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3 mobile broadband

3 overview

  • Wide range of packages including 1, 18 and 24 month pay monthly contracts with 1GB or 5GB data allowance
  • PAYG mobile broadband available in either standard PAYG format, where you buy data as you need it, or buy with 3 or 12 months' data included - ideal for gifts
  • Great range of laptop specs available 'free' with a mobile broadband dongle on 18 and 24 month contract
  • If you're an existing 3 Mobile customer, you get 25% off any 18 month mobile broadband package.

Best selling 3 mobile broadband deals

3 Broadband Genie Road Test results

3 Road test
Three Huawei E17069G dongle
Downloads
rating -2 stars2 stars
Uploads
rating -4 stars4 stars
Most stable
rating -3 stars3 stars
Coverage
rating -3 stars3 stars
Feelgood factor
rating -3 stars3 stars
Dongle software
rating -3 stars3 stars
Overall rating
rating -3 stars3 stars

May 2010

2010 Awards: Best Uploader runner-up

Alongside T-Mobile, 3's results showed the best improvement compared to last year's Road Trip. We can't help thinking things may have been even better if it wasn't for the dongle itself, Huawei's E1750. A very similar model to that used by Orange this year (the E1752), it hardly inspires confidence. The plastic feels incredibly cheap and flimsy, while the cap and SIM cover soon get wobbly and it didn't sit snugly in the USB port.

Top end speeds were nothing to write home about either. With an average over the Road Trip of just 0.5Mb and several download failures, it sat alongside Orange at the bottom of the pack. However, for uploading it managed an average of 0.6Mb - remarkably faster than its average download speed and a long way ahead of many of its rivals. 3 has a pretty big chunk of the market right now, so this may indicate that its network is suffering due to high traffic levels, rather than it being a poor network, which is hopefully a good sign if it can continue to increase capacity.

Unfortunately, there were other annoying quirks too. The software/hardware set-up didn't really seem in sync, with the software often having to be restarted to make it look for a signal again after it had been lost. And to add insult to injury, the 3 website is opened up 'every' time you have to do this and reconnect. while the desktop short cut didn't seem to work either. So while 3 is heading the right way, it still has work to do to catch its rivals when it comes to surfing on the move.

Overall analysis of the Mobile Broadband Genie Road Trip 2010

by Chris Marling May 2010

About 3

While 3 may have been late to the party as far as mobile network operators are concerned (being the fifth and final one to gain a licence so far), it has concentrated hard on trying to lead the pack in terms of 3G mobile broadband. UK residents have been bombarded with everything from free 3 mobile broadband dongles to aggressive pricing campaigns. bargain dongle and super-cheap deal does not a good mobile internet experience make: we receive many negative complaints about both speed and customer service.

Launched as a brand of the Hong Kong-based Hutchinson Whampoa corporation, 3 UK's mobile network arrived in 2003. The company launched its mobile broadband in August 2007, undercutting its rivals, while its pay as you go version followed in December of the same year. 3 became the first mobile broadband operator to launch 'free' laptop deals in July 2008 and it now offers mobile internet contracts from £10 per month.

In 2008, 3 signed an agreement with rival network T-Mobile to combine their 3G access networks: at the time the biggest agreement of its type (it has since been trumped by a similar deal between Vodafone and O2). It was set up to improve both quality and coverage across the network, which should impact on the quality of its mobile broadband service - both companies are committed to delivering "true" mobile internet.

3 customer reviews

Show all 395 3 Mobile Broadband reviews»

  • unhappy

    by ms. Salesh at 04:15 on 23 Aug 2010Report abuse

    Got 3G with Vodafone here in Fiji called Flashnet. Worked okay at first but now i can only use it in early am. Drops, pages won't open. SLOW. They deny it is affected by traffic but it all went south when their sister company Inkk started specials like talk for five minutes then get the rest of the hour for free.
  • neutral

    by Trev at 14:30 on 21 Aug 2010Report abuse

    I have just started thinking about mobile broadband, glad I found this site because I think a disaster has been averted, I am not going anywhere near 3.

    Big thanks to all you guys who left a review and saved my r'ce from the nightmare that is 3 :-)
  • unhappy

    by marion at 22:06 on 19 Aug 2010Report abuse

    I had a 2 year phone contract and decided to re new with a different phone, got an Experia mini which would not hold a charge phoned 3 and was advised it was a known softwear problem with the phone!! and they would replace it with a Samsung Galaxy, this phone arrived a week ago and has not worked properly since receiving it, The 3 shop told me to return the phone as it is a faulty handset. After contacting 3 and informing them I do not want another exchange and do not wish to go ahead with the contract, I have been informed that due to the first phone being delivered just over a month ago, I have no choice but take another exchange and complete the 2 year contract. I cannot believe a contract starts on the day you receive faulty goods. 3 Have been less than helpful and the P.R. does not exist...I will never have another contract phone as Trading Standards inform me mobile phone contracts are notoriously difficult to get out of....and 3 are the worst in my opinion.
  • neutral

    by Johnnie322 at 22:51 on 18 Aug 2010Report abuse

    Bought my 3 mobile dongle from Tesco........spent hours patiently touring round trying to get a signal.
    Realised I'd wasted £40!
    Tried Orange.......fantastic.....brilliant coverage........anyone can have my 3 for free !

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