3G mobile broadband on netbooks

What is 3G for netbooks?
If you’ve read my article on connecting your netbook to the net, you’ll know that 3G stands for 3rd generation, the latest mobile telephone network.
With 3G, you can connect your netbook wirelessly to the internet practically anywhere in the UK that you can use a mobile phone, and in many places abroad too.

How do I connect my netbook to 3G?

3g dongle for netbook

You connect your netbook through one of the mobile telephone networks. Some netbooks have a modem built in so that all you do is insert a SIM card just like with a mobile phone.
Other netbooks will need a “dongle”, a small device about 10cm long that plugs into one of the USB ports in your netbook. You’ll need to buy a SIM card or dongle from the normal mobile telephone providers.
You can get Pay as you go or Monthly contract for mobile broadband, just as with normal mobile phones depending on what you need.

What’s best for mobile internet – dongle or built-in?
The main thing is that both work fine and you probably would get the same performance out of the net with either.

Some people prefer having the 3G built in to their netbooks as there’s no external device to plug in.  It may however be harder to switch mobile internet suppliers as the hardware will usually be locked to the original supplier. If you lose your netbook, then the finder may be able to use your internet account with your netbook. And of course you can’t use it easily on other computers.

The advantage of a dongle is you can carry it about in your pocket so no one else can use your internet account, even if they have your netbook. You can easily plug it into whichever netbook, laptop or even mainframe PC you wish, and get online. And it’s a lot more straightforward to switch mobile broadband suppliers (subject to any contract you may have, of course).

This great flexibility means that I prefer the dongle every time. And my brother uses one for all his broadband, switching it between netbooks as necessary. You can even get a base station that you plug the dongle into and everybody in the house can use mobile broadband through it just like a normal wireless router.

Which mobile broadband supplier is best?
As with mobile phones, it’s horses for courses. All the mobile phone companies offer great mobile broadband, but rather than spend hours trawling through all the suppliers’ separate websites, we recommend checking them all out in one place

We’ve teamed up with The Link and Phones4U,  Britain’s top mobile broadband companies, so you can be sure to get the very best deals around

Phones4U offer a great range of free netbooks or laptops with monthly contracts and Phones4U offer the best deals we can find for PAYS (Pay as you go) . Click below to browse through their current free netbook deals.

The Link is well known for its great range of products as well as its unsurpassed quality and service. We find The Link best for value in monthly contracts for mobile broadband, and these generally include a free netbook or notebook too. For the best free netbooks, then  you need look no further than The Link. Check them out.

PAYG is OK if you want to control your spend closely and can’t predict your usage. Monthly contracts are likely to be best if you’re more of a regular mobile internet user.

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