My current broadband supplier, Be Broadband is great but I can’t see them offering me a fast FTTC connection any time soon.  I could really do with better speeds for the work I do.

I could switch to an unlimited* BT Infinity product which would provide much better speeds (up and down).  I’m just not sure if I should switch to BT when I know that Be Broadband provide a good service.

Reasons to stay with Be include:

• Good customer service
• Good community forums
• Great user-group with unofficial stats and news
• A one month rolling contract

Reasons to jump ship to BT Infinity:

• Much faster downloads and uploads (6.5Mb/s currently to around 35Mb/s download and 1Mb/s upload currently to around 10Mb/s upload)

An 18 month contract with BT really puts me off as does their bad reputation.  Also, don’t feel I can fully trust BT not to turn over details if I happen to allegedly download something that may be frowned upon by the authorities.

Have you had any experience of BT Infinity good or bad?

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EDIT: I switched to Plus.net.  Have been connected for around 12 hours now and it’s been a rock solid stable connection.

I’m hoping my upload speed will improve a bit over time but I’m happy enough.  The only other thing is remembering that it’s not unlimited so downloads will have to happen at night when it doesn’t eat into my allowance.

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The fact that mobile broadband isn’t received through a fixed-modem line means that there’s no line rental to worry about either, which is a real plus point when you weigh up the benefits of just having a mobile phone and no landline. All you really need on top of that these days is a laptop, or better still, one of the smaller netbooks, and you’re ready to go.

A laptop can be had for just a few hundred pounds, and some broadband deals now throw this in for free as part of the package, while a netbook can often be had for less than a couple of hundred quid. Once you’ve got one of these little beauties all you need to do is shop around for a mobile broadband contract that’ll suit your needs and you’re ready to go.

Getting set up for mobile broadband is a doddle. With a contract or pay-as-you-go deal in place, you simply plug a small stick-like device known as a ‘dongle’ into an available USB slot on your chosen device and with a few simple clicks you’ll soon be accessing the web and email. This extends to pretty much any UK area, just as long as you’re in range of a mobile phone network signal.

There are some obstacles to watch out for along the way though. Mobile phone connections can sporadically break up, which can be very frustrating. Similarly, reception for mobile broadband can often be affected in much the same way. Coverage in major cities is by far the most dependable and it’s getting faster too with recent upgrades being announced by the likes of Vodafone, which now promises speeds of up to 14.4Mbps. However, the everyday reality could be much less than that.

Where there is copious network coverage you’ll find that it’s also easy to connect to the internet using the 3G mobile broadband network, and access to web pages and emails can be carried out swiftly and easily using this method, in much the same way as it can be done on many of the new smartphones available from the same network providers.

This means that catching up with content like movies, TV and radio shows via catch-up services is all the more easier. It also means that you can do this while you’re on the move, so long journeys or lengthy waits in places like airport departure lounges can now be whiled away in veritable luxury. There are data limits on most packages that you need to be wary of exceeding as there can be costly surcharges, but clarity on this can always be easily found in a providers terms and conditions.

The best way to get a handle on costs involved for mobile broadband is to check out a price comparison site like Mobile Broadband Genie that’ll not only give a comprehensive overview on the best deals, but they’ll also highlight the pro’s and con’s of each and every contract. Some deals may look good initially, but if you’re a heavy user then data usage limits on your downloads and penalties for exceeding them may turn that good deal into a dud.

Pay-as-you-go offers no contract but if you’re prepared to sign up for something like 12 or 18 months on a contract basis then there are plenty of deals that’ll throw in the dongle that you need plus lots of other perks that’ll make a monthly paid for service seem like a much better idea. This is particularly true if you’re a heavy internet and email user and expect to be online a lot.

You can land a basic mobile broadband contract from anywhere around £10 per month but naturally the cheaper the deal the more the limitations of the service. If you can stretch to something like £30 a month then you’ll immediately find that there is much less constraint on the amount of data you can download and upload, while some deals will also give you a laptop to take away and use as if it’s your own. The price you pay means it’ll basically cost you in the long run but it’s still a good deal for some users.

If you tend to travel overseas and want to use mobile broadband there then you should also be aware of the potential extra costs on that front. Simply using your existing contract and associated kit could end up turning out to be very expensive indeed. There are overseas mobile internet deals available, but they don’t come cheap so you need to work out how much you plan to be surfing overseas and work out a more cost effective option. Whatever the option you take, it is unlikely to be bargain-basement in terms of overall cost.

Meanwhile, if you invest in a mobile broadband contract back here in the UK then lookout for increased performance in the coming months. Mobile network companies are fiercely competitive and each one is constantly trying to outdo the other. However, there is still some way to go in terms of speed and efficiency of mobile broadband compared to its home-based rival. Virgin Media is now offering up to 50Mb speeds for some of its cable-based customers while mobile surfers cannot currently hope to get anywhere near that figure.

Nevertheless, with speeds ranging from 1Mb to 5Mb on average, the greatest plus point that mobile broadband affords its users is that you’re free to keep on working or enjoying that valuable leisure time of yours just about anywhere you choose to take your smartphone, laptop or netbook.

About the author: Rob Clymo writes on behalf of www.broadbandgenie.co.uk, the independent comparison website for broadband and mobile broadband.

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