O₂

Posted on 15 Jul 2008 at 12:57

Modem tested:

Ovation MC930D

Maximum speed achieved:

440Kb/sec

Average speed achieved in London:

318Kb/sec

Average speed achieved out of London:

348Kb/sec

O2 is the newcomer to the mobile broadband party - and it shows, with headline speeds stuck at 1.8Mb/sec (although it was due to upgrade to 3.6Mb/sec shortly after we went to press). Consequently, its download speeds are disappointing, with actual throughput of around 300Kb/sec. Even more infuriatingly, O2 provides no means to switch off its website image compression.

Perhaps aware of its vulnerability on speed, O2 has sensibly partnered with The Cloud Wi-Fi network, which provides connection speeds far beyond anything 3G broadband can offer from 7,500 hotspots dotted around the country. That's little compensation on a train, but ideal when you just want to check your email for ten minutes at the station.

O2's no-fuss software elegantly handles the combination of 3G and Wi-Fi, with pop-up boxes informing you when a higher-speed Wi-Fi connection is available. It also includes a regularly updated hotspot search, so you can punch in your street name or postcode to find the nearest Wi-Fi point.

Overall, it's a disappointing start for O2, especially given its £20 base package is the most expensive here and the company only offers mobile broadband to existing customers. Once the network comes up to speed, however, it could be a serious player.

Rating: 2/6

Author: Barry Collins