Vodafone Mobile Broadband (www.Vodafone.co.uk) offers a TopUp and Go package that allows you to go online when you want, simply by topping up your account. You can also choose from a range of Vodafone pay-monthly deals.
Pay-as-you-go tariffs are great for anyone on a budget, or who simply doesn’t need their mobile broadband all the time. It offers great value without the long commitment of a contract.
The TopUp and Go dongle, which comes in a choice of two different colours, is capable of delivering speeds of up to 3.6Mb, with over 80% 3G coverage across the UK.
Vodafone will also give you 3GB of data to use when you buy your pay-as-you-go dongle - so you won’t even have to top up straight away. Once you’ve used your 3GB allowance, simply buy more credit. Remember though, that each top up last for 30 days - so anything you don’t use within that time will be lost.
Each dongle also doubles as a memory stick, allowing you to insert up to 4GB of memory via the MicroSD slot.
Providers currently offering pay-as-you-go deals include T-Mobile Mobile Broadband (www.T-Mobile.co.uk), O2 Mobile Broadband (www.O2.co.uk) and Three (www.Three.co.uk). Compare Vodafone against other leading mobile broadband providers with our best buy table:
| Pay and Go | Pay As You Go + 1GB | Pay up front | ||||
| Monthly charge | Pay as you go for 200MB + Unlimited Wi-Fi | Pay as you go | Pay as you go | |||
| Dongle/Laptop costs | £20.42 | £31.94 | £39.99 | |||
| Usage limit | Pay as you go | Pay as you go | Unlimited | |||
| Speed (up to) | 7.2Mb | 7.2Mb | 4.5Mb | |||
| Minimum contract | No contract | No contract | No contract | |||
One of the major benefits of a pay-as-you-go mobile broadband package is the fact that you cannot exceed your budget. Unlike a pay-monthly deal, where you can be charged for going over your allowance, you will have to top up your pay as you go dongle each time you run out of credit if you want to go online. This is an easy way to budget your monthly spend, as well as being a perfect option for occasional mobile broadband users.
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