3G broadband card for main internet

[k.jacko]

Guys in the know,

our business HQ is at the very end of a BT exchange and as such we can only get 512Kbps, yes read it again 512Kbps adsl connection!!! Already contended it then has to be shareed between 50 users in the building.
Its download speeds are intermittent and range from 60KB/s down to 3KB/s (the lower speeds are more common).
Its THAT bad.
Now, the boss won't pay for leased line as its still quite a lot of money for in his eyes very little return (no matter how many positives i give him, he just doesn't understand :sad:)

Our laptop users when in the field connect to the internet and into our server via vodafone 3G usb modems currently as 3.2Mbps. We are due for upgrades to 7.2Mbps in the next month.

Now, after all that flannel, i theorised about using one of thess usb modem running at 7.2Mbps as an 'alternative test' for our main business internet access.
Can anyone see any logic with this theory bearing in mind:
Vodafone probably don't supply static IP's with these things (our sp is checking this for me).
It would be over 10x the speed we currently have.
There is a mast very close by so we should always get a good signal for max. speed.
We used to have Wireless SDSL (old tele2 stuff) but that was pretty ****! so we changed to ADSL.

We operate a domain client/server environment with exchange 2003 (using our own smtp) and windows 2003 servers.

Any advice really appreciated, thanks. :)

[jonwoad]

TBH I dont think it would work. I have one of these from 3 but once I open more than one window it starts slowing down.

[k.jacko]

Hmmm....3 suck though! I don't get that issue with voda 3g cards.
I do agree with your 1st sentence though,

TBH I dont think it would work
:mrgreen:

[wonderlust]

Have you checked out the exchange you are on? It is possible that there are llu suppliers, they will be able to offer higher speeds even though BT cannot (they use ADSL2/ADSL2+).

Check you exchange here:- www.samknows.com (http://www.samknows.com)

[jonwoad]

Works fine for what we need it for though :)

[k.jacko]

Have you checked out the exchange you are on? It is possible that there are llu suppliers, they will be able to offer higher speeds even though BT cannot (they use ADSL2/ADSL2+).

Check you exchange here:- www.samknows.com (http://www.samknows.com)

Yup. Time and time again, cos we often get ISP's with LLU installs saying "oh, we can get you up to 8meg sir. Hang on i'll check........what the fu..?. on sorry sir, it appears we can only give you 512k at best. Thanks and have a nice day."

ISP's = tw@s

ADSLmax is on the exchange but we're still too far away.
21cn upgrade aint coming round until 2009 at best.

[wonderlust]

strange, I friend of mine is in the sam situation, He gets about 384Kb on a good day, but various LLU isps are claiming he should get a minimum of 4Mb on ADSL2/2+.

Have you had the gain checked on the line? you may need to claim that it is a noisy line for voice calls, and log it as a voice call fault.

[k.jacko]

Wonderlust;
done everything to try and ramp it up mate. Every single ISP blames BT and seeing as we're on the lowest business tariff, which is £25/month, but because we only get 512kbps that's all we're willing to pay for. No sense in paying an 8mb tariff when you only get 512k etc.
There is noise but because its at the extreme end of the of the exchange (approx. 5km(?)) they aren't prepared to do anything about it. The line is only used for broadband as it feeds into our comms room.
See my post above regarding ISP speil, they really do say that to us.

[Audigex]

Virgin media cable, if it's available, is probably not much more expensive than the current DSL

The speed you can get is dependant on the exchange, they upgrade exchanges with more customers first... the 8meg is simply because they're allowed to advertise it as such, no company wants to tell the truth because it will effect sales.

I'd say that the speed will be an improvement, but the connection will be much less reliable - and reliability is too important in a business area.

[PeterStoba]

Virgin media cable, if it's available, is probably not much more expensive than the current DSL

The speed you can get is dependant on the exchange, they upgrade exchanges with more customers first... the 8meg is simply because they're allowed to advertise it as such, no company wants to tell the truth because it will effect sales.

I'd say that the speed will be an improvement, but the connection will be much less reliable - and reliability is too important in a business area.

They're at the end of the exchange

[k.jacko]

Virgin Media is a residential product, ntl business is for corporate use. It was ntl who offered the leased line at £650/month with free install (or price variations of).
Its me weapon of choice, but persuading the boss to part with more than 10x what he's paying now is a tough challenge.

[alexnifty]

You'll probably have to show him how a £650/month investment will return more than £650/month in sales or productivity or something.

Managers are rubbish with this kind of thing, unless its on a spreadsheet with some clearly laid out statistics, he wont understand.

[k.jacko]

Oh i've given him bullet point after bullet point about the benefits:
- more resiliency
- better support
- faster
- more secure
- ability for ftp/http servers etc without servers timing out

All he says is "whenever i load up the internet it opens a page fast" :S

Thing is investing in I.T. policies/technologies aren't things he can charge back if you know what i mean, therefore its hard to persuade him to dig deep.
He's very much a reactionary person, not an actionary one. He'll only install new kit etc if existing stuff either breaks or causes a severe risk to the company one way or another.

[alexnifty]

He sounds like every manager I know, 'reactive' and not 'proactive'.

Start running peer to peer software on as many pc's as you can. That should put a stop to him thinking things are fast :)

[Audigex]

Sabotage the ADSL modem, repeatedly... then tell him it's a broken line and won't be fixed. Voila, broken and needs replacement.

Or more realistically, keep pushing and hope you can get through.