Mobile Broadband Dongles
Mobile broadband dongles give you one thing… FREEDOM. Freedom to access the internet on the move, check your emails on your laptop while on the road, Google for something while away on holiday – basically stay connected.
A mobile broadband dongle is a gadget that plugs into your USB port on a PC or laptop that gives you broadband access anywhere where you can get 3G mobile coverage.
Our research has shown that the secret behind getting the best deal for a mobile broadband dongle is to apply directly to one of the major mobile phone network providers.
The feedback from our website visitors is that T-Mobile is the star performer when it comes to the best deals for mobile broadband dongles at the moment.
Top Mobile Broadband Dongle Suppliers in the UK (click logos to compare prices)
Best of the Rest of the Mobile Broadband Dongle Suppliers (click logos to compare prices)
Mobile broadband speeds are now good enough to do most things on the web which do not involve uploading or downloading huge amounts of data, such as videos or music or online gaming. For email, access to online services, googling or accessing your Facebook account then speeds should be just fine.
Setup is dead simple – insert the SIM card into the mobile broadband USB dongle, then plug the dongle into your laptop. The mobile broadband dongles then download the software drivers etc directly to your laptop and you are off, surfing the blue yonder.
Mobile broadband dongles can be used on multiple computers (obviously not at the same time!), so share one with other members of your family or work colleagues. They are also compatible with laptops, PCs and Macs. Keep an eye open for the latest broadband laptop deals if you want a tariff which combines a new laptop with mobile broadband for a fixed monthly cost.
With next day delivery and 99% coverage of the UK what’s stopping you from signing up?
More about Mobile Broadband Dongles and their development
A mobile broadband dongle is a USB device which is able to connect to the internet by plugging into the USB drive of the computer. As is pretty obvious from the name, a mobile broadband dongle uses the mobile phone network to connect to the internet.
Unlike its landline cousin, the mobile broadband dongle is wireless and can be used while travelling or away from your home or office. The 3G mobile broadband USB dongle is highly portable and generally can be used anywhere on any PC based device which can be connected to the internet. And moreover it is wireless. It is not constrained by wires as in the case of the landline broadband modem. Though still not as widely accepted as the landline broadband, mobile broadband is fast capturing the market due the convenient setup and ease of use.
Why call them 'Dongles'?
The word 'dongle' is so strange that a bit of explanation is worthwhile, so here we go…
A dongle in traditional terms is a piece of hardware that connects to a computer to enable the running of secure software. The name dongle however now covers a wider range of products all connected through the USB drive of the computer. The various dongles could be software dongles, bluetooth dongles, broadband dongles and wireless dongles. Each of these devices serve a different purpose as is apparent from the names.
A mobile broadband dongle is used to connect the computer to broadband internet over the mobile network. Broadband internet offers speeds significantly higher than traditional telephone modems have ever done.
Over the years, broadband internet connectivity has been rapidly pushing the traditional dial up connection to extinction. Broadband was traditionally served on computers with the help of a broadband modem and the connecting Ethernet or USB cable. Nowadays you have the following connectivity options:
Unlike their dialup counterparts, the broadband systems allow the user to connect to the internet without disrupting the phone use. But the landline modem whether that is for old fashioned telephone use or broadband use is not without its fundamental problem… WIRES! You have never been able to escape the wire tethering your computer to the internet. Landline modems though enabling the use of the phone while still on the internet are still not wire free. That was until the mobile revolution in recent years.
Broadband modems vs. the mobile broadband dongle
Though not easily comparable, both the forms of internet access can be put side by side under the scanner for the following categories:
1. Speed:
The most important aspect of any internet connection, speed plays a very important role in benchmarking any gadget. The mobile 3G network is currently capable of offering speed of around 7.3 Mbps, significantly more than the regular landline broadband available in lots of places around the UK at the moment, although speeds are improving. One possible reason could be that the landline broadband has been a victim of over subscription whereas the mobile network is still catching up. But in the present circumstances, there is no doubt about which technology is the winner (on paper) at least.
2. Convenience:
How easy it is to set up your internet connection? Can you even do it by yourself? Convenience is such an important part of any electronic gadget. Landline modems are not easy to install and are definitely not portable. Landline modems need to be connected to the computer via wires whereas the mobile broadband dongle can be simply plugged in to the USB port.
3. Cost:
Mobile broadband is yet to find widespread acceptance among users, one of the main reasons being the cost associated with it at the moment. Though the speeds are comparable, the landline downloads cost a lot less than the mobile broadband downloads. Most of the mobile broadband providers have a cap on the data that is downloaded and hence are best suited to business users. Students and home users are the largest consumers of internet but tend to download music and movies in large quantities which can soak up many gigabytes of bandwidth. The download limits have helped in keeping the landline broadband modems just as popular with this category of users.
Mobile broadband providers however do no charge for the time spent on the internet but only for the amount of data downloaded. While this may be convenient for business users, it may not work for the home users who are in the majority.
4. Portability:
The Landline modems are bound to the telephone sockets by wires and cannot be carried anywhere. Again in some cases the service might not be straightforward ‘plug and play’ and might need configuration. The mobile broadband dongles can simply be carried around and are not constrained by wires. The internet can be accessed at any place which has mobile connectivity, which means that much of the country is covered. Mobile broadband dongles are very much ‘plug and play’ and do not need heavy duty configuration to be operable.
5. Connectivity:
The traditional landline modem is the clear winner here. As long as you have access to your phone point you can always be in cyber land but not so with the mobile broadband. In short, the equation is simple; if there is no reception then there will not be any internet either. Though the mobile broadband dongle offers high portability this is one department where the landline modems make their mark.
How to test the speed of your mobile broadband dongle
Many mobile broadband companies often advertise about a speed which is much higher than the actual speed that is provided. There are a number of reasons why the advertised speeds are not achieved, but the most significant one is the contention ratio. This is exactly the same concept as with landline broadband in that the more people you have simultaneously accessing the internet via the mobile broadband dongle in the same mobile cell area then the less bandwidth each person is allocated. If sufficient people are using mobile broadband at the same time then the contention ratio can mean that the real speed achieved is pretty low.
In case of doubt there are various websites that are available which test the connection for actual speed. The websites will actual download and upload a dummy file to check the download and upload speed respectively.
Tips for speed testing
While testing speed is simple enough, the following tips will ensure that the results will be more reliable:
1. Select a server location that is nearer home than far away. For example if you live in London then it is better to select a server closer to London than one in New York in the USA. More often than not, the ISP servers will be in your home country and hence it is always advisable to select a location closer home.
2. Do not keep the internet connection in use while checking the speed of the connection during a test. Keeping a p2p connection live or even a download might result in some skewed values and not indicate the true speed of the broadband connection. It is therefore advisable to keep the connection free till the test is over.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that mobile broadband is the future of the internet as it offers a highly portable option which gives people the freedom to follow their modern active work and leisure lifestyles while remaining connected via the web.
The various mobile broadband providers such as T Mobile, 3 Mobile, O2 etc offer a broad range of tariffs ranging from monthly contracts through to pay as you go mobile broadband. Prices are getting more and more competitive and the options are improving as the weeks go by.
With the vast advances being made in increasing the speed of the connections it will be interesting to see what 4G brings in when it will be released in the near future.
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