mobile broadband any good

[terry_gardener]

i am thinking of getting mobile broadband for occasional use when out and about and a backup if my home broadband goes down.

are they any good?

i was thinking of getting vodafone broadband as there topups dont expiry.

has anyone had any experience with mobile broadband and are they worth it?

thanks

[Redache]

They're worth it if you'll use it a lot, otherwise it's just not worth the hassle. I'd check the Coverage 100% as well as Mobile Broadband can be really flaky about connections.

[t0p]

I use a 3G mobile phone to connect my computers to the internet. Connection speed varies from 15-100 KiB/s, but the average is 40-50 KiB/s. This is fine for watching streaming video. I can get onto the net anywhere that has mobile phone coverage, which is pretty much any urban location.

The USB dongles that mobile broadband providers supply are "optimized for internet use" which means they probably give better speeds than a phone. So that's cool. Also, some providers (eg O2 in the uk) also allow you to use their wifi hotspots.

One thing to check before purchase is that the provider in question actually gives 3G coverage in the locations where you're most likely to use the thing.

[Plumtreed]

I used 3 mobile broadband in the UK while travelling. It worked well in some locations some of the time. I don't know how this stuff works but it seems that when the 'traffic' got heavy it slowed right down. I used to use GSM more often because it was more often available. I was able to switch from one to the other.

In theory it is great but in practise it doesn't work all that well. It really isn't all that expensive though.

On my next visit I plan to go to BT because they have Open Zone Hot Spots that you can use as well and they work better than the mobile broadband. These spots seem to be based in hotels and pubs so that as a traveller you are likely to be at least near one.

In Australia I use Telstra and it is very good. Fast and positive.

[bashveank]

For a while I used Sprint mobile broadband as my sole ISP, got about 100KBps (1Mbps) for a while, but then it dropped to half that for seemingly no reason, they they changed their terms of service to limit you to 5GB download a month. So I wouldn't use it as my only ISP anymore, but it could work if you're on the road or something...

[Dekkon]

Verizon allows me to use my Blackberry to "Teether" internet, but extra $30 a month for a 5GB limit. Wouldn't mind the $30, but the 5GB just wasn't going to cut it for me, but the ability was really cool, IMO!