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How to use mobile broadband in business
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How to choose a mobile broadband supplier
Below, we provide an article to reveal what to look for in a mobile broadband package, plus reviews of all seven UK mobile broadband providers.
Choosing a mobile broadband package for business
Buying a 3G mobile broadband connection is fraught with pitfalls, especially for businesses. Here, we examine what the big seven mobile broadband vendors have to offer a business buyer.
Review: 3 Mobile Broadband
3 is at the forefront of mobile broadband innovation. Consumers can choose from a vast range of pick’n’mix-like options, where they choose which modem they’d like, how much data allowance they’ll need, and the length of the contract.
BT Review: Business Mobile Broadband
BT is a late entrant into the mobile broadband market, but it isn't trying to build its network from scratch. Instead, it's hitching a ride on Vodafone's networks, and what makes it interesting for businesses is its bundle deal: BT Business Total Broadband.
Review: Orange Business Everywhere Unlimited
Orange offers a straightforward Mobile Broadband service for consumers, with a £14.68 inc VAT monthly fee including 3GB of data usage and an 18-month contract. Compared to 3's £10-a-month deal, that's nothing special, but Orange does have the advantage of a more established 3G network
Review: O2 Mobile Broadband
Unusually, the home page for O2's business service invites you to select how many users you'd like to sign up: anything from one to ten. The bad news is this doesn't automatically apply a discount, with the cost sticking at £17.02 exc VAT per user if you sign up for 12 months and £12.77 exc VAT for 18 or 24 months (the latter deal discounts to £8.51 per month for the first four months).
Review: T-Mobile Mobile Broadband Plus
T-Mobile impressed during PC Pro's speedtest of the UK's major mobile broadband operators, as it was the only one to average over 2Mbits/sec in our London tests. Even on a train journey, when many operators fail to provide a stable service, it kept going with minimal interruptions.
Review: Virgin Mobile Broadband
Virgin is partnering with T-Mobile to provide a mobile broadband service, and it's pitching its service at home users rather than businesses - as taglines such as "Honey, we shrunk the internet" give away.
Review: Vodafone Mobile Broadband
Vodafone has embraced the concept of mobile broadband with a vengeance, offering the largest number of permutations around. There's a choice of four modems, from the standard USB Modem Stick to an ExpressCard to the all-new Modem Stick Pro - this features a retractable USB connector for extra neatness, and works in both Europe and America (the standard version only works in Europe).
Features
Built-in 3G vs modems
When buying a new notebook, you may not immediately consider whether or not it includes a built-in 3G modem. However, it’s likely that you or your staff will need the ability to access data from remote locations at some point in the future. You can buy a 3G USB dongle separately, but what are the disadvantages – and advantages – over a built-in 3G modem? We put both technologies to the test.
True cost of 3G
Justifying the cost of 3G connections isn’t straightforward. They add anything from £10 to £30 per month per person to your overheads, and you’ll almost certainly be tied into a contract lasting from 12 to 24 months. Here, we examine where you might be able to make savings elsewhere to justify the cost, and why continuing to use other methods to get online could be a false economy.
Jargon buster
The world of mobile broadband is littered with abbreviations and obscure jargon. Here, we explain what they all mean.
