Wireless Connectivity

New modern modem sparking a mobile broadband Revolution

Written by Anonymous on 11:55 PM

A small piece of technology with a very unusual name has created a major revolution in mobile broadband.

You will have seen the 'dongle' posing next to a laptop in billboards or newspaper ads.

The USB modem, which provides internet access on the move through the 3G mobile network, is basking in its five minutes of fame.

Mobile operators are finally hoping to recoup some of their investment in 3G (all told, they spent about £22.5billion when the spectrum was auctioned off eight years ago).

Unlike video calling and multimedia messaging, mobile broadband does seem to be taking hold. Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimate 50,000 people are buying the devices every month in Britain and more than a fifth of 3's new customers who sign up to monthly contracts are buying dongles.

With advertised speeds of up to 7.2mbps (megabytes per second), it seems as though we can finally achieve fixed-line rates without the hassle of activation charges and long-term contracts - ideal for those who rent, such as students or foreign workers.

And it is a revolution - albeit one that feels as though it should already have come. We surf the web so often at home or work it seems we must be able to log on whenever we want.

Yet Wi-Fi hotspots aren't ubiquitous and some have hefty charges attached for usage. I tried dongles from O2, T-Mobile, 3, Vodafone and Orange: all were plug'n'play, with no hassles in loading and I was able to check e-mails while sunning myself in the park. It even came in handy as back-up when my home broadband had problems.

Networking it out

Yet dongles may not be the solution for all. 'Mobile broadband packages impose very low download caps and charge a premium if you go over the limit, so they aren't right for heavy internet users or regular downloaders,' says Rob Barnes, head of broadband and mobiles at moneysupermarket.com.

'If you are a heavy user, you'd be better off looking at fixed-line deals as a number of these packages offer unlimited downloads and competitive prices.' Indeed, one user was stung with a bill for £4,900 after using her dongle to download The Apprentice on holiday.

Even Alan Sugar's not worth that. Most packages fall into the 3.6mbp rate range, although Vodafone claims it can reach speeds of up to 7.2mbps.

Yet, according to the folk at 3, this is misleading: they even lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority last month, arguing Vodafone's advertised data speeds are largely unattainable.

'These numbers refer to a technical standard, a maximum user rate that's only achieved in a perfect environment,' says 3's chief technical officer, Graham Baxter.

'Factors - such as number of other users in the area, distance from the base station, signal quality and the application that you're using - all bring your data rate below the maximum.

'If I was going into a shop, I'd be much more interested in understanding the network spread and my proximity to the local base station than in whether it's a 3.6 or a 7.2.

Goodbye Wi-Fi?

BroadbandExpert.com recently tested user experience speeds, finding an average for mobile broadband of 1.46mbps - the best the 7.2mbps service could offer was 2.3, and that was only in the postcodes it covers.

Although rates often don't match up for fixed lines either (speeds depend on how close people live to BT phone exchanges), Broadband Expert did find that average home broadband speeds were 2.95mbps. And, if fixed-line operators invest in fibreoptic cable, they could deliver download speeds of up to 100mbps, which mobile operators can't match.

So there's life in the landline yet. According to Jonathan Earle at O2, which joined the dongle bunfight last month, both can live side by side. 'If you want access to the internet on the move, mobile broadband is fantastic,' he says.

'If you want to download films and have the fastest speeds, home broadband is still the best proposition.'

O2's dongle also allows you unlimited access to 7,500 Wi-Fi hotspots across Britain, through a partnership with The Cloud. Which is great for downloading big files, but hints at another broadband provider that could be feeling the heat more than BT (striking back with its just-launched BT Total Broadband Anywhere package, using a handheld device similar to a Blackberry).

Pockets of wireless broadband have been compared to telephone booths of old (if you need to use the service, you have to hunt around for an access point) - could the dongle's siren call actually be 'ding dong, the Wi-Fi is dead'?



By Daily Mail Reporter