Staying Connected Whilst Keeping Your Own Arm and Leg
As we’re packing up the sun cream, buckets and spades this year ready for our sandy summer holidays many of us will also be thinking of bundling up our dongles.  3G Dongles are our gateway to the internet abroad, giving us access to mobile broadband wherever we are in the world. Now holidaymakers can stay connected with the family, the office, the news or even just the latest telly whilst topping up their sun tan.
Sounds great, apart from the cost. When the craze for mobile broadband first began the expenses were exorbitant. In some extreme cases it was reported that customers faced charges of as much as £10,000 for roaming while abroad.
The reason is because mobile broadband is such a new market it has limited regulation or competition and therefore the companies can largely get away with charging what they like. Don’t bewail too much yet though, there are some handy travel tips that can help surfers manage their usage and keep their charges to the absolute minimum.
Hints and Tips
Of course, the best way to save money on roaming charges is to turn off and unplug your mobile broadband dongle. If that is simply not possible, contact your UK mobile broadband provider and ask if they have an international package you can sign up to that will cover your web use while you are away.
There is a third option; a pay-as-you-go dongle, although you would need to have data roaming activated by your provider before you travel. Mobile broadband signals work on Country Codes; for example, Spanish Wi-Fi uses the code 214 and the Vatican’s is 225. Different countries use different bandwidths and frequencies for their mobile broadband infrastructure. By activating data roaming means your dongle will be able to find a 3G signal for you to use while you are away.
Alternatively, you can buy a ‘third party’ dongle that supports SIM cards from any network (make sure you research thoroughly before buying though) and simply buy a SIM card from a local mobile operator when you arrive in your holiday destination. You can also request that your mobile broadband provider ‘unlocks’ your dongle so you can use any SIM from any provider, UK or foreign. While O2 will do this for free, be aware that some providers will not, as unlocking often means lost revenue for them.
Outside of the EU, however, mobile broadband reception will vary wildly.
When arranging a deal for mobile broadband before going away it is best to check with your network provider both how much it will cost you to access mobile data while you are away and how strong the mobile broadband signal is in the area you are visiting.
It’s not much use paying for mobile broadband if you go to Uzbekistan (that’s Country Code 434, by the way!) and are never able to connect to the web. The same goes if every mouse click will cost you £1.
To avoid the highest costs you can also shop around to find the best deals. They are out there they just take a little searching. To find the best deals, a visit to a price comparison website is always the answer. Broadbandchoices.co.uk is really valuable site; as well as price comparisons, you can also read reviews by other customers and browse a huge range of how-to guides and frequently asked questions.
The cost-conscious are probably best off sticking with a pay-as-you-go plan. Luckily there are as many pay-as-you-go mobile broadband deals on the market as there are contracts. This form of mobile broadband allows customers to just pay for what they use rather than paying a flat monthly premium no matter how little time they spend online. So if you know you’ll need to email your mother to let her know you’ve got to Bulgaria safely, but then won’t need to use your dongle again, you may be better off finding a pay-as-you-go broadband deal rather than a contract. The serious drawback however is that you will generally be charged the highest standard rates your network offer. In some countries this can sometimes be as much as £8 per megabit of data accessed.
If you’re likely to be using the internet a lot when abroad, then a deal that allows roaming add-ons could prove the most valuable. Many packages that include add-ons tie users to monthly contracts but will often throw in certain extras for a small extra fee, or even for free. For example; Vodafone offers customers a free dongle with their mobile broadband packages, and T-Mobile give their customers free Wifi access in Starbucks outlets as well as a wide range of hotels and airports around the world.
Ultimately you will want to shop around and try to keep tabs on how much you will really need to use the internet when you are away.
Managing your mobile broadband, and utilising services like those offered by Broadband Choices can help you ease the pain of finding a suitable mobile broadband provider, keeping your travel costs down and helping you surf for less when you’re on the beach.
Guest post provided by Broadband Choices, a website dedicated to removing the confusion that selecting the right broadband provider can cause. The company provides lots of guides and advice, like the impartial broadband reviews available here.
