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Three Modem Reviews
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3 Contract Mobile Broadband Modem
by caustin10 I took out a 2 year contract for 3 mobile broadband just over a year ago. Price wise you couldn't beat it at the time: 15gb broadband/month for £15/month was far better than its rivals. Signing up to it was remarkably easy as well, I can't have been in the shop longer than ten minutes and within twenty minutes of the purchase I was ... online on my laptop. Anyway, the 3 modem looks and feels very much like a wireless network adapter. You just need to insert the sim card inside it, pull off the cap and plug it into a USB slot. The 3 software will then auto install and open up. This will then show you how much signal strength you have and will give you an option to click a button to connect...well that is the theory at least. More often than not you wait for the click to connect button to light up...it doesn't...you unplug and plug in the modem and try again. Several attempts later you get online. The connection programme is fairly basic to look at but it is quite handy as it also allows you to see how much of your 15gb allowance you have used up. You can also use the programme to send text messages but be aware this will set you back 10p each time. One bugbear of mine is that in the last few months they have included adverts on the right hand side of the screen. You can't even slide the programme off the edge of the screen to try hide them as it will just bounce back to the middle :-( Having used in many different locations I don't feel that I was given all the necessary information at the time of purchase. The sales assistant told me that 3 had the best reception of any of the networks and showed me a map of the country detailing where you would be able to get online and where you couldn't. The major areas with no reception were in the far reaches of Scotland and as I rarely go there I was happy to make the purchase. On reflection the map is mostly accurate but there are some areas where I should get a signal but cannot. What was not explained though was that the variation in speed from one area to the next is huge. In Cardiff I whizzed along quite happily at broadband speed but in Birmingham it was like using an old fashioned dial up modem i.e. forget streamig video, downloading anything and be prepared for a long wait when opening webpages. I could accept that as par for the course if it wasn't for the fact that I can connect my o2 mobile to my laptop and in general connect at much faster speeds. In the last couple of weeks 3 have issued some auto updates that do seem to have improved speed and first time connection rates. I have only tried this in a couple of different places so I'll reserve judgement for now at least. At the end of the day though I wont be renewing my contract next year. I can get unlimited internet on my mobile for half the price of this 3 deal and can just dial up with that instead. Read the complete review |
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3 Contract Mobile Broadband Modem
by stufflover I, until some what recently, used to be on 3 mobile broadband for my laptop. I got a new laptop from Vodafone which has built in mobile broadband, so I no longer needed to be with 3, and I gave the modem to my Nan and Grandad to use. The 3 modem costs £15 a month, and this gives me (well now my grandparents) 5GB a month of Data ... Usage. I originally had the older style dongle modem, but when 3 changed their USB modems they sent me their newer one, which is just a USB Stick Modem, similiar to a USB memory stick. It is black, and made from a smooth coated plastic. It has a 3 logo printed on it, and there is a removeable cap which reveals the USB connection. There is a little LED light near the bottom of the modem, which will be green when you are connected to the internet, and red when there is a problem with it. When not plugged into a USB port, there will be no light on. The USB Modem is very light and slim, so it is not the easiest thing to not lose if you do not keep it plugged into the computer, like my grandparents do lol. The modem has a sim card in it from 3, which enables the mobile broadband connection. If you do not have a sim card in the modem, it will not be able to connect to the internet. To be able to use the modem, you have to install the 3 mobile broadband software. This is already on the USB Modem, and when you plug it into your computer for the first time, it will automatically start the installation of the connection software. This only takes a couple of minutes, and as soon as it is installed it is ready to go, there is no need to even restart the computer. To get online, you have to click on the 3 symbol that will have been installed onto your desktop, and allow the software to load up. Then you just click on the connection button and within 15 seconds, you will be online. The modem itself is pretty good, although I have had many problems with it dropping connection, even in areas of great signal strength. I used to get very ratty with it, as the signal dropped quite often at times, and in some places I would just never get any signal and could not get online at all. This was more of a problem when I had the older style modem, but I still have the problem now with the newer modem, just not as often. I still can not get online in a lot of places because of the signal. Personally I am a lot happier with my Vodafone mobile broadband, and I will be sticking with them. All in all, this modem works pretty well, and it is sturdy enough to cope with the amount of times it has been dropped and bounced. I personally would not go back to a USB modem, as I prefer built in connections for my laptop. Since using built in mobile broadband, I do not recommend using USB modems, as they can be easily lost or broken and they can be annoying whilst sticking out of the side of a laptop. Because of these problems, I do not recommend the 3 Contract Broadband Modem, and also because of the signal dropping problems. Read the complete review |
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3 Contract Mobile Broadband Modem
by inkjet I first got a Three Mobile Broadband contract modem nearly three years ago. At the time it was one of the first providers of mobile broadband and there were a number of different options available. I opted for the 3Gb per month option at a cost of £15 per month with a free modem on a 24 month contract. (I believe that current ... available deals are more favourable and that you can now for example get 5Gb per month with a one month contract). Prior to getting this device I was using dial-up internet, and as I was considering a house move I didn't want to commit to a fixed line broadband contract. I like the flexibility that I can take this mobile broadband with me when I visit family or friends and that I don't even need to bother with a fixed line phone anymore. Normally mobile broadband is associated with laptops, but I use it with my desktop PC. Any reasonably modern PC or laptop should be able to support it. You connect the modem to the USB port and it is really simple to set up. When you want to connect to the internet you just click the icon to open the connection manager and then the Connect button, rather similar to how you connect with dial up internet. Mobile broadband is certainly much faster then dial up, but doesn't compare with fixed line broadband. I've found the connection reasonably reliable, although not perfect. At peak times for the internet it does seem to occasionally struggle a little and lose connection or be difficult to connect. There is far less disruption to the service though than I was used to with dial up. I mostly use the internet for browsing and emails. I very rarely download, but have occasionally have downloaded music and it has worked ok. Mobile broadband would't be suitable for anyone who watches tv online or does a lot of downloading due to the limited bandwith. If you use more than the bandwidth you have paid for each month the charges are extremely high, but I personally have never got near my limit although I spend a lot of time on the internet. There is an accelerator program available free to download from the three website that allows compression (which reduces bandwith usage by reducing the quality of pictures etc). This works ok and is worth using to keep bandwidth usage down to a minimum. I've found though that there is an independent paid for service (costing £24.99 per year) called Onspeed which does is a similar idea, but works much better and has a wider range of quality settings. Overall I'm more than happy with my choice of Three Mobile Broadband, and I'm still using it as my main internet connection today nearly 3 years later. Would I choose it again? Probably, but I think the availability now of cheap pay as you go mobile broadband means I would be more likely to go down the pay as you go route than another contract. Read the complete review |
Three Modem |
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15 reviews Manufacturer: Three / Modem / Maximum download speed: 3.6 Mbps / Maximum upload speed: 384 Kbps / Network interface: USB 2.0 / Sleek, sophisticated design / Compatible with Windows Vista, XP and Mac OS X. - Enjoy broadband speed internet wherever you go. |
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5 reviews Manufacturer: Three / Modem Type: External / Interface Type: USB |
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| Three Modem Recommendations 1 | ||
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