Pay As You Go Broadband

Orange currently has more than 800,000 fixed line customers but plans to ditch their own problematic fixed-line broadband – which covers around 65% of the UK - in favour of BT. Although Orange has invested millions in broadband equipment and telephone exchanges; their customer base has been declining and their commercial performance rated as poor. In 2009 of 17 ISPs Orange was rated as 15th in the Service and Reliability Awards.

BT will take over Orange’s fixed-line business and a proportion of Orange staff will move over to BT as part of the re-organisation. The Times suggests the move to BT will increase Orange’s network coverage and free up their resources to invest in its broadband products and improve customer services.

Be aware that 1GB of data = 400 emails + 28 hours of internet surfing + watching a dozen short video clips.

Mobile broadband is easy to access, if you decide to sign up to a contract you will get either a small USB modem or a dongle that plugs into your laptop. Chose a data allowance that meets your needs because if you go over your allowance you will get hefty charges. If you buy online and you are not happy with connection speed or reliability you have a 7 day cooling off period when you can cancel your IP. Mobile broadband will not replace a fixed line connection for most users unless you are a light user or a student who does not require a fixed line. 

If you want a short term deal for broadband only three providers offer deals lasting three months or less.

1. AOL is the cheapest, charging £4.99 a month offering up to 8Mb speeds and 10GB download limit. The minimum contract is one month and if you stay longer than 3 months you will pay £9.99 a month.  Check it out on the AOL website.

2. Be Broadband will offer you a faster 24Mb service with minimum contract of 3 months at £24.43 a month as well as line rental. Visit the Be website  for more details.

A good 3G signal which gives you faster mobile internet access, video messaging and downloads and the ability to watch TV on your mobile is essential. Currently 3 www.three.co.uk and Orange www.orange.co.uk have the most extensive coverage across the UK. However, O2 have announced plans to build 1,500 new mobile network sites across the UK in 2010. O2 suggests its focus is also on being number one for customer satisfaction.

Money is tight when you are a student. Why not consider switching to Orange for the following 5 great reasons?

1. £10 free credit.

Switch to Orange, use your old number and they will give you £10 free credit. You will need to know your previous PAC network code before visiting www.orange.co.uk 

2. 1 in 3 chance to win

Every time you top up you could win a prize with Bright Top Ups: a one in three chance to bag laptops, texts and maybe a holiday.

3. Magic Numbers

January is sale time and the right time to save on pay as you go phones. Visit www.orange.co.uk to see their great bargains – including some half-price pay as you go phones! For example, get a nifty Nokia 2730 with MP3 player and FM radio, for just £49 + £10 top up

Alternatively, save £10 on a handsome Alcatel OT-708 with touchscreen. When you buy either of these phones with Dolphin, you will also get free internet browsing -for Facebook, Twitter, Bebo and more … visit www.orange.co.uk/shop

Pay as you go mobile broadband is now half price! O2 broaband is now offering half-price mobile broadband on it pay and go broadband service. The offer is avaibable until midnight on the 17th November 2009.

The price of a pay as you go mobile broadband dongle with o2 is £14.67 for this limited time offer – that is a bargain!

• Pay as you go daily price = £2 for upto 500MB of downloads
• Pay as you go weekly price = £7.50 for upto 1GB of downloads
• Pay as you go monthly price = £15 for upto 3GB of downloads

Some users of the 3G mobile broadband dongle with a laptop have found that their browser seems unable to display any web pages at all.  What, if anything can be done?

The Problem

Although mobile phone networks market 3G data-connected dongles as ‘broadband’ they are usually slower than wired broadband. The speed of the 3G connection and its ability to load web pages is affected by your location and how busy the network is at any given time. 4Mps is needed for landline broadband and the speed of your 3G connection in built up areas will probably be between 1Mbps-2Mbps.

Only one month after Tesco announced record sales in pay as you go mobile broadband, sales appear to be slowing. Latest industry figures show that since students have gone back to university sales in mobile broadband have slowed down.

The whole broadband market had been following the growth of mobile broadband – it was deemed that mobile connections would replace fixed broadband connections (at the home of office). Business users in particular were lined up for taking up mobile broadband – because of the flexibility it would bring business users whilst they were out and about.

The question is, “Does pay as you go mobile broadband cost more or less than contract broadband?” Well it depends on who you ask. At first glance it simply doesn’t figure why a pay as you go deal would cost less than a contract. Afterall, what would the benefit of the contract offer? – cheaper prices you’d hope.

The guys over at Broadband Choices have had their calculator out. They reckon that just £15 can buy 3Gb worth of data download – around 2000 emails or three full length movies. Not a bad deal.