Mobile broadband?

Just saw an advertisement about 'Mobile broadband', and was wondering if it is like a wireless modem plugged into a USB port, connecting you to the internet if within the service provider's coverage?

If so, I was thinking that it would be a useful tool when away from home, especially at Toyfair.

Are there any recommended pre-paid packages? Like, pre-paying for X amount of Mb/Gb (not a 'plan') - so that I can just use it up at my own leisure (I have internet access at home, so don't need to be on another Plan).

If I have the chance tomorrow, and find a phone store, I want to see if I can get something so that I can post details from Toyfair as soon as possible at the venue.

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Originally Posted by griffin

Just saw an advertisement about 'Mobile broadband', and was wondering if it is like a wireless modem plugged into a USB port, connecting you to the internet if within the service provider's coverage?

If so, I was thinking that it would be a useful tool when away from home, especially at Toyfair.

Are there any recommended pre-paid packages? Like, pre-paying for X amount of Mb/Gb (not a 'plan') - so that I can just use it up at my own leisure (I have internet access at home, so don't need to be on another Plan).

If I have the chance tomorrow, and find a phone store, I want to see if I can get something so that I can post details from Toyfair as soon as possible at the venue.

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I would recommend you go pre-paid but be warned mobile internet is in a very horrible state it varies from person to person how it performs. Im sure it will be ok if your just using it to load low resource sites but pic heavy sites etc no go!

1. Yes, it's a usb dongle a little fatter than a memory stick. It contains a sim card.

2. Yes, you can pre-pay. I can't recommend any though as I havn't hunted around for any, but I'd expect something like $120 for a 6gb plan/12 months to use it in.

Finally a topic I can help on haha.

When my fiancee and I moved, we needed internet right away so we bought a Vodafone Broadband stick. Crap to use as our primary internet, but it is the best we thing we have for now until we get a new net setup.

Pros
There are different prices that get you different amount of downloads. For example, the last credit we bought was $29 and got us 2 Gig of data.
You can also buy credit from pretty much anywhere (supermarkets, petrol stations) as you would buy credit for a phone.
You can also pay by credit card and get extra data.
Easy to set up, you can be on the internet in probably less than half an hour.
You can use it wherever there is coverage (which I would imagine be anywhere)

Cons
It can drop out occassionally, but not for long sometimes. Just have to disconnect and then reconnect which usually solves it.
Your data can get chewed up pretty quick if you are not careful.
The lower amounts of data, 2 Gig for instance, will expire like normal credit after 1 month, but if you recharge before then it does roll over with the next credit.

The different amounts you can get are

$19 = 500MB 30 day expiry
$29 = 2GB 30 day expiry
$49 = 4GB 30 day expiry
$100 = 6GB 180 day expiry
$150 = 12GB 365 day expiry

Current price for deal is $79 and gets you the stick plus 1GB of data. (half the price we paid :p)

As MV75 alluded to, it is about the size of a memory stick and has a sim card inside.

Thats all I can think of for the time being, but I hope it helps.

Depending what type of coverage you need....

I felt that Three was quite good with their prepaid plan... 12Gb for 12mths for $149. You can even get the "dongle" with it for an extra $50 -> http://shop.three.com.au/broadband-p...56-Black-12-GB

I've placed my mum on this because her usage differentiate from month to month. Sometimes she uses more (per month) and sometimes less.

Most of the other providers plan has an expiry date of 30 or 60 days.

It's slightly longer and fatter than a lip-balm stick.

Okay I used Vodafone last year and it's an outright turd. Signal strength is flaky and technical support is useless. Do not go with Virgin's Wifi modem it is horrible and I returned after one day. If you are going mobile broadband go with Telstra only because they own the network (which is just as much a negative as a positive.) The prepaid modem is $99 and I think they released new prices recently.

Most of the mobile broadband guys do not deliver what they promise.

What ever you do, DONT use Virgin mobile's prepaid service, I had many issues with it. Have since switched to Three, much better service, great tech support and coverage.