Mobile Broadband Providers

Vodafone mobile broadband

Updated: Tuesday 04 January, 2011

By Editorial - news@consumerchoices.co.uk

Mobile phone provider Vodafone (www.Vodafone.com) offers the UK’s fastest mobile broadband connections, with speeds of up to 14.4Mb and 7.2Mb in major cities.

About Vodafone mobile broadband

Vodafone offers a range of mobile broadband packages, with a choice of one or 18-month contracts, or pay as you go mobile broadband plans.

Its pay monthly plans come with either a 3GB or a 5GB monthly allowance, and you can add more data for £15 per GB.

If you sign up to its pay as you go plan, you will have to pay for your mobile broadband dongle, but will get 1GB pre-loaded. Again, any additional data will cost you £15 for 1GB.

Vodafone laptops with mobile broadband

Vodafone also offers free Samsung and Dell laptops that help spread the cost of buying a new computer over time. Of note, Vodafone is the only UK provider to offer free Dell laptops plus mobile broadband. Vodafone laptop deals are available on 24 month contracts, with download allowances of 1GB and 3GB.

Vodafone mobile broadband benefits

As well as offering some of the fastest headline speeds in the UK, Vodafone’s USB modem sticks Pro come with a memory card slot that allows you to add up to 4GB of memory.

It is also the only provider to offer pay as you go top ups that don’t expire after 30 days.

Vodafone mobile broadband coverage

Vodafone has the one of the fastest mobile broadband network in the UK with speeds of up to 14.4Mb and 7.2Mb in selected areas. But as with all mobile broadband providers, this advertised speed is a theoretical maximum - and not something that you should expect to receive.

When Vodafone announced that it had upgraded parts of its network to 14.4Mb, it noted that customers could “expect to see typical speeds of anything between 1Mb and 4Mb with a practical maximum speed of 10.8Mb”.

Even if you live in one of its upgraded areas, you should still check the coverage in before signing up. You can read more about coverage on our Vodafone mobile broadband coverage guide, or use the postcode checker on Vodafone’s website or in store.

Our expert’s verdict

Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “Vodafone is a great choice for anyone looking into mobile broadband. Although it isn’t the cheapest ISP on the market, it has one of the most extensive networks in the UK, offering the fastest headline speeds, and has won awards for its service

“However, you should always check speeds by postcode before signing up to any mobile broadband provider, and if you're still worried about download speeds where you live, you could try Vodafone’s pay as you go option first.”

Click here to Compare Broadband providers.