Live from Twitter on this subject:

There's been reported severe issues and incompatibilities when trying to use mobile broadband connection software with the new version of Apples operating system for Mac called Snow Leopard.

The error occurring is a hard (kernel) crash of the Apple Mac operating system. In other words, access to Internet using mobile broadband is impossible. The Mac system itself survives, and there are no reports of data loss. 

I have very little information so far, but affected connection clients reported until now are from Telenor (Sweden), 3 (Three) (UK) and O2 (UK).

I'm working on getting more info. Are you affected? Please let us know more in a comment below, and please provide:

* What you experience
* Mobile Broadband provider name (such as Three or Telenor)
* Country
* Operating system
* Computer type

[Update] Vodafone (UK) has problems as well.

[Update no. 2] Virgin (UK) also has problems.

I want to share an awesome experience with you guys!

Some days ago I bought Burnout Paradise for PlayStation 3 and yesterday Björn and I finally got to play against each other online.

We had an excellent two hour gaming session using, in my end, mobile broadband and a HUAWEI B970 router with wifi connection to the PlayStation. At the same time we used a Skype call via laptops to speak with each other while playing.

At no time during this gaming session did I experience any glitch with the connection. In other words, it is possible to use mobile broadband connections for playing intensive games online. I must admit I was quite amased.

I got an e-mail yesterday from a user of my blog. I replied to him directly, but since that mail bounced and never got through I hereby put the question and answer here instead, in hope that he (and others) will see it.

Hello there,

I browsed your blog and find DU Meter for PC. Do you know is there any software or widget for checking data usage on Mac?

with regards
[removed]

Thank you for your interest in my blog.

I've looked around and Net Monitor (http://homepage.mac.com/rominar/net.html) seems promising. I haven't got a Mac myself, so I haven't tested this program personally.

I'd be very interested in knowing if it does the job, could you let me know? In such case, I'll put it out there in a blog post for other Mac users to see.

Kind regards,
Christer

Good news!

You can find an interesting but sadly also a bit technical fix for O2’s image compression here.

Has anyone tested this fix for mobile broadband via O2 USB dongles? 

Inspired by a comment on my previous blog post about O2 image compression, I want to set the record straight about my personal opinion on compression in the context of mobile broadband.

Compression is used many places, and also in normal broadband connections, so there’s nothing new in that. I’m all for it. If compression can make the transfer speed from web site to my computer faster, then please, go ahead. However, I do have a strong opinion about the compression strategy that is being used. For the sake of example and because many user of this blog site are not techies, let me try to explain what O2 is doing this way:

Lets say you have 1.2 GB of images on your computer that you have to transfer another computer using your 1 GB flash drive. You know, the USB dongles. You have no other means of transporting them. To make this possible you consider compressing the images. There’s two strategies for this:

1. Use zip from to make a compressed archive that is less than 1 GB in size. After doing this, you transfer this archive to your flash drive. You then transfer the archive to the second computer and decompress the archive. You have now succeeded in transferring the files. Badabing!

… or…

2. You choose to open every image and save them again, this time, however, in a lesser quality. After doing so, all the images end up being less than 1 GB all in all. You copy them to the flash drive and from there to the other computer. You have now succeeded in transferring the files. Badaboom!

So what is the major difference in these two strategies? Both did the job, right? Well, basically the first based on lossless compression. It means, that the files, after being decompressed, are in the same state and quality as before compressing them. The second strategy, however, is based on a lossy compression. You’ll never be able to go back to the good quality you had before compressing the pictures. The pictures have been changed “physically” and the low quality will be visible.

In the case of O2 image compression, they’ve chosen something similar to the second strategy. The images travel to your computer like this:

Web site –> (High quality image) –> O2 servers (transforms image) –> (Low quality copy) –> You

I have no problem with compression being used in the dialogue between the mobile broadband provider and my modem as long as it is lossless. But, like O2, using a lossy compression strategy based on “per image” compression with no possibility to opt out is in mine (and others) opinion a really bad strategy. Especially because no-one seemingly are being informed about this aggressive image compression prior to buying the product.

I think that O2 could have introduced the compression “feature” as a cool add-on. Had O2 chosen to enable users to turn it off / on then maybe it would have been more appreciated. Then people could decide themselves what is most important: an aesthetic (normal) experience or to get most internet experience within their data allowance.

Maybe O2 will consider making it configurable some day in the future? For those of you who are affected and bound to a 24 month deal, I sure hope so...

[Update] See fix here.

[Update 2] Fix for O2 iPhones.

If you have normal broadband and are considering to buy mobile broadband, but don't clue to what your data usage pattern is, there's a tool for you to get insight.

Check out DUMeter which can measure the amount of data you uopload and download. After using it for a month or more you shold have knowledge enough to choose the right mobile broadband plan for you.

Cheers! 

If you’re a O2 customer using Firefox to browse the Internet there’s a fix for the O2 image compression they force upon your on their mobile broadband. You can perform the follow configuration of Firefox to get normal images:

1. Install Modify Headers add on.
2. On the Modify Headers screen add the following new names and values:
NAME:Pragma VALUE:no-cache
NAME:Cache-Control VALUE:no-cache
3. Click on the configuration button and select the always on option.

Original forum thread. Thanks to @asimoa for providing this fix.

This, unfortunately, only improves your viewing experience in Firefox. Images in other applications are still in poor quality.

[Update] Fix for O2 iPhones.

Are you an O2 user? Share your thoughts below.

Apparently it’s a highly compressed one. Yes, O2 (UK) gives you a compressed Internet browsing experience by compressing all the pictures you download from web pages before they get sent to your computer.

I’d heard rumors about this before. But a few days ago I came in contact with a mobile broadband user on twitter, who could not only tell me how it affects you as a user but also provide a screen shot.

Below is a example of such an Internet experience. If you click the image, you’ll get it in the original size. As you can see, the images on the page are highly compressed and compression artifacts are clearly seen.

You can argue that this is a good thing because you then get more from you download allowance, sure. But you could also argue that this is a strategy chosen by O2 to get as many users on their network.

The problem is, however, that potential customers are not told about this aggressive compression service(?) before they buy their product. O2 customer are simply not getting the same Internet as the rest of us, and that they’ll not know until they buy the product. That’s just #evil business.

And it doesn’t stop with your web browsing experience. Images in other Internet connected applications are affected as well. The aforementioned user could confirm that images in for example iTunes are compressed aggressively as well. And that there’s no way to turn it off, as this compression happens before the images even reaches you computer.

[Update] See fix here.

[Update 2] Fix for O2 iPhones.

Are you an O2 user? Share your thoughts below.

Worked from "home" last friday. Actually it was from my parents summer house. Since my grandmother had birthday that day and the summer house is located near her, we decided to go there thursday and then work from "home". The company I work for offers that kind of flexibility and combined with mobile broadband, it's really easy. I was very surprised of the coverage in such a rural area. Hadn't it been for mobile broadband (and my job, of course), I'd never be able to do this... :-) 

To be honest, it can be a confusing job to find a mobile broadband carrier and plan that fits your needs.

The ASDL-based broadband we've been used to for years now are almost always based on flat-rate contracts. Flat rate in this context means same price each month no matter how much you use it. With ADSL broadband we've been spared, especially during the later years, to think about anything else than the upload and download speeds. Sure, there are still things that can affect your service level, such as the distance to your telephone central. The distance was a major influence on the decision making in the early years. But today, as a consumer, you hardly notice the difference between the 24Mbit promised and the 20Mbit delivered.

It's a bit different with mobile broadband. With mobile broadband there are a lot of things you have to take into account when choosing your mobile broadband plan. Some of these things we recognize from the ASDL plans, others can leave you confused because you have no background information to base your decisions on. Very Catch-22, but that's unfortunately how it is.

Many of the plans come with binding periods. That means that when you sign up (save the "regret period"), you're stuck with that plan for up to two years. For that reason, what you want as a consumer, of course, is to make the right decision from the beginning. This means that you have to think through some of the angles of the plan. The two major angles are:

First: How is the coverage in your part of the country, in your city and especially in your house / apartment? Some carriers have more or less advanced coverage maps (http://glu.tre.se/coverixwww/Default.aspx / http://www.three.co.uk/_popup/Coverage_checker). I like the idea behind this initiative, however, the truth is that no matter how good and updated the maps are, they cannot be 100% relied upon. My sister, for example, lives in the middle of a Turbo 3G+ area on such a map, but because her apartment is placed where it is, she has jumpy mobile broadband. So does a colleague at work. So how to you really know if you place has good coverage? The truth is, that you can't. No from the maps anyway. You might have a pretty good chance of having it but there are no guarantees. The best you can do is to find a friend or someone else who has mobile broadband from the carrier you are interested in, and let them go online from where you would go online.

Second: Most mobile broadband plans come with different upper data transfer limits. You will typically find 2, 5 or 10 GB limits. Just as with coverage, you'll be forced to choose your data transfer limit based on almost no insight about your data usage. Even the most nerdy of my friends wouldn't be able to give a straight answer on how to get insight on personal data usage. There are probably some cool sniffer / hacke-dy-hack programs that can give you exact insight, sure, but can you really expect on normal consumers to have access to those? In my opinion no. So, if you want to make an informed decision, read and learn. Personally, I've been posting my data usage here for some months now, and will continue to do so. From that you can get some basic data usage insight based on my usage profile. Some carriers, like 3 UK, have tried to make it easier for potential customers by making a calculator online: http://www.three.co.uk/Mobile_Broadband/Recommend_a_plan However, it's simple and the relatively vague answer it gives does not measure up to the very hard limit you will have on your mobile broadband plan. Again, as the map, it's a tool to give you an idea. In the end, you may narrow it down, but will not know the exact answer until you get the mobile broadband yourself.

This post is not meant to discourage you from getting mobile broadband. Based on my own experiences, on the contrary! And, of course, there are independent web sites such as http://www.top10-broadband.co.uk/mobile_broadband/ who can lead you to the best deal. But, again, some of the things they offer you to select them upon are based on the same things as mentioned above (speed / coverage / data), and assume that you know these things. Luckily, by now, a lot of people have acquired mobile broadband and chances are that you might know someone, who can help you. So, it's not impossible, just a little bit harder.

If you have any questions about mobile broadband, please don't hesitate to contact me. However, don't ask me on how the coverage is in you area. I will most likely not know (unless you're willing to pay the ticket and I'll come by and go online near you! :-)