In the UK market there are many different competing providers offering mobile broadband service to customers. However simply comparing them on price alone will not guarantee you the level of service that you need and desire.
What is mobile broadband?
As this is a beginners guide, first lets define the term itself as it can be confusing for some people with the assumption that the mobile implies some sort of association with mobile phones which is actually not the case. Mobile broadband is a way in which you can utilize your laptop (or iPad or equivalent) to gain access to the Internet away from your home or place of business.
Choosing the Company
In most cases if you have a mobile phone with a provider and are happy with the service that you receive from them there is no harm in utilizing that same company when purchasing your mobile broadband. However if you are dissatisfied – for example you lose reception in certain area’s that you frequently visit it is worth the effort of searching for other providers that have a larger footprint of coverage or at the least have increased coverage in your most used areas.
In the UK for example there are 6 companies that offer mobile broadband in addition to their mobile phone services. These 6 companies are Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, O2, 3 Mobile and Virgin. Each have their own pluses and minuses with regards to what you get with the plans and in some cases simply by signing up for a new contract on a 18month to 2year term you are entitled to some freebies – which could include a free laptop with mobile broadband!
A good site to refer to for a comparison of different providers and their deals is Broadband Genie as not only do they show you all the deals that you get but they break down the price and service in a fashion that is very easy to use and understand.
How does it work?
There are really a couple of parts to this. First you need to get a data plan of some sort from one of the Mobile Phone providers. Choose either “pay as you go” or a plan depending on your needs (with pay as you go you’re not locked into a contract but generally your per minute rate is higher than if you were to be on a plan so you would need to “top up” more frequently) and pick up the hardware that you need to connect online. You can obtain this hardware at most mobile phone shops as well as Computer stores and also online.
Once you receive the USB Stick or Dongle make sure that you activate it through the company and then simply plug it into any available USB slot on your computer. Most computers currently will automatically recognize the device when it’s plugged into your computer and will install the necessary software. If your computer doesn’t recognize it, then you will need to install that software that came with it.
Once you’ve got it all installed simply launch your Internet web browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox for example) and surf the web as normal! Congratulations you are now part of the Mobile Network!
About the author: Hutch Morzaria writes on behalf of www.broadbandgenie.co.uk, the independent comparison we
bsite for broadband, mobile broadband and smartphones.
