Pay As You Go Broadband

If you are considering purchasing mobile broadband for your computer or laptop, then it is worth checking whether your computer will cope. Here are the minumum system specifications for each mobile broadband providers broadband dongle / modem.

Summary: As long as your computer is running Windows 2000 on a PC or OS X Panther on a Mac, you have 256MB RAM and a USB port you should be fine. The most important bit is the USB port – a mobile dongle won’t easily work without one so check you have one. Otherwise you will likely need to go for a PCMCIA card to plug into your laptop.

Orange mobile broadband

For a PC

* Windows®2000 service pack 4
* or Windows® XP service pack 1 or 2
* or Windows® XP tablet edition service pack 2
* or Windows® Vista
* 112MB RAM internal memory and a minimum of 50MB free disk space

For a Mac

* OS X Panther 10.3.9 or higher
* standard USB interface
* at least 50MB free disk space and 128MB RAM

Visit the Orange website for further information.

O2 mobile broadband

For a PC

* Windows: XP Service Pack 1-3 (32 bit) or Vista (32 bit)
* Intel Processor: 500Mhz and above
* System Memory: 128MB (XP) or 512MB (Vista)
* Hard Disk Space: 150MB
* RAM: 1 GB
* Internet Explorer 6.0 Service Pack 1 or higher
* Video: 256 colours and 800×600 resolution
* Windows 2000 is not supported

For a Mac

* MAC: Mac OS X: 10.4 or higher
* Hard Drive Space: 64MB
* RAM: 1 GB

Visit the O2 website for further information.

Three mobile broadband

For your modem to work, you need to make sure your computer meets some basic system requirements. Your computer should also have at least 128MB of RAM and 50MB of hard disk space available. And you’ll need a free USB port, so you can plug your modem in.

For a PC

You’ll need a PC than runs Windows 2000, XP or Vista

For a Mac

Apple Mac that runs OS X, either 10.4 (Tiger) or 10.5 (Leopard)

Visit the Three website for further information.

T-mobile mobile broadband

* Processor: Pentium 500MHz or above (PowerBook G4 for Mac)
* Memory: 128MB RAM or above
* Hard Disk: 50MB free disk space
* Operating system: Windows Vista (including SP1), XP (Service pack 2), 2000 and Apple Mac OS X 10.2.6 or higher.
* Display resolution: 800*600 pixels or above (1024*768 is recommended)

Visit the T-mobile website for further information.

Vodafone mobile broadband

From the Vodafone website “Mobile Connect software is designed to be easy to install. Before you do so however, check your laptop specifications meet the system requirements below.”

Windows

System requirements for Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G broadband data card

* Specifically designed for Windows 2000 and XP
* Type II PC-card slot with cardbus interface
* Memory – 32 MB RAM minimum, 64 MB recommended
* 100MB minimum of free hard disk space
* To use the Vodafone WLAN service, a WLAN-enabled laptop is required

Installation Instructions for Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G broadband data card

* Uninstall any existing version of the Vodafone Mobile Connect software before starting to install the new software
* Please ensure that you exit out of any programs that may be running
* Download the software and Unzip it
* Click on run.exe
* The installation ‘wizard’ program should run automatically
* Follow the on-screen instructions to install the Vodafone Mobile Connect software
* Insert the data card when the on-screen message asks you to

Important Notice for Windows users with a Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Modem

The USB Modem has software pre-loaded onto the device, which automatically self-installs the first time the device is plugged into a laptop or computer. This pre-loaded software makes it easy to set up and run providing all the functionality a typical user would require.

Organisations may prefer their users to use the full Mobile Connect software which can support an organisation’s IT infrastructure and policies e.g. support for VPNs and the ability to remotely deploy software. It can also be used to send SMS messages. Version 7.04 of the Mobile Connect Software is provided for these organisations and users.

Please note that Version 7.04 will not support WLAN access and any previous versions of Mobile Connect software will need to be uninstalled before installing version 7.04. Once version 7.04 is installed, the USB Modem will detect that it is available and use it in preference to the software pre-loaded onto the device.

System requirements for Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Modem

* Laptop or PC with Microsoft® Windows® 2000 or Windows® XP
* At least 50 MB free disk space and 128 MB RAM
* Standard USB interface
* Microsoft® Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher

Installation instructions for USB Modem full Mobile Connect software

* Do not plug in the USB Modem until you have finished the software installation process described below. Once this software is installed it will prevent the automatic self-install of the software pre-loaded on the modem
* Uninstall any existing version of the Vodafone Mobile Connect software before starting to install the new software
* Please ensure that you exit out of any programs that may be running
* Download the software and Unzip it
* Click on run.exe
* The installation ‘wizard’ program should run automatically
* Follow the on-screen instructions to install the Vodafone Mobile Connect software

Macintosh

System requirements for Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G broadband data card

* PowerBook G4, 15-inch and 17-inch
* Mac OS X
* Type II PC-card slot

Installation Instructions for Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G broadband data card

* Download the software and double click on the file you have downloaded
* Follow the on-screen instructions to install the Vodafone Mobile Connect software
* Insert the data card when the on-screen message asks you to

System requirements for Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Modem

* Standard USB interface
* Optimised for Power PC based Macs and Intel based Macs
* Mac OS X “Panther” 10.3.9 or higher

Installation instructions for Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Modem

* Do not plug in the USB Modem until you have finished the software installation process described below and restarted your computer
* Double click the ‘Vodafone MC Installer’
* Authenticate the installer
* Read, continue and click ‘agree’ to the license agreement
* Select ‘easy install’ and click ‘install’
* When prompted click ‘restart’

Visit the Vodafone website for further information.