How to locate your best Mobile Broadband (HSDPA/3G+) provider

Printing this article: if it does not page properly, print in sections or try latest Opera browser for Windows which seems to behave better.

1. Find your masts
2. Look up claims for coverage
3. Trial Period and where to buy
4. Check the Service
5. Check the forums and reviews
6. Phone a friend
7. Buy and Test
8. Other considerations.

1. Find your masts

Take a look at the official OfCom sitefinder. This was designed for tree-huggers and other paranoids to find masts and write to their MPs, so we may as well use it to locate the best mast for our use.

Go to http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/and enter your postcode. With some luck you will find your street and some masts close by. Since Spring 2011 Ofcom site is now using a much better search and display engine. Simply click on the blue markers near your location. Look for one with the magic 2100MHz frequency for 3G/HSDPA operation . The nearest one is most promising, but look out for dense buildings or hills in the way - it may not be the best in the end. More than half a mile and it will be slow. Quarter of a mile with buildings also slow.

2. Look up claims for coverage

Look at my 3G mobile BB Indexand you will see links to major supplier coverage pages.

Now whereas "Excellent" or "5 bars" coverage does not guarantee coverage you are wanting (companies usually being more than optimistic in the Sales department) , you can be fairly sure that when they say they is low or no coverage you can be absolutely confident they are being truthful!

If you use that information in conjunction with the OfCom maps you will get a good idea of how a dongle would perform in any location, but remember the existence of tall buildings, stone walls or earth mounds will affect the signal.

Also if you have an "old fashioned" 2G phone with a good signal does not mean 3G/3G+/HSDPA will be any good.

Examples of coverage maps here by 3 Mobile and bar indicators by Orange.

If you live or holiday in somewhere like the North Norfolk Coast you will find almost no coverage, unless you run the Cromer Lifeboat as in the case of 3 Mobile! I have found that 3 are now leading the way in Norfolk with good coverage in Sheringham, Felbrigg Hall, even the quay at Blakeney. You may find the odd market town where you can stop off with the Netbook to update your emails while on vacation.
You can try my "In Car Signal Detector" system - see here and look out for the right colours for your system.
Also use the Ofcom map to find the masts before you travel

3. Trial Periods and where to buy.

This is a legal minefield if you are shopping and trying out. You need to consider Retail Shop, Multi-shop, or Online purchase

There are companies like 3-Mobile who will give a stated 14 day money back period whilst bought on-line, and others who don't offer a specific trial but do offer a 30-day contract for a bit more than a month's contract. It may be expensive but not as expensive as a useless 18 month contract.

(update Aug 2010)
Searching for Terms and conditions I discover that since August 2009 Orange terms give a 14 day return period, and Vodafone give a 7 day return period. Dig deep for terms and conditions online and print it, or ask for a copy from a shop, if there's a guaranteed returns period which should now be at least 7 days, or if not leave them alone! Maybe Ofcom have intervened now because a lot has changed in 18 months.
Carphone Warehouse can be very helpful as they have no specific axe to grind.
Also look at one month PAYG offers - I found Vodafone have a Pre-Pay £15 top-up for 30 days. Kit is £20 so only £5 for the dongle. Turned out to be 3x as fast as my current supplier Orange, so that's where I go when the £15 a month Orange contract ends!

Some purchases made online are subject in the UK to the Distance Selling regulations that gives you a right to simply change your mind within 7 days and return the goods. They even have to pay postage return costs unless they specifically say they will not in their Terms and Conditions, which you should look up if you can.
HOWEVER, broadband service contracts may not be covered by that regulation, so take care.
WARNING: I am not a lawyer - Google it for yourself!


There again it may not be convenient to order online especially if you have no broadband already and shops can be very handy, but if you buy from a shop you have NO automatic right to change your mind, and there is NO cooling-off period UNLESS the company states in terms and conditions that you can change your mind if service is poor within a set period of days.
Just because Marks and Sparks or Argos let you take stuff back with no questions asked, does not mean that Carphone Warehouse or O2 will - remember it's at the good-will of the chain store, and NOT a legal right. It's entirely up to the shop to offer a trial period and to dictate reasonable terms.

Finally multi-shops like "Phones-4-U" or "Carphone Warehouse" can be a good source of unbiassed advice, but they don't know any more about local coverage that the supplier companies, and whom the contract is with (retailer or ISP) is not clear, so any trial period (typically a few days) will be different from that offered by the supplier. e.g. Carphone Warehouse offered me a 3-day trial in 2009 whereas online from 3-Mobile was 14 days. (Update 2010 - Carphone Warehouse gave me a no-questions 14 day trial of my PAYG dongle)

Do Your Own Research First! And go online to order in the local library or at a friends if you possibly can.

I say again, I am not a lawyer and the above does not constitute legal advice, but check out the Links Site on my 3G mobile BB Index

4. Check the service.

OK so let's assume we have chosen a promising ISP and are considering buying online.
Ask them if they provide a trial period.
Most sales departments are UK based and you can see if they "speak with a smile" but you can also try to ring the support lines and see what they sound like.
Also check if the help desk number is free if you have a mobile from them, for example 500 on 3-mobile or 150 on Orange. If you are landline phone based, is the service number low cost 0870 or high cost 0845 or worse a premium rate number?
How long does the help desk take to answer (pretend you are a dummy and ask a stupid question like "where do I find the mobile number on my dongle") and see what they say and how helpful they are.
Can you even get through the menu system without keying in the requested number - i.e. do they have an idiots route by fumbling the keys or staying silent? You can always end the call politely by saying "Oh sorry I see what I did wrong, thanks for your time" and ring off, and then everyone gets a nice warm feeling.

5. Check the forums and reviews

Do some Googling and look for forums for the major suppliers. My index page gives one example. Beware though, more people write in forums or reviews to complain that to praise their ISP! Take moans with a pinch of salt unless they have specific contractual or service problems. Some people simply made the wrong choice, or don't like foreigners on help desks.

Also beware some forums and review sites are sponsored! Remember the web is full of "facts" but if you don't like them you can usually change them!

6. Phone a friend

Know someone with a dongle? Ask them to bring their kit to your house, or at least try out at their place to see how the kit connects and runs.

7. Buy and Test

Whichever way you bought you should be able to try it for just a few hours at your house to gauge performance. Try not to download significant data if you can avoid it or the ISP may deem it as operational.

Do a speed test at bbmaxor Speedtest.net
If you want just surfing and emailing and a little radio then 500kbps will be enough. With the monthly caps you are unlikely to need video streaming speeds but 1000 to 2000kbps will give you a very comfortable experience with modern websites. (I can see this looking outdated in the future but this is 2009!)

If the signal is lousy you may be able to tweak the connect panel to search for other networks. On 3-Mobile I was able to do that and Orange came out strongest. The list may not always show strongest first though - try to actually change the network and watch the bars, even if connection is not possible.

Remember if you do need to take it back, say there was "No Signal at my house" rather than "It was too slow for me" which is often not reason to cancel a contract. And if any data was downloaded, remember you "even had to drive nearer the mast to do that, it wasn't at my place".
You may not wish to swear that in court, but in a shop all is fair game - they will stuff you for the comission, be prepared to stuff them back - tell lies like a good-un if you have to. If their website said Excellent but computer says "Err Err", thay they lied to you.

8. Other Considerations

Do you expect to travel? Check the coverage in all the places you are likely to visit and be vary of any coverage not described as Excellent. Even that can work out at 120kbps in reality,

Finally remember that if you have phone from one ISP and broadband from another ISP, your technical support charges may cost you 15 to 35 pence a minute!