Mobile Broadband Group Test

I’ve heard a few rumors recently from various sources that performance of the latest data cards varies considerably from vendor to vendor, so I’ve decided to put it to the test. I’ve got my mits on Voda’s three latest data devices:

• Option GlobeTrotter Express (‘Etna’)
• Huawei E870 ExpressCard
• Huawei E270 USB Modem

They’re all 7.2Mbps/HSUPA capable devices, all sharing the same Qualcomm 7200 chipset. My test setup consisted of the following:

• 17″ MacBook Pro, running:
• Transmit – an FTP client
• Safari – web browser
• Net Monitor – bandwidth monitor

I’m running the tests from my desk at home, in central Oxford.  The signal here is reasonable – my Palm Treo’s showing 2 bars of 3G coverage. In order to run the tests, I started up an FTP download, then two HTTP downloads (linux distros again proving handy here) – I then used Net Monitor’s stopwatch feature to track the average and peak throughput for a fixed file size. I had to use multiple concurrent downloads in order to get the throughput up – downloading a single file rarely gave results over 800Kbps. Here’s a screenshot of Net Monitor in action: 

The results

So all in all, pretty close to say the least! The E270 seems to have lost out marginally on peak data rates, but with all devices pushing 1.3Mbps average download speed, there’s not much in it. I’m running these tests on a network that’s not yet been upgraded to 7.2Mbps – stay tuned – once I track down some coverage I’ll repeat the tests.

Related posts:

1. Vodafone Mobile Connect Lite V3 The Mobile Connect Lite software is used by the ‘plug and go’ devices and is a cut-down version of the...
2. Vodafone launch 7.2Mbps, HSUPA, USB Modem and ExpressCards! Vodafone have announced that they’re going to upgrade their HSDPA network to support download speeds of 7.2Mbps and upload speeds...
3. Vodafone Mac OS X Dashboard v2.07 Vodafone’s updated dashboard software for Mac OS X users, bringing support for new Option and Huawei devices – including 7.2Mbps...
4. Vodafone enables 3.6Mbps HSDPA Vodafone’s HSDPA network here in the UK has been upgraded to support data rates faster than 1.8Mbps.  Over the last...
5. TCP Settings for Mobile Broadband (HSDPA) In order to hit the higher speeds using HSDPA, you need to ensure that Windows is configured optimally. Specifically, you...
6. Advanced receivers – hearing aids for data cards There’s a hot topic in the world of HSDPA at the moment – advanced receivers. We’re going to hear more...