with a built in 3G modem and you will never ever be able to fit you own SIM card reader to a notebook like that. [/quote]
I think as a consumer you’re better off buying a notebook with a built in PCI Express Minicard modem. I’m not sure what you mean about fitting your own SIM card reader. If you buy a notebook with a built in Minicard modem it’s connected to the SIM card under the battery. And if you buy and Express Card modem it has its own SIM card reader.[/quote]
Mine is from FarEasTone. It has a one year contract. You do not get a phone as part of the package, you get a dongle. There are two to choose from. The bandluxe one can either connect directly to the usb, like a pen drive, or it attaches by usb cable and then dangles… the other one only dangles. Dangling is better for reception. I have mine bluetac’d to the lid of my notebook.
the HUAWEI can do this:
http://www.poyntingdirect.co.za/category.aspx?categoryID=22
which is nice.