A few weeks ago I was given a new 3g USB Stick Modem by 3mobile to try out on the condition that I blog about it. Since I was thinking of getting one and would have blogged about the experience it was a no brainer decision. So this is sort of a sponsored post in that they want me to mention the pricing structure and I’m getting free access for few months but it’s not the end of the world.
In my view the 3g dongle fills a gaping hole that should be but isn’t filled by municipal wifi. I’ve written about this on the Birmingham Post blogs a couple of times (The Case For Free Municipal Wi-Fi and Birmingham Wi-Fi: You’re Doing It Wrong) so I won’t rehash that stuff but the main thrust is that the current wifi provision, where not free is a pain in the arse to access. I don’t want be to carrying around a bunch of passwords and credits just to access the web in a shopping centre. I want to be able to sit down, check my email for 10 minutes and move on with ease. Free wifi allows this and so, it seems, does 3g.
I am very skeptical about allowing mobile phone companies to control the last mile of mobile internet as they don’t seem to have the right DNA to really understand what the internet is about, but in the absence of a decent free wifi mesh across Birmingham they’re the next best thing. And, in my experience, the 3g service offered by 3 is not bad at all.
I’m using a MacBook which is notable as getting these sorts of things working on a Mac can often be fraught with problems. There are a few niggles but on the whole it just works. Since the dongle is a USB device there’s no CD – the driver software mounts in the same way a flash drive would and provides you with a little app called “Mobile Connect”. It also installs a little icon in the menu bar, though this isn’t as useful as it could be. If there were other steps I can’t remember them which implies they were pretty simple.
To get online I find it helps to switch off wifi as the dongle doesn’t integrate with the Mac’s networking that well. For example, if I plug in an ethernet cable it has priority over any wifi signals but the dongle doesn’t always do this. I also find going through the Mobile Connect app is more effective than using the menu bar icon though I haven’t tested this too much.
The signal is generally fairly good and they seem to share networks with Orange as I’ve connected through them a few times. Connecting is like using an old school dialup modem, which makes sense I guess, but there’s no need to enter an account or password – I assume the SIM card takes care of that.
On the downside there’s no list of available networks and the signal strength isn’t displayed in the menu bar like WiFi is. It’d be nice if the menu bar icon showed this so you know whether to rely on the signal. It does show it on Mobile Connect but that’s not a whole lot of use.
The real proof as to whether this is worth is comes in the field. What this does is makes your computing more ambient (a term I misuse a lot so forgive me). Rather than being tethered to the range of wifi nodes you’re free to sit anywhere and do some work. It’s particularly useful at events where the wifi has been locked down and you want to access something like Twitter or email. And if the network dies for whatever reason it’s a great backup. Basically wherever there’s a 3g mobile signal you can access the internet and so far I haven’t spotted any nannyware nonsense blocking “unsuitable” sites.
But it’s not something that I’d want to rely on as my only access to the net. For a start it’s pretty slow compared to broadband and while things like video streaming are possible it’s not that reliable. You can use the likes of Bambuser to broadcast but the video can be choppy. Downloading images feels like dialup and uploading photos takes forever.
And more importantly it’s not that cheap. While I appear to have free unlimited access I’ve been using it as if I’m paying for it and the rates do give you cause to pause. The cheapest plan is £10 a month for 1GB with additional usage as 10p per MB. £15 gives you 3GB and £25 gives you 7GB. All of these are on a 18 month contract, naturally, because this is a mobile phone company and they’re retarded like that.
There is a Pay as you Go option but it doesn’t quite make sense to me since it’s the same price as the Pay Monthly for the same content. The process certainly doesn’t seem simple. Again, a legacy of them being a mobile phone company I guess.
The dongle I’m using is the new one and costs £99. I think. Oh, hang on. It’s free if you take on the 18 months contract or £99 if you go PayG. Right.
Sheesh.
In conclusion, until we have a true city-wide free wifi mesh then the 3g dongle is, if not essential then very useful for the laptop swinging digital nomad for those moments when you’ve got 20 minutes to spare and a bit of work to get done. Or if Virgin shut down broadband in your area for maintainence. Or if the wifi in the coffee shop is b0rked. Or if you’re in a college where the network is locked down by paranoid IT bods. It’s a little bit of freedom for a not insubstantial but fairly reasonable price.
And it works with a Mac. That’s the important bit!
i’m surprised you’re getting such a slow connexion speed, especially with a brand new dongle…
since i changed my living arrangements last october, i’ve actually been on the t-mobile web & walk package using a nokia n95 as the modem as my sole internet connexion; that had an actual data transfer rate of 1mb/s – which was the same as i’d had on my previous fixed-line broadband – & when i upgraded to the w&w max package the speed increased to 1.7mb/s (i’ve had some trouble over the last month, but that’s outside the scope of this comment…).
a friend of mine has the early 3 dongle (the while oval shaped one), & he reports typical speeds of between 2 & 3 mb/s, though i don’t know whether that’s a bogus speed factoring compression in.
overall, apart from the recent problems i’ve found it no less reliable than fixed-line broadband; then again, mentioning recent problems, the previous time i moved house it took bt wholesale my actual provider a whole six weeks to cease & reprovide the connexion, which was particularly annoying when i was hosting websites from my box in the living room…
I’ve got a similar Vodafone one (for work), and much like yourself, although I see the advantage of having a reliable connection on the move, it’s not a patch on my home broadband, so I’d never look to switch permanently.
Interesting review Pete – I’ve been considering jumping on the ‘mobile broadband’ wagon for last month or two, so thanks for your review.
I’m reluctant to sign up to another 18 month contract (already got one with my mobile phone) for something I can’t really try and test beforehand – and the fact that every network seems to be launching a new mobile broadband package/tariff each month makes me wonder if I should hold off until they all decide what works best, in order to get the best deal?
From what I’ve researched so far, Vodafone offer the best speed & service for the most money, 3 offer an ok service for a lower ok price and O2 are offering something similar to 3, but it’s only available to O2 mobile phone customers. Orange seem to be some somewhere in-between Voda and 3, but aren’t really in the race as they have not promoted their service at all (from what I can see). Need to look into T-Mobile…
Hmm.