USB PC Modem - Mobile downloading

[Dillmiester]

Ive been keeping an eye on those contracts that give internet connection via a USB modem. The ones that run on the mobile phone networks. They seem to becoming cheaper all the time.
Ive always thought that the ability to download tracks anytime would be a benifit.
The question is do any of you do this already?
What are the drawbacks, is there any interference whilst connected to the internet, ie any noise through the speakers etc?

Cheers

[BeerFunk]

I think there are very limited bandwidth use policies, which will be surpassed if you download a lot of tracks, so you will be charged extra - at a premium rate. Don't quote me on that though :)

[Daryll]

Its a great idea but..........
I have a thing about using the gig machine to connect to the internet, you never know whats lurking in the downloaded files.
The way I do itis have a spare laptop to connect to the net, virus checker etc, if all`s well transfer this to a memory stick and then to the the gig machine.

Daryll

[Danno13]

I have a thing about using the gig machine to connect to the internet, you never know whats lurking in the downloaded files.

If you're downloading from a legitimate source then there's no reason for any suspicion. However, general browsing isn't a great idea on a gig only machine :)

[Daryll]

Sorry , I was not implying that I downloaded mp3`s from "other" sources , however the further my gig machine stays away from the net the better :D

daryll

[501damian501]

dont connect a gig machine to the net a big no no, also why would you want to download music on the move, keep that for at home, stop trying to make the job more harder than its worth mate, cheers

[Vectis]

I have a '3' one of those for general purpose use, £10 a month gets 1GB of downloads. That's quite a lot of bandwidth and I've never even come close.

But now I've got an iPhone 3G I can (and have) downloaded iTunes tracks direct to the phone and played them out directly into the mixer. Not ideal, but gets you out of the odd request hole. And there's no fear of screwing up the gig machine.

[Dillmiester]

I have a '3' one of those for general purpose use, £10 a month gets 1GB of downloads. That's quite a lot of bandwidth and I've never even come close.

But now I've got an iPhone 3G I can (and have) downloaded iTunes tracks direct to the phone and played them out directly into the mixer. Not ideal, but gets you out of the odd request hole. And there's no fear of screwing up the gig machine.

Excellent!
I was thinking it would be only for that rare situation when I didnt have a request and I could download it quickly. As long as its not some obscure OMD b side, I dont think I would bother. £10 a month seems reasonable.

[ppentertainments]

I used to do it but to be honest just meant more unneccesary work. If you make sure you have all the 'essential' and pre-requested songs beforehand then people don't expect you to have everything. I carried a spare laptop for this use and it does work well.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

dont connect a gig machine to the net a big no no

Do you really think downloading from Itunes or Napster is going to contain viruses and trojans?

[DazzyD]

Like Martin, I have the 3 mobile broadband service. I pay £15 per month for 3gb and often have about 100-200mb left at the end of the month so I do use this much (just about).

Yes, I do use it for downloading tracks from 7Digital at gigs (very rarely cos I usually have most of the requests anyway). But it's done on my 2nd laptop not connected to the playout system. The tracks are then saved direct to the NAS hard-drive I use so it can be picked up by the main laptop for playout.