Everything you need to know about mobile broadband

Most of us think of broadband as something we tap into when we’re at home, like our gas and electricity supplies. But these days there are ways for us to benefit from all the useful information and services we take for granted at home when out and about.

Portable broadband comes in several different guises and can be accessed through a variety of devices – from notebook computers and handheld PCs to mobile phones and even handheld games consoles.

With a lightning-fast internet connection at your fingertips at all times, you can send and receive emails as if they were text messages, use online navigation tools instead of out-of-date road atlases, check cinema times, book restaurant and theatre tickets, browse your favourite websites, download music – in fact, anything you can do at home you can also take with you on your travels. Read on to find out about your options.

Mobile broadband equipment
Broadband has dramatically altered the way we use the internet. In the old days before fast ADSL and cable connections, we were limited to speeds of a maximum 56Kbits/sec, which meant web pages took ages to appear and downloading anything larger than a megabyte (MB) took hours, rather than seconds.

Now, almost two-thirds of UK households have broadband; a fast (anything up to 24Mbits/sec),
always-on internet connection that provides access to so much more than faster emailing or the occasional extended online shopping spree.

Broadband also provides the infrastructure required to support new, exciting types of online services, such as watching TV programmes with BBC iPlayer or downloading albums from iTunes. And the good news is that you don’t need to be stuck at home to enjoy broadband’s benefits, either.

There are effectively three main ways to access broadband while away from home. Those equipped with a Wifi-capable mobile phone, handheld games console or notebook PC can take advantage of the growing network of wireless hotspots cropping up in coffee bars, university campuses and hotel lobbies across the world. Alternatively, you can plug a mobile broadband adapter dongle (also known as a dongle) into a notebook computer and sign up for a service that can provide dedicated broadband access via high-speed mobile networks. Lastly, some mobile phone handsets and handheld PCs come with built-in access to fast internet via 3G networks, so need neither a PC, dongle or hotspot.

Spot a hotspot
It’s worth pointing out that broadband is a bit of a loose term, particularly in the UK, where the word can, according to telecoms regulator Ofcom’s guidelines, be applied to any internet connection faster than 256Kbits/sec. Home broadband connections tend to be quoted at upwards of 2Mbits/sec these days, although it’s a well-known fact that actual data transfer rates rarely reach these theoretical maximum speeds. When it comes to mobile broadband, speeds vary even more drastically, as data transfer rates may depend on a number of elements.

Take Wifi hotspots, for example. Many public places, such as coffee shops, airports, book stores and hotels offer wireless internet access and all that’s usually needed to take advantage of it is some kind of wireless-ready device. This could be a notebook PC, a Wifi-capable mobile phone or even a Playstation Portable. If your notebook computer doesn’t have built-in wireless networking, then it’s cheap and easy to add it with a USB or PC Card Wifi adapter (from around £12 at Dabs).

Some wireless hotspots are free to use – check http://free-hotspot.jiwire.com or www.myhotspots.co.uk for a directory of free hotspots in your area. Most, however, will incur a cost; usually a per-hour charge you pay via credit card or by purchasing pre-pay credit from the provider concerned. BT Openzone is one of the biggest providers, with a fairly wide national coverage and a range of ways to pay. For example, a 90-minute pre-pay voucher costs £6 and you must use all of your time allowance within 24 hours. Longer pre-pay periods (up to 30 days) are available from both BT Openzone and T-Mobile. A 20p-per-minute pay-as-you-go rate is also available with BT Openzone.

Some Wi-fi hotspot providers offer subscription-based payment schemes for frequent users. The Cloud (www.thecloud.net), for instance, charges from £6.99 a month for unlimited access. It’s also worth checking with your home internet or mobile phone provider, as Wifi hotspot minutes may be included as part of an existing subscription. BT Total Broadband ADSL subscribers, for example, get a certain number of free hotspot minutes per month into the bargain.

There are several variables that affect the speed of data transfers at hotspots, including the type of connection used by the hotspot’s host, the quality of the wireless reception, the type of Wifi being used and the number of people using the connection at the same time. As such, it’s hard to put a definitive figure on the kinds of speeds you might expect from any given hotspot, although most tend to be reasonably fast.