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Christmas mobile broadband

Our Broadband Expert says...

There are a number of options to choose from if you're looking for a new mobile broadband package.

Pay upfront

Some providers, like T-Mobile Mobile Broadband (www.T-Mobile.co.uk) and 3 Mobile Broadband (www.Three.co.uk) offer pay upfront packages that make the perfect gift.

Each package comes with a mobile broadband dongle that is pre-loaded with a data allowance, valid for a set amount of time. For example, a 3GB allowance is usually valid for three months while a 12GB allowance will work for a whole year.

Choosing one of these deals means that your parents won’t have to pay anything towards his mobile broadband until their data allowance has been used up.

Once they have run out of data they can simply top up in the same way as they would with a normal pay as you go mobile broadband package. Or they could sign up to one of 3’s sim-only mobile broadband deals on a rolling contract if they want regular access.

Pay upfront deals can also save you money on the overall cost of your mobile broadband, with T-Mobile offering savings of up to 25% on pay upfront packages.

Pay as you go mobile broadband

If you don’t want to commit to 12 or even three months with a pay upfront deal - or can’t afford to pay that much in one go, as pay as you go tariff is a great alternative.

You will have to pay for your USB modem stick upfront - though this shouldn’t set you back more than around £20 - and your parents will be able to top up and use their mobile broadband as little or as much as they want.

Pay as you go mobile broadband is a great way for your parents to try mobile broadband without the commitment of a long contract.

One month contracts

If your parents know that they want regular internet access but don’t want to sign up for 12, 18 or even 24 months, then a rolling one month contract offers great value.

One month contracts offer as much as 5GB a month for just £15, and remove the hassle of having to top up every time your credit runs out - as well as giving your parents the option to cancel their contract or switch broadband provider whenever they want.

Mobile wifi

Mobile wireless - also known as mobile wifi - is offered by 3 Mobile Broadband in the form of its MiFi modem and is the latest development in mobile broadband hardware.

Mobile wifi dongles allow you to connect more than one device to your mobile broadband at a time. This means that if your parents had two laptops - or any other wireless-enabled device, such as an iPod Touch or Nintendo DS - they would be able to hook them all up to the internet.

However, your monthly download allowance will be used up faster if you share your connection, so make sure your parents know how to track their downloads if you go for a MiFi connection.

Sim-only mobile broadband

You need to already have a mobile broadband dongle in order to take advantage of a sim-only mobile broadband deal. While this might not be suitable for your parents now, it is a good choice if they want to switch from pay as you to a contract at a later date.

3 is currently the only provider to offer sim-only mobile broadband, which means that you would need a 3 dongle in order to use it.

Download allowances

Although you say that your parents have low demands when it comes to downloads, this could change as they use the internet more.

If they sign up to a contract package you should make sure that your parents know how to check how much they have downloaded over the month - either by logging into their mobile broadband account or by installing our free Broadband Download Monitor, otherwise they could end up pay out for excess data.

Mobile broadband coverage

You don’t want to buy a dongle that doesn’t work where your parents live so make sure that you check the mobile broadband coverage of your chosen provider before signing up, which you can do by using your parents’ specific postcode.

NB Best buy tables are always current.

Examples in the text of the article are correct at time of publication.

Ask us a question

If you have a general switching or provider query please email us at OurExpert@broadbandchoices.co.uk

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