We compare the best mobile broadband deals from all major UK networks, including Orange, O2, Vodafone, 3 and T-Mobile. We list a wide range of the cheapest mobile broadband contracts and pay as you go mobile broadband offers, and you could even get mobile broadband with a free laptop!
Use our handy comparison tools below to pick out everything you need from your broadband contract and search hundreds of great offers. Order your results by contract length, monthly line rental or data allowance and find your perfect mobile broadband deal today!
Mobile broadband allows you to connect to the internet when you’re on the go and out of your office or home. To get mobile broadband on your computer or laptop you usually need a USB ‘dongle’. A dongle has a SIM card inside it just like a mobile phone and allows you to connect to the internet through a 3G network connection. Many mobile broadband deals come with a free dongle included.
In the simplest terms, a data allowance is a limit on how much information you’re allowed to receive through your connection in a given time. Another way to express this is that a data allowance is a limit on how much you can ‘use the internet’ through your connection.
Data is generally measured in kilobytes (kB), megabytes (MB) and gigabytes (GB). A megabyte is 1,000 kilobytes, and a gigabyte is 1,000 megabytes, or 1,000,000 kilobytes. Data allowances vary greatly in range from a few hundred megabytes to tens of gigabytes. To put this into some context, refer to the table below which shows the data ‘cost’ of some common internet activities.
Estimated data cost | How many can you get with… | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
100 MB | 500 MB | 1 GB | 10 GB | ||
Basic plain text email | 25 KB each | 4,000 | 20,000 | 40,000 | 400,000 |
Email with a photo or document attached | 1 MB each | 100 | 500 | 1,000 | 10,000 |
Average, mainly text webpage | 200 KB each | 500 | 2,500 | 5,000 | 50,000 |
Streaming music | 1 MB per minute | 100 | 500 | 1,000 | 10,000 |
Streaming average quality video | 4 MB per minute | 25 | 125 | 250 | 2,500 |
As can be seen from the table, multimedia activities like streaming music and video use the most data, so if you’re planning on using these services extensively you should select a plan with a higher data allowance.
Can I get mobile broadband in my area? Because mobile broadband is delivered through a 3G network connection, you´ll need a 3G signal to use it. Check coverage in your area with these handy links:
Not sure which network is for you? Take a look at our handy network comparison table to see how the key features of each network measure up!