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Mobile vs fixed line broadband
Are you new to broadband and not sure whether you should take a mobile or a fixed line connection? Or have you heard great things about mobile broadband and are wondering whether or not it’s time to ditch your home connection and take your broadband mobile?
Check out the pros and cons of both mobile and fixed line broadband.
Mobile broadband
Advantages:
Take your broadband with you wherever you go. A mobile broadband connection is exactly that; mobile, which means that you can access you emails, check the sports results or keep yourself amused with the latest from YouTube no matter where you are.
No more line rental. Millions of people continue to pay for line rental on a home phone that they rarely use, just to connect their ADSL broadband. But with mobile broadband, there’s no need to pay that dreaded £11 a month - saving you around £132 a year.
Plug and play technology. All the software you need to connect to the internet is automatically installed when you first plug your modem into your laptop - no need to set it up or ring technical support.
Pay as you go options available. Mobile broadband customers can take advantage of some really great pay as you go tariffs - from only £4 a day with T-Mobile (www.T-Mobile.co.uk).
Disadvantages:
Low download limits. Even the most generous of mobile broadband tariffs only offer a download allowance of 10GB per month, and that will set you back at least £35 a month on a 24 month contract.
High costs for exceeding your limit. Providers Three (www.Three.co.uk) and Vodafone (www.Vodafone.co.uk) who apply set download limits on their tariffs - rather than a fair usage policy - charge 10p per MB and £15 per GB over limit, respectively. Costs for exceeding a pay as you go limit increase to £1 per MB with Three.
Slower connection. At the moment, Vodafone has the UK’s fastest mobile broadband network, with speeds of up to 7.2Mb, while others only offer a top speed of 2.8Mb - though this is due to be increased by the end of 2008. However, as with fixed line broadband, you shouldn’t expect to receive these top speeds.
Coverage. Although most of the UK is covered by the 3G network, coverage can be patchy in rural areas, or speeds significantly slower, so you should always check the coverage in your area before signing up.
High download allowances. Generous fair usage policies and download allowances in the region of 40GB a month means that you can use the internet to its full potential - downloading and streaming your favourite movies and programmes and sending high resolution pictures to friends and family.
Faster speeds. Most home broadband packages offer speeds of up to 8Mb, and although the vast majority of customers won’t get this top speed, connections will still be faster than mobile broadband. And with BT's (www.BT.com) 21 Century Network rolling out across the UK, ADSL speeds of up to 24Mb will soon be commonplace.
Consistent connection. Because your home broadband is connected to a fixed line, it will be more reliable than a mobile broadband connection that is being moved from one place to the next, and which might sometimes lose its connection to the 3G network.
Disadvantages:
Fixed to one place. Standard home broadband packages use a fixed line and so you can only connect to the internet with it from home.
Line rental costs. ADSL broadband users have to pay at least £10.50 a month for the phone line that their broadband connects to (unless they have Tiscali free broadband), and even Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) - which doesn’t use BT’s copper wire network - charges customers £11 a month for its phone line, which has to be taken with most of its broadband packages.
Switching problems. Because of the various technologies now used to supply fixed line broadband - ADSL, partial and full LLU, cable - switching between one provider and another is no longer always as simple as getting a MAC code and some customers end up with “tags” on their line or having to pay “cease and re-provide” charges.
Technical difficulties. Although setting up your home broadband connection is very simple, some people - especially those not comfortable with computers - might struggle to set up a wireless router or internet security, and have to call technical support, which with some providers can cost up to 50p per minute.
What’s the right choice for me?
The type of broadband connection that you should choose depends entirely on the way that you’ll use it. Think about your needs in terms of downloading and connection speed, and how much you’ll actually be travelling around as to whether or not a mobile broadband connection is right for you.
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