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T-Mobile

Posted on 15 Jul 2008 at 14:21

Modem tested:

Huawei E170

Maximum speed achieved:

2.1Mb/sec

Average speed achieved in London:

2Mb/sec

Average speed achieved out of London:

964Kb/sec

T-Mobile's service was consistently the fastest of any of the UK networks - and the only one to record an average speed of 2Mb/sec or more in London. It's no slouch on the uploads either, with consistent 300Kb/sec speeds. It rivalled Vodafone's consistency on our Sussex to London commute, too.

We were impressed by the Web'n'Walk software that came with the stick. A scrolling graph provides a handy visual guide to both download and upload speeds, allowing you to see immediately if you've got a problem and need to reconnect. Daily, monthly and yearly download data is also presented cleanly in a stats sidebar. Better still, there's free Wi-Fi from any of T-Mobile's nationwide hotspots to fall back on, should you fail to get a decent 3G connection.

The only problem with T-Mobile is its cack-handed approach to image compression. Set as default, if you want to stop web images looking like they've been through the carwash, you have to download a separate application called Web'n'Walk Accelerator to run alongside the modem's normal software. Why the Accelerator couldn't have been integrated into the same package is anyone's guess.

Nevertheless, if you want a fast, reliable and reasonably priced service, you won't go far wrong with T-Mobile.

Rating: 5/6

Author: Barry Collins