Mobile Broadband Coverage and Customer Service

Can anyone help with mobile broadband reviews? See Mobile Broadband Reviews and Ratings......I can't find enough reviews to decide which is the best provider for coverage and customer service. I do a lot of commuting and need a mobile package but don't want to find myself without coverage and dealing with a customer services department that can't help.

[northend]

I did a lot of thinking before going with mine. I needed something that would work almost anywhere and be reliable.

In the end (to cut a long story short) I walked into a Vodafone shop and bought a 1GB per month USB dongle for £15 per month. Works almost faultlessly and works well even with a very weak signal. Used in the Lake District and other remote locations and I have it on all day at client sites with never a problem.

I don't do a lot of downloading so 1GB is more than enough for me. Sometimes the speed is a little slow, but it's never going to be as fast as a dedicated hardwired line.

I'm happy. Will probably stay with them when the 12 months is up, but maybe see if they have a cheaper tariff....

Incidentally a colleague does similar stuff with a T Mobile device and he has a few more connection problems, but not significantly... He's happy with his and downloads more movie stuff with his - albeit very slowly!!

[swizz]

i bought an o2 dongle for £30. i pay £15 pm on the P.A.Y.G scheme and get 3gig allowance. for what i pay i can't complain.its quick enough to watch steraming. u-tube ect no problems. except at peak time. then it can be a bit slow. it all depends on what you want. it aint 20 gig speed but it aint 20 gig prices either..and i live in an area which is well known for bad mobile coverage. "3" dont work at all but o2 seems fine.. plus at some point this year according to the rumours 4g will be up and running. and when this happens mobile will be on par with hard=wire broadband that still uses copper cable. i honestly think that in the future hard-wire will be looked at being old fashioned. unless you got fibreoptic cable to your house this is the way forward.. watch the TV and see all the adds starting to promote mobile. its the next step

If your not sure, I just bought a dongle from Orange, they offer a 14 day trial, so get it, try it, send it back if its not what your expecting. I find their speed to be good. They seemed pretty knowledgeable in the shop.

As for 4G, thats a long way off yet. If you travel with Virgin Trains, some of them now have reception boosters added by Orange, that will help maintain a seemless connection whilst on the move, well hopefully.