I’ve had access to one of these devices since yesterday, and I am quietly impressed by the device, and it’s capabilities; it’s not perfect (more later), but it certainly is a very useful device…

Although it costs a little more than a standard 3 Mobile Broadband USB Modem, the extra facilities it offers may make it worthwhile for many.  Basically, it shares it’s 3G connection over Wi-Fi to upto 5 devices at the same time.  Now, the 3G network speed is not enough for all 5 devices to be streaming audio or video, but would cope with all 5 checking mail and web surfing.  In fact, I’ve been sat here with 2 laptops connected to it, with one streaming Spotify music for over 2 hours now without any glitches or problems.

One problem with the device is that it is 3G / HSPA only; it will not fallback onto the Orange 2G data network (like a 3UK Handset would), so if you are out of coverage of 3UK’s own 3G network, it will not work at all.  3UK claim to be at 70% population with 3G, which is still one of the highest (if not the highest) for pure 3G connectivity, but the lack of fallback may leave you stranded in the short term.  Last night, 3UK showed their plans for a “monster” 3G network for 2010, which fills in a lot of gaps in their current coverage, so as this better network comes online, this problem will fade to some degree.

One key use of this device is for Wi-Fi only devices, such as the iPod Touch, the Nokia Internet Tablets, PSPs etc. and certainly all these devices gain extra features with connectivity, and it’s very easy to just turn the device on and be able to access the internet anywhere (with signal).  The battery is claimed to last 5 hours, and althougwe haven’t yet got to 5 hours of usage, it’s certainly a plausible figure.  If needed, you can turn off the wireless to limit it to local wired USB connection only, or you can turn off 3G to just give you a local wireless network hub for file sharing.  The network name (SSID) is quite obviously a 3UK device, so you may want to change it (all mangement needs to be performed via a wired cable connection).  You can also change the encryption key, although given this is listed under the battery, it may be easier to leave this alone for convenience.

Other positive points? 3UK are trying to ensure nothing (legal) is blocked by their Internet connection, and certainly everything we accessed worked fine without any issues.  As 3UK have good support for Skype, they are happy for you to run the client on your laptop.  Also interesting to note is that iPhones and iPod Touch can also use a MiFi to allow full access to Skype for calls; whether or not you are allowed to make calls on the Skype client is based on whether the connection is 3G (from the phone) or WiFi (from the phone); the fact that the WiFi access point then uses 3G is not factored in to the switch within the application, so these functions work fine too.

The only other downside we can find is that when you turn it on, you then seem to need to turn on 3G every time; it’s a shame it needs 2 buttons presses, and not just one, but this is a minor point.

The 3 MiFi will be available on Friday in Stores (and available to order online on Thursday)with two pricing options; the “Broadband 5GB 1 month” service will cost £69.99 upfront and then £15 per month for 5GB of data (with a rolling 1 month contract), or you can select the PAYG “Ready To Go” option at £99.99, which will include 3GB of data to be used over a 3 month period, and then it will move onto standard Mobile Broadband PAYG pricing.  3UK have indicated that there may be more tariffs in the future, and they will also review the 5GB limit over time too.

If you are worried about “Bill Shock” with this device (you will get warning SMSes, but as these are only available if you have the connection software installed and connect to the device via the wired USB cable, most people will never see these), 3UK have a “hard block” of £25 per month; once you hit this limit (comprised of the original tariff and then the overspend), 3UK will block the SIM for the rest of the month.  This is a nice feature to limit exposure, and you can ring up 3UK to increase or decrease this limit if you wish.  Of course, the My3 portal is accessible from any connected device (even on wireless) which gives you a live data usage figure should you wish to check how much you have used.

All in all, a useful device, and one you should consider if you want to have the capability of easily sharing your Mobile Broadband and have sufficient 3G coverage in the areas you want to use it.

After we covered some options for sharing your 3G connection a couple of weeks back (here), Solwise have informed us they have another device available which can also act as a 3G WiFi router; the Aztech 3.5G 11n Router.  This device brings together 802.11N WiFi technology with 3G (not this device does not seem to act as an ADSL router like the previous device we featured, but can be added into an existing wired network).

At only £53.66 this is a nice cheap device for sharing your 3G USB Modem with other users, and it seems to support the majority of USB Modems in use today (with support for various Huawei, Option and ZTE devices).  An interesting device for when away from home and looking to provide multiple devices with internet access.

More details available direct from Solwise here.

3UK have announced today that they are looking for a small number of exclusive ad partners who will be able to display ads within the Mobile Broadband dashboard, the software used to connect their USB Modems to their network.  They have stated they have over 1 million users, and hence there will be over 30 million advertising impressions every month.  As they state each advertiser will be getting 1 to 3 million impressions, it would appear they are looking for around 10 advertising partners.

Apparently brands such as VW, Suzuki, Kia, Peugeot, Mazda, Honda and Land Rover have placed adverts on 3Austria’s dashboard in the past.

This presumably will bring in additional revenue to 3UK, but we see no mention of plans to reduce costs, or offer the consumer anything in return for being presented with ads…

A week or two back, 3UK informed us they were cutting their data roaming charges to just £1.25/MB, claiming that was the lowest rate available in the UK.  It may well have been, but I’m afraid it seems to me that Vodafone’s new rates make that look pretty poor…

If you are using a Handset (as opposed to a Mobile Broadband USB Modem), then in Zone 1 (roughly the bigger countries in Europe) you will pay £4.99 for each block of 25MB (ie go 100k over 25MB and you will pay £9.98).  Outside of Zone 1, you would pay £14.99 per block of 25MB.

If you are using a USB Dongle (actually Vodafone’s terms are “on phone” and “on laptop”, not explaining where a laptop or PDA tethered to a phone comes) then it’s £9.99 for each block of 50MB in Zone 1 (so the same rate per MB, just only available in bigger chunks) and £29.99 in Zone 2.

All these charges are per day, and end at midnight *UK* time (although Vodafone will send you texts when you get close to the end of a block of data and when it’s close to midnight), and Vodafone do state the charges are based on browsing and emails, and not file sharing, downloading music or video or streaming media either (as these will quickly eat up those blocks of data).

So, if we do our sums properly, it looks to us like Vodafone works out a lot cheaper per MB than 3UK are when roaming, but of course if you use a really really small of data per day, then 3UK will be cheaper, but where’s the fun in that…

With the aide of a handy calculator, we think the following would apply:

• Using 1MB a day for 7 days on 3UK in France: £8.75
• Using 1MB a day for 7 days on Vodafone in France: £34.93

So, 3UK comes out best, until you start using more data…

• Using 4MB a day for 7 days on 3UK in France: £35.00
• Using 4MB a day for 7 days on Vodafone in France: £34.93

Of course, as the numbers go up, it still starts to add up for both…

• Using 15MB a day for 7 days on 3UK in France: £131.25
• Using 15MB a day for 7 days on Vodafone in France: £104.79

Now, 15MB a day for 7 days is only 105MB, and, to be honest, with both networks offering over 500MB (3UK offering 1-2GB) for £5 per month, all these charges still look ridiculously high, but let’s hope the price war between the networks continues to drive down data charges before the EU has to act and set limits on roaming, like it has for calls and texts.

Although we update the UK Gadgeteer Offers page most weeks with new deals we have found / agreed with companies, we thought we would draw your attention to the last update, which added a couple of exclusive 3UK offers.  Both offers include a white USB Mobile Broadband Dongle, which are currently very rare on 3UK, to the extent that if you head off to the 3Store website, you will only be offered the black ZTE modem.  However, we can provide you access to the white Huawei modem with two options; either a 24month 15GB contract for just the USB dongle or with an Acer laptop.  Head off to the UK Gadgeteer Offers page to see these two offers and links to the offers direct at 3UK.

Please note these are time limited offers, and will be removed once they are no longer available from 3UK.

We try to provide access to deals such as these (ie not available to the general public) as often as possible; if this deal does not interest you, please keep an eye on the UK Gadgeteer Offers page in case something else catches your fancy.

We first covered the Huawei D100 Router as sold by 3UK earlier this year, but we now see it’s been removed from the 3Store (most likely due to 3UK concentrating on the ZTE USB Modem right now, which is not compatible with the Huawei).  Well, courtesy of Hot UK Deals, we’ve been informed that Carphone Warehouse are currently selling their stock of the 3 branded device at half price, which is £34.25.  That’s a very good price for the device, although it is limited to only working with 3UK, and, as already stated, needs a Huawei 3UK USB Modem to work.  However, once you have that, it will offer you the ability to share your 3UK Mobile Broadband connection with upto 4 other devices via Wi-Fi as long as you have access to a power socket.

Given that this does have these limitations, what are the options for others?  Well, the Solwise 3G Router may help out; although it’s designed as an ADSL router, it has a 3G failback capability (ie when the ADSL line is down, it will use a 3G USB Modem instead).  Now, because this isn’t being sold by any particular network, it’s not limited to one mobile network, and also supports a whole range of USB Modems, including a number of ZTE models as well.  It can even support some mobile phones being connected via USB if you have one lying around spare.

As the Solwise has both an ethernet port and Wi-Fi capability, it can act as a nice portable connection sharing device too. The Solwise is a little more expensive at £60 though (although for another few pounds you can get a Euro plug adaptor for the same device given you the ability to use it across Europe; although use a local SIM or be prepared for some horrendous data roaming charges!).

Both these devices still have one problem; the USB Mobile Broadband Dongle has to be physically located close to the main unit (and hence a power socket); if this location does not have the best 3G signal, then you should head over to Mobile Fun, who sell external aerials and signal boosters for the majority of USB Modems on the market (and have some generic ones for those without external antenna sockets).  Finally, it’s not clear if Carphone Warehouse are selilng the Black or White variant (or if you get a choice when ordering online), so it may be prudent to go to your local store if you are looking for a particular colour.

We should say that T-Mobile have a similar unit, but it’s only available with a new Mobile Broadband contract, so if you already have a device, there’s no wasy way of purchasing one…

We’re a big fan of 3 UK and also of Skype, so we are happy to promote the 3UK Skype Free Calls Forever promotion that 3 UK have launched.  Even better than that, they have just announced a price drop on two of their Skype phones on Pay As You Go (PAYG):

• The INQ1 PAYG has dropped from £99.99 to £69.99
• The Skypephone S2 has dropped from £99.99 to £69.99

This makes the 3 UK deal even better; for around £70 you can now buy a phone which will offer free Skype to Skype calls and not even need to topup the device to continue using it (although if you get the INQ1, we’d recommend it’s worth keeping the phone topped up and also getting Mobile Internet access on it to access the other Social Networking features of the phone).

Also, if you are on the lookout for a deal on 3 Mobile Broadband Starter Kits, 3 UK have just dropped the price of their 3GB Starter Kit from £59.99 to £49.99 (for selected USB Modems).

We believe all these deals are already available in the 3Store.

3UK have this week reduced some of the prices of their Mobile Broadband solutions. Firstly they have reduced the price of some of the USB Modem sticks to even lower prices than before, now starting around £30.  Secondly they have reduced the price of the 3 Mobile Broadband Starter Kits, with these now starting around £59, although we still think the 12GB version offers the best value for money.

We see 3UK have also launched a new Starter Kit with a 24GB allowance, for use over a period of upto 24 months, which might appeal to some.

All items are available for order today from the 3Store.

Vodafone have just started a promotion on their TopUp and Go USB Modem Stick for £39 (down from £49 yesterday), which includes the first free TopUp of 1GB (worth £15).  Unlike 3UK, this TopUp will not expire, and we understand nor will any subsequent TopUps.  The K3565 Modem Stick offers downloads of up to 3.6mbps, and includes a microSD slot.

This may be an interesting competitor to the 3 USB Modems, especially with the non-expiry of the TopUp vouchers; but is it good value…  Let’s compare the main networks:

• Vodafone: £15 buys you 1GB of data, but with no expiry
• 3UK: £15 buys you 3GB of data, but it will expire after 30 days
• T-Mobile:£20 buys you 30 days of usage, with a 3GB of data cap (includes Wi-Fi access too)
• O2: £15 buys you 3GB of data, but it will expire after 30 days (it does also include “unlimited” Wi-Fi)
• Orange don’t offer PAYG Mobile Broadband

So, is this a good deal?  Well, we think for those who want to occasionally take their laptop out and about it could be wonderful, removing the need for TopUps unless the data has been used up; for those who need more data, we would probably recommend the 3 Mobile Broadband Starter Kits or any of the contract Mobile Broadband deals.

In other news, we’re hearing Vodafone has an offer on their Vodafone netbook (Dell Mini 9) laptops; half price line rental for the first 3 months; we are finding our netbook very easy to use, and you can read our first impressions of it here.  Full details of this should appear on the Vodafone website soon.

Maplin have reduced the price of the Maplin minibook between now and 24th December. Instead of the RRP of £169.99, it’s now just £139.99. Maplin have offered discounts on this small netbook before, but this is the largest discount we’re aware of. Also available from that webpage is a downloadable Wi-Fi patch for the device to deal with wireless connectivity problems. From that webpage there is also a link to CnM Lifestyle, from where you can download system restore tools, a few extra applications and games, and even a driver for the Huawei E220 USB Modem for 3G access.

This may not be as feature rich as the Asus Eee PC units, but price wise it certainly may serve as a device for kids to have internet access.

Fancy a mobile broadband device, but don’t want to commit to a long contract?  3UK have now got the E220 Modem available on a 6 month contract.  Just a quick reminder; the E220 is not one of the newer USB dongles.

According to 3UK, this will work with the D100 Router they released last week, although having told us that the router shipped with a battery when it doesn’t, we would suggest you get confirmation from 3UK on this compatibility before purchasing if this is a key feature for you.  We suspect it will work (as it’s a Huawei device), although it won’t be as neat as using a new dongle USB Modem.

Head to the 3Store for more details.

Update: This was apparently too popular for 3UK, who have now removed it from their website.

3UK have kindly provided us with more technical details behind the D100 Router. This is made by Huawei, and we understand it will work with any Huawei USB Mobile Broadband modem, including the original 3 USB Modem, as well as the more recent dongle versions. It won’t, however, work with every USB modem 3 have sold, eg the black and green ZTE modem will not work (by virtue of being made by ZTE, and not Huawei).

As a passing comment, the ZTE modem has now been dropped by 3UK due to limited remaining stock, and the overall move to USB dongles, although it’s still available as one of the 3 Mobile Broadband Starter Kits if you really must have a green and black modem!

After the ethernet port we mentioned last week, the key feature the D100 router has is a built in Li-Ion battery. It’s 950mAh, which is equivalent to many mobile phones, so we would expect this is capable of powering the device for a few hours; this may seem shorter than a mobile phone, but remember it’s got to power the USB modem as well as provide a constant Wi-Fi signal. However, the inclusion of a battery will allow the device to function whilst out and about without necessarily needing a power socket, which has to be a good feature.

The tech specs are:

• Weight : 200g
• Size : 110 x 90 x 27
• Battery : 950mAh (LiP) BST-38
• Speed : Dependent on modem being connected.
• WLAN: IEEE 802.11b/g
• UMTS Signal Indication
• Lion Battery and power indication
• DC connector and external DC power supply
• Connector for external USB device (ie the USB Modem)
• Up to 32 user connected through Wi-Fi
• Networks : GPRS 900/1800/1900/UMTS 2100

Colours

• White
• Black

Other Features

• 1 RJ45 port

3UK have also confirmed it will retail for £69.99 (when buying a new contract), and is available today from the 3Store. It’s half price with the offers we mentioned last week; as well as those taking a new phone *and* Mobile Broadband contract, it appears it will be half price for existing Mobile Broadband customers, although you may need to ring up to get this offer.

We should also state, it is tied to 3, so will not work with Huawei dongles on other networks.

3 are stating this is capable of replacing a home broadband service, and certainly for occasional internet users that is a very possible situation. For those that travel with multiple devices, or even small offices, it could also offer an attractive option.

Update: It appears the tech specs from 3UK themselves may be wrong, and it may not include a battery after all. We’re seeking confirmation from 3UK on this point…

Update: 3UK have confirmed this was an error in the initial technical specs that were sent out, it does not contain a battery and that the tech specs on the 3 website are now correct.  3UK have apologised for the confusion this has caused.

Just last week, T-Mobile launched their Wi-Fi Broadband router, the T-Mobile Mobile Broadband Share Dock.  This is a Wi-Fi access point that accepts the T-Mobile USB Mobile Broadband dongle, and allows you to share and access the mobile broadband connection.  It’s limited to 3 concurrent devices, and as part of configuring it, you set a password to protect access.

The biggest downside is that in the short term T-Mobile have stated it will only be available with a *new* Mobile Broadband contract (£20 for 18 months which includes the Mobile Broadband dongle), but some people are reporting it’s going to be available to existing customers, at a price which varies based on your current contract.  This should be available in stores around now, although it does not appear yet on the T-Mobile online store.

Now, this week, 3UK have launched their own equivalent device, the D100 Router.  Looking a little smaller and neater, it also performs the same function; providing access to the 3 USB Modem via wireless, and 3 say this can be shared with up to 4 people.  It will work with all Huawei USB dongles, although possibly not the elder Huawei USB Modem devices.  However, there are something about this which have attracted our attention…

Although we have little other details, we notice an ethernet socket on the side; it will be interesting to see what this is for, and whether it allows you to use this on both wired and wireless networks.  3UK are also currently making this only available with a new mobile broadband, but that can be a contract or PAYG, and we understand it will be available within the next few weeks, and priced as follows:

• If you are a new customer, you can pay £69.99 when you purchase either a Mobile Broadband contract *or* a Pay As You Go USB dongle.
• If you are a new customer, and you buy 2 “contracts” at the same time, it will only cost £34.99.  We’re not sure if this means you can purchase a phone contract and a broadband contract and benefit from the half price, but we hope it does.
• Finally, if you are an existing 3UK monthly contract customer, it will cost you £34.99 with a new Mobile Broadband contract.

We would recommend and remind you that 3UK are still offering monthly the top Mobile Broadband 15GB tariff at half price for existing customers (ie £15 per month); we’re waiting for confirmation from 3UK as to whether you can use both these offers together.

If you plan to share out your USB Mobile Broadband device with either of these routers, we’d recommend making sure you are on one of the networks higher tariffs.  Certainly the ability to allow friends and family to access the internet when visting you (or you visiting them) or just the ability to create your own wi-fi access point whilst travelling (allowing the connection to be shared by a number of devices) will make these popular sellers.

Next up, we hope the networks release devices that perform the reverse; using an existing fixed broadband connection to provide a femtocell; providing network coverage for your phone in areas where the signal is currently poor.  For many, these type of devices, even if limited to voice and text would be welcome.  They are being worked on (and we have covered these devices before), but it’s still not clear when they will be available for sale.

For the next few days, we will introduce a new deal that 3UK are now offering, some of these are so new, that (at the time of writing) 3UK haven’t updated their website to reflect these details.

Today’s deals aren’t actually new deals, but they are an improvement…

3UK have improved their USB Mobile Broadband offerings, by offering newer and better devices.

Firstly, they are replacing the E169G Stick with the new E169 Stick (yes, a subtle model number difference), with the new version additional featuring a memory card slot as well, allowing the device to work as a card reader.

Secondly, the E160G will now be available in new colours; pink, blue and green.

Although we’ve mentioned them before, a number of the devices are also as Broadband Starter Kits, which is basically a way of buying them as PAYG devices, but with a nice credit already included in the deal.

If interested, head off to the 3Store and read about the 3 USB Modems or 3 Mobile Broadband Starter Kits.

At the time of writing the website did not reflect all new 3UK offers mentioned this week, and some will come with Terms & Conditions and Fair Usage Policies which we were unable to confirm the details of.

Three have spoken with Tech Radar, and provided some interesting information.  Firstly, they are looking to improve their speed up to 14.4mbps over the next year.  This will be achieved by first rolling out 7.2mbps this summer, followed by 14.4mbps in the future.  3 do warn that you’ll need to be within about 200m of a mobile mast to get the benefit from the 7.2mbps speed.

More importantly, they have also stated that the main plan is to increase capacity; “What we hope to offer is greater capacity, in order to serve more users, rather than just focusing on the top speeds.”

With 3’s fantastic USB Modem deals in the 3Store, it might well be worth getting a device today and then upgrade it next year to an even faster one when your current contract is up.

Details courtesy of Tech Radar [via 3mobilebuzz]