Re: 3G and 6630 advice wanted

On 9 Jan, 23:30, Theo Markettos <theom+n...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I'm looking to get a new phone, primarily for uses as a modem for a laptop
but also for occasional web browsing and SSH sessions. I currently have a
Nokia 6820 which (I recently discovered) has one of the slowest Java
implementations out there and is quite painful to use for web browsing - it
only has about 100K of free memory for applications so Opera Mini keels over
after about three pages. As it's GPRS+EDGE only data isn't fast either
(I've never used it anywhere that has EDGE signal).

So I think I want a 3G phone. But first I have some questions about 3G
performance...

If you're using basic 3G (384Kbps), how likely are you to actually get this
performance? Does it depend on signal conditions (geography, signal
strength etc) or the number of concurrent users? I tend to use the phone in
slightly non-mainstream areas (suburbs, villages etc rather than city
centres). Assuming I have 3G coverage, will a weak signal cause my data
rate to drop out? How likely are you to get the full rate (or is it like
wifi where you never actually reach the peak throughput)?

What happens with 1.8/3.6/7.2Mbps HSDPA, assuming the base station is so
equipped? Does it become increasingly unlikely that you get near the full
rate unless the conditions are perfect, or does it just mean everyone gets
roughly the speed they did before scaled by the factor of the top speeds?

In practice what sort of data rate do you get with plain 3G? Is it really
worth the hassle to upgrade from GPRS? I want a phone rather than a
datacard because sometimes I'm in reinforced concrete buildings which have
next to no signal inside, but fine signal on the balcony. With a Bluetooth
phone I can leave the phone outside, while with a datacard I'd have to sit
outside too (or have a very long USB cable).

In terms of a phone, I originally asked here for a fairly cheap secondhand
(20-30 quid) no-frills unlockable 3G phone and was suggested the Nokia 7600.
After looking at this I think the strange shape and button placement would
drive me up the wall. So the next step in Nokia's 3G line seems to be the
6630, which looks much better as it's a Series 60 smartphone rather than the
rather tame Series 40 the 7600 is. It seems the 6630 is fairly cheap to
unlock these days, though there were lots of fake codes floating around in
2005 (anyone recommend somewhere that provides genuine codes?)

I notice someone says of the 6630:
'Stable 384Kbps downlink. Somewhat flaky uplink, apparently due to phone's
rather limited radio.'
fromhttp://the.taoofmac.com/space/Nokia/6630
This worries me somewhat. I wonder if anyone here has experience of it?
They also comment that Bluetooth isn't as good as the V800's, and I wonder
what that might mean?

I'm willing to be converted if there's a really great phone out there that's
not Nokia, but I currently have a pile of clunky Siemens phones that won't
unlock and are thus doorstops, and wish to avoid this in future.

Don't know yet which networks I'll be using - whichever do sensibly priced
PAYG 3G data for laptops in the UK, plus WIND.gr.

Cheers,
Theo

I can't really answer your questions about actual 3G connection speeds
as i seldom use my 6630 to connect my laptop to the internet as a
bluetooth modem.

I can tell you though that unlocking a 6630 is a relatively simple
process that you can do yourself.
You need a DKU5 USB cable (NOT the DKU2 USB cable that comes as
standard with the 6630), a piece of software that's freely available
on the internet - the BB5 unlocker.
I bought a DKU5 cable from Ebay for less than £10 and unlocked 3 6630s
successfully - i'll then sell the DKU5 cable on Ebay when i find the
time.

Bluetooth on the 6630 has always worked well for me - certainly
haven't noticed it being sub-standard.

For good value deals on data and laptop access i'd recommend Three:
http://three.co.uk/personal/products_services_/mobile_broadband_/index.omp

HTH.

Martin.

.