We’re regularly asked by people travelling to the UK for business or holiday which is the best network operator to use for mobile broadband…….not an easy question to answer!

The first problem is defining what is meant by ‘best’. Most holiday makers coming to the UK just want a low cost Pay As You Go data plan that can be used to retrieve a few emails and do a bit of web browsing. Business users often have more complex needs and want to setup VPNs back to their office, use VOIP services and generally require relatively large amounts of mobile data.

The data we’ve compiled below is taken from our own customer’s feedback, surveys carried out by large organisations (YouGov, BBC, Which etc) and smaller independent research data relating to 3G data services. We have not included any information relating to voice or older 2G data technologies e.g. EDGE, GPRS. We’ve also only included the 5 main UK networks providers.

Skip the review and go straight to the BEST UK network operator winner

The AirCard 313U is one of the first LTE (4G technology) USB modems from Sierra Wireless. The device offers the highest possible mobile broadband speeds of up to 100Mbps download and 50Mbps upload.

The AirCard 313U is fully backwards compatible with all previous 3G and 2G mobile broadband technologies including: Dual Carrier HSPA+, HSPA, UMTS, EDGE and GRPS. It’s also a 3G tri-band device making it ideal for international travel.

The 313U has swivel USB adapter which can bend the modem to the most usable position.

The AirCard is available independently and from the following mobile network operators:
AT&T - USBConnect Momentum 4G
Rogers  -  LTE Rocket Stick
Bell - 4G LTE Sierra Wireless 313U Turbo Stick

If the 313U is supplied by a network operator then it will be locked to that network. To get the AirCard 313u unlocked, click on the links above.

The AirCard 753S is a new mobile hotspot device to come from Sierra Wireless. The device is exactly the same as the 754s except it doesn't support 4G LTE networks, only 3G networks.

The 753s supports Dual Carrier HSPA+ network which gives it a theoretical maximum download speed of 42Mbps and upload speed of 5.76Mbps.

 As with other mobile hotspots the 753s will support up to 5 WiFi enabled devices.

Currently the 753s can be purchased from the following mobile network operators:

Australia: Telstra - Ultimate Mobile Wi-Fi
Australia: BigPond - Ultimate Mobile Wi-Fi

Devices purchased from network operators will be locked. The unlocking solution can be purchased from 753s Mobile Hotspot Unlock. Once unlocked the device will work with SIM cards from any network operator.

The AirCard 754S is the latest and greatest mobile hotspot device to come from Sierra Wireless.

The big difference with the 754s compared to other mobile hotspot devices is that it supports 4G LTE mobile networks. Which in theory will allow up to 100Mbps download and 50 Mbps upload when on a LTE network.

If there are no LTE networks available the device will ‘fall back’ to older 3G and 2G technologies.

As with most mobile hotspots the 754s will support up to 5 WiFi enabled devices (the newer 763s is expected to support 10 WiFi devices).

Currently the 754s can be purchased from the following mobile network operators:

The Huawei E587 is a high end wireless modem (aka MiFi, Mobile Hotspot, Mobile WiFi) supporting Dual Carrier HSPA+ making it one of the fastest 3G devices available.

The E587 is not a true 4G device as many websites are suggesting (probably for marketing reasons). It uses the latest 3G technologies to get high download speeds of up to 42Mbps. As always, in the real world this speed is not achievable and expect top downloads speeds to be more in the region of 16Mbps. Networks that don’t support DC-HSPA+ will see the max download speed considerably lower. None the less, the reported real world speeds we’re hearing about are very impressive.

Note: Sadly no UK networks currently support DC-HSPA (up to 42Mbps) so only expect HSPA+ speeds (up to 21Mbps).

As with just about all wireless modems the E587 can support up to 5 Wi-Fi devices connected simultaneously. Considering how mobile broadband speeds have gone up dramatically compared to the first wireless modems (e.g. Huawei E5830) it would make sense to enable more Wi-Fi connections.

The Huawei E587 can be bought independently and is available from the following network operators:
-    T-Mobile (USA) - called the Sonic 4G Mobile Hotspot
-    Telus (Canada) – called the E587
-    Three (unconfirmed reports)

Three UK have just released (5th September 2011) their new HSPA+ MiFi, the E586. The device is made by the Chinese tech company Huawei.

The E586 can be unlocked for use with any mobile network operator.

The E586 has the same form and dimensions as Three’s current (old) E585 MiFi with an improved, glossier finish.

The device is fully pre-configured and ready for immediate use. For those who like to customise settings, this can be done by connecting to the E586’s web admin console using a web browser.

The admin console can be accessed by opening a web browser and entering http://192.168.1.1 in the address bar and using ‘Admin’ as both the username and password. This is the default configuration.

Mobile WiFi devices are becoming more popular with nearly all the main UK network operators offering an option.

The only network of note not to supply a mobile WiFi device is O2. Who seem to be pushing WiFi hotspots supplied by The Cloud and BT OpenZone.

For those that might be wondering what the difference is between a MiFi and Mobile WiFi, the answer is nothing. The term ‘MiFi’ is just a trademark name (owned by Novatel) for Mobile WiFi.

Which Mobile WiFi device is the best?
We are regularly asked this question and to be honest, the current offerings are all very similar in specification and no one device is that much better than any of the others.

Below are the unique features that distinguish each device from the other.

Vodafone R201

T-Mobile Wireless Pointer (aka Huawei E583c)


- Has a connection (CRC9) for an external antenna, useful for poor signal locations


Orange 3352

- Has GPS & assisted GPS, good for those that use location based apps
- Advanced options that business users may find useful

Three E585

- The smallest and most portable device

Overview
For many people having internet access when going abroad on holiday or travelling the world is becoming more of a necessity. Unfortunately the costs can be extremely high. With unsuspecting mobile internet users coming back home to bills in the £1000’s.

The title of a recent article in a UK newspaper:

 ‘Britons abroad charged 1,000 times UK rate to surf the web’

Sadly this is no exaggeration!

For example, Three (UK) charges £7.50 a month in the UK for 1GB of data. If you travel to Canada and use 1GB it will cost over £10,000....ouch

In Europe, officials have put a cap on the amount international data roaming users can be charged by mobile network operators inside the EU. Currently the maximum limit is set at €50. This will stop the large bills, but it doesn’t help much if you’re travelling outside of the EU or require a greater data allowance.

At best €50 will only pay for about 40MB of data, which isn’t much. This amount of data can easily be used in one day by doing some general surfing and emailing.

As a rough guide 1MB equates to about 5 minutes of basic web surfing or emailing. Obviously if your emails have attachments or start downloading files (e.g. MP3, YouTube etc) the amount of data you use will increase very rapidly.

How to get cheap internet access
Getting cheap mobile internet access abroad is really very simple, just buy a SIM card local to the country you’re visiting. Most mobile networks operators provide data SIM cards on a Pay As You Go \ pre-pay basis, which is ideal for holiday makers and travellers.

There’s nearly always a mobile phone shop at international airports which will sell data SIM cards. The big advantage of buying at the airport is most shop staff speak English which can save a lot of time if you don’t speak the local language.


Getting connected
If you already have a modem or mobile WiFi device you will need to get it unlocked before using it with a SIM card from another network. To unlock your modem simply go to our home page and either select the modem manufacturer using the menu on the left or do a search (top right) for the model.

Armed with an unlocked modem and a local pay as you go SIM card, cheap mobile broadband is yours for the taking. No more worries about large bills or constantly monitoring the amount of data used!


Tips:

 Overview
The Huawei E353 is a new breed of budget USB modem capable of download speeds reaching 21.6Mbps and upload speeds up to 5.76Mbps. These speeds can only be achieved (theoretically) when using the latest HSPA+ mobile networks.

The E353 uses the latest Qualcomm 8200a chipset which features network enhancements to provide a better mobile broadband experience while on the move.

The modem is backwards compatible with older network technologies, including HSUPA, HSDPA, HSPA, UMTS (WCDMA) and GSM/EDGE.

The E353 has a CRC9 connector for attaching an external antenna.

There is the option of attaching a strap to to the modem so the lid covering the USB connector and modem stay together....very useful.

Review
For our tests we used the E353 supplied by Three (UK) and also used the Three network.

Speed
Unfortunately the area we tested the modem does not have HSPA+ coverage. So we were unable to use the modem to its full capacity. However we were able to test the modem on HSDPA (theoretical maximum speed of 7.2Mbps) and it was fast, averaging just over 5.5 Mbps for downloads. Using Three's E353 predecessor (ZTE MF112) in exactly the same area running the same speed tests we only managed to get a maximum of 1.5Mbps.

** Update **
We've now managed to test the modem on a HSPA+ network and achieved a maximum download speed of 14.6Mbps. Thats about 1.8MB/s download, which is considerably faster that most UK home users fixed ADSL connection!

About Huawei E1550

The Huawei E1550 is a budget USB 3G modem used by several mobile network operators around the worldwide. It’s the replacement model for the earlier E160 and E156 models which have now been discontinued.

Our testing has shown that the E1550 is maintaining the same excellent standard that it’s predecessors the E156 & E160 offered.

The build quality is solid and the occasional drop shouldn’t cause any damage. Not much has changed in design. It’s fairly bland looking and is of similar size to earlier models.

The Three MiFi (which is a re-branded Huawei E5830) combines the functions of a mobile broadband 3G modem and a battery powered wireless (Wi-Fi) router into a single device.

The benefit of such a device is that the mobile broadband connection can be shared between (a maximum of 5) Wi-Fi enabled devices. It’s your own portable hotspot.

The MiFi is only slightly bigger than the current bunch of USB dongles on the market. Making it a very portable and convenient way to share an internet connection on the move.

The device has a 1500mAh battery which Three claim gives 5 hours of usage. In our tests with three devices intermittently connecting to the web and downloading email we got 4.5 hours before the MiFi failed on us. There is a main power adapter included and power can also be provided via a USB port.

The MiFi controls are kept simple with three buttons mounted on the side. These turn on the device, start \ stop the broadband connection and start \ stop the WiFi. This could have been made even easier by having one button to turn on or off all the functions at once. After all the sole purpose of the device is to share mobile broadband over WiFi so you will always need all the functions on at the same time.

About Three (ZTE) MF627

The MF627 dongle is a budget model manufactured by ZTE for Three.

A bit of effort has been put in to the design of this modem. It won’t win any design awards but it does look slightly more interesting compared to other Huawei models in its class. ZTE have also attached the top that protects the USB connector.

The build quality is reasonable and the device should easily last most users for a year or two.

In our performance test the dongle faired pretty well with no drop outs and matching the Huawei models for speed.

About Huawei E160 Modem

The Huawei E160 3G modem is very common and used in many countries by different mobile operators. Generally considered a lower end model and for this reason is often the dongle supplied with Pay As You Go mobile broadband. Although lower end, it is a perfectly capable modem and for most users easily fulfils their requirements.

The E160 comes in several flavours E160, E160E, E160G and E160X. The difference between the models is the UMTS frequency bands at which they work. (See specifications below)

Many mobile operators re-brand the Huawei E160 to fit their marketing. For example:

T-Mobile USB Stick 110
Vodafone Modem Stick K3565(-H)

About Option Icon 431

The Option Icon 431 is a top end 3G modem that is packed with all the latest 3G technology.

The device has a very compact form and a retractable USB plug (no lid to lose). The retractable USB plug is a nice feature, however we did find that when connecting to our laptop the USB plug got pushed back into the casing of the modem very easily.

This is undoubtedly on paper the fastest 3G modem we’ve tested. As very few mobile networks support this speed, its overkill for most users. It performed well on a HSDPA 3.6Mbps network and was noticeably faster than the lower end models.

The Icon 431 is probably one of the best modem's currently on the market (2009)

Specifications

• Triple band 900/1900/2100 Mhz
• HSDPA 7.2Mbps (download)
• GSM Quad band 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• Micro-SD card, up to 8GB
• Upload up to 2.0Mbps (5.7Mbps upgradeable)
• USB 2 connector

Dimensions: 71mm x 25.7mm x 12.2mm