Improve Speed of 3G USB Device

[CPressland]

Hey guys wassup?

I've arrived in Spain and got myself a 3G USB Device that runs off of the Movistar Telefonica Network it's a Novatel device but that's pretty much all I can tell you based on the documentation and such.

I'm using my MacBook to connect and am using the latest version of Mac OS X along with a bootcamped version of Windows XP Professional SP3 with all applied updates.

Reception seams to be fine, I can get a 3.5G+ connection without a hitch but the speed is awful and I'm lucky to get over 100kb/s :( I'm running just short of Dial-up speed here.

I've travelled in a 50KM radius to make sure that it's not just the area i'm in and have finally concluded that like 99% of technology in Spain, it's a rip-off and dosnt work properly compared to the services we're offered back in the UK.

I tried phoning Movistar and explaining my situation but the customer support people really dont have a clue what they're doing. She told me I need to uninstall my Anti-Virus software, after explaining that I have a Mac and dont need anti-virus she told me that I obviously had a virus that was slowing down my machine... FAIL, after telling me to run a Defrag I decided that she knew about as much about computers as my pet cat... and hung up.

So, concluding defeat, I've decided to simply make the most of my 12KB/s download speed and find ways to at very least speed up web browsing, stuff like DNS Servers and Page Caching. For example, for some reason unknown to me, Neowin always redownloads the skin information. The headers, backgrounds, everything, which means to load a page on Neowin is taking about 15-30 seconds.

^^ Ouch Speed.

So, does anyone have any advice in regards to improving my browsing speed, i'm not downloading movies or anything here, i'm just trying to get on the Web. I came out here to do some web-design jobs and it's very difficult when I cant even get onto my FTP Server without it timing out :(

Thanks Guys.

[ToneKnee]

The speed is usually determined by signal quality and the service provider in question. I'm not surprised you're getting low speeds, most providers cap the speed.

[CPressland]

Well, as the screenshot shows, I've got about 60-70% signal and have been in plenty of places that provide full signal.

The confusing thing was that when I first got the device it was easily running at the sort of speeds I would welcome from a Virgin Media DSL line, 2Meg was pretty damned easy to pull in, but it's slowly slowed down and now it's at turtle speed.

A few of the locals said it might be because it's the weekend and lots of people are using their mobiles, but I raised an eyebrow at that thought. I mean, 3G in the UK more or less runs the same speed off my iPhone 24/7.

Signal for sure isnt the issue. But like I said, i'm not looking for a fix i'm looking for ways to improve what little i've got.

[d4v1d05]

Well, as the screenshot shows, I've got about 60-70% signal and have been in plenty of places that provide full signal.

The confusing thing was that when I first got the device it was easily running at the sort of speeds I would welcome from a Virgin Media DSL line, 2Meg was pretty damned easy to pull in, but it's slowly slowed down and now it's at turtle speed.

A few of the locals said it might be because it's the weekend and lots of people are using their mobiles, but I raised an eyebrow at that thought. I mean, 3G in the UK more or less runs the same speed off my iPhone 24/7.

Signal for sure isnt the issue. But like I said, i'm not looking for a fix i'm looking for ways to improve what little i've got.

Maybe there's some kind of ridiculously low bandwidth cap on the system? I know alot of mobile providers in the UK have like "FREE LAPTOP OR SOME CRAP" and in fine print it says "max downloads 2GB per month," so maybe movistar are like that, only even more stingy!

[CPressland]

Maybe there's some kind of ridiculously low bandwidth cap on the system? I know alot of mobile providers in the UK have like "FREE LAPTOP OR SOME CRAP" and in fine print it says "max downloads 2GB per month," so maybe movistar are like that, only even more stingy!

Well, I specifically got this package because it dictated "Sin Limite" or in english "Without Limits".

I'm fairly sure this isnt some kind of bandwidth cap, if it is then I'm bummed because the maximum i've downloaded is 100MB and i've got to put up with it for at least another two weeks :(

I think paying 49 Euros a month of something with a 100MB cap is a little retarded, anyone else agree? Well, I'll do a little more research into it and if it indeed turns out to be a cap then i'll phone up the bank and cancel the direct debit, I signed an agreement that stated No Limits and if I'm being limited then they obviously aren't providing me the service I agreed on. I'm legally sound here right?

So, anything I can use to help speed things up? What about Google Web Accelerator?

[BoJo]

Looks like you've fallen into the "Unlimited*" trap.

Read the small print and see how much they deem "unreasonable" usage ;)

[CPressland]

Looks like you've fallen into the "Unlimited*" trap.

Read the small print and see how much they deem "unreasonable" usage ;)

Yeah I sat there for a good 20 minutes going through all the small print, I also followed a locals advice who downloads LOTS of content over BitTorrent and has never had any slowdowns like this.

[_cmos]

Hey vegetrunks, I'm from Argentina and I found this thread looking for some way to improve my 3g transfer speed. I was in a similar situation than yours (claro, 3.5g, low speed)

What I did was to disconnect from the internet, then went to options and under network selected "WCDMA only" pressed apply and restarted the computer.

That worked for me so far. I hope you have better luck if you still have the service.

Regards.