Chuck,
Thanks for asking George to send me info on his 3G experience and the set up of the implementation.
I just set up Internet Connection Sharing for someone who has 3G service near Lake Arenal. I used one of his desktop XP PC's to be the gateway machine and then connected that machine via twisted pair Ethernet to a conventional Linksys router and converted it into a secure access point. Now with the correct password all his other machines that have WiFi capability shares the 3G connection. It is not as fast as the Reico link that he has (and will now be disconnecting) but for the price it is a bargain.
Macs of course have pass through capability on the OS that allows one machine to be a wireless access point and gateway for others so someone could activate that feature on his unit if they so desired and allow others in their household access to the 3G network as well.
I reminded George that if he sets up the WiFi pass through, he needs to secure the link by implementing the WPA or WPA2 protocol for the WiFi link.
Regards,
Ed
Hi Ed,
Chuck sent along your email and I thought I would write and let you know what I have found out on 3G here in Puriscal. I have a MacBook Pro 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo on OS X 10.6.2. I went the route of the ICE provided 3G Modem which is a Huawei E166 USB Stick and installed it on the laptop. I did a google search for the Modem on Mac and did a little reading to find out what I was going to run into but in the end I did not run into any problems. ICE will provide you with a Windows installation information pack but it is not all that much help. The only thing you need to remember is that the APN is "kolbi3g" and that the phone number is "*99#". The software provided with the modem from ICE is OS X 10.4 & 10.5 compatible and is on the stick and runs the first time you insert it into a USB port. I used a built in USB port on the laptop instead of one on the hub I have. After the software from ICE/Huawei installed I set up a new network connection on the Mac that mimics the settings in the information pack provided. It is up and running and providing some well needed relief from Racsa dial-up. There are a couple of things to watch out for that I am learning as I go:
The 3G speed will only come through on a strong signal and starts under a WCDMA and converts over to HSDPA automatically when the internet is accessed. I picked up an additional 7 meters of cabling from Satek to help with the signal strength as I found my best signal in the garage.
If the 3G network automatically converts over to Edge the speed is the same as dial-up and you need to look for a stronger signal point.
I was told that any cabling over 8 meters will degrade the signal strength.
I did some comparison testing as I have Amnet at a rental home in the central valley and found that the 3G network is still much slower than the high speed connection provided by Amnet but it is 2 to 3 times faster than dial-up. I really only notice the speed degradation when I am actually downloading or uploading files. Accessing web sites, picking up email and for light internet use the 3G network seems to be doing a great job for me here. I'm hoping that the speed will stay as the network picks up additional users. I still have some research to do on the security of the network but for now am pleased with what ICE has provided.
I hope that helps and best of luck! If I can provide any more information or be of any help just let me know.
kind regards,
george
