3 Mobile Broadband - Is It Worth It? (3 Prepay Mobile Broadband Modem)

Member Name: Anth-21

Product:	3 Prepay Mobile Broadband Modem
Date:	03/01/09 (183 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick to set up and makes you truly mobile

Disadvantages: Service can be temperamental

For consumers looking to access the internet on the move at comparable speeds to fixed internet access, mobile broadband is worth considering.

I signed up to an 18 month deal with 3 mobile for their 5GB monthly package costing £15 per month. They currently offer a range of pay monthly deals ranging from 1GB through to 7GB on a 12month contract where you have to pay for the modem (priced at around £48.93), or 1GB through to 15GB on the 18month contract where the modem is bundled free. The cost of these plans range from a minimum of £10 per month to £30 per month.

The reason I chose 3 Mobile broadband was because they were offering a short term promotion. When I checked the coverage their network provided in my area I was also impressed. Compared to T-Mobile and Vodafone, 3 Mobile offers HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) UK Coverage of 90% (T-Mobile 84% and Vodafone 81%).

They are also upgrading their network over the next 2 years so that by the early 2009 98% of the population will be covered. The final tranche of network improvement will take place in 2010.

HSDPA is the new standard for sending data over the mobile telephony network at broadband speeds. The data is sent in small packets (similar to the internet) in order to ensure that data is transmitted in a reliable and controllable manner. Mobile broadband from 3 enables data to be sent at speeds up to 2.8Mbps (the current theoretical maximum is 3.6Mbps). As part of the upgrades being rolled out, the maximum speed will gradually be increased across the United Kingdom by 2010.

It is worth noting that because the signal is being sent wirelessly, there are certain factors that will affect the service you receive. The closer you are to the signal (the mast) the faster the internet speed you will receive. If a larger number of users are using the same mast at the same time, the slower and less reliable the service you will receive. And as with wireless internet access in general, obstacles such as trees, tall buildings etc. that stand between you and the signal will interfere with the quality of the service you receive.

At present, 3 offer a range of mobile dongles. These devices are all USB and come preinstalled with the drivers you need to set it up on your system. They are easy to set up as you only need to follow the onscreen prompts. Each of the dongles is compatible with Windows XP and Vista. It is also possible to install some of these on Linux machines, but you may require further drivers to enable this (these can be downloaded).

My dongle was a Huawei E156 model (Huawei are a Chinese conglomerate who specialise in the telecommunications sector) which was similar in size and appearance to a standard USB drive. It was a well built and robust device that was also nice to look at (if you understand what I mean hear!).

It was easy to set up on my Windows Vista operating system and I was up and running in no time.

The service I currently receive is temperamental. I find that early in the morning it is more difficult for the dongle to locate a signal. At certain times during the day it slows down quite dramatically, although I put this down to the volume of users on the network at that time. I think that once the network improvements are introduced to my area this will improve.

I am pleased with the service overall but would not be able to rely on this as my owenly means of connecting to the internet (luckily I also have fixed internet access).

Summary: A good service that will get better once the network upgrades are completed

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