Mobile Broadband

Topic

New Reply

Not sure if this is the correct forum but …
I am considering swapping to Mobile Broadband for my pc here in Norway and of course there are charges above a certain download amount. But I have no idea what my average MB downloads are in say 1 month … how can I measure this so that I can compare my current ADSL hard wired broadband connection costs?
Ron

Reply | Quote

Replies

Not sure if this is the correct forum but …
I am considering swapping to Mobile Broadband for my pc here in Norway and of course there are charges above a certain download amount. But I have no idea what my average MB downloads are in say 1 month … how can I measure this so that I can compare my current ADSL hard wired broadband connection costs?
Ron

Several possibilities:
Netmeter – I don’t get on with the 1.1.4 beta, and still use 1.1.3
DUMeter – used to be free, but now about $25
tbbMeter – noble, British, and free

The basic problem with these is that none simply measures what goes up and down the line to the ISP; they measure the data coming in and out of your network interface card. If you have just one PC, that will be the same thing, but if you share data from your main PC with other PCs, then you will be getting larger numbers than you expect.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

Reply | Quote

Let me punish you with a different but related question. I’m looking at Mobile Broadband through Telus in Canada. No where in their copious advertising does it actually mention the speed. Is the speed in Mobile Broadband standard? I mean I assume there will be variability – but is there a standard maximum speed?

Reply | Quote

I’m looking at Mobile Broadband through Telus in Canada. No where in their copious advertising does it actually mention the speed. Is the speed in Mobile Broadband standard? I mean I assume there will be variability – but is there a standard maximum speed?

Telus has a CDMA/EVDO network. There are two “standards” for EVDO, known as Rev. 0 and Rev. A. In major areas, you are almost assured of Rev. 0 coverage, but Rev. A may not be available except in the areas of heaviest use.

According to one source, the standard performance range is as follows:

[*]EVDO Rev 0: 400 Kbps – 700 Kbps Download, 50 Kbps – 100 Kbps Upload (similar to basic home ADSL)
[*]EVDO Rev A: 600 Kbps – 1.4 Mbps Download, 500 Kbps – 800 Kbps Upload (similar to upgraded home ADSL)

I visited the TelusMobility site and randomly chose British Columbia. The modem on offer, the Sierra Wireless USB 598 modem, lists these specifications in its data sheet:

USB 598 owners will enjoy top speeds up to 3.1 Mbps downlink and 1.8 Mbps uplink*. In areas where Rev A networks are not available, USB 598 is backwards compatible to Release 0 and 1xRTT networks.

*Subject to network conditions

Note that those “top speeds” are burst throughput. I’m not sure when a device is allowed to burst, so the “normal” range probably is a better guide.

== EDIT == POSSIBLY MORE REALISTIC NUMBERS ==

The CDMA Development group provides this information:

[*]Rev 0: “In commercial networks, Rel 0 delivers average throughput of 300-700 kbps in the forward link and 70-90 kbps in the reverse link.”
[*]Rev A: “In commercial networks, Rev A achieves average throughput of 450-800 kbps in the forward link and 300-400 kbps in the reverse link.”

Source: http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g.asp

Reply | Quote

I visited the TelusMobility site and randomly chose British Columbia. The modem on offer, the Sierra Wireless USB 598 modem, lists these specifications in its data sheet:

I am filled with admiration – I don’t know how many times I have gone over this website and not found that information. In fact, even knowing that you have found it – I still can’t locate it.

In any case even the slowest speeds will be faster than my parents 56k modem. Their phone line is so troublesome that they’ve never even gotten a faster speed than 36K.

Reply | Quote

tbbMeter – noble, British, and free

Dear oh dear … I installed the tbbmeter freebee and all seemed to be operating OK BUT my internet connection seemed to be busier than normal. I got used to spotting the internet symbol flashing on the screen lower right toolbar but after this measuring software being installed it definately was more ‘active’.
So … is this normal? Does the software almost constantly send/receive something of ‘its own’? Anyone familiar with this?
As of now I have uninstalled the tbbMeter with its isposure … or at least I think I have, it was somewhat difficult to uninstall but I have checked Search and Programmes Installed and nothing shows up. Should I check any other location to be sure its ‘all gone’?
Ron

Reply | Quote

Should I check any other location to be sure its ‘all gone’?

The best product I’ve found is Revo Uninstaller Freeware but if you’ve already uninstalled, Revo may not find it. I guess you could reinstall and THEN let Revo do the job. It has four variations on how “deeply” you want it to search for residue. I always use the third one down (I forget what it’s called).

Reply | Quote

Dear oh dear … I installed the tbbmeter freebee and all seemed to be operating OK BUT my internet connection seemed to be busier than normal. I got used to spotting the internet symbol flashing on the screen lower right toolbar but after this measuring software being installed it definately was more ‘active’.
So … is this normal? Does the software almost constantly send/receive something of ‘its own’? Anyone familiar with this?
As of now I have uninstalled the tbbMeter with its isposure … or at least I think I have, it was somewhat difficult to uninstall but I have checked Search and Programmes Installed and nothing shows up. Should I check any other location to be sure its ‘all gone’?
Ron

I’m sorry you had trouble with this software – it shouldn’t send anything of itself up and down the line other than some low volume check files once a day (I think). It is likely to be the best network data traffic enumerator when they complete the version which restricts itself to WAN traffic only (by packet inspection).

I wasn’t aware any modem/router gave you stats about download and upload traffic – my blueyonder cable modem doesn’t! But that’s the place to measure it – IF yours gives it…

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

Reply | Quote

…
I wasn’t aware any modem/router gave you stats about download and upload traffic – my blueyonder cable modem doesn’t! But that’s the place to measure it – IF yours gives it…

Here is an example from my Thomson SpeedTouch 716, provided as part of my contract with Be.

Reply | Quote

Here is an example from my Thomson SpeedTouch 716, provided as part of my contract with Be.

Very useful indeed! Also amazing ‘up’ speed; I get 0.5Mbps at home, 0.75 Mbps at work, both with 10 Mbps down (usually ~9.2 Mbps in practice). On cable it seems that the up-speeds are pretty consistent, but the down-speeds are highly variable.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

Reply | Quote

My ADSL modem /router has counters that show the number of MBytes transferred in each direction since the last reboot, does yours have anything similar?

Reply | Quote

Thaks for all your inputs … I will give the UK one a go.
Ron

Reply | Quote

All of this traffic could be your ISP, or and program looking for updates.
I do NOT think it was your metering program.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

Reply | Quote

Crikey … seems like a lot of us are interested in up/download volumes and how to measure. As I said, I am convinced that my link was lots busier with the tbbmeter installed so I think that I will simply ask my service provider if they can advise my usage levels … surely they must know what goes up and down their lines!
As to the mobile broadband I have the same feeling as others that the speeds on offer will be a lot slower than ‘wired’ … will check with a couple of our Norwegian SP’s.
Ron

Reply | Quote

Crikey … seems like a lot of us are interested in up/download volumes and how to measure. As I said, I am convinced that my link was lots busier with the tbbmeter installed so I think that I will simply ask my service provider if they can advise my usage levels … surely they must know what goes up and down their lines!
As to the mobile broadband I have the same feeling as others that the speeds on offer will be a lot slower than ‘wired’ … will check with a couple of our Norwegian SP’s.
Ron

I believe that the monthly bill from my existing ISP specifies the volume that was transferred in the previous month. If I were to consider changing providers, the first place I would look is my existing provider’s bill.

As for ‘advertised speed’, there was a recent case in Canada involving false advertising. I didn’t follow it closely, and it may have been settled out of court. (I know, I should have looked it up before posting, but I only have eight tentacles.

PG: Edited to remove names, and I tried to look it up without success. The gist of it was that it was an unfair comparison because of the location of the monitor.

Reply | Quote

Crikey … seems like a lot of us are interested in up/download volumes and how to measure. As I said, I am convinced that my link was lots busier with the tbbmeter installed so I think that I will simply ask my service provider if they can advise my usage levels … surely they must know what goes up and down their lines!
As to the mobile broadband I have the same feeling as others that the speeds on offer will be a lot slower than ‘wired’ … will check with a couple of our Norwegian SP’s.
Ron

Here is an anecdote you might enjoy. On a date not so long ago, I had a large file to download and visited an internet cafe where I knew the bandwidth to be much greater than my own. I was downloading at a furious pace, when it got slower, and slower, and slower. I was baffled, and even more so when I got home and discovered that my home connection was no better.

This was the RTM download of Win 7 that certain among us have, and it seems I knew about it before others but not by much, and the servers were so overloaded so swiftly when word got out that carrier pigeons would have been faster than the internet.

Reply | Quote

Ah the wonders of broadband … I wonder what it really is!
Ron

Reply | Quote