Playing games online is a demanding task for a lot of fixed line broadband services so playing games on a mobile broadband connection may not always be smooth running.
Basically, successful game playing will be heavily reliant on how good your signal is. If you’re playing action games where speed and quick responses are essential then this may pose some problems. Online gaming relies on good ‘ping’ or ‘response’ times. Although it’s set to improve, even at peak performance mobile broadband at the moment barely scrapes by.
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No, of course not! When you sign up to a mobile broadband service it’s completely up to you whether you stick to the provider that gives you your home broadband or not. For example, you could be with Be Broadband for your home service and then kit yourself up with a 3 Mobile Broadband dongle for when you’re out and about and need to access the internet away from your main computer.
The only thing to bear in mind is that you could be receiving TWO lots of monthly subscription bills instead of one. The good news is that you should be able to make use of more bundled home and mobile broadband packages in the near future. O2 recently announced that they will be offering a £20 per month mobile broadband package that helps you to make use of a free 8Mbps home service for one year for everyone signing up between 1st August and 31st October. Expect to see more ISPs following suit!
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Have you ever noticed signs in independent mobile phone store windows, or vendors on the street stating ‘we can unlock your mobile’. When you purchase a mobile phone from a phone retailer it’s set so that it will only work with that provider’s SIM card. If customers spot a better deal somewhere else, like a cheaper talking time, and are on pay-as-you-go it’s not uncommon to hear that someone got their phone ‘unlocked’ so they could get a new network SIM card working in their own mobile.
When you buy yourself a mobile broadband dongle it works in the same way – it’s fixed to work only with the provider you bought the dongle off of in the first place. Unlocking a mobile broadband dongle is a sore point for all internet service providers as it means that they lose out on revenue, especially if the dongle was offered at a knock-down price as part of a subscription deal or offer.
Unlocking a mobile gadget isn’t an illegal process but you carry out the unlocking at your own risk. Once the dongle has been tampered with you stand no chance in getting any service from any provider if it becomes faulty – so it’s definitely not advised!
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Keep an eye out for great offers when signing up to a new mobile broadband package. The deals change all of the time but if you scout around you could get a USB dongle or even a free laptop thrown into the mix.
Generally, packages that include free gadgets are longer in subscription length so this means you are obliged to stick with this service provider for a longer period of time. A free laptop may sound like a great choice but it is vital to sit down and work out how much you will be spending on your service and whether you can afford it before you sign on the dotted line.
Currently, the main mobile broadband service providers are offering the following bundled deals:
T-Mobile
·   Free USB modem stick or Free USB modem for all £10 or £30 24-month mobile broadband contracts
·   Free USB modem for £20 or £35 12-month mobile broadband contracts
·   Free Acer laptop with USB modem on 24 month contract through Carphone Warehouse
3-Mobile
·   Free USB modem on most 12-month pay monthly mobile broadband plans excluding Broadband Lite
·   Free Acer laptop with USB modem on 18 month contract through Carphone Warehouse
Vodafone Mobile Broadband
·   Free USB Modem Stick, USB Modem 7.2, ExpressCard or USB Modem Stick Lite on all 24 month mobile broadband plans
·   Free USB Modem Stick Lite on 5GB 12-month mobile broadband plan (£21.28 a month)
Orange
·   Free Orange Broadband Dongle with Internet Everywhere package
·   Free Asus laptop for 24-month mobile broadband customers (£25 a month)
O2
·   Free O2 USB Modem for 18-month mobile broadband customers (£20 a month)
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In short - no. As long as you feel confident that you can use your laptop on the move and it has a good battery life then you won’t need any special upgrades in order to access your mobile broadband service. USB dongles generally support both Windows and Mac OS X platforms, but if you’re operating on an older operating system then you should be aware that installation may pose a problem.
Alternatively, Vodafone has just announced that they are offering new Lenovo laptops to their mobile broadband customers that eliminates the need to purchase a separate USB dongle, modem or data card altogether. These new ThinkPad notebooks come with mobile broadband built-in and pre-installed. The advantage of getting a brand spanking new laptop in this case is that you can access unlimited data coverage around Europe, USA, Japan and Hong Kong for a set rate of £8.50 per day.
Expect more in-built mobile broadband laptops popping up in the near future.
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When you bag yourself a new mobile broadband USB dongle no doubt the device’s specifications will mention both download speeds and upload speeds. You’re probably asking yourself why there is such a difference. On average, dongles at the moment can achieved download speeds of 7.2 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 Mbps.
Download speed is the rate at which you can connect to the internet and affects that speeds at which all data can be transferred onto your PC. This could be anything from loading a web page to downloading a feature-length movie or an MP3 track. Download speeds should always be taken as a guide as you can never guarantee that you will be able to download content at this speed.
In contrast, upload speed is that rate at which data from your own machine can be uploaded through the internet. This is particularly useful if you regularly upload content like your holidays pics to sites like Flickr or Photobox, or add video to YouTube. Whilst upload speeds often fall into the background they are very important to those who do a lot of uploading (if you work from home, for example).
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When you sign up to a mobile broadband service you may not have a choice between the type of data device you get to make use of your service. However, if you are searching from scratch the difference between your devices could be the deciding factor.
The USB dongle is a popular choice because it is very small and easily transportable. There are no awkward cables to contend with and you simply plug your USB dongle into your laptop’s USB port and away you go! Keep an eye out for new USB dongles like the Sony Ericsson MD400 and MD400g as these will double up as memory storage devices as well as letting you enjoy 7.2Mbps HSDPA and 2.0Mbps HSUPA.
The USB Modem is a little different and a bit bulkier. This might be a pain if you are already having to carry around extra peripherals like a mouse, however, unlike the USB dongle it’s less likely to get mislaid very easily. With the USB modem you slide in a SIM card to the side. This in theory means that you should be able to access any web package provided you have a dedicated SIM card, just like a mobile phone!
Data Cards are compatible with PCs and now some newer Macs as well. Data cards allow you to slide the sim card from your network provider into a bay on the side of the card - which can then be slotted into your laptop. Newer generation laptops come with a specially designed plug for this, but the data cards come with an adapter for use on older PCs. Data Cards are becoming less common place in favour of USB dongles so it’s probably better to stay clear of these in favour of the former.
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The good news is “yes” - there is a new mobile broadband package designed specifically for newcomers to broadband. 3 has just launched brand new Mobile Broadband Starter Kits for Pay As You Go customers. Bundled in with the package users will find a Mobile Broadband ZTE or Huawei e220 dongle pre-loaded with data. This means that users will be able to plug in and surf with no need to top up the dongle beforehand.
Kits are available with various amounts of pre-paid credit that must be used over a choice of 3, 12 or 24 months. Once the credit has expired or exhausted then the dongles can be topped up as per usual. Unfortunately, there isn’t a kit that will explain the whole set-up concept through from start to finish, but this will give you a bit more leeway to get used to your new mobile broadband without having to learn how to top up your dongle as well.
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It’s important to remember that mobile broadband services do not guarantee that you’re able to pick up coverage from anywhere around the country. Before you sign up to a mobile broadband package it is absolutely vital that you check the service’s coverage information to make sure that you would be able pick up a connection where you live. If you regularly travel to a different location to visit family, friends or for work then make sure that this area is covered by your preferred provider too.
Because mobile broadband has become such an integral part of our lives it’s amazing to think that most mobile broadband services have only been up and running for a maximum of 12 months. Because of this, coverage is still very much in its infancy. However, more locations are being added all the time, so it’s worth re-checking every couple of months.
To check coverage areas you will need to visit the service provider’s dedicated mobile broadband website and either view a map or type in your postcode. You can find network coverage informations from the most popular ISPs here:
3 - http://www.three.co.uk/personal/help_support_/network_coverage_/index.omp
O2 - http://www.webmap.o2.co.uk/help.asp
Orange - http://web.orange.co.uk/coverage/?channel=direct/
T-Mobile - http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/coverage/street-check/
Vodafone - http://maps.vodafone.co.uk/coverageviewer/web/default.aspx
To ensure your chosen location will allow you to access your mobile broadband service keep an eye out for either 3G or HSDPA tags. 3G is the current common mobile broadband data network whilst HSDPA is the new high speed network that will provide mobile internet at fixed-line broadband speeds.
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There are more horror stories than ever of customers being charged thousands of pounds by their ISP for going over their mobile broadband download cap – especially if they were downloading whilst abroad whilst roaming. However, if you take the time to learn about the package you’ve signed up to and be realistic about the amount of data you download there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy your mobile broadband without the worry of getting a shock bill through your letterbox.
When you sign up to a mobile broadband package you will have to choose a monthly download allowance figure, for instance, 1GB for £10 a month subject to an agreed length of contract (normally 12, 18 or 24 months). If you go over your download allowance you will be charged a set amount per additional MB of data you download during the month. Every operator is different and handles the additional fees in their own way so it’s important to read the small print – especially as additional fees change all the time.
Currently, mobile broadband operator 3 charges 10p per MB if the inclusive allowance is exceeded, Vodafone charges £12.77 per additional GB and O2 charges 20p per additional MB (until the 31st October 2008). However, these prices escalate if the additional data allowance is accrued overseas, if a roaming package hasn’t been chosen – that’s where the real nightmares start!
Unfortunately even ‘unlimited broadband packages’ like T-Mobile’s Web’n’walk packages have a fair use policy, usually around 3GB per month. So even if you’ve signed up to this you may still incur speed restrictions if your provider thinks you’re being greedy with your data allowance.
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