Easy to use but bad signal (3 Prepay Mobile Broadband Modem)

Member Name: eilidhcatriona

Product:	3 Prepay Mobile Broadband Modem
Date:	26/05/09 (25 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very easy to install and use

Disadvantages: I have a terrible signal

I recently bought the ZTE MF627 modem from 3 as I moved to a new flat and thought this might be a cheaper option than getting a landline and broadband.

The modem was £29.99 from a 3 shop, and was on Pay As You Go. When I bought it I added £10 worth of usage which gave me 1GB to use over the course of a month, and I could of course top that up again if it wasn't enough. For £15 you could have 3GB, or for £25 you could have 7GB. How much you spend depends on your internet usage. For 1GB 3 gives the following example of what you could do:

Send 1000 HTML/Outlook emails
Surf the web for 10 hours
Download 5 four-minute videos
Download 32 four-minute music tracks

This means you could do all of this, not one of the four. Now I don't do much at home apart from surf the web - I write reviews, look for bargains on Ebay, that kind of thing. Were I not using mobile broadband I would use BBC Iplayer, but to watch one programme on that would use half my 1GB.

I've had the modem for 2 weeks now and have used it daily, sometimes for 2 hours at a time and once for 8 hours while working from home, and I still have 900MB remaining - so I've used one 10th of what I have available. For me, 1GB is more than enough.

It's very easy to set up the modem. You get easy to follow instructions, and basically you only have to plug the modem into one of the USB ports on your computer and it installs itself. Once installed, every time you plug it in (I unplug it every time I shut down but you could leave it in) it takes a minute to register then comes up with the 3 connection toolbar and you click "Connect". When you're done, click "Disconnect". Also on this you can see the strength of your connection and which network you are on - there are three available, each faster than the previous one.

From the toolbar you can go to the "My3" website, which tells you how much of your purchased allowance you have used and how much you have left, and it is also where you top up. You buy a top up card like you would for topping up a pay as you go mobile, enter the number on this site and choose what you want to do with it - so here you would choose Data Usage and how much (1GB for a £10 top up etc).

I can't deny how easy to use this is, but it really is not good for me. I was planning to go with O2 as I have my mobile phone with them and have always liked them, however once I moved into my new flat I discovered the signal is rubbish. So a friend suggested I try 3 instead as they are known to be good for mobile broadband.

However, the signal for me is still rubbish, which make performance VERY slow (worse than the dial up I had 7 years ago). It switches between the three networks all the time, and once tried to charge me to go onto the Orange network, and I only ever have 1 out of 5 bars of signal. I've checked on the 3 website, and my area of West London has good coverage so I shouldn't have a problem - my guess is that it is the flat that is to blame, given the problem I have with my O2 mobile.

So although 3 mobile broadband is not good for me in terms of signal, the modem and the use of the connection are very good. It's easy to use and set up, and the toolbar makes it easy to see what your connection is like. However, it is worth keeping in mind that you may also get a bad signal - after all, I apperantly live in a good signal area, so I wouldn't expect it to be as bad as it is, even with a possibly signal-blocking flat!

Summary: Be wary of whether you will get a good signal

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