Latest mobile broadband reviews

by tony edwards
on 03 Jul 2009 14:33

2 months to go of an 18 month contract. soon be free of the rubbish. tried to cancel contract twice under their poor signal policy, no chance! the indian call centre is appalling, they read from a script and go round in constant circles, untill the customer loses the will to live, and hangs up in despair. 3 coverage checker has me on the edge between exellent and good. rubbish. speeds between 0-150 kbs are normal, with very occasional bursts upto 600 kbs. my advise is avoid 3 at all cost, but if you want to try it, make sure you return it in plenty of time.

by Mark
on 02 Jul 2009 11:09

Bought the dongle when O2 started the mobile broadband. I'm not a heavy user just need it for weekend travel. Usage has been fair though like all devices it can be really slow. I play WOW at weekends and have never gone over the allowance. Always checking the connection manager to make sure I am within it. This month I received an email to say I was approaching my limit, check the connection manager and it showed 988mb. Immediately thought a system error with O2, tried to reply to the email that came in the connection manager but can't, no reply available. Tried emailing the log of my connections in the manager but it was not allowed to go either. Continued using then found I could not get connected. Rang them yesterday to discover I had been disconnected - told I used 3.5 gb - 500mb over my allowance - and my bill instead of £14 was now £89! I explained that the connection manager has shown I have used 988mb this month, but was promptly told that it is highly unreliable - I should have checked online. But I explained their web site states that I can check my usage through the connection manager - here is the senence from their web site - "Windows users, you'll see your data usage above the View Usage button in Connection Manager. Click the 'View Usage' button to see details of your data bundle or change your settings."
But was still told that its unreliable and that the ONLY way to check usage is online.
I ended up cancelling the deal as I was on monthly contract after paying the £119 for the dongle. I now have a future bill for £89 - £75 for 500mb!!!! over the allowance and I still do not know how or where that usage came from.
Im not angry that I used over, if I did for I think the WOW may have been updating in the background as I played it, im angry because as I followed their instructions by checking constantly my usage on the connection manager, according to their web site, believing that it is accurate, only to be told now that it is highly inaccurate and I should not have been using it as a usage indicator.
£75 for 500mb over usage is immoral to say the least. How are these charges calculated, how does over usages of the same bandwidth and data cause the company that expense. Surely this is a penalty charge. Normally it is £2.33 for 500mb in allowance time - go over and that goes to £75 for 500mb!! HOW? Why s this being allowed to continue?
Anyway needed to let off steam. I still have mobile with o2 they hav good deals, but this mobile broadband is a serious money trap for them. If you get it dont go over your allowance and certainly dont believe the conneciton manager.

by Mark
on 02 Jul 2009 04:25

@steven

Your post baffles me. The automated service is what connects you to an operator. Follow an option that suggest having issues or faults. This will put you through to an operator that knows how to deal with the issue. Surely you don't expect to have a direct dial to someone? Just pressing any option may put you through to billing or sales or disconnections that wont be able to help and yet you will be more frustrated. Be patient and follow the correct option and you will be fine.

by Dave
on 02 Jul 2009 04:13

@Angryorangecustomer.

I feel your frustration, but have you not been using a data counter? Although not 100% accurate, Netlimiter Monitor is pretty good, and its free. Plus you can login at anytime on the Orange website and see where you are with your data. Not sure if that has just been introduced recently though. Using a data card is like running a car with no speedo and complaining when you get a speeding ticket.

Remember, everything your computer does is connected to the internet, so it maybe chewing up data.

1) Windows updates and Service Packs, IE updates
2) Software patches
3) Antivirus updates

Check for computer virus. Seriously a virus/worm or trojan could be causing your computer to do this and be downloading. You have used about 15GB.

The people you need to speak to at Orange are the "billing integrity team". You were probably speaking to an operator that was not part of the billing/integrity team. I had queries about phone calls once. They ended up telling me exactly when calls were made and what phone was used. My issue was my mate borrowed my sim and made some calls, when I got the bill, I went ape s*it and immediately rang Orange on a rampage. I forgot he used it and I ended up with egg on my face. nonetheless was good to vent some steam at a poor billing operator.

by Les
on 01 Jul 2009 15:10

Been using T-Mobile's Mobile Broadband service for about 4 years-first started with one of those PCMCIA card and now I use a dongle. The service where i live and work (Leeds and Sheffield area) is fantastic. I don't always get full signal and from time to time pages are a little slow to load. Generally speaking the speeds have been a consistent 2-3Mbps download and 300-400Kbps upload. Well done T-Mobile :o)