A deal currently raising the temperature at HotUKDeals is a 3 dongle with five free album downloads for £9.99.
Generalnameless was first to post on the deal that gives you the PAYG 3 mobile broadband dongle for a penny under a tenner with five free mp3 album downloads from Datz.com. You can see what everyone is making of the offer by clicking through and, should it take your fancy, get some HotUKDeal action yourself… let us know how you get on.
The guys at broadbandsuppliers have been keen to point out that 3 is ‘contributing its share’ to the lowering of mobile broadband prices to the consumer by reducing its rate on packages.
They detail the packages available, such as the ZTE MF 627 USB modem for £19.99 with 1GB of download for an extra £10, and the Ready To Go package, which has dropped £10 to £39.99. Highlighted as ‘one of the cheapest and impressive broadband suppliers in the UK‘, the guys seem to like the range (and prices) of the available packages.
A quick update from UKGadgeteer who has taken note of 3 reducing some of their PAYG prices,
“A PAYG Mobile Broadband Dongle is now £19.99
Taking the 1 month at a time contract, the dongle now just costs £9.99 upfront
The Mobile Broadband Starter Kit loaded with 3GB of data is now £39.99”
They believe these are all worth considering if you’re an occasional Mobile Broadband user…
3 have added a 30-day rolling SIM-only mobile broadband option to their roster of services.
Offering 5GB data for £15 you’ll be able to send about 5,000 emails or surf the web for 50 hours by popping the SIM in a 3 dongle. According to Mobile News the service is “aimed mainly at prepay mobile broadband customers who are apprehensive of upgrading to contract”. If you fancy this and don’t have a dongle the Huawei MF627, E156g and E1550 are all available for a one-off cost of £19.99.
Tech Digest and Wireless Federation have also covered the news.
Broadband News & Mobile Broadband News has let their readers know that, “leading UK mobile broadband provider 3 has cut the price of its mobile broadband no contract starter kits by £10.”
These are now available at £49.99 with either a ZTE MF627 or E160G modem. These come with 3GB data that equates to sending about 3000 emails, surfing the web for 30 hours, downloading 15 four minute videos and 96 four minute music tracks.
All the details are in the post and if you’ve been using one let them know your thoughts.
A particularly interesting article turned up this morning courtesy of top10-broadband.co.uk, effectively setting everyone straight on those points of concern that still may rankle when considering the purchase of mobile broadband.
Reassuring everyone that “the days of punitive charges of £45 per GB are a relic of the dim and distant past”, as well as the fact that EU legislation to promote competition “will slash costs for overseas use even more” – they even applaud aesthetic steps that have been taken with the dongle. “3 sells dongle skins to let you add a dash of colour to your mobile broadband experience.”
Ideal for those investigating their first foray into Mobile broadband, or those with a pressing question – go and take a look now.
Latest Gadgets News has posted a write up on 3’s plug n play dongle the E156G, “Get high speed internet access with new wireless broadband which is slim and light weight.”
They describe the modem manager as ‘user friendly’ and make note that the dongle has a slot for an SD card so doubles up as a pen drive if and when required. For all their thoughts and to leave a comment head on through.
The 3dongle4free offer that was covered by Pocket-Lint, iXplora and SourceWire, giving away a free 3 mobile broadband dongle, has stirred concerns about it’s legitimacy at Money Saving Expert.
Initially things did seem a little suspicious, but after talking to 3 we can confirm that http://www.3dongle4free.co.uk/ is genuine so you can be assured that the site and offer are all above board.
It appears that ItProPortal.com is a fan of 3’s mobile broadband starter kits, especially the Huawei E160g 12 months/12GB package.
They believe the starter pack route “is the best way to get broadband on the move or even replace your home connection.” They give you all the details and even equate what 12GB worth of data will get you in real terms – to find out head on through.
In the Touring and Tenting forum bigkev has asked for advice on what dongle to go for when it comes to hooking himself up with some mobile broadband.
Gill and Myra plump for 3, as does RogerL, “It’ll depend where you live and where you caravan – I use 3 for both home and touring – their coverage is best near main trunk roads.”
There’s quite a bit of opinion in the thread, so why not add your own…
Adam14, from Digital Spy, has decided to take up a 3 Mobile broadband contract; however, asks the question which is the better modem, Huawei or ZTE?
Fred Smith, suggests the Huawei, but says it might not be as good unless you’re in a 3 hotspot, “like Edinburgh”, though, both Moox and Avtech disagree with Fred, with Avtech saying, “I am very happy with 3 coverage and speeds here on the West coast of Scotland miles away from cities.”
Got a favorite? Then have your say…
Rollingsta, from Exceem Forums, has encountered some signal difficulties with his dongle. He’s only been getting 3 out of 9 bars and turns to his fellow members to ask how he can boost the signal.
SelfSilent suggest that “double glazed units have a metal film tint that reflects heat back into the house but this can affect signals too,” whereas Jon suggests that he fashions an antennae from ‘kitchen foil’. Interesting…
What do you think? Can you help? Find the thread here.
In 3’s sister-network countries you can use 3 Mobile broadband as if you were still in the UK? Richard_M44 from Yacht & Boating World was unsure of this so ask the following to his community:
“I know Lemain has a ‘3′ mobile broadband PAYG deal. I wonder if this works “as if you are still in the UK” thus using the prepaid UK allowance in Italy?”
As fate would have it, Alyssa, has the answer, and the answer is ‘yes’. She also has some more useful facts about 3 Mobile Broadband; cklick here to read them.
It seems that the Gigabyte is falling against the sterling, as 3 announce a new 15GB Mobile Broadband tariff for £15 a month. For the less mathematically gifted among us, that works out at a very friendly £1 per GB.
According to Joe at Computer Weekly, 3 “quantifies the mobile data package as the equivalent of 15,000 emails, 150 hours of web surfing or 10 half hour video downloads.” Or, as Daniel over at Tech Digest puts it, “an arse load”.
Head over to Tech Digest for details, or get involved in the discussion at Trusted Reviews.
Both have plenty of numbers and letters, both give you mobile broadband access, but which one is better? That is the million dollar, or £30 question being asked over at the hotukdeals forum by Marky264:
“I can get both for under £30 so which one has the best [speeds] and best coverage?”
If you know your dongles, or just have an opinion on the subject, head over to hotukdeals and offer Marky264 your advice.
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