The great 3G data card road test
Published: 22 Nov 2004 19:20 GMT
The kit:
One Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G/GPRS data card
Vodafone's Mobile Connect 3G/GPRS data card was the first to be commercially available in the UK. The Qualcomm card used by Vodafone is uniquely equipped with a detachable aerial that can be sited separately from the card if needed to give improved reception.
One Orange 3G Mobile Office Card
Orange was second out of the gates with its 3G data card -- the Novatel Merlin U530, which is the same hardware used by O2 and T-Mobile. Orange estimates that around 62 percent of small businesses and 72 percent of medium-to-large business are covered by its network, and the company’s target for 2005 is to raise its 3G coverage to around 90 percent of businesses.
One T-Mobile 3G Communication Centre data card
T-Mobile was the third UK network operator to release a 3G data card, and the first to offer a flat-rate tariff and bundled connectivity to its network of Wi-Fi hot spots.
One O2 Data Card 3G/GPRS.
O2's cautious 3G rollout has kicked off with coverage earmarked for just '20 major cities and towns' this year, although the company is 'working hard' to provide coverage to 80 percent of the UK population by the end of 2007.
Four Toshiba Portege A100 laptop computers.
Toshiba's distinctly iBook-like Portégé A100 are light sub-notebooks based on Intel's Centrino chipset. They are relatively lightweight, offer decent battery life and have 802.11 Wi-Fi networking built in.
One Renault Megane Scenic, and four ZDNet UK editors...
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