Dongal Advice

[randyandy]

Soz if this is in the wrong place.

If after a dongal that can be used basically anywhere outdoors in woods etc for outdoor webcam shows.

Can anyone recommend a good one please?

Thanks

Andy

[randyandy]

Sorry that should have been I am after a dongal

[The Toybox]

It depends where the woods are - if you can't get mobile phone reception, you won't get mobile broadband reception.

If you can get a signal, it may be weak and intermittent so not reliable enough for webcam work.

If you can get a strong signal, you may find upload speeds too slow for a decent picture.

I have a mobile broadband stick from 3 Mobile and it might just about manage, though I think it would struggle with anything more than a small low resolution picture. I don't know if other makes would be any faster.

You could record your shows in the woods and broadcast them later - not live, but more reliable.

It's dongle by the way.

[randyandy]

Cheers Toybox

Soz for spelling mistake my dyslexia has been playing up a lot recently.

The tape then show option isn't available as folks would be tipping to see things in the woods etc.

Andy

[Sam Slater]

You mean a 3g dongle?

For speed you want one that's hspda compatable (3.5g, or 7.2mb per sec). Given I've said that it's the upload speed you want to take most notice of not the download speed). For 3.5g you're lucky to get a single meg upload speed. Not good for a reliable stream if customers are paying to watch. Most mobile networks offer dongles that do this. Since you're working outdoors and round about you want to consider network coverage in the areas you'll be shooting. Orange have the widest coverage, I think, but their unlimited data plans have smaller caps (fair usage).

Three have a hspda dongle with a cap of 15gb a month (handy since you'll be streaming video and will eat up your bandwidth like nobody's business) but I've never used them and don't know much about their coverage (I've heard their customer service is appalling if anything should go wrong). I think they're asking between ?15 and ?25ppm depending where you go.

Googling '3g dongles' should turn something up for you.

Personally, unless you're near a cell tower not many people are connecting to in the area, you're going to struggle. An option would be something like this: . You then connect 3 or 4 dongles together from different carriers in case the speed of one goes down. It's more reliable but more expensive.

[randyandy]

Cheers Sam

I am assuming I do need a 3g Dongle.

I've never used one so no idea what's best but it has to be extremely reliable so that the customers don't get let down.

My friend who is new to cam modelling wants to be able to go out and about not just be inside with the service she provides being the best it can be.

I think it could be more hassle than its worth but its something she wants to explore.

Andy

[paul jones]

I use a dongle a lot.

A HUGE issue is speed variation.

Even in browse mode it can drop very slow, often falling to dial up speeds.

I don't think it would be reliable enough for any kind of show.

[randyandy]

Thanks Paul

I am thinking same to be honest.

She's looking to increase her profile and looking for other cam sites she can work on as well so think this is just another port of call she's seen & heard about that will help her

Andy

[Snow Patrol]

[img]http://assets.gmgradio.com/photo/page/2 ... r5imx8.jpg[/img]

Advice? Stay way from Florance... He bites...

[sparky]

As others have posted with any of the fastest available 7.2mb theoretical download speed ones you will be lucky to get a fast enough upload speed to stream low resolution / quality video even if right under a transmitter.
After all they generally struggle with YouTube etc downloads particularly if higher quality.

Realistically this is a non-starter because of both speed and reliability.