Mobile Broadband

What about Mobile Broadband speeds?

Depending upon the selected data plan, the speeds can go up to 7.2 Mbps in areas with 3G networks and up to 2 Mbps in areas with 2G networks.

How much will Mobile Broadband cost?

The cost depends upon the kind of data plan you choose. If you are a light internet user, you can get data plans for as low as £5 per month. If you are making regular or heavy use of internet you can get suitable data plans ranging from £15 to £35 per month. Let us have look at the mobile broadband offerings by some of the major UK mobile service providers:

O2 Mobile Broadband Contracts

The 'Pay Monthly' plans for 1 month contract charge you £9.99 for a USB dongle (O2 MF100) and monthly price from £5.00 to £15.00 for monthly data allowances of 500 MB to 2 GB.

The 'Pay Monthly' plans for 18 months contract charge you £9.99 for a USB dongle (O2 MF100 USB) and monthly price from £10.00 to £15.00 for monthly data allowances from 1 GB to 2 GB.

If the monthly data allowance is exceeded, you are charged at 2.4p per MB.

The 'Pay & Go' plans do not require any contract. The cost for a USB dongle (ZTE MF100) ranges from £19.99 to £34.99 depending upon the bundled data allowance (1GB to 2 GB) and validity period (24 hours to 3 months). Once the bundled data allowance is over, you can then buy daily access (£2 for 200 MB) or monthly access (£10 for 1 GB OR £15 for 2 GB).

O2 broadband users get unlimited access to its network of Wi-Fi hotspots.

Orange Mobile Broadband contracts

Orange offers 3 types of plans - Racoon Plans, Dolphin Plans and Panther Plans.

Racoon plans are for light internet use. If you choose a Racoon plan with 1 month contract length, you get a free USB dongle (Orange E1752) and monthly price of £10 for 1 GB monthly allowance. If you choose a Racoon plan with 18 months contract length, you get a free USB dongle (Orange E1752) and monthly price from £5 to £10 for monthly data allowances from 500 MB to 1.5 GB.

Dolphin plans are for moderate or regular internet use. If you choose a Dolphin plan with 1 month contract length, you get a free USB dongle (Orange E1752) and monthly price of £15 for 2 GB monthly allowance. If you choose a Dolphin plan with 18 months contract length, you get a free USB dongle (Orange E1752) and monthly price of £15 for 3 GB monthly allowance. Dolphin plans include unlimited surfing for 1 hour per day in addition to your monthly allowance. The happy hour timings can be chosen by the user from the slots of 8-9am, 12-1pm, 4-5pm, or 10-11pm.

Panther plans are for heavy internet usage. If you choose a Panther plan with 1 month contract length, you get a free USB dongle (Orange E1752) and monthly price of £25 for 10 GB monthly allowance. If you choose a Panther plan with 18 months contract length, you get a free USB dongle (Orange E1752) and monthly price of £35 for unlimited monthly allowance.

For all the above plans, you can get optional high performance antenna USB dongle (Orange 515m) for additional £20.

If you run out of data allowance for a month, further usage would cost 5p per MB on 1-month rolling contracts and 2p per MB on 18-month contracts. This is not applicable to Panther plan with unlimited data allowance.

In above plans, if you run out of data allowance for a month, you can purchase additional access from £5 to £20 for data packages from 1 GB to 10 GB. This is not applicable to plan that is exclusive to existing customers only or an unlimited 18 month Panther plan.

T-Mobile Broadband Contracts

T-mobile offers 3 types of plans - Pay per day, Pay monthly and Pay up front.

Pay per day plans cost £19.99 for USB dongle (T-610, 4GB built-in storage space) and tariff of £2 a day, £7 a week or £15 a month with an unlimited data allowance.

Pay monthly plan comes with free USB dongle (T-610, 4GB built-in storage space) and tariff of £10 a month for the first 3 months, then £15 a month with an unlimited data allowance and 18 month contract length.

Pay up front plan costs £39.99 for USB dongle (T-610, 4GB built-in storage space) and 90 day internet access with unlimited data allowance. After 90 days, you can opt for a pay per day plan.

Virgin Media Mobile Broadband Contracts

Virgin Media offers 2 types of plans - 1 GB tariffs and 3 GB tariffs.

1 GB tariff plan with 1 month contract length costs £24.99 for the USB dongle and £10 for 1 GB monthly data allowance. 1 GB tariff plan with 18 months contract length gives you a free USB dongle and costs you £10 per month for a 1 GB monthly data allowance.

3 GB tariff plan with 1 month contract length costs £24.99 for the USB dongle and £15 for 3 GB monthly data allowance. 3 GB tariff plan with 18 months contract length gives you a free USB dongle and costs you £15 per month for 3 GB monthly data allowance.

If you run out of your monthly data allowance additional usage will cost 1.46p per MB.

Vodafone Mobile Broadband Contracts

Vodafone offers 3 types of plans - Occasional user pay monthly, regular user pay monthly and Pay As You Go.

Occasional user pay monthly plan is for Vodafone customers only. It costs £19.99 for USB dongle, £3 per month as line rental, £2 per day for 500 MB data allowance with contract length of 1 month.

Regular user pay monthly plans have Starter, Standard, Premium and Ultimate packages, all of which come with free USB dongle and monthly cost from £15 to £25 with monthly data allowance from 3 GB to 5 GB. Starter option has 1 month contract length and the other options have 18 month contract length. Standard option comes with Basic PC protection (anti-virus, anti-spyware and auto-update) and 2 GB PC backup while Premium and Ultimate options come with Premium PC protection (anti-virus, anti-spyware, auto-update, Standard plus firewall, spam filters and control panel) and 20 GB PC backup.

Pay as you go plan costs £25 for USB dongle and includes 3 GB data allowance with validity period of 30 days. Any future top-ups of 3 GB data allowance with validity period of 30 days will cost you £15.

3 Mobile Broadband contracts

3 offer you 6 types of mobile broadband plans with different devices such as SIM, USB dongle, MiFi and iPad.

Mobile Broadband Pay Monthly plans cost you from £7.50 to £20 per month with monthly data allowances from 1 GB to 15 GB and contract length options of 1 month, 18 months or 24 months. Devices offered are SIM or USB dongle depending upon the option you choose.

Mobile Broadband Pay As You Go plans cost you from £19.99 to £79.99 with data allowances from 1 GB to 12 GB and validity period of 1 month, 3 months or 12 months. Device offered is USB dongle.

iPad monthly plans cost you from £7.50 to £15 per month with monthly allowances from 1 GB to 10 GB and 1 month contract length. Device offered is Micro-SIM.

iPad Pay As You Go plans cost you from £10 to £20 with data allowances from 1 GB to 3 GB and validity period from 1 month to 3 months. Device offered is Micro-SIM.

MiFi Pay Monthly plans cost you from £9.50 to £23 per month with data allowance from 1 GB to 15 GB and contract length of 1 month, 18 months or 24 months. The £23 per month plan here comes with 8 GB iPod touch, 15 GB monthly allowance and 24 month contract length. The device offered here is MiFi which is a pocket-sized portable hotspot and will allow you to connect up to 5 Wi-Fi capable devices to the internet.

MiFi Pay As You Go plans cost you from £59.99 to £179.99. For £59.99 you get a car charger and MiFi device so that you can use MiFi device in your car. For £179.99 you get MiFi device and 8 GB iPod touch.

Which plan should I opt for?

Take note of the following simple tips before opting for mobile broadband contract:

1. 1. Estimate your data usage per month. This will allow you to decide whether you want to opt for a Pay As You Go plan, a limited data allowance plan or an unlimited data allowance plan. You can find a mobile broadband data calculator here.
   
2. 2. Check the network coverage in your area. Visit the mobile service provider's website and look for the coverage checker link. This will allow you to check whether the mobile service provider covers your area or not. A good idea would be to check for areas where you travel regularly, like area where your office or college is located.
   
3. 3. Call up the mobile service provider and check for the 'per MB' charges that will be applicable to you after you have run out of your monthly data allowance. Based on your estimated data usage, you can calculate which type of plan will be economical for you. If you are planning to travel abroad, check for the data roaming charges.
   
4. 4. Check for the money back policy. This can be from 14 to 28 days depending upon the mobile service provider. This will allow you to get a refund in case you are not satisfied with the service.
   
5. 5. Ask yourself, what devices do I need to connect to the internet? For example, if you have a PC and an iPad, it would be better to opt for a MiFi. If you have only an iPad, it would make sense to go for a Micro-SIM. If you have a laptop or PC, it will make sense to go for a USB dongle.
   
6. 6. If you are about to buy a new laptop, iPod, iPad or a tablet like a Dell Streak, check all of the mobile service provider's websites for any ongoing mobile broadband offers that bundle these devices, but always make a decision keeping in mind your estimated data usage per month and what it will cost you.
   
7. 7. For those of you opting for unlimited data allowance plans, check for the fair usage limit with the mobile service provider as bandwidth is throttled once the fair usage limit is reached.
   

We've compared the cheapest Mobile Broadband deals from all the leading retailers. And the results are in below..