[getti]

Vodafone is offering a new mobile broadband deal for businesses, angled at those who want to know exactly what their monthly bill will be, rather than run the risk of a small coronary when they see how much going over their data limit costs them.

Aimed at customers for which 3GB is not quite enough, the just-launched tariff offers 5GB's worth of data for £18 a month charge.

Vodafone says "customer research" has shown that 5GB is "an ideal amount of data for small businesses to have at their disposal".

A "Stick Pro" USB dongle is thrown in for anyone signing their life away on 24-month plans, but the £18/5GB offer is also available on a 30-day, 12- or 18-month basis.

£ 18.00 a month for the life of your contract (£ 20.70 inc. VAT)

With Flat rate - never pay more - You can use mobile broadband to download large attachments, video clips and browse. You can be assured that you will never pay more than £18.00 per month ex VAT.

Thats more like it!. Even the pro modem is available on 30 day deals on the site for £60!.

So £60 for a modem on a 30 day contract, 5GB fair use and no charge for going over.

Thats a good deal!

[Hands0n]

I wonder if this is Vodafone positioning themselves for the iPhone in June :) Getting used to letting people have large amounts of data must be quite a culture shock for Vodafone :D

It makes a significant departure for Vodafone to switch to "fair use" rather than the charge-by-megabyte formula they use on their other data tariffs. There is hope that they'll extend this to all of their mobile broadband propositions.

[Ben]

Nice, should be able to 'downgrade' to this :D avoided the other tariffs due to the per GB excess charges.

[getti]

I will admit, i am tempted by this offer myself. If i can get 5GB of fair use data so not get charged if i go over (T-Mob do this already) on a 30 day contract like it says online is possible and buy the modem for £60 then i will get one!.

Vodafone also now have the N97 as coming soon (July) on their site which is a good sign.

[Hands0n]

You got any links? I can't find these PAYG offers on the Vodafone website! Must be me eyes :D

[getti]

Its not a PAYG offer as such its a 30 day contract. Link is http://www.vodafonebusinessshop.co.uk/DataWelcome.html

Says for small business use but I managed to get one today and am using it now to write this,

Top though, seems in store its only the white one with the deal online have black, but as i knew the guys in there and they knew i wanted black they sold me the white and then did an exchange for a black one :).

So far so good, installed on my mac mini and feels pretty much the same speed as my Virgin home line for browsing so i am impressed.

Vodafone, if your watching, well done, you are making your way back into my good books!

[Hands0n]

I have to say that is a marvelous deal - I'd be willing to change over to that when my £15/3GB runs out later this year ... The extra £5 for what is essentially peace of mind that you won't get killed by the mobile network operator for the odd time you drift over is appealing.

I can see myself advocating this approach to those who seem not to be able to get ADSL or Cable where they live. Or those who want a completely financially stress-free mobile experience.

Now we need something put together for the holidaymakers to use when abroad without ruining the holiday on the return.

[getti]

Well a day in and i am VERY pleased with the results!.

Just ran the same speed test 10 times to get a average speed and attached are the results.

Between 2.3mb/s and 2.7mb/s download and upload of between 800kb/s to 1mb/s

Living out in Torquay this is great speeds and my guess is it helps im by a new mast too.

[Hands0n]

How did you do the charting? By yourself or is that from a speedtest site you used? Always nice to see a chart :)

[getti]

i used http://www.mybroadbandspeed.co.uk/

[3g-g]

I do like charts & graphs myself!

[miffed]

I agree totally !

[miffed]

Trying to think of 10 characters when you only want to post a picture is hard !

[Ben]

You two both need your heads knocking together, you know that?

[3g-g]

Quite impressed with that hijack! ;)

[3GScottishUser]

This deal seems to be the market leader now.

Truly unlimited 3G data (and Vodafone have 7.2Mb/s in some areas) for a shade over £20 a month.

Vodafone should market this deal to private customers as many now select 3G mobile broadband in preference to BT/Virgin services because they have no use for a landlaine for calls or have credit issues which prevent them getting a fixed line connection.

I think we are now seeing the true price of mobile data at long last and it looks more realistic and accessable as time progresses.

[getti]

I'm picking up a Samsung NC-10 netbook tomorrow and will be taking it with my new Vodafone modem to Barcelona when i go 9th May.

£9.99 for 24hrs will be really handy to keep in touch and i get good speeds here too.

[3GScottishUser]

£9.99 for 24hrs will be really handy to keep in touch and i get good speeds here too.

What a bargain!!!

Maybe checkout if there is some free Wi-Fi??

Most hotels and public places like McDonalds have free Wi-Fi and Spain & Portugal have lots of council provided free Wi-Fi areas.

Quite often you dont need to pay mobile ops for the Internet when travelling!!

[Hands0n]

Yea, in Turkey it cost me a glass of coke a day to use the local bar's WiFi (Guven bar if you're ever in Chalis). Reasonable speeds - friendly German Shepherd pup, very nice breakfasts too ... and WiFi ... what more could a man want :D