T-Mobile Launches £2 Per Day Mobile Broadband

Mark.J writes "ISPreview reports that T-Mobile UK has launched an interesting range of new off-the-shelf Mobile Broadband products that do not require customers to sign-up under a long-term contract. The pay-as-you-go (PAYG) style products cost from only £2 per day for 'unlimited' access (3GB Fair Usage Policy applies). To access T-Mobile pre-pay Mobile Broadband, customers simply need to purchase a USB (Modem) Stick 110, which includes a memory card, for just £49.99 and plug it into a laptop to access their favourite websites. Credit can be topped up direct from the laptop and customers are able to select whichever package suits them at the time." For American readers, that's about $3.66 right now -- plus shipping yourself to the UK.

Good for occasional use but modem too expensive

[IAmAI]

I think it's aimed at occasional users. I like the idea that I can pay a couple of quid and use when I'm travelling occasionally. However, what puts me off is the outrageously expensive USB stick you need to get [t-mobile.co.uk]. It claims to be a 'memory stick' as a well as a modem but it is really a microSD card adapter and it does not appear to come with a card. I would not pay more £20 for such a device.

Will the dongle work with my Eee PC?

[IAmAI]

I'd want to use the USB model with my Eee PC which has the standard Xandros OS installed. I wonder if it will work?

What is broadband in this context?

[pembo13]

What definition of broadband is being used here?

Vodafone in Spain

[jackd]

Using a similar service from Vodafone here in Spain, where I'm staying for a couple of months. 59 Euros per month, unlimited usage, no contract. Just showed my drivers license, and purchased the Vodafone USB HSDPA/3G modem stick and they activated my subscription in the store. Works amazingly well, able to reach download speeds of 1.5 mbit, and coverage almost anywhere.

What I found particularly interesting, was how much bandwidth you use with just "minimal" use, ie. having it plugged in all day while working for emails, using Web sites and various company Web apps. So far, in 20 days this month, I've used 1.2 GB of data. A lot more than I would have guessed. .. and nope, no movie or music downloads.

Vodafone Egypt

[johndmartiniii]

We've had something like this in Egypt for a while now, probably in response to the limited availability of broadband internet through DSL at one time. Vodafone Egypt does a 3G service for mobile devices and you can buy both USB and PC card adapters. The problem is similar though, the hardware is prohibitively expensive--equivalent to 500USD--and the service isn't really intended to be used regularly. It costs 1LE per MB tranfser (about 0.20USD) or you can buy a plan which includes up to 5 GB transfer per month for about 500LE (100USD). Kind of on the expensive side in the end. There are several other providers here now doing similar things, but their prices are almost exactly the same across the board.

Re:What is broadband in this context?

[thermian]

What definition of broadband is being used here?

I'd take a stab at 'Outrageously priced broadband' myself. It sounds ok for business people who may need access to the tubes at various times whilst on the move. Until this the only way to get mobile broadband via a dongle was to get either a monthly subscription or a pay as you go in which you bought blocks of Gb then had 30 days to use it or lose it. Neither appeals to me.

I may get this and keep it in my laptop bag to use if I find myself in need of internets access but unable to find any, but never for routine use.

Re:The £20/month deal is better

[Tony Hoyle]

Exactly. I have one (on a better deal IMO) and use it only when on holiday.. it plugs into the eeepc just fine.

Compared to hotel internet/wifi it's dirt cheap.. I don't need it when at home though.

Re:"Unlimited" T+Cs

[Anonymous Coward]

"If you use more than your fair use policy amount, we won't charge you any more, but we may restrict how you can use your plan, depending on how often you go over your amount and by how much"

Is anyone on /. going to sign up to something so vague?

While I would definitely nail them for the 'unlimited' lie....

Absolutely, When your other options are getting suddenly cut off when you hit your limit, or getting charged overage rates fit to turn your hair white, yea id love to see them turn my 10mb line into a 1/2mb line or hell even 1/4.

Its still more than sufficient for me to surf the net grab email, use IM. Hell you can get your WoW fix on about 50kbps, Yes thats right a 56k modem. (though updates would be a bitch). Seems like the best option to me.

Keep in mind wording that vague won't hold up in a court, contracted terms must be specific to hold up in a court, thats why you typically need a legal degree to understand most contracts. I'm betting their actual ToS include a much more detailed explanation of exactly how they restrict you than a simple marketing foot note would have.

Re:Expensive

[GigaplexNZ]

You can get a similar deal here for around 10/15 pounds a month from most operators. The difference here is you are paying for a single day's usage.

Where exactly is "here"?

Re:Will the dongle work with my Eee PC?

[Hal_Porter]

Probably. These dongles pretty much all pretend to be serial modems and you just need to do some mucking around with AT commands and run pppd.

Some of them need some hackery (eg. the one I have needs a kick to switch from storage mode to serial mode) but you won't be the first to try it so there will be a HOWTO somewhere.

Not necessarily. I've worked on one of these dongles and on Windows it's mostly used as an NDIS device. Now the one I worked on uses the USB CDC Ethernet class and USB CDC Serial Ports - either it could act like a modem using the serial port or it could connect as an Ethernet device. The ethernet mode is preferred because you don't have the overhead of PPP headers, but it would still work as a dialup device using just the serial port. Now on Linux it will work by default in dialup mode, and with a bit of fiddling around with AT commands it will work in ethernet mode too - there's an AT command that makes the Ethernet device connect and support for the CDC Ethernet class is built into modern kernels.

However that means it needs quite complex Windows drivers, since Windows does not ship with drivers for CDC Ethernet. If I were making a Windows native device I'd uses make it an RNDIS [microsoft.com] device. That way you could skip the Windows driver, which is something that most companies screw up. But that means that it won't work with Linux. That said, there's a RNDIS driver for Linux now too

http://www.jooz.net/rndis/ [jooz.net]

Re:It can't be both UNLIMITED and 3Gb!

[lattyware]

Interestingly, Sky actually don't do this, if you check their pages, it says Unlimeted* - and it actually has *No Fair Usage Policy Applies at the bototm of the page. That said, you have to be within their network to get that deal. (I, for one, am not.) That said, they are about the only ISP that doesn't. It's criminal.

Re:The daily rate is outrageously expensive

[PopeRatzo]

Seriously, the daily rate sounds good. I find that I don't really need broadband access to my mobile every single day. This way, I can pay (a lot) for what I use.

I wouldn't mind hourly metering, to be honest. Not at home, mind you, but on the road, sure.

Re:The daily rate is outrageously expensive

[stfvon007]

RTFA. it only charges you on days you actually use it. You can use it once or twice a month and only pay a small amount, but still be able to have it for when you want it. they have weekly and monthly rates too if you want that. (less than $20 for a week, less than $40 for a month)