The Three mobile broadband product is relatively new to the market, so we would appreciate some feedback. Are there any Three customers out there, and how happy are you with your dongle?
I've been using it since January 2008 on the £25 per month 7GB Mobile Broadband Max plan. Speeds are very reasonable for my needs although I only ever achieve speeds in excess of 2MB during the off peak periods (Manchester) and sometimes the speed is as low as 0.25 MB .
Generally speaking, I'm able to stream BBC using BBC i Player and Youtube is no problem but it depends where I am in the house. My nearest 3/Tmobile transmitter/receiver is at Manchester City's football stadium just up the road but I have noticed a deterioration in service just recently. I'm not sure if this is due to the increasing number of people using the network.
I was experiencing a few signal 'drop outs' but I'm using an HP Pavilion laptop as a desktop and the HP Quickplay programme was the problem here so I disabled it and hey presto it worked. I use an Asus EEEPC 901 Linux as my 'out and about' machine and the USB dongle was very easy to install on the Linux OS.
Overall, a very good experience with 3 which means I don't need to search for a hotspot when I'm out and about and I can also use the dongle at home with no need for a fixed connection.
My only regret is that I signed up for an 18 month contract especially as the mobile broadband market is moving rapidly and prices are reducing.
It's also a pity that UMPC manufacturers haven't caught on quickly enough to the need to provide integrated 3G machines.
Three Mobile Broadband
Posted - 27/05/2008 : 16:46:05
