What do you think about mobile broadband with 3?
Question by Charlie Brigante: What do you think about mobile broadband with 3?
If you use mobile broadband, how do you rate it? I’m looking at a contract with 3 (three) for 7GB monthly allowance on an up to 2.8Mps connection. Has anyone got a similar mobile broadband package? Any feedback would be welcome. Serious answers only please! Thx
Best answer:
Answer by iamperfectnewton
These mobile packages have very limited data packages and speeds; so are only suitable if you *NEED* to use a laptop regularly in public places, and can’t connect to wireless networks.
Because they use the phone network, they are limited to quite low speeds (not broadband at any rate) and also they limit you to how much you can upload/download (which means viewing websites, accessing IM/MSN, etc). You WILL go over the allowance, which WILL cost you a bomb.
Plus three’s phone network is quite patchy and unstable, unlike the networks operated by the other mobile networks (o2, vodaphone, etc) so you’re bound to have problems.
In my view, its better to just use existing wireless networks; many are offered free city centres; such as mcdonalds and coffee shops. There are also 2 major networks of wireless hotspots throughout the country; from BT OpenZone and The Cloud; these are pay-to-access services, but you can get quite cheap subscriptions, and then get much better service (faster and more secure); and it’l probably work out cheaper than 3′s mobile broadband.
Give your answer to this question below!
Here are the mobile broadband offers on 3….
http://login.3-mobile-affiliate.com/z/1870/CD492/
Carphone warehouse deals….
http://carphone.at/worldmap?CTY=3&CID=135
i think the 3 pay as you go broadband is really good but i signed up to t mobile web n walk because you get a free lap top at carphone warehouse
I have tested for my company all main providers for mobile Broadband and 3 came up as the worst.
The average speed was 0.08 even if when I was working in the city.
Plus it only works in HSDPA areas
Vodafone came top in my results, even when I was in a GPRS area I still had faster working speeds than 3! I had no problems with the device and to be quite honest sailed through compared to the other competitors.
£12.77 a month on VF you can’t go wrong.
I’ve been on that same package for about 6 months. The performance you get depends on your signal strength. However dont believe 3′s advertised speeds, I can never download more than about 130k/sec (just over 1mb) and i’m in a city with full bar signal, and HSDPA. Think the only place to get anywhere near to 2.8mb is in London etc. The speeds I do get seem to be be reliable and constant.
However if your planning to play online games, dont expect great latency as your pings will be considerably higher than a fixed broadband connection. Games are still playable online, however I felt at a slight disadvantage compared to using a landline broadband connection.
In comparison to other networks, I would disagree with one of the other comments on here. 3 actually have the best 3g and HSDPA coverage of any UK network. Vodafone is considerably more expensive and o2‘s 3g coverage is terrible. (they were almost fined recently by the regulator OFCOM for having such bad 3g coverage).
I use mine at home and have never got close to using up the 7gb allowance. It is expensive if you go over but the supplied software keeps a track of how much you’ve downloaded. You can also view how much allowance you’ve got left at 3′s website.
I would recommend it as 3 have the cheapest mobile broadband packages available. Just check the 3 coverage maps to make sure your in a 3g/Turbofast (HSDPA) area or you will be surfing at snails pace!