This morning I was awoken by the postman who needed me to sign for the mobile broadband kit that I have been waiting impatiently for. I was quite excited at the prospect of being able to access the internet without the need of a telephone line.

I had read some articles via Google about how Mobile Broadband is expected to explode in 2008. i also came across a rather simple article that explains exactly What Is Mobile Broadband?.

After using it for around nine hours I have found that it is incredibly easy to use, in fact all I had to do was plug the modem into one of my USB ports and the CD into the drive and it installed itself.

This little device means you can go anywhere and access the internet, in fact as long as it is a place that you can use your mobile phone then you can use your modem as it runs on the same technology.

It is also great if you have just told the ONLY landline phone provider in the country to stick their phone line somewhere uncomfortable.

My main grumble is that the speed is well below home broadband standard that I have become accustomed to, the highest speed available to me at the moment is 3.6mbps (with home broadband it is in the 15mbps region) but with the way the technology is evolving it will only be a matter of time before speeds are increased.

Another downside is you do need to take out a long contract with one of only three companies currently offering this service (3, TMobile & Vodafone), these contracts are either 18 or 24 months long.

Would I recommend this to people?

If you wish to use the internet for general stuff then I would, but if you want to download large files quickly or play online games then I’d wait until some time next year when they increase the speeds.

Photo by Brian Lary from FreeImages