How to get connected to Internet through Dongles?
- Thread starter appleofedin
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i guess i am not the only one confused about mobile internet.So I think a new thread with an appropriate title would have been better so that if people are looking for some answers then they can easily find them,instead of these few posts getting lost on the roads of JP Nagar. 
x720
Incoherent Poster
Quite a few questions 
I'll answer them when I get back home
I'll answer them when I get back home
Answers:
1. Yes. You can insert any SIM in dongle and it will connect to internet using their dialer app if inserted in USB Port. If dongle has WiFi, then no need to dialer app, just turn on WiFi, search for Wifi of that dongle, enter password (if configured) and you are connected to internet through WiFi.
2. No idea. Never came across such device. Need to search online.
3. Yes.
4. 2G/3G (GSM) is different from 4G and CDMA, so I guess for all these 3 technologies, we may need different dongles. I doubt if any single dongle can support all these technologies. But if it does, it would surely be costly device
5. I know that MTS is CDMA. Tata, Reliance (and perhaps BSNL) has both CDMA and GSM networks. Remaining operators like Vodafone, Idea, Airtel are GSM.
6. Right, but if more users are connected to same tower, speed would be reduced.
7. Need to check in your area. You can call Sales representative to give demo.
8. I used Huawei and they are good.
9. No idea, never used it.
10. They tend to get hot, so not recommended for 24x7 usage.
11. Let @x720 answer
12. Its good to get unlocked dongle as we can change SIM cards if we want.
I use Huawei E8231 with IDEA 3G. Its WiFi dongle. I connect it in USB power socket of mobile charger, and once powered ON it creates WiFi Hotspot to which I connect my laptop and mobile. There is some IP address which we need to access in web browser to configure password for WiFi. I get very good speed generally throughout day on IDEA 3G network.
1. Yes. You can insert any SIM in dongle and it will connect to internet using their dialer app if inserted in USB Port. If dongle has WiFi, then no need to dialer app, just turn on WiFi, search for Wifi of that dongle, enter password (if configured) and you are connected to internet through WiFi.
2. No idea. Never came across such device. Need to search online.
3. Yes.
4. 2G/3G (GSM) is different from 4G and CDMA, so I guess for all these 3 technologies, we may need different dongles. I doubt if any single dongle can support all these technologies. But if it does, it would surely be costly device
5. I know that MTS is CDMA. Tata, Reliance (and perhaps BSNL) has both CDMA and GSM networks. Remaining operators like Vodafone, Idea, Airtel are GSM.
6. Right, but if more users are connected to same tower, speed would be reduced.
7. Need to check in your area. You can call Sales representative to give demo.
8. I used Huawei and they are good.
9. No idea, never used it.
10. They tend to get hot, so not recommended for 24x7 usage.
11. Let @x720 answer
12. Its good to get unlocked dongle as we can change SIM cards if we want.
I use Huawei E8231 with IDEA 3G. Its WiFi dongle. I connect it in USB power socket of mobile charger, and once powered ON it creates WiFi Hotspot to which I connect my laptop and mobile. There is some IP address which we need to access in web browser to configure password for WiFi. I get very good speed generally throughout day on IDEA 3G network.
x720
Incoherent Poster
Right, @SVK has answered most of the stuff extremely well.
A couple of things to add to that:
2. Yes, there exist such devices. ZTE Verizon Jetpack for CDMA and Huawei E5331 for GSM.
4. Broadly speaking:
GSM 2G = EDGE CDMA 2G = 1x
GSM 3G = UMTS/HSPA/HSDPA CDMA 3G = EvDO Revision A and EvDO revision B
GSM 4G/CDMA 4G = LTE
There are dongles that cater to LTE/HSPA/EDGE, and then there are dongles that cater to EVDO/1X. I have yet to come across one that supports all.
5. BSNL does operate a CDMA network. EvDo being a CDMA standard.
7. For GSM, perform a network search on your phone. This does not indicate signal strength though. For CDMA, you either need to get a demo or try checking signal strength of the major 3 networks (rcom, mts, tata) in a dongle or a CDMA cell phone. CDMA phones do not allow you to perform a 'network search', afaik.
11. For example: Tata Photon is a CDMA dongle. Like other network locked CDMA dongles, it doesn't use a sim card. TATA Photon plans are different from TATA CDMA internet packs. For example: on tata photon, 1GB costs 255, whereas for the same amount you can get a data pack of 4GB on tata cdma (the network and speeds are exactly the same).
Similarly reliance has different plans for their Netconnect/3/Pro3 users and different plans for their CDMA data pack users. Ditto for MTS.
Basically, CDMA data packs are intended to be used on mobiles and are usually cheaper than their dongle counterparts (not sure about MTS). By using an unlocked dongle and a cdma sim card, you can use these mobile internet packs on your dongle.
Hope that clears up any doubts you may have had
Cheers!
A couple of things to add to that:
2. Yes, there exist such devices. ZTE Verizon Jetpack for CDMA and Huawei E5331 for GSM.
4. Broadly speaking:
GSM 2G = EDGE CDMA 2G = 1x
GSM 3G = UMTS/HSPA/HSDPA CDMA 3G = EvDO Revision A and EvDO revision B
GSM 4G/CDMA 4G = LTE
There are dongles that cater to LTE/HSPA/EDGE, and then there are dongles that cater to EVDO/1X. I have yet to come across one that supports all.
5. BSNL does operate a CDMA network. EvDo being a CDMA standard.
7. For GSM, perform a network search on your phone. This does not indicate signal strength though. For CDMA, you either need to get a demo or try checking signal strength of the major 3 networks (rcom, mts, tata) in a dongle or a CDMA cell phone. CDMA phones do not allow you to perform a 'network search', afaik.
11. For example: Tata Photon is a CDMA dongle. Like other network locked CDMA dongles, it doesn't use a sim card. TATA Photon plans are different from TATA CDMA internet packs. For example: on tata photon, 1GB costs 255, whereas for the same amount you can get a data pack of 4GB on tata cdma (the network and speeds are exactly the same).
Similarly reliance has different plans for their Netconnect/3/Pro3 users and different plans for their CDMA data pack users. Ditto for MTS.
Basically, CDMA data packs are intended to be used on mobiles and are usually cheaper than their dongle counterparts (not sure about MTS). By using an unlocked dongle and a cdma sim card, you can use these mobile internet packs on your dongle.
Hope that clears up any doubts you may have had
Cheers!
D
Deleted member 10390
What is revB ?
D
Deleted member 10390
I will try to answer these to analyse my own understanding. Please do correct me if I am wrong
i get pretty confused with all this mobile internet stuff.
i have few questions:
1. dongle is the device which takes in the sim card and let you access internet using 2G,3G,CDMA,EVDO connections etc,depending on whatever data plan is active on the SIM card? you just need to connect the dongle to the USB port of your laptop and dial the connection using their app.
You must understand that there are 3 modes via accessing internet via dongle.
1. Whatever is built into the dongle
2. A GSM network using SIM card
3. A CDMA network using UIM
2. do we have routers that support SIM cards directly? that is instead of putting a SIM in a dongle and then connecting it to router using USB slot of the router,we just put the SIM inside the SIM slot of router and it does the connecting part itself....or no,dongle is a must.
Though I do not remember the model no. , I do remember reading about such a device with built in SIM slot which had a price tag of somewhere between 6K and 8K. If I am not wrong, it was some kind of pocket WiFi or similar. So we can deduce that there are somewhat costly methods available to skip dongle and get internet via SIM itself.
3.when we say unlocked dongle then it means any SIM can be used in it and they are not operator locked?
Depends on the dongle. CDMA dongle support UIM while GSM needs a SIM.
4.do unlocked dongles support all types of connection?2G,3G,CDMA,EVDO ETC? or do we need different dongles for CDMA and GRPS connection?2G,3G and 4G are GPRS connection types,right?
It is my understanding that GSM and CDMA networks need separate dongles
5. out of all the operators in india which are the CDMA operators and which are GPRS? and is BSNL EVDO a CDMA, because i think their mobile network works on GPRS.
CDMA providers I guess are Reliance, MTS, Tata, Others must be GSM. I guess Reliance has GSM network as well. Not sure about Uninor.
6. more closer you are to the tower of the operator higher the speed you will get,right?
I guess so. I also believe that CDMA networks have better penetration but lesser range compared to GSM networks. Making the former a comfortable option if you are living it areas which are dense with trees or thick walls.
7.how does one find out which operators are there in the vicinity?
I had similar ideas as @x720 . Like scanning for mobile networks on mobile phone. But again that is no measure for signal strength.
8. what are some good unlocked dongles supporting all operators?
You can literally unlock any dongle. There are software which does it for you. But is much similar to flashing Smart Phones with ROMs as if you do it badly, you will end up bricking the dongle.
9.what are some good routers supporting dongles?
I guess most routers with an USB port will be able to do this.
10.dongles are not for 24*7 use?
I don't think so.
12. so instead of purchasing a locked dongle from the operator, one should always get an unlocked dongle and a SIM card of the operator he wants to use,activate data plan on it and use it.
That would of course be wise. But will largely depend on the plans provided by the operators.
i get pretty confused with all this mobile internet stuff.
i have few questions:
1. dongle is the device which takes in the sim card and let you access internet using 2G,3G,CDMA,EVDO connections etc,depending on whatever data plan is active on the SIM card? you just need to connect the dongle to the USB port of your laptop and dial the connection using their app.
You must understand that there are 3 modes via accessing internet via dongle.
1. Whatever is built into the dongle
2. A GSM network using SIM card
3. A CDMA network using UIM
2. do we have routers that support SIM cards directly? that is instead of putting a SIM in a dongle and then connecting it to router using USB slot of the router,we just put the SIM inside the SIM slot of router and it does the connecting part itself....or no,dongle is a must.
Though I do not remember the model no. , I do remember reading about such a device with built in SIM slot which had a price tag of somewhere between 6K and 8K. If I am not wrong, it was some kind of pocket WiFi or similar. So we can deduce that there are somewhat costly methods available to skip dongle and get internet via SIM itself.
3.when we say unlocked dongle then it means any SIM can be used in it and they are not operator locked?
Depends on the dongle. CDMA dongle support UIM while GSM needs a SIM.
4.do unlocked dongles support all types of connection?2G,3G,CDMA,EVDO ETC? or do we need different dongles for CDMA and GRPS connection?2G,3G and 4G are GPRS connection types,right?
It is my understanding that GSM and CDMA networks need separate dongles
5. out of all the operators in india which are the CDMA operators and which are GPRS? and is BSNL EVDO a CDMA, because i think their mobile network works on GPRS.
CDMA providers I guess are Reliance, MTS, Tata, Others must be GSM. I guess Reliance has GSM network as well. Not sure about Uninor.
6. more closer you are to the tower of the operator higher the speed you will get,right?
I guess so. I also believe that CDMA networks have better penetration but lesser range compared to GSM networks. Making the former a comfortable option if you are living it areas which are dense with trees or thick walls.
7.how does one find out which operators are there in the vicinity?
I had similar ideas as @x720 . Like scanning for mobile networks on mobile phone. But again that is no measure for signal strength.
8. what are some good unlocked dongles supporting all operators?
You can literally unlock any dongle. There are software which does it for you. But is much similar to flashing Smart Phones with ROMs as if you do it badly, you will end up bricking the dongle.
9.what are some good routers supporting dongles?
I guess most routers with an USB port will be able to do this.
10.dongles are not for 24*7 use?
I don't think so.
12. so instead of purchasing a locked dongle from the operator, one should always get an unlocked dongle and a SIM card of the operator he wants to use,activate data plan on it and use it.
That would of course be wise. But will largely depend on the plans provided by the operators.
x720
Incoherent Poster
@chromaniac
Ask for an mts smartphone sim if you do.
@meetdilip
EvDO revision B. Supports 14.7mbps downlink.
Ask for an mts smartphone sim if you do.
@meetdilip
EvDO revision B. Supports 14.7mbps downlink.
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