With a potential house move looming, it’s a good time to assess my future broadband options. I have a choice between ADSL (and, maybe, fibre broadband in the near future), cable and mobile broadband.
I have to say, I find Virgin Media’s cable packages expensive. Yes, you get a fast speed but you do pay for it.
I’ll probably end up sticking with ADSL as I simply don’t get mobile broadband as a day-to-day alternative. Ok, when you need mobile broadband abroad or generally away from the house, and wi-fi isn’t available, then it’s great. But that’s for a mobile phone. For home use, I don’t get why some people use a mobile option – it’s generally via a USB dongle that limits you to use on a single PC, it’s often more expensive than ADSL, has more limits and is slower. Ok, yes, you can pick up your laptop and just wander wherever and retain a connection. But does that really out-way the downsides?
I accept that for businesses it can be excellent – using mobile broadband abroad on your laptop is a real boon. But for everyone else?
For those new to mobile broadband on laptops, they usually come as USB “dongles” that you plugin, with a SIM card inside. They often have other functionalities too, such as memory sticks. Alternatively, and usually the business option, they come as cards that slot into the side of a laptop.
Personally, I do have a mobile USB “dongle” but on pay-as-you-go – you can get them from as little as £5! I’ve only used it once – so my wife could access the internet when she was in hospital (yes, they do allow it!). I’d like to see more ADSL routers with connections for a mobile broadband dongle, so if the main broadband goes out it will fail back to the mobile. Then I can see the benefit of it at home.