Mobile Broadband

Mobile broadband dongles

Updated: Tuesday 10 January, 2012

By Editorial - news@consumerchoices.co.uk

If you’re looking for a new mobile broadband contract or pay as you go plan then you’ll want to get the latest USB dongle that offers the fastest speeds and even doubles up as a storage device. If you're looking for short term broadband contracts for your home read our pay as you go broadband guide.

All mobile broadband dongles come with “plug and play” technology so there’s no need to install any software; you just insert your mobile broadband sim card and plug in your dongle. The software will automatically be loaded onto your laptop and you’ll be online within minutes.

USB modem sticks

All of the mobile providers now offer mobile USB modem sticks rather than the older, mouse-like dongles that the first mobile broadband providers 3 Broadband (www.Three.co.uk), T-Mobile Broadband (www.T-Mobile.co.uk) and Vodafone Mobile Broadband (www.Vodafone.co.uk) used to offer.

O2 Mobile Broadband (www.O2.co.uk), Orange Mobile Broadband (www.Orange.co.uk) and Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) entered the market later and have offered USB modem sticks from the start.

Faster speeds

The latest dongles are designed to be “future-proof” - capable of connecting at far faster speeds than are currently available. Vodafone currently offers the UK’s highest speeds in high-demand areas at a theoretical maximum of 14.4Mb - though it has warned that customers will be more likely to receive between 1Mb and 4Mb and a “practical maximum” of 10.8Mb.

However, existing customers don’t have to upgrade their hardware, as Vodafone has said that “over 80% of all Vodafone datacards/dongles and 3G handsets” can handle the new speeds.

Memory card slots

Many of the latest dongles now double up as memory sticks too. Dongles from T-Mobile have memory card slots that offer up to 32GB storage, while you can put a MicroSD card with up to 8GB storage in your Orange and O2 dongles and 4GB storage in your 3 or Vodafone dongle.

Virgin Media doesn’t currently offer memory card dongles.

Pay as you go dongles

While pay as you go mobile broadband and one month contract customers have to pay for their dongles, these are often available for less than £10. However, as a pay as you go dongle user you might also get a lower spec USB modem stick, as the latest technology is often reserved for customers willing to sign a long contract.

Click here to read more about the different types of mobile broadband hardware.

Or click here to view a list of mobile broadband packages.