I have continuing problems with my ISP which is unreliable and frequently cuts out without notice , usually (SL) when I am in the middle of a long and complicated email and for considerable periods. Also I understand that the fact that is runs slow at peak period smay be causing connection problems with the BBC and be responsible for the various queer reception problems (the echo effect, overunning, various strange notices,etc).

"Dongles" (I hope I have got this right - I have heard them referred to as "dangles", "bongles" and even "bangles" and it all seems faintly vulgar!!) have just become available here. and have been recommended to me. I am looking into the best for local reception conditions,but otherwise all seems favourable, it eliminates weather damage to rooftop installations and is actually cheaper!

I wonder if anyone with experience of this kind of communication could be kind enough to let me know if there are any pitfalls I should take into account. In particular is it compatible with BBC , (international radio only at the moment) or will I need extra hard/software to connect? Simple terms for the uninitiated, please

When I was at work, a colleague lived in Sheffield and travelled by train to Nottingham, daily. He used a Dongle in his laptop on the way. I've never actually used one myself.

I don't know whether it would be of any help, but I used to compose long messages in Wordpad and cut and paste to email and send in one go.

. Ivor



The original and real cat with the swishy tail.
Accept no imitations.

Penny, there's a strong possibility that what follows may read to one such as yerself, as "teaching grannies to ... " If that is the case I bow low and humbly and apologise.

But being myself smitten by the same rubbish ravages when resorting to the use of i-Player I wonder if you are you aware of a dream gadget available at the Beebotron, via the drop down window situated up at top of Kron's marvellous site capable of eradicated all (well near as dammit) glitches as by magic?

I refer to a box appearing top RHS sandwiched between "recent messages" (that's how it appears on my screen at least) titled >>jump to forum and the "search" facility.

Run your mouse/pointer over the words and a drop down window appears.
Select the 2nd to last option
Beebotron 3 lite (new window)
Right click on it.
Select What was on
Choose a channel and a day from the week past ...
SIT BACK, RELAX, and as a faultless listen assails your hungry ears, let Krons demented skills with the ether blow you away***

Let me know if that helps.... (you're a genius if you can make head or tail of the above!). From here in Brussels, the hiccups, cuts, overlaps, echoes have become RIDICULOUS. But some might say anyone who hasn't yet understood that the best way to connect to the BBC is via Kronalias, is in some way, kind of ridiculous too ...

Anyway just thought I'd pop that bit of gen in for the benefit of all.


***Down boy Ivor, cut out the quipping innuendos!!!!!!!


A commitment to Mod'nAdminlyness: I understand that ^{r-e-s-i-s-t-a-n-c-e} _{*i - s*} ^f-u-t-i-l-e.
I shall not be starchy, nit pic, patronize, commit misandry, be economical with the facts or be a pedant, neither shall I whine. I shall endeavour to abstain from gratuitous point-scoring off the comments of other Mods or Administrators and also from engendering a culture of BLAME, remembering too to give the benefit of the doubt. Everything in my power will be done to achieve a modest post count & share my smileys, sources & avatars,

Thank Ivor and Tru, for those but:

1. I use Word a lot for long letters reports, etc. and also when I cant access Internet,, so I can cut and paste when connection resumes, but if I am replying to an email it is quicker and easier to press reply and have the original in front of me (ditto on Forums (?s) - I made a hash of the message I did on Word when offline and couldnt see earlier messages! But it is a point that dongles are also portable, though that is less important to me.

2. Ill come back to you later, Tru, on that. The BBC is only part of the problem.

I probably didnt make myself clear. My connection isnt very good (Im not the only one , others have complained) and if I can get a better (and cheaper!) one I should go for it. I can then address the other issues. I just wondered if anyone else had experience of this method. Also I dont want to get it installed and then find I need further hard/soft ware to access the Beeb (or Beebotron for that matter)

That does sound a bit vulgar doesn't it, Pen? I've never heard of these myself.

It sounds to me like your getting a new thingy that plugs into your computer to connect wireless-ly to your old ISP or new ISP? Is that right? Husband says that he thinks the dongle plugs into a USB port on your computer and works as a verification type thing, but he's not that familiar with them either. Sorry. Not much help.

(And yes, the echo weirdness isn't just you, it's happening all over with Auntie )

Strictly speaking:

A dongle is a piece of hardware that attaches to a computer in order to make a piece of secured software run. A dongle in this sense is used as a high-end form of security to prevent the unauthorized copying of software, since making a copy of the hardware itself is much more difficult than simply copying the software. The fairly absurd word seems to have been chosen more or less at random as a placeholder to describe the device when it was first used, and over time it was adopted as the actual name.

Reading on, it appears that the software will not run without the dongle on place.

Answers.com defines it as:

dongle

Dictionary: don·gle (dôn'gəl, dŏng'-) pronunciation

Home > Library > Literature & Language > Dictionary

n.
A hardware device that serves as copy protection for certain software by rendering the software inoperable when the device is not plugged into a printer port.

. Ivor



The original and real cat with the swishy tail.
Accept no imitations.

Yeah, but I think what Penny has going is an ISP that isn't running through a cable or anything. It sounds like she's switching to an ISP that uses cell towers, like a cell phone (mobile) and the dongle part is just the piece that attatches to the computer to allow her to connect wirelessly.

That's what I got out of it anyway. Probably wrong though.

Lawks a Mussy, but there's HIM showing a power of superhuman restraint Woman ... and you a tempting him, pitilessly.

Janaru Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That does sound a bit vulgar ...


A commitment to Mod'nAdminlyness: I understand that ^{r-e-s-i-s-t-a-n-c-e} _{*i - s*} ^f-u-t-i-l-e.
I shall not be starchy, nit pic, patronize, commit misandry, be economical with the facts or be a pedant, neither shall I whine. I shall endeavour to abstain from gratuitous point-scoring off the comments of other Mods or Administrators and also from engendering a culture of BLAME, remembering too to give the benefit of the doubt. Everything in my power will be done to achieve a modest post count & share my smileys, sources & avatars,

Ivor is being a gentleman

Alright, I've gone onto Page 2:

Dongles for laptops: the mobile broadband basics

If you're just starting to think about taking on a mobile broadband dongle pay-as-you-go or contract option, but aren't sure of what it is, how it compares to fixed-line home broadband (ADSL or cable), or how the various deals and providers differ, you've come to the right place. We won't talk about specific data speeds and prices here, as it's likely one of the providers will have cranked a little extra out if its network before we can say "open sesame". However, once you've read this beginners' guide to mobile broadband comparison, you'll be able to choose the best mobile broadband dongle for you.

What are dongles for laptops?

Mobile broadband gives you the ability to access the internet from your laptop when you're on the move. It's fully functional and can be pretty fast, much like the broadband on your PC or Mac and lets you access the web, download songs or films and send emails.

Mobile broadband and dongles for laptop deals

Mobile broadband works like your mobile phone, using a SIM card which is either embedded in a dongle or increasingly in the laptop itself. The laptop then connects to the web via the mobile phone network associated with your provider.

As if I would say something rude. I will merely repeat a paraphrase of my mum's, only she said 'dinglums'.

Don't let your dongle dangle in the dust.

. Ivor



The original and real cat with the swishy tail.
Accept no imitations.

Janaru Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yeah, but I think what Penny has going is an ISP
> that isn't running through a cable or anything. It
> sounds like she's switching to an ISP that uses
> cell towers, like a cell phone (mobile) and the
> dongle part is just the piece that attatches to
> the computer to allow her to connect wirelessly.
>
> That's what I got out of it anyway. Probably wrong
> though.

No you are right Jan. As I understand it that is just what it is. The gadget looks a bit like a "memory stick" and plugs into the same "port" (is THAT the right word?) One of the attractions to me, is that it does not depend on a roof installation - which as I mentioned before is vulnerable to weather damage .

(PS I am terribly tempted at this point, to mention the electricians' terminology of male and female reference connecting plugs in socket outlets etc., but maybe that would be too much for Ivor)

RESIST gurl, for all our sakes.


A commitment to Mod'nAdminlyness: I understand that ^{r-e-s-i-s-t-a-n-c-e} _{*i - s*} ^f-u-t-i-l-e.
I shall not be starchy, nit pic, patronize, commit misandry, be economical with the facts or be a pedant, neither shall I whine. I shall endeavour to abstain from gratuitous point-scoring off the comments of other Mods or Administrators and also from engendering a culture of BLAME, remembering too to give the benefit of the doubt. Everything in my power will be done to achieve a modest post count & share my smileys, sources & avatars,

A dongle is usually a piece of hardware which needs connecting to the computer before software will run. In the case of Internet connections its slightly accurate in that it'll be doing some encryption and identification as well as making the connection.

Plug it in to a USB port, probably there'll be software to configure but shouldn't be a problem, have to enter a user name and password, and hey presto you've got 'net access. It'll probably be using the same access method as mobile phones, so as long as they can get reception there's no problem.

We use one for a support laptop, so we can go to clinics and be fixing things without needed to use up one of the PCs. Slower than I expect from a wired connection, but if you're accustomed to a slow connection you shouldn't have a problem.

Thanks PAW. A friend visited recently and plugged hers in, and it worked OK, and easy enough for even me to connect. but that was only for a few mins in the morning,and didnt have chance to check the BBC.


The slowness doesnt worry me too badly for most applications (eg email) but I am a bit concerned about the BBC as, if I understand some recent posts on the R7 Boards, it may be responsible for reception problems in that, to put it in lay terms, if the speed of my ISP is too slow it wont make a proper connection with the Beebs output. (I visualise it as two hands trying to grasp but being a little too far apart to get a proper grip) This seems to be born out by the fact that reception problems largely occur when speeds are slow , which in turn tends to be at peak times (8 to 12 pm here, which would be 6 to 10 pm in the UK, which maybe peak viewing times in the UK slowing the Beebs output?)

I think it will be ok, Pen. If you have decent cellphone (mobile) connection you should be ok with BBC. That won't necessarily stop the Beeb problems anyway, as people with broadband and fantastic connections are getting the echo and such. They're still trying to sort it out.

I've seen the performance of a few of these in recent years.

And you've gotten the idea pretty well. It'll look like a bulky memory stick. LP, the port you refer to is a USB port as PAW says. While it looks like a bulky memory stick, what it is inside is a mobile phone without all the bits we humans need to control it with (numberpad, screen, speaker and mic etc).

You'll get some software with it - this will either be on a CD or contained within the stick. If its in the stick it'll prompt you to let it do its stuff when you plug it in. The software will control the connection, and when its running you'll probably have something broadly similar to a normal mobile screen on your PC's desktop and it'll show signal strength.

The dongle uses the mobile networks in exactly the same way as any other mobile does - but don't take the fact you can make mobile calls from your home as proof that you'll get good 3G connections. 3G refers to 'third generation'. In the same way that we have one phone line you can do multiple things with (phone calls, faxes, internet) the mobile has several different ways of talking to the mobile operators aerial. when you make a call it uses one method, sending texts uses another method, when you're trying to make a data connection (internet) it uses a different method (3G).

The fact your friends dongle worked is a good sign though!

The three times I've used 3G was on my dads canal boat, when i was working away from home, and now at home on my smartphone.

On the canal boat, it was still a fairly new service (about 3 years ago) and was quite expensive to use. It was susceptible to where in the boat we were (steel body) and wasn't that reliable if we were on the move. Also as the canal boats are quite low-lying and tend to be off the beaten track, it wasn't too surprising to loose the signal when we weren't moving either.

When i was working away, it really was a life-line to normality. I was staying in a B&B for three months and hammered it. it was still a bit pricy, but had a daily cap on the cost. It would cost no more than £1 per day, so it was at least bearable. I was staying in a medium sized town and so the signal was good and consistent and some nights fast enough that I'm not sure I could have told the difference between that and my 'proper' broadband at home. On the downside, on a couple of occasions the 3G just disappeared completely and I couldn't browse. Also, I was using my mobile phone hooked up to the laptop and if i was doing something that really really battered it, it would overheat and lock up!

The latest experience is on the smartphone, which is interesting in that i've streamed the BBC radio 5 live via 3G and its not bad. It does drop out a little, but i think thats down to my phone as it does the same thing when i use the wifi on the phone instead. It also heats up, but nothing like the old phone did.

In other words, it could well be perfect for your situation, but tread carefully as it may also be pants.

What you really need to do is find out what the 3G coverage is like in your area, and maybe invite that friend back round so you can give it a proper test. Placement of the dongle will make a massive difference to its performance. For example, if you're using a desktop PC and the dongle is plugged in the back, it wouldn't surprise me if all the electrical interference around the back of the machine killed the dongle, but a USB extension cable to lift the aerial to above your monitor may give you a bang-on signal, only a meter and half away from where you get nothing. In the same way, walls will have a similar effect on the signal, so its really important to experiment with placement.

The other thing you need to look into is the cost. it costs quite a lot more to do the same amount of browsing via 3G than via regular broadband. At least here it does.

BTW i have a slightly different method to avoiding loosing long replies to flaky connections. I prefer to reply directly on the web page like you do, but I'm in the habit of copying my text as a last step before hitting the 'post message' or 'send' and discovering you've gone off-line. If it works, fine, if not, then open notepad and paste before you copy anything else to prevent loosing completely what you typed.

Thanks Ricklous, that is really helpful.

Your comments about reception are valid. I live at the bottom of the mountain in a house with 3ft thick external walls! and the radio router doesnt carry to the back of the house! and the PC is in the study backed against a 9" internal wall, (only practical place for it) so your trick about raising via a cable may be useful. On the other hand I have mininum electrical/electronic equipment - just the usual domestic stuff in the kitchen.

Unfortunately my friend lives at a distance and makes only occasional flying visits. However another provider has promised a loan for a test and am waiting for that ,,,,,,,,,,,,and waiting........and waiting.............................

However my current ISP is paid up mid Jan so there is still time to investigate further.