All About Mobile Broadband Providers

Mobile broadband use has really  taken off over the last year or so, data speeds have vastly improved and the  operators are investing much more in the  service, plus as more people carry portable computers and smart  phones the call for mobile internet access is reaching a tipping point. But with little to choose between the mobile broadband deals out there, how can you choose  the best network for mobile internet access?

To help answer this question I've  recently bought dongles from all the networks and also done a lot of  background research into what offers are available.

Three's mobile broadband service is seemingly the  the top overall offer at the moment, they've received a lot of awards and accolades recently such as a You Gov award for best mobile  internet and top mobile broadband network by Top10.com. Three also lead on value for money with their  headline deal of 15gb a month for £15 a month. In addition, Three are the  largest 3G mobile network with more population coverage than  anyone else (around 97%) so you generally get good speeds more or less wherever you are. They may not quite have been the very fastest  operator I tested (although only Orange were faster) but they were the a close second. Three don't charge the Earth, unlike some, for traveling on the continent if you plan to take your  dongle abroad with you.

As referred to above, the fastest operator was Orange and they have the second broadest 3G  network after Three with circa 95%  coverage.  However, Orange have are tyring to limit the amount of mobile broadband use on their  data to cope with the increase in smartphone users and so as a result don't generally offer a great deal compared to the rest of the market.  Whilst 3 typically offer 15gb, for example, they might just give a single gigabyte.  They are generally not bad for basic users who are  existing Orange customers as they do have an entry level offer at £5 a month but you need to be mindful to keep within  the stingy 500mb a month allowance. Using their dongle abroad generally is amongst the most expensive and should be avoided.

T-Mobile had  one of the slower performances in my research but still achieved decent average speeds of around  900kb a second so there is not much between them and the faster operators. Now that Orange and T-Mobile have just started allowing phone users  to share both networks for  2G usage following their early 2010 merger meaning that both have very good coverage. Right now this won't cover mobile broadband but it must be  coming soon and  that combined coverage would without doubt  be the best coverage of the mobile operators, especially if one could decide which  network to utilise relevant to the high  speed signal in your location. T-Mobile have  definitely the most interesting  mobile internet deal as they offer no  limit allowances for £15 a month. Actually it's not fuly no  limit because there's a "fair use" level and T-Mobile  can decide to limit the usage at peak times of very heavy users but one  primary feature is that you know your bill isn't  going to be over that fixed level (internet use can get expensive when  you exceed the allowances).  In general this is probably the most appealing  proposition on the market but the mobile broadband coverage as yet can't be considered quite  as good.

Vodafone have done a pretty good  job at recruiting  business clients to their wireless broadband  products and the Vodafone interface is arguably the  smoothest and most business like. Vodafone also  provide the best prices for  customers hoping to  log on to their mobile broadband connection  outside the UK with comparatively  inexpensive tariffs for  both Europe and North America.  Vodafone were right in the  centre when it comes to connection quality in our tests - slower than 3 and Orange but better than the others. Their costs are  equally fairly middle of the road (but significantly more  aggressive for  business customers) and they are a very good all rounder  yet perhaps not the greatest in  any one category.

Despite some  high hopes 02 came out in last  place in our research.  O2 have got the greatest number of  consumers on any single  network and being the only network to feature the iPhone for a few years they have  probably the most  mobile web information being carried over their network too and it really  shows. And they aren't  assisted by offering the smallest amount of 3G  coverage of any of the  mobile companies. Their speeds were by a long way the  most sluggish on the test overal and throughout the tests were the slowest in plenty of individual test spots, many  times not managing even  to achieve 3G  connection rates so one has to put up  with the creaking 2G signal. O2  are not advertising mobile internet as strongly as their rivals and their costs are also amongst the most expensive.  Remarkably,, as O2 have  announced an express interest in appealing to corporate customers, they equally  offer the most expensive  charges for roaming and prominently mention that they  don't suggest that  users connect to their mobile  broadband product in Europe or elsewhere.  The only criteria  on which O2 partly beat the competition though is in their one month short term  contracts which are a decent deal for someone wanting to try a dongle  offering without committing to a 12 or 18 month tariff.

So, after all that, who is the best mobile broadband operator? After weighing the evidence, Three offer the strongest 3G coverage and provide overall the strongest value. Orange offered the fastest download and upload speeds on test and T-Mobile give the most valuable single product with no limit mobile internet. Vodafone are probably the winners for SME customers.

Why not check out the best mobile broadband deals at uk-mobile-broadband-deals.com