Hands0n
9th April 2008, 10:51 PM
Here is an abridged version of a rather full page of excellent information provided by Broadband Choices. These people, remember, are not 3G/HSPA oriented, to them and their clientele mobile broadband represents something of a potential threat. So it is interesting to see them getting themselves so well informed, key to making the correct commercial decisions going forward.
If you are new to mobile broadband, or wonder what the fuss is all about, then read through Talk3G where you will find a lot of good background information. Ask questions, most of us are practitioners of the art :) But whatever you do, make sure you read up on all the information, it is a bit of a minefield out there right now. Make the wrong decision and it could end up costing you dearly for the 18 months of your contract. Want to test the water? Well for just over £80 you could be working your way through your first 1GB allowance (that is one thousand million bytes of information) on a Pay as You Go no-contract deal from the likes of 3.
A revolution is taking place in the broadband market, and fast, affordable mobile broadband truly is setting the internet free - from as little as £10 a month.
Providers are lowering their costs, and expanding the range of their 3G mobile broadband networks so, along with super-fast cable and ADSL, mobile broadband - with a current top speed of 7.2Mb - is set to be a big thing in 2008.
What’s so great about mobile broadband?
For a start, it does exactly what it says on the tin; it makes broadband mobile. You simply sign up to your mobile broadband provider, who will supply you with a USB modem, or dongle, which you can plug into any PC you want, and connect to the internet wherever you are.
So if you’re on your way to an important meeting, taking a long train journey (though like a mobile phone, connectivity might be patchy), or just want to take your broadband with you everywhere you go, mobile broadband is the answer.
It also means that you can kiss goodbye to your line rental. Mobile broadband modems don’t connect to a phone line in your wall; they use the 3G network and connect to the internet wirelessly. And at £11 a month paying by direct debit to BT (www.BT.com), this could save you £132 a year.
And although the 3G network doesn’t cover the whole of the UK, it does connect almost 90 per cent of the country. At the end of 2006 providers 3 mobile broadband(www.Three.co.uk) and T-Mobile (www.T-Mobile.co.uk) joined forces to improve their coverage and boost speeds, with the plan to cover 98 per cent of the population with speeds of up to 7.2Mb by 2009.
The range of mobile broadband coverage even means that people who can’t get a traditional broadband connection because they live too far from their local exchange can access the internet with a 3G dongle.
Are there any drawbacks to mobile broadband?
Still in the early stages of mass adoption, there remain some drawbacks to mobile broadband. Cost has always been one of the biggest deterrents of mobile broadband; providers charged so much for downloads that it just wasn’t worth it. But now, 3 offers a connection with a 1GB allowance from only £10 a month, while other providers T-Mobile and Vodafone (www.Vodafone.co.uk) both apply fair usage policies to their packages.
Coverage can also be a problem in some areas, though all of the mobile broadband providers offer a service that allows you to check the coverage in your area. Make sure you find out what your coverage will be like before you sign up.
Speed was the last major hurdle for providers, but with Vodafone currently leading the pack with speeds of up to 7.2Mb, and 3 and T-Mobile looking to boost their speeds in the next year, this is no longer the issue it once was.
How much does it cost?
Each of the three providers has different pricing schemes; 3 is the cheapest, starting at £10 a month, but charges customers who go over their download limit, T-Mobile is the mid-range provider but costs are quite high unless customers sign a 24 month contract, and Vodafone is the most expensive of the pack, with a starting price of £25 a month.
However, each company offers a range of packages, including pay-as-you-go and even a pay-per-day package. So no matter how often, or how little, you want to use it, you’ll be able to find a suitable package.
What can I do with my Mobile Broadband download allowance?
It can be difficult to work out which package is right for you based on download allowances, but you can use this as a rough guide:
* 1GB of data lets you send 650 plain text emails and surf the web for 30 hours and download 30 two minute videos and download 60 music tracks
* 3GB of data lets you send 2,000 plain text emails and surf the web for 100 hours and download 100 two minute videos and download 200 music tracks
* 7GB of data lets you send 4,500 plain text emails and surf the web for 200 hours and download 200 two minute videos and download 400 music tracks
Is it difficult to set up?
Mobile broadband is the easiest of connections to set up. All of the modems offered by the UK’s three providers come with pre-loaded installation instructions so you simply plug in your dongle and it will automatically install the software you need to connect the internet.
Then, whenever you want to surf, you just plug your modem in, open the provider’s logo on your desktop, and away you go.
The full article and tariff tables are here (http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/partner-lp_massive-mobile-broadband-growth-090408/mobile-broadband-guide.html)
If you are new to mobile broadband, or wonder what the fuss is all about, then read through Talk3G where you will find a lot of good background information. Ask questions, most of us are practitioners of the art :) But whatever you do, make sure you read up on all the information, it is a bit of a minefield out there right now. Make the wrong decision and it could end up costing you dearly for the 18 months of your contract. Want to test the water? Well for just over £80 you could be working your way through your first 1GB allowance (that is one thousand million bytes of information) on a Pay as You Go no-contract deal from the likes of 3.
A revolution is taking place in the broadband market, and fast, affordable mobile broadband truly is setting the internet free - from as little as £10 a month.
Providers are lowering their costs, and expanding the range of their 3G mobile broadband networks so, along with super-fast cable and ADSL, mobile broadband - with a current top speed of 7.2Mb - is set to be a big thing in 2008.
What’s so great about mobile broadband?
For a start, it does exactly what it says on the tin; it makes broadband mobile. You simply sign up to your mobile broadband provider, who will supply you with a USB modem, or dongle, which you can plug into any PC you want, and connect to the internet wherever you are.
So if you’re on your way to an important meeting, taking a long train journey (though like a mobile phone, connectivity might be patchy), or just want to take your broadband with you everywhere you go, mobile broadband is the answer.
It also means that you can kiss goodbye to your line rental. Mobile broadband modems don’t connect to a phone line in your wall; they use the 3G network and connect to the internet wirelessly. And at £11 a month paying by direct debit to BT (www.BT.com), this could save you £132 a year.
And although the 3G network doesn’t cover the whole of the UK, it does connect almost 90 per cent of the country. At the end of 2006 providers 3 mobile broadband(www.Three.co.uk) and T-Mobile (www.T-Mobile.co.uk) joined forces to improve their coverage and boost speeds, with the plan to cover 98 per cent of the population with speeds of up to 7.2Mb by 2009.
The range of mobile broadband coverage even means that people who can’t get a traditional broadband connection because they live too far from their local exchange can access the internet with a 3G dongle.
Are there any drawbacks to mobile broadband?
Still in the early stages of mass adoption, there remain some drawbacks to mobile broadband. Cost has always been one of the biggest deterrents of mobile broadband; providers charged so much for downloads that it just wasn’t worth it. But now, 3 offers a connection with a 1GB allowance from only £10 a month, while other providers T-Mobile and Vodafone (www.Vodafone.co.uk) both apply fair usage policies to their packages.
Coverage can also be a problem in some areas, though all of the mobile broadband providers offer a service that allows you to check the coverage in your area. Make sure you find out what your coverage will be like before you sign up.
Speed was the last major hurdle for providers, but with Vodafone currently leading the pack with speeds of up to 7.2Mb, and 3 and T-Mobile looking to boost their speeds in the next year, this is no longer the issue it once was.
How much does it cost?
Each of the three providers has different pricing schemes; 3 is the cheapest, starting at £10 a month, but charges customers who go over their download limit, T-Mobile is the mid-range provider but costs are quite high unless customers sign a 24 month contract, and Vodafone is the most expensive of the pack, with a starting price of £25 a month.
However, each company offers a range of packages, including pay-as-you-go and even a pay-per-day package. So no matter how often, or how little, you want to use it, you’ll be able to find a suitable package.
What can I do with my Mobile Broadband download allowance?
It can be difficult to work out which package is right for you based on download allowances, but you can use this as a rough guide:
* 1GB of data lets you send 650 plain text emails and surf the web for 30 hours and download 30 two minute videos and download 60 music tracks
* 3GB of data lets you send 2,000 plain text emails and surf the web for 100 hours and download 100 two minute videos and download 200 music tracks
* 7GB of data lets you send 4,500 plain text emails and surf the web for 200 hours and download 200 two minute videos and download 400 music tracks
Is it difficult to set up?
Mobile broadband is the easiest of connections to set up. All of the modems offered by the UK’s three providers come with pre-loaded installation instructions so you simply plug in your dongle and it will automatically install the software you need to connect the internet.
Then, whenever you want to surf, you just plug your modem in, open the provider’s logo on your desktop, and away you go.
The full article and tariff tables are here (http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/partner-lp_massive-mobile-broadband-growth-090408/mobile-broadband-guide.html)