I’m not very transient in my Internet usage, meaning that I use the Internet at home and at work, but not a lot while I’m traveling. On occasion however, I really wish I had a way to connect my laptop to the Internet somewhere where I don’t have a wireless connection. These days, getting on the 3G network is all the talk. 3G is the 3rd generation of wireless Internet. Japan was the 1st to provide it in 2001 and in October of 2003, Verizon became the 1st carrier. By June of 2007, the 200 millionth customer of 3G networks had signed up. In 2008, it’s growth continues. [1] I find it amazing the number of devices that come enabled with Internet access these days.
So what about my laptop? If you live in or around the UK, you might check these mobile broadband deals from Broadband Expert. In addition to providing mobile internet, the broadband expert site allows you to compare mobile broadband.
Clearly, Broadband Expert is on your side when it comes to providing mobile Internet. Instead of touting a solution and hiding the competition, they present you with as many carriers and prices as they have access to. You can sort by price, contract terms, etc to find which option best suites you. Then, whichever carrier you choose, you get a cool USB stick that plugs in to your machine and presto, 3G Internet speeds on your computer. As cool as the USB Internet access stick is, I’m also intrigued by the price. The T-Mobile solution is only £10/month (about $17.91/month) and the other solutions are listed at around £15/month (about $26.87/month). That really isn’t that bad for the data transfer rate offered.
Clearly T-Mobile operates beyond the borders of the UK. That being my current provider for cell-phone and VOIP, I thought I’d look directly at their offerings for Internet service. After browsing their site for available packages, I only found a reference to data cards with Internet access. They don’t appear to offer, as an accessory, a cool USB stick. In addition, their data plans were about $50/month. I may be wrong about this, but in the mean time, it appears you need to go to a 3rd party site like Broadband Expert in order to get the Internet plan for your laptop/computer.
These days you can get a free laptop as well with your broadband deal – the thing I I think they load the prices for the broadband to make up for it so the laptop isnt really free!