3G DATACARDS: mobile Internet cards for laptops are the stopgap for mobile computing until 3G connectivity comes inside them as standard. We review three popular units. What do you want to see reviewed? E-mail rupert.white@lawsociety.org.uk.


Gazette readers e-mailed to ask for reviews of 3G mobile connectivity cards, so we obtained three from the main providers: T-Mobile, Vodafone, and Orange. But by the end of this year, if not before, the cards tested will be obsolete. Why? Because this year sees the start of the roll-out of - cue fanfare - HSDPA.



HSDPA will eventually mean speed increases from the opening 1.8Mbps, expected this summer, up to 3.6Mbps in 2007, 7.2Mbps in 2008, 10Mbps in 2009 and 20Mbps by 2011. These are optimistic, 'at most' speeds.



Until then, we have 3G cards. The main differences between 3G cards are data throughput, connection maintenance, software ease of use, installation cleanliness and, of course, pricing. One thing to watch with any of these cards is that they made the test machine run hot, and were a not insignificant battery drain.



T-Mobile

T-Mobile's hardware is the same as Orange's. The software is simple to install, but it also exhibited the same problem as did Orange's: though installation instructions say you will be prompted to insert the card at a certain point, T-Mobile's installer does not, or we missed it. This sounds like a minor point, but it is not. Precisely when you shovel the card into your laptop, when using Windows, sometimes makes the difference between function and failure.



The T-Mobile software could do with a lick of paint, too. Technically, it was the slowest to quiz the modem (the card), and was far slower to connect to the network.



Network performance was the bugbear of using T-Mobile's card. Drop out and drop-down, from 3G speeds to GPRS or sometimes nothing, was a regular occurrence with T-Mobile, something that was difficult to find a reason for. T-Mobile says it has concentrated its network coverage on urban areas, but in at least one part of north London there appears to be an inability to provide consistent 3G coverage.



This will make using something like Skype (Internet telephony) frustrating and makes for a patchy browsing experience. This matters less with most business use, because you are more likely to be up- and downloading small amounts of information. One very annoying problem was the system 'seeing' the network and getting reception but being, inexplicably, unable to connect to it.



When connected at top speed, the system performs well, and the software does not force you to open specific browsers to connect to the Internet or pick an e-mail program. Fundamentally, when it works, all is well. But when it does not, this is a frustrating product. T-Mobile is, however, one of the WiFi 'hotspot' leaders, and having a T-Mobile account can help immeasurably when you are trapped in a Starbucks or airport in a foreign land.



Orange

With Orange's Business Everywhere offering, the card is the same as T-Mobile's, but the software is quite different. It too does not seem to prompt the point at which the card should be fitted to your laptop in a foolproof way, though installation was a doddle.



A major downside once installed is that the software only appears to let you connect to the network if you click on buttons that either open a browser or an e-mail program. The software could not see any other browsers than Internet Explorer on the test PC - both vanilla Mozilla and Firefox were also installed. You can fix this, but why should you need to delve into the software to do it? Just give us a 'connect to the Internet' button and leave the program choices to us.



In use, Orange's network and system were rock solid, and only dropped to GPRS once in two days of constant use. This is 384Kbps all the way, and was a breath of fresh air after T-Mobile. Orange's effort starts, quizzes the modem and connects to the network quicker than T-Mobile or Vodafone, which, from a business perspective, is a very good thing.



A final point in Orange's favour is that it also supplied an external plug-in antenna, which increased reception by one bar on all the cards tested here - a small point, but one that impressed greatly.



Vodafone

Sadly, Vodafone does not come out of this head-to-head very well. This has nothing to do with its network, which appears to have gorilla-strength coverage, and has much to do with its software/hardware mix.



The Gazette's experience with Vodafone's card was a tiny tale of woe - for example, installation tells you precisely when to insert the card (though it then seems to install, uninstall and reinstall it), and there were some problems with the installation of the software.



There are other examples of this good cop, bad cop routine - the system is very quick to connect and does not make you choose a browser first. But some element of the system would regularly make Windows freeze when the 3G card was inserted, and there appeared to be no uninstall option. Perhaps all of these problems were the test machine's fault. Either way, with luck, these will change with the HSDPA cards rolled out later this year.



Pricing

T-Mobile: Web 'n' Walk is by far the winner on price (for now). At £19.99 a month, with the card thrown in if you buy an 18-month contract (£58.75 for the card otherwise), and with the same price for unlimited use of its new HSDPA cards, T-Mobile has the killer price point.



Orange: standard incomprehensible pricing charts at Orange reveal a few things, one being that pay-as-you-go 3G data pricing makes truffles look cheap. Single users on the Business Everywhere Max contract can expect to shell out nothing for the card itself, 4.5p per 3G MB in the UK, and a frankly terrifying £5.75 when roaming.


Vodafone: the data card is around £50 ex-VAT on the low-end £30p/m 250MB-limit contract or free on higher tariffs, which are £52p/m for UK-only service and a whopping £111p/m for an added 100MB per month of international roaming.