Vodafone mobile broadband

Vodafone overview

Good range of pay monthly mobile broadband packages from short 1 or 6 months, to the usual 12n- 24 months, plus 'free' laptop deals
PAYG product has data top ups which don't expire within a 30-day period, unlike some of the other PAYG deals around (although you will loose your credit if you don't use your account for 270 days; you can ask for your account credit to be re-activated if you don't use it for 180 days).
Vodafone's new "flat rate, never pay more than' mobile broadband plan means you won't ever pay more than the fixed monthly fee - there are no excess charges. There is a fair usage limit of 5GB, but Vodafone say they will not cap/disconnect you if you go over this - if 5GB is exceeded repeatedly, they'll contact you to find a more appropriate plan)

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Best selling Vodafone mobile broadband deals

Hardware	Price/mth	Speed(Up to)	Downloads(limit)	Contract
Laptop info»	£40.00 Only £35 for existing Vodafone customers	7.2Mb	3 GBper month	24 months	Go
Dongle info»	PAYG £39.00 setup Top up for £15 per GB FREE �15 top up included	3.6Mb	N/A	NO CONTRACT	Go
Dongle info»	£18.00 + VAT	7.2Mb	5 GBper month	18 months	Go

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Vodafone road test

Vodafone Road test

Downloads: 4 stars
Uploads: 5 stars
Most stable: 3 stars
Coverage: 5 stars
Feelgood factor: 3 stars
Dongle software: 3 stars
Overall rating: 4 stars

May 2009

Vodafone supplied us with the Huawei E172, notable for having a piece of string 'handily' attached to the cap. Attaching it the other end would seem far more sensible, as has been proven by the two we've had both having the string rendered useless by coming away from the cap, so that it just gets in the way. A nice idea, but badly executed. However, style aside, with Voda confidently advertising speeds of up to 7.2Mb, the quickest on the market at this time, we were expecting fireworks on our road trip.

When inserted into a laptop USB slot, the E172's software runs without any fuss and we were ready to get surfing within a couple of minutes. However, on subsequent uses it seemed a little temperamental to start up and had to be run by double-clicking the icon via 'my computer' – it didn't appear in the start menu either, or place a desktop icon, unlike the others we used.

Once you've got the user interface up and running, the software isn't the best on show either; we much preferred the software from T-Mobile, Virgin Media and Orange. For example, the front page wasted about 50 per cent of the available space with, well, nothing – just a big blank space. This area is used for a snazzy graph by Virgin Media and T-Mobile, who also do a much better job of displaying speeds and usage. The 'view usage' tab is nice though, letting you set your own limits by time or volume.

Overall analysis of the Mobile Broadband Genie Road Trip 2009

by Chris Marling May 2009

About Vodafone

When it comes to standing the test of time, Vodafone wins hands down. It has been in the mobile business since the start and the same goes for 3G mobile broadband: it has a good name across the board, from reliability to service, and much like its branding it relies on reputation rather than flashy bells and whistles. Vodafone claims the fastest 'up to' mobile internet speed currently available in the UK, at 7.2Mb, although we haven't noticed it performing noticeably better than any other mobile broadband products we've tested. It is also pretty much the only choice right now for overseas mobile broadband data deals, although it is still expensive.

Vodafone is the only British owned mobile broadband UK network: it has operations in more than 20 countries and is in fact the biggest mobile network company in the world (by turnover). Launched in 1985, it was one of the UK's original two mobile networks (alongside BT Cellnet, now O2). Vodafone helped pioneered mobile broadband, launching mobile broadband for business customers in 2004 and for consumers shortly afterwards. October 2008 saw the first of its so-called 'free' laptop deals, throwing in a Dell laptop and dongle on a long term mobile internet contract. It launched 'top up and go' in December 2008 - the first UK pay as you go mobile broadband service where top-ups do not expire (well, not for 270 days anyway, which is certainly better than the normal 30 days).

Vodafone announced a network infrastructure collaboration with O2 in March 2009 - the biggest deal of its kind in the world to date. The two mobile internet providers will build future mobile sites together, as well as merging existing ones, aiming to improve coverage, future-proof their network and of course cut costs.

Vodafone customer reviews

Show all 93 Vodafone Mobile Broadband reviews»

by Mark
at 04:25 on 2 Jul 2009

@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 Steven
at 20:02 on 30 Jun 2009

Can someone post and tell me how the hell do i contact Vodafone i have tried ringing but all i get is a stupid automative service i want to talk to a human being! My dongle has gone from 3G to a 2G and is slow as hell and doesnt connect at all now so i want to speak to them and ask why is this.
Do not get a Vodafone dongle they are s**te!

by Loki
at 05:10 on 20 Jun 2009

Initially I started out with a Huawei Mobile Connect ExpressCard (I asked for an ExpressCard specifically when signing up). For some reason, Vodafone have signed me up as a business customer because of this - according to them I own my own company and I can sign up as many contracts as I like on the account. I'm a student, so clearly this is rubbish - but I do enjoy the priority support.

The Huawei modem was merely acceptable in terms of speed - when I could find a signal, of course - and that was pretty difficult. Vodafone's Mobile Connect software was pretty poor, with a useless 'usage meter' (as it will only start counting from the start of the calendar month, not the start of the billing month! what's the point?). It packed up completely after six months or so, during which time I got very little use.

Phoned Vodafone, and within 10 minutes a replacement modem had been ordered. Turns out they sent me an even better modem as a replacement - an Option ExpressCard (aka. GlobeTrotter). This has been very, very good - the dual antenna means I get a good signal and a decent speed with few dropouts (none when stationary), and there is a socket on the modem into which I can attach an external antenna for additional signal. The other advantage is that I can use Option's software - all I have to do is plug the modem in, and as soon as Windows sees it's there, it loads the software and connects me automatically - no 'connect' button in sight! Far better experience, but a more expensive modem.

Vodafone's overage policy for contracts is better than most - for example, at the time of writing o2 will charge you 19.6p for each MB over, meaning for a GB you will pay in the region of �195 for a GB - and Three will charge just over �100. Vodafone have a flat rate of �15 for a GB, which is fairer.

In a more general sense:
The basic Huawei modem on sale by the networks is rubbish - it's cheaply made and has a poor antenna. That's why they're �39 on pay as you go! The 'USB Modem Stick Pro' that Vodafone have on offer for contract customers is a much better proposition, as it has a dual antenna system in addition to better software (as it too is made by Option). T-Mobile are the other network to offer this modem - Orange, Three, o2 and Virgin only offer the cheaper Huawei (and in Three's case, ZTE) modems to all customers, and they are the main cause of issues.

Vodafone should not be stating that the service is 7.2mbps. While they have rolled out 7.2mbps in a number of major airports, this is hardly nationwide coverage - and the fact of the matter is that when you zoom out the coverage map (http://maps.vodafone.co.uk) to show the whole of the UK, only a few major cities are actually covered by 'proper' 3G (red) at all. I'm not surprised that the majority of comments are negative - most customers not in a big city will be in an area that is only covered by the 1.8mbps service, and 1.8mbps is the fastest possible speed in perfect conditions - this is a far cry from the 7.2mbps that Vodafone claim.

Mobile 'broadband' is a complete misnomer right now, and something should be done about it.

by T | registered | 3 posts
at 22:51 on 12 Jun 2009

Tried 3 Mobile broadband, was really bad, could never get on or would get cut off. Now have vodafone and it is brill, never have a problem gettin on or getting cut off. he downside, cant play games over the internet which I find frustrating. Maybe its not fast enough?

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