Pay-As-You-Go Dongles For Laptops

• Pay monthly
• Pay as you go
• Free laptop
• Mobile Wi-Fi
• Tablets & iPads

		Price	Free usage	Top ups	Speed (Up to)
Sponsored link	545 reviews	3 Mobile PAYG mobile broadband topped up with 1GB data Only £29.99 - including 1GB data (valid for 1 month) data worth £10 Standard dongle with latest HSPA+ technology				Go Check coverage>
1	299 reviews	£29.99	90 days' usage included data worth £45	£2/day £7/week £15/30 days	4.5Mbmax speed	Go Check coverage>
	Pay up front - 90 days' data included	Extras: 90 days' usage included; then pay per day. Unlimited browsing: No extra charges over 1GB/mth fair use limit but peak time downloading/streaming may be restricted.
2	545 reviews	£99.99	12GB data included data worth £120	£2.99/500MB/day £10/1GB/30 days £15/3GB/30 days £25/7GB/30 days	7.2Mbmax speed	Go Check coverage>
	Premium PAYG + 12GB data	Extras: New high-speed HSPA+ dongle (up to 21Mb) with 12GB data included (valid up to 12 months). Rotating head allows dongle to sit vertically for increased efficiency.
3	545 reviews	£29.99	1GB data included data worth £10	£2.99/500MB/day £10/1GB/30 days £15/3GB/30 days £25/7GB/30 days	7.2Mbmax speed	Go Check coverage>
	Standard PAYG + 1GB data	Extras: PAYG with 1GB data included (valid up to 1 month). High-speed HSPA+ dongle (up to 21Mb).
4	545 reviews	£20.49	3GB data included data worth £30	£2.99/500MB/day £10/1GB/30 days £15/3GB/30 days £25/7GB/30 days	7.2Mbmax speed	Go Check coverage>
	Mobile broadband SIM PAYG + 3GB data	Extras: Mobile broadband SIM. PAYG with 3GB data included (valid up to 3 months).
5	545 reviews	£84.99	3GB data included data worth £30	£2.99/500MB/day £10/1GB/30 days £15/3GB/30 days £25/7GB/30 days	7.2Mbmax speed	Go Check coverage>
	MiFi PAYG + 3GB data	Extras: New high-speed HSPA+ PAYG MiFi router (up to 21Mb) available in black or white with 3GB data included (valid up to 3 months). Connects up to five devices to the internet at once, wirelessly.
6	545 reviews	£70.49	12GB data included data worth £120	£2.99/500MB/day £10/1GB/30 days £15/3GB/30 days £25/7GB/30 days	7.2Mbmax speed	Go Check coverage>
	Mobile broadband SIM PAYG + 12GB data	Extras: Mobile broadband SIM. PAYG with 12GB data included (valid up to 12 months).
7	299 reviews	£9.99	plus £10 initial minimum top-up	£2/day £7/week £15/mth	4.5Mbmax speed	Go Check coverage>
	Pay per day	Extras: Choice of black or pink dongle. Unlimited browsing: Fair use policy 250MB/day, 500MB/week, 1GB/month - No extra charges over fair use limit but peak time downloading/streaming may be restricted.
8	299 reviews	£24.99 + VAT	90 days' usage included data worth £45	£2/day £7/week £15/mth (inc VAT)	4.5Mbmax speed	Go Check coverage>
	Business Pay up front - 3 months data	Extras: 90 days' usage included; then pay per day. Unlimited browsing: No extra charges over 1GB/mth fair use limit, but peak time downloading/streaming may be restricted.
9	545 reviews	£134.99	12GB data included data worth £120	£2.99/500MB/day £10/1GB/30 days £15/3GB/30 days £25/7GB/30 days	7.2Mbmax speed	Go Check coverage>
	MiFi PAYG + 12GB data	Extras: New high-speed HSPA+ PAYG MiFi router (up to 21Mb) available in black or white with 12GB data included (valid up to 12 months). Connects up to five devices to the internet at once, wirelessly.
10	545 reviews	£39.99	3GB data included data worth £30	£2.99/500MB/day £10/1GB/30 days £15/3GB/30 days £25/7GB/30 days	7.2Mbmax speed	Go Check coverage>
	Standard PAYG + 3GB data	Extras: PAYG with 3GB data included (valid up to 3 months). High-speed HSPA+ dongle (up to 21Mb).

Buyers’ guide: Pay-as-you-go-dongle

Having access to mobile broadband and all of the benefits that come with it is all well and good, but not all of us want to have a contract when we’re looking at the comparison options for the best deals and offers on 3G internet.

This is where you’ll find that the options for using a pay-as-you-go dongle will perhaps be a good choice worth considering, as prices are relatively low if you don’t mind paying a little extra for the hardware and the price per GB of data.

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Pay-as-you-go dongles for laptops

Here in the UK there are now plenty of cheap mobile internet packages available that use a pay-as-you-go dongle and all of the providers, including 3 Mobile, Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2 and Orange, offer wireless broadband and 3G internet services in a variety of different laptop internet options.

Of course, deciding which 3G broadband and WiFi package is going to be best for your needs relies on different factors, including how much you want to spend and how much you’re going to use a mobile internet service. After all, there’s little point in paying out on pay-as-you-go-dongles for laptops that offer all of the bells and whistles if you’re only a relatively lightweight user of the mobile internet.

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Why get a dongle pay-as-you-go deal?

Pay-as-you-go dongles for laptops make great sense if you’re not the type who wants a contract, any kind of tie-in to a 3G broadband provider who delivers laptop internet services and also needs the ultimate in flexibility. Pay-as-you-go dongles certainly offer convenience, because you can buy one to use as and when you need it.

Not all of us have the need to be connected to the mobile internet all the time, so using one of these little gadgets can be a really simple but effective way of getting online without any hassle. Choosing a broadband dongle pay-as-you-go package can also allow you to try out the mobile internet if you’re a newcomer to its charms, without committing anything but a few pounds for some airtime credit.

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What is a pay-as-you-go dongle?

A pay-as-you-go internet dongle is essentially a small plastic USB key that attaches to an available port on your mobile device and offers laptop internet when you need it. Remember that when you’re planning to use pay-as-you-go dongles for laptop or netbook computers then they can have a few drawbacks too.

If you’ve been used to the dependable side of a regular home broadband supply then it’s worth noting that the mobile internet experience is more likely to be comparable to that of a mobile phone.

You may be subject to some connectivity issues in areas where coverage may be patchy. Services can also be affected by the amount of network traffic too, so if it’s really busy then you may not be able to stay connected or use the PAYG service as much as you might like.

This can be further compounded in the case of 3G dongle pay-as-you-go options because providers usually make them perform slightly less well then their contract dongle counterparts. However, by picking through the deals in our comparison tables and sorting the search criteria to suit your needs, you’ll soon find a PAYG dongle deal that’ll fit the bill.

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Which dongle pay-as-you-go deal should I get?

When it comes to picking from the many dongle pay-as-you-go deals that are currently out there in the bustling mobile internet marketplace, then it can be a little bit tricky knowing the right one to choose.

This is where using the services of the Broadband Genie website can really pay dividends as it allows you to carry out a quick comparison of the many and varied PAYG dongles and form an educated opinion before you buy.

What’s more, there are also lots of reviews from 3G broadband and wireless mobile internet customers inside the site too, so not only can you compare but you can also get real feedback on the best offers and cheapest deals to go for.

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Pay-as-you-go internet dongle deals

While it’s often tempting to go for the cheapest PAYG dongles that you see first in the comparison tables, it’s well worth reading through the tables to review what is or isn’t included in the package. A PAYG dongle needs to be scrutinized on numerous points, including how much it will cost to buy, if anything, and how much usage will be allowed from the broadband dongle pay-as-you-go deal you like the look of.

You’ll also want to look at the top-ups that are needed to keep your internet dongle pay-as-you-go package up and running. Another key aspect that requires detailed comparison and a thorough read of customer reviews is how well your internet dongle pay-as-you-go deal will performs on the speed front. There’s nothing worse than getting a new bit of kit, connecting to the 3G internet and finding it is really sluggish.

Remember that the pay dongle is not going to be a complete replacement for home or office-based ADSL or cable broadband. Payg dongles are most certainly fine for checking emails and casual web browsing, but they’re not really designed with heavyweight internet use in mind. You won’t want to download huge files such as movies and catch-up TV shows using a pay-as-you-go internet dongle.

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What speed is a PAYG dongle?

It all depends on the factors we mentioned earlier on, but is also dependent on the sort of pay-as-you-go dongle package that you’ve gone for. A lot of advertising that you’ll see for pay-as-you-go dongles for laptop and netbook use will state that you can hope to get speeds ‘up to’ a certain rate, but this is far from being an exact science.

In most cases you’ll find that the speed generated by pay-as-you-go dongles for laptop and netbook use will be slower than anticipated, maybe 1-2Mb, and a busy network can further exacerbate this. However, it is very rare that a contract deal will offer faster speeds.

Lookout too for the coverage issues that can affect you, say, if you’re out in the middle of nowhere or on a train, as this can often prove problematical, right at a time when you need your 3G mobile internet the most.

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Things to remember with pay-as-you-go dongles

Pay dongles can be great to use for their flexibility, but you should check the terms and conditions or any small print pertaining to any of the 3G pay-as-you-go dongles for laptop deals that appeal to you. One of the main things to check is if there is a time limit on using the PAYG dongle.

You’ll generally find that the prepaid dongle, which is essentially what a PAYG option provides you with, will often require you to use up the credit on it within a 30 days or so time frame. So if you want to put some credit on a broadband dongle pay-as-you-go device then you’ll also want to ensure that you’ve finished it before that time runs out, otherwise any remaining credit could be lost.

This can work the other way round and to your benefit, however, because a pay-as-you-go dongle can be topped up only with the amounts that you think you’re going to use in a certain period of time. In that respect, this means you can keep a tighter reign on your spending, and only top up the amounts that you feel comfortable with or need at any give time.

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Using PAYG dongles overseas

You’ll often find that many PAYG dongles will not work overseas as mobile internet providers prevent them from doing so. However, you may also have one that will work, but you need to be very careful in this kind of scenario as using a pay-as-you-go internet 3G dongle while you’re abroad can turn out to be very costly indeed.

The terms and conditions on any mobile providers website should spell out any costs involved in this practice, known as roaming, which will document how much you will be charged if you access the mobile internet with a dongle while you’re away. If you need to access the internet or email while a long way from home then try finding an internet café or hotel that offers cheaper access.

However, your laptop or netbook might even be able to access a Wi-Fi hotspot at one of many outlets that provide this sort of internet activity these days. It’ll often be cheap and occasionally free, so that’s worth a try rather than incurring large-scale charges on a pay-as-you-go dongle. Generally speaking though, the PAYG option won’t work anyway.

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Find the right pay-as-you-go dongle deal

A pay-as-you-go mobile broadband dongle can still be a great idea and suits the needs of many different users. It’s perhaps the flexibility and convenience of the humble PAYG dongle that makes it so appealing.

Remember that there is no contract to worry about and you only pay for the time that you need. There are a few things to watch out for as we’ve outlined above, and be sure to use the comparison tables, online tools and reviews inside the Genie site to help you decide on the right dongle for your needs. Do all that and you’ll soon be in business.

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Top 5 Mobile Broadband Help Guides

• Mobile Broadband Beginners Guide
• Mobile Broadband Coverage
• Mobile Broadband Download Limits
• Using Mobile Broadband Abroad
• Mobile Broadband Awards

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