Ask Our Expert

Mobile broadband speeds

Our Broadband Expert says...

Mobile broadband speeds can vary widely depending on where you live, so it’s always a good idea to run a postcode search before signing up with any provider. This will give you a good idea of the kind of coverage you will get at home, in your local pub and on your commute to work.

Actual mobile broadband speeds

Before making your choice, you should know that average mobile broadband speeds are much lower than average fixed-line speeds. Research in September last year found that mobile broadband download speeds averaged just 1.1Mb - compared to an average advertised speed of 4.5Mb.

On the other hand, fixed-line connections were averaging 4.1Mb in July, according to telecoms regulator Ofcom.

Even Vodafone Mobile Broadband (www.Vodafone.co.uk), which advertises the highest theoretical mobile broadband speeds at 14.4Mb, admitted that “customers can expect to see typical speeds of anything between 1Mb and 4Mb, with a practical maximum speed of 10.8Mb” - and that's in its fastest areas.

The limitations of postcode checkers

Even though you should run a postcode search before choosing a package, even a provider’s own mobile broadband coverage checker cannot give you a completely accurate measure of the speed you’re likely to get. A wide variety of factors affect the speeds that you receive, ranging from the number of other users on the network to your distance from the nearest mobile mast and even the thickness of your walls.

Most postcode checkers used to only tell you what your signal would be like outside at your chosen location, and some postcode checkers are still more sophisticated than others. For example, Vodafone’s coverage checker gives you an outdoor - and an indoor - reading.

O2 Mobile Broadband (www.O2.co.uk) also claims that its coverage checker is advanced enough to tell you whether you'll have poor reception in individual rooms in your home.

Mobile phones and mobile broadband speeds

Although mobile broadband uses the mobile phone network to connect you to the internet, just because you get a good signal on your phone, doesn’t mean that you'll get a strong broadband connection. You should still talk to your chosen provider to get a speed estimate before signing up.

Poor mobile broadband signal

If you do a postcode check and sign up to a mobile broadband contract only to find that you don’t get a good enough signal in your home, there are things you can do to try to boost your connection.

Antennas, USB extension leads and signal repeaters can all help improve your signal, but if you simply don’t have adequate coverage, then you are entitled to return your dongle and cancel your contract within a certain amount of time.

O2 and Virgin Media Mobile Broadband (www.Virginmedia.com) both offer a 30 day grace period, while 3 Mobile Broadband (www.Three.co.uk) and Orange Mobile Broadband (www.Orange.co.uk) give customers 14 days to cancel. Vodafone offers 14 day returns if you sign up online, seven days if you buy your dongle from a shop, while T-Mobile Mobile Broadband (www.T-Mobile.co.uk) makes refund decisions on a case by case basis.

Pay as you go mobile broadband and one-month contracts

Signing up to a pay as you go mobile broadband package is a good, low-cost way of testing the service without committing to a 12, 18 or even 24 month contract.

You will have to buy your dongle outright, but USB modems now cost less than £20. And if you take a dongle from 3, and are happy with your service, you can switch to its sim-only mobile broadband package and simply use your old dongle - giving you a better value deal with 5GB a month for just £15 on a one-month contract.

NB Best buy tables (orange background) are always current.

Examples in the text of the article (white background) 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

Compare mobile broadband

1.

What mobile broadband results
would you like to see?

All packages

Pay monthly

Pay as you go / short contract

Laptop + mobile broadband deals

2.

Click search to compare packages

 

Add a comment

Print

Send to a friend