mobile broadband

[Kev_mk3]

I really cant see the difference apart from speed on these

http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/index.cfm?go=dataproducts.mobilebroadband&planDuration=24#

[Robspot]

I really cant see the difference apart from speed on these

That IS the difference 

[Kev_mk3]

voda or 3 

http://threestore.three.co.uk/broadband/?id=1201

[TobyAnscombe]

believe it or not Vodaphone store in Thurrock on sunday...just hassle them and they will give it to you for free

My better half broke her phone so needed a new one, she wanted an iphone or a crackberry; the iphone can now be hacked to use any sim so off we went....

I do not have internet at work so it sort of made sense...

[Kev_mk3]

well i am going into chester saturday to the stores so fingers crossed they can shed more light.

only difference i can see is the speed. the voda is a fraction quicker

[TobyAnscombe]

Kev - I would go for Voda, its all about the speed...

You also do not want anything longer than 12 months; the price basically halves every 6/10 months as it becomes cheaper and cheaper...

Assuming that you are using a laptop to browse...

T-Mobile on a normal handset with web and walk acting as a modem gives you a good option but only if you are on a 3g handset and with T-Mobile.

Voda, if you get the same deal as me is the best alternative but you will need to push. The sales chap should have the flexibility to get his manager to approve it as all they are interested in is the 12 month contract.

A number of the guys here have the three setup; it works, is almost exactly the same as the voda option but the voda option is faster - given that you are surfing, speed is of the essence!!


There is a lot of compitition between the providers so play one off against the other; tell three that voda are offering the modem for £20 or tell voda that three are offering you a free modem on a 12 month contract but you have heard that voda is quicker so thus must be better....loads of ways to play it to your advantage rather than theirs..

HTH

[Kev_mk3]

Kev - I would go for Voda, its all about the speed...

You also do not want anything longer than 12 months; the price basically halves every 6/10 months as it becomes cheaper and cheaper...

Assuming that you are using a laptop to browse...

T-Mobile on a normal handset with web and walk acting as a modem gives you a good option but only if you are on a 3g handset and with T-Mobile.

Voda, if you get the same deal as me is the best alternative but you will need to push. The sales chap should have the flexibility to get his manager to approve it as all they are interested in is the 12 month contract.

A number of the guys here have the three setup; it works, is almost exactly the same as the voda option but the voda option is faster - given that you are surfing, speed is of the essence!!


There is a lot of compitition between the providers so play one off against the other; tell three that voda are offering the modem for £20 or tell voda that three are offering you a free modem on a 12 month contract but you have heard that voda is quicker so thus must be better....loads of ways to play it to your advantage rather than theirs..

HTH

Ill go to the Voda shop Saturday and try getting it free on a 12month contract. I would like a 12 ideal but am I hell paying for the modem :lol:

Thanks guys id rather go with someone like Voda as the horror stories I heard of 3 when they started have put me off!

[dukla]

Kev - which way did you go? I have had a couple of contracts with 3 with no problems. In fact the biggest problem has been trying to terminate the contracts - they keep throwing freebees at me! (One I will try cancel again in April they gave me £211 credit as long as I would commit to another 12 months @ £30/month with 9 months half price - effectively £13.50 for the year with 500 free mins a month!)

Seems getting a free modem for this mobile broadband is now almost routine - the 3 website has them for 12 month contracts for either the £15/month (3Gb cap) or £25/month (7Gb cap) flavours.

Does anyone (Toby?) have current/actual speed checks? From what I read the technology is capable of 10Gbit and it is mainly a factor of how fast the guys crank up the networks. (And also the modems: the 'bar of soap' USB thing that Vodafone & 3 are punting has a 3.6 Mbit max.) 3 say their turbo+ does 2.8, seems Vodafone claims the full 3.6 but I passed by some reports that say folks are only getting 700k etc. (A bi like getting 2Mbit from 'up to' 8Mbit ADSL!)

ps

Dumb question, what is '3 mobile broadband'? Is it GPRS, UMTS or HSDPA?

LT - Vodafone & 3 are HSDPA - T-Mobile network shares with 3 (IIRC) and Orange website I find so hostile I am not sure what they really do! Seems the modems like the Huawei bar of soap will utilise whichever of HSDPA, WCDMA, EDGE, GPRS or GSM they are allowed to and can find a signal for.

[Kev_mk3]

well i got the Vodaphone 7.2 system yesterday - http://online.vodafone.co.uk/dispatch/Portal/appmanager/vodafone/wrp?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=template04&pageID=MB_0001

went into a vodaphone store and got the 7.2 for FREE (meant to be £80 online!) on a 18month contract. took 2 mins to set up i used the free p&g sim they gave me to call the tech team to remove the filters as im over 18 ( to get on facebook, MSN & photobucket!! ) and its fantastic. im shocked at how easy it is to use and also at the speed of it all!

[TobyAnscombe]

Dukla - You are right on your sharing of networks and the bar of soap model being able to use almost anything going.

I've just done a thinkbroadband speed test http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results/id/12051554933412132069.html and got the results shown..


I am on Voda with the bar of soap in Vauxhall and get on average 1329.54 Kbps ( 1.3 Mbps ) down and 354.07 Kbps ( 0.3 Mbps ) up which is not too bad.....

As I think I mentioned, I wanted the neat USB device that Kev got but I would not commit to a 18month contract so got this one for free instead.