Anybody used mobile broadband?.

Just received a letter from Sky telling us our line rental is going up again. I figure that with £14.00 ish line rental and £7.50 broadband cost there must be a way of getting mobile broadband for £20. We never use the home phone and generally only use the Internet for surfing, emails etc and never download films and use about 3gig monthly.

The only real reason I’d need a fastish speed is for the odd Call of Duty PS3 session, is that possible with a mobile broadband setup?

The only real reason I’d need a fastish speed is for the odd Call of Duty PS3 session, is that possible with a mobile broadband setup?

Nope.

* Though if you’re in one of the new 4G areas, maybe.

Mobile broadband for me is great. In my house it provides better speeds than my wired broadband.

You can get (from 3 and possibly others) a home router that accepts a dongle rather than plugging in to the wall, so you can all use the same connection as per normal.

There are two caveats though: there are no unlimited options – 5Gb is the highest limit; and latency can be poor. The issue with gaming isn’t download speed, it’s latency. Never tried it, but you may have an issue. I’m sure google will set you straight though.

I’ve been considering going with mobile broadband only. The One Plan on Three has unlimited data but it’s only for phones not broadband dongles (apparently they can tell what you’re using). However it does allow tethering, so presumably with a decent phone it’d be just as good as a dongle. Anyone tried it?

I maybe should have said but i cant get cable and im 4 miles away from the local exchange so i only get 1.7Meg download speed with a ping of 70 ish. Whats the latency of a dongle ? Anyone know ?

Ask your neighbour to share theirs and split the cost? I used to share mine with both neighbours in exchange for fresh eggs and the occasional cake.

Whats the latency of a dongle ? Anyone know ?

Typically > 200ms

Footflaps….ah bollox

Sas – I am on the one plan with three and can definitely recommend it. I tether my tablet or laptop and surf away. I get anywhere between 4 & 6 meg which is better than my home broadband. It is also truly unlimited and most sites are not blocked for torrents etc you could buy a three pre paid dongle for £30 and try it to see what speeds you get which lasts for 30 days or until you’ve used 1 gb you can then get a 3 gb card off ebay for about £6 which lasts 3 months.

With mobile broadband the service you get very much depends on where you are and how busy your network provide is in that cell, so it can be anything from blisteringly fast to a snail’s pace. The whole cell shares the same capacity, which will only be 20 Mb/s at a push. Might be worth asking neighbours what they use (if any) to see what sort of service they get.

You need mifi from the 3 network I play call of duty on it you can take it anywhere and it will take upto 5 devices at once. Look into it you don’t need a landline I get 15gb for around £17 a month.

Beat that!

Bikemanspen, thats the one i was looking at. Was in the 3 shop today and i can get the 15G for £15.99 a month on a 24 month contract.

I play COD3 on the PS3 as well, the only online game i play. I was concerned that the latency would be an issue but it did a quick check via my phone (Orange-Tmobile) and its 80, i figure the 3 will be quicker as the mast isnt far from my house.

Cheers, you might have just swung it.