This past fortnight, I have been mostly testing USB mobile broadband modems. Testing them until my eyes bleed.

Until yesterday, T-Mobile had provided us with the larger Huawei E220 USB modem you can see at the top of the photo here. And to be honest, it was pretty ropey. Tim Danton described last week the trouble he had installing the device and the download speeds we recorded – even when sat upon the 6th floor balcony here at Dennis Towers – were distinctly underwhelming. Speeds were typically hovering around 300-400Kb/sec, placing T-Mobile well behind rivals such as Vodafone and 3.

Then we spotted that the company had released a new Huawei USB stick (dubbed web’n'walk Stick III) that plugs straight into the PC – near identical hardware to that used by Vodafone and 3, in fact. We badgered T-Mobile’s press office to send us a test unit and the results have been nothing short of remarkable. Download speeds are now hovering around 2Mb/sec – around five times faster than what we were getting with the E220 modem. Even on my train journey from Sussex to London the connection is reasonably solid, whereas before it was decidedly choppy.

If you’re thinking of signing up for T-Mobile’s mobile broadband, make sure you opt for the Stick III rather than the E220. If you’re still not sure what mobile broadband network to hook up with, make sure you read issue 166 of PC Pro, on sale 19 June, where you can find out how all five of the UK networks compare.