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]

If you are looking for a 3 USB Modem, but want an easy solution, then the Mobile Broadband Starter Kits might be the answer. These Mobile Broadband Starter Kits come with the USB Modem (a choice of the popular 3 USB Modems are offered), and also come with an initial data bundle to allow it to work straight away; so all you have to do is to put the SIM into the dongle / modem, connect the dongle / modem to your PC, and you will be able to surf the internet.

A number of options are available, from 3Gb to 24Gb data allowance included. This initial allowance is time limited, just like the standard PAYG USB Modems, but does offer a good deal.

It’s a while since we’ve mentioned the 3 USB Mobile Broadband deals, and 3 have quietly updated these, so we thought we would recap these new deals.

There are still 3 levels (Lite, Plus and Max), but the cost and amount of data allowance per month varies based on the length of contract you sign.

• For Broadband Lite, the figures are fixed; £10 per month with 1Gb of data allowance, irrespective of whether you take a 12, 18 or 24 month contract.
• Broadband Plus costs £15 per month, and comes with 3Gb of data allowance on a 12 month contract, but gives you 5Gb of data for a 18 or 24 month contract.
• Finally, Broadband Max offers some of the best deals for high usage customers. A 12 month contract will cost £25 per month and give 7Gb of data allowance, but 18 and 24 month contracts cost slightly more at £30 per month, but give a massive 15Gb of data allowance per month.

In most cases, the USB Modem is free (the exception being the 12 month Broadband Lite contract, although the £49.99 charge for the device is waived if you are an existing 3 customer). Another option for existing customers is to take the 18 month Broadband Max contract, where 3 will halve the monthly charge (ie you get 15Gb of data allowance for £15 per month).

These deals are all laid out in the 3 Store, and of course the PAYG options still exist if you don’t want the ongoing commitment of paying every month (although you may want to do the sums, as we reckon it’s worth it for many people).

It appears a recent Vista security update is causing problems with USB Mobile Broadband devices, including the 3 Modem Stick.  It appears that the update causes Vista PCs to power down the dongle, even though it’s connected and data is flowing.  Shane from SOS has come up with an interesting solution, which he has released on his blog.  Basically it’s a batch file which runs a directory listing of the disk section of the USB device every 5 minutes to ensure it’s kept active.  Hopefully, a proper fix will be released by Microsoft soon; given O2, Vodafone and 3 are all in talks with Vodafone, it hopefully won’t be too long.

Story courtesy of 3mobilebuzz.

Whether it’s the phone itself, the innovative pricing, or the promotion of the device and the abilities it has, but according to an mobile device survey by Admob, the 3 SkypePhone is now the number 5 mobile internet device in the UK, based on the number of adverts served to mobile devices. The top 10 are:

• Sony Ericsson K800i
• Nokia N95
• Sony Ericsson W810i
• Sony Ericsson K610i
• 3 SkypePhone
• Nokia N73
• Sony Ericsson W850i
• ZTE F866
• Nokia 6120c
• Nokia 6300

It’s also interesting to note the ZTE (a USB modem) is in there too, and mainly only on 3 UK in the survey too. The 3 SkypePhone came straight into this survey in 5th place, with 2.7% of the market (by ads served). No wonder 3’s data usage has increased by so much.

T-Mobile now offers it’s USB Modem on PAYG for £99.99 with a £4 per day offering. It’s advertised as unlimited, but it’s Web’n'Walk Plus, which doesn’t offer all services (VOIP is not allowed on this tariff, for example), and compared to 3’s £10 for the whole month doesn’t sound such good value if you would use it more than twice a month. Also, we could not find out whether T-Mobile actually meant unlimited, or had a fair usage policy on this service.

So, O2, T-Mobile, 3, and Vodafone all openly promote good data deals (although some of them could do with keeping their web sites up to dates with their latest deals and T&Cs), Orange stand out as only promoting their pay monthly service, and not a PAYG service.