Mobile Broadband

[BoredBloke]

We were thinking of getting my son a dongle for mobile internet while he is away at school. He has wireless for his school laptop, but that is pretty tightly locked down. There are certain things he likes to do which he can't, such as downloading audio books from Audible.

However, the reception he gets on his phone (with 3) is rubbish - do these mobile dongles have a better reception than he would get with his phone or would they be as bad? That is, is the antenna better in the MiFi three sell than in his handset?

[SueEllen]

Three have a coverage map on their website.

Rule of thumb though is if phone reception is useless expect the dongle to be as well.

However the inverse isn't true.

[Durbs]

do these mobile dongles have a better reception than he would get with his phone

I used one last holidays out in the sticks and it was absolutely crap. It was an O2 one and my iPhone is on O2 as well and the internet speed on the iPhone was 10x faster than the dongle. It was basically unuseable. Granted, it wasn't the best signal area but wierd how the phone worked so much better even though it was the same carrier.

So get one of the pre-pay chuckaway ones first to try it rather than one of the £x/month ones just in case.

[Mr.Whippy]

So get one of the pre-pay chuckaway ones first to try it rather than one of the £x/month ones just in case.

Three have 14 day returns policy which I made use of as the broadband speed in central London was dire. I think it may only be 3 days for the pay as you go ones.

Other providers may have similar policys, so worth checking.

[Fred Bloggs]

Three have 14 day returns policy which I made use of as the broadband speed in central London was dire. I think it may only be 3 days for the pay as you go ones.

Other providers may have similar policys, so worth checking.

I tried a Vodafone dongle, we live in a supposed very strong signal area for Vodafone 3G. The dongle worked at about 300 kbps, pretty useless. We returned it to Vodafone within 14 days with a Vodafone returns number (luckily by recorded delivery) and we then got regular invoices and final demands for payment for the following 6 months. They are truly useless.

[cojak]

Three have 14 day returns policy which I made use of as the broadband speed in central London was dire. I think it may only be 3 days for the pay as you go ones.

Other providers may have similar policys, so worth checking.

I also use a 3 mifi dongle in central London and have been very happy with it. It even works on my train journey - I'm using it now.

Maybe it's the dongle model that makes a difference?

[FarmerPalmer]

I'm currently with Vodafone. I bought a PAYG SIM for each available network, and using a non-locked smartphone, tested the 3G reception where it is to be used, trying each network. Then bought into a contract from the best one.

[Paddy]

Three have a coverage map on their website.

Rule of thumb though is if phone reception is useless expect the dongle to be as well.

However the inverse isn't true.

I had an argument with 3 mobile about the map. They now say the coverage is "air coverage" not ground level. eg: from my house I need a 100 ft antenna

[Spacecadet]

I've been using 3 mobile broadband for a couple of years now and in urban areas the only downside appears to be slow ping times but its still generally fast enough to watch iplayer

[BoredBloke]

Cheers folks - took the plunge and signed up to a 24 month 15gb per month deal using their MiFi thing. Pretty good value at only 18.03 a month.