Ultra-noob with 3G query
 

Hi all

Apologies if this is in the wrong place, I am brand new to this forum. I am looking for a little IT advice and would appreciate any feedback. :tu:

I work at a small private doctors surgery. We have a couple of doctors who visit 4 different nursing homes nearby every morning.

Currently, these Drs have to jot down their notes and enter them into the system when they get back or connect remotely to the computer in their surgery from the home.

I would like to purchase a small dedicated netbook which could live in reception and be taken out by these doctors every morning. It needs to connect to our network as normal wirelessly from any of the nursing homes.

I have been told I should set up a 3G wireless connection to our practice network. The furthest it needs to reach is about 3 miles.

How do I go about doing this? I am a little confused when it come to 3G.

I would like to set up as much of it ourselves as possible.

Many thanks in advance!

Re: Ultra-noob with 3G query
 

1. :welcome:

2. Afraid I can't help with the 3G connection, sorry.

3. Please make sure you put full drive encryption on the laptop (TrueCrypt will do, and it's free) otherwise if you lose it you will put all your patient's data at risk that's on there!

Re: Ultra-noob with 3G query
 

1. Thanks a lot Rob.

2. No problem, the main info I am after is where to get started, ie which companies are the best for dealing with this sort of setup.
The reason I had 3G suggested to me was due to the range required for the network....

3. Good tip, thanks

Re: Ultra-noob with 3G query
 

3G uses the mobile phone network to connect to the internet.. If your office server allows VPN connections then yes this is feasable and anywhere there's a decent 3G mobile phone signal the system should work.. But you do need to confirm that the secure server (well I hope it is secure as it's got private data on it) can be securely accessed from the internet..

Re: Ultra-noob with 3G query
 

Thanks Kymmy

I believe our server does allow VPN connections as Doctors connect to their computers from home (as well as the nursing homes in the current setup).

How do I find out if the secure server can be accessed from the internet?

Re: Ultra-noob with 3G query
 

How do the doctors from home connect? Do they dial directly in? or do they use thier own internet connections? If the latter then it's already all set up and a 3G netbook can be set up the same. If they dial in then a 3G netbook can do the same but you'll have to be carefull as you;re not using the internet option but a standard call option which can effect which card/network you use..

Re: Ultra-noob with 3G query
 

OK thanks, I'll look into it.

Am I best off just purchasing a netbook and contacting Vodafone/3 etc and setting up as I would a mobile?

Or are there companies dedicated to providing the full service for jobs like this?

Re: Ultra-noob with 3G query
 

A local IT Firm - will be able to provide support / setup the VPN - it's pretty easy to be honest

Re: Ultra-noob with 3G query
 

You could probably get a netbook/mobile 3g internet package all in one (would cost about £35 a month on contract) that'll be perfectly fine for the purposes as the software isn't that cpu/memory intensive