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Mobile broadband vs fixed-line connections

Our Broadband Expert says...

Mobile broadband takeup has really picked up pace over the last year and according to Ofcom, more than three million households now access the internet in this way.

However, only around 25 per cent of users rely on mobile broadband alone - most use it together with their home broadband, allowing them to go online wherever they want, without having to worry about their downloading.

Ditching your landline

BT Broadband's (www.BT.com) standard landline charge is now £14.60 a month if you pay by direct debit and also take online billing, and even the cheapest providers don’t charge much less than £10 a month.

The vast majority of people need their landline for their copper wire ADSL broadband connection, so keep it even if they don’t use it to make telephone calls.

This means that if you can live within your download means and not go over your allowance, you could save around £135 a year on line rental alone.

Download allowances

However, mobile broadband download allowances are much lower than standard fixed-line connections.

3 Broadband (www.Three.co.uk) currently offers the highest download allowance at 15GB a month, but most packages offer 3GB or 5GB.

A 3GB monthly download allowance would allow you to:

• Send 3,000 Outlook/HTML Emails
• Surf the internet for 30 hours
• Download 15 four minute videos
• Download 96 four minute music tracks

A 5GB monthly download allowance would allow you to:

• Send 5,000 Outlook/HTML Emails
• Surf the internet for 50 hours
• Download 25 four minute videos
• Download 160 four minute music tracks

There are no “unlimited download” allowances with mobile broadband, though T-Mobile Broadband (www.T-Mobile.co.uk) does have a fair usage policy rather than set download allowances. This means that you won’t immediately be charged if you exceed your monthly allowance. Instead you could have your connection throttled so that you can only web surf, or you could even be asked to upgrade to a more appropriate and more expensive tariff.

Exceeding your allowance can be expensive. For example, O2 Mobile Broadband (www.O2.co.uk) charges a massive 19.6p per additional MB and 3 charges 10p per MB. However, some providers like Orange Mobile Broadband (www.Orange.co.uk) allow you to top up your allowance with data bundles that can cost as little as £4.89 for an extra GB.

You should be able to check how much of your allowance you have left by logging into your mobile broadband account. If you want to check how much you usually use - and so much data you will need - you can install our free Broadband Download Monitor, which also lets you set alarms so that you never exceed your allowance.

Coverage

Another issue that you need to take into account when considering a mobile broadband connection is coverage. You need to be sure that you will have a good enough signal at home and in the areas you visit most - including your commute if you plan to use it on the way to and from work.

Each mobile broadband provider allows you to check coverage in specific postcodes so that you can see which supplier offers the strongest network in your area. Vodafone Broadband (www.Vodafone.co.uk) recently upgraded its coverage checker so that you can now see what you coverage would be like indoors, where it may be weaker, as well as outside.

Most providers offer a “money back guarantee” on their mobile broadband packages as coverage can sometimes be patchy in certain areas. These grace periods range from two weeks to a month as offered by both O2 and Virgin Media Mobile Broadband (www.VirginMedia.com).

Mobile broadband speeds

Download speed is another issue that needs to be considered.

Most mobile broadband providers offers speeds of up to 3.6Mb or 4.5Mb. Vodafone even offers speeds of up to 7.2Mb and even 14.4Mb in some areas. However, you have to be aware that, like with a fixed-line connection, you’ll be very unlikely to get your advertised speed.

The distance from your nearest mobile network mast, obstructions like doors and walls and how many other people are on the network at the same time as you will all affect the speed you get.

Research back in June showed that average mobile broadband speeds are just less than 1Mb - while fixed-line connections average around 4.1Mb. Vodafone has even said that “customers can expect to see typical speeds of anything between 1Mb and 4Mb with a practical maximum speed of 10.8Mb” when connected to its 14.4Mb network.

Make sure that you ask your chosen provider what kind of speeds to expect in your area before signing up.

Try a one-month contract

If you want to try mobile broadband but aren’t sure if it’s for you, then a pay as you go mobile broadband connection or a one-month contract is the answer. One-month deals offer better value for money without the commitment of a long contract. 3, Orange and O2 all offer one-month plans.

You might have to pay for your mobile broadband dongle if you sign up to one of these deals, but USB modem sticks now cost from as little as £19.99.

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

Examples in the text of the article (white background) are correct at time of publication.

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