I was interested to find out whether it was only me that had been effected by the latest TV/marketing spin, so I ran some research on Google. I put the following queries into Google trends to give me a benchmark: broadband router and mac broadband. I then added in payg broadband and pay as you go broadband to see how they are fairing. You can see the result for yourself by looking at following the link to the? Google trend query.

Pay as you go broadband

See – I am not going mad. Pay as you go broadband is on the increase! And amazingly, so is the search phrase “pay as you go mobile broadband“. This surprises me, because that is quite a mouthful to type into Google when searching for something, but, definitely something people are looking for. My guess would be that it is students that use the payg broadband services the most but drop me a comment below if you use payg broadband and/or have switched to it recently. I’d be fascinated to know if you are switching to pay as you go broadband as a way of avoiding costly broadband contracts.

Please see my mobile broadband for mac page to find some good mobile broadband feedback from the Apple mac community (seems most of you have had bad experiences to date). There are links to all the major UK mobile broadband companies.

Check out these sites too: Pay as you go broadband (informational blog about pay as you go broadband, pay as youg go mobile broadband and pay as you go broadband dongles), VNU (press release from O2 about their new pay as you go mobile broadband offer) & GSM (the global governing body for Mobile phone operators, including mobile broadband operators in the UK).

This all sounds great, but, where’s the catch?

Is there a catch to mobile broadband?

Well not a catch per-se. But you do need to be aware of the commitment you need to make before a company gives you a free laptop with mobile broadband. You are looking at an 18-month contract to get a free mobile broadband dongle, or, a 24-month contract before you get the £450 off a laptop. That could be a shiny new Apple for you this Xmas.

Should I get mobile broadband the Christmas?

Well, this is ultimately going to come down to your decision. If you are prepared to be tied-in to a mobile broadband contract with someone like three mobile broadband then, the offer of a free laptop makes sense. 

You don’t have to take their free laptop offer either – you could take a discount against a shiny new Apple mac laptop… sounds tempting to me.

However, if like me, you already have a laptop then you could haggle with the staff at PCWorld. If you don’t ask you don’t get. So try by asking them if they will give you a free mobile dongle with a 12-month mobile broadband contract. If they say “No”. Then try an 18-month contract.

Mobile broadband for macs

To embrace the festive spirit, I’ve put together a mobile broadband for macs page on this site. On it you will find links to the various mobile broadband providers and high-stret sellers. Its a collection of helpful links and some advice. I can see that mobile broadband is going to be big this Christmas, so I will try and add more information to the page and keep adding to the links of companies offering free laptops with broadband contracts.

Happy Halloween!

Robin

1. Madasafish
2. BT Broadband
3. o2 broadband
4. Virgin Media
5. TalkTalk broadband
6. Be broadband
7. Sky Broadband
8. AOL Broadband
9. Zen Internet
10. Plusnet Broadband

1. Madasafish broadband
2. o2 broadband
3. BT broadband
4. Be broadband
5. Virgin media
6. Zen Internet
7. Plusnet 
8. Three mobile broadband
9. TalkTalk broadband
10. AOL broadband

Mobile broadband

For those of us that need broadband on the go, Mobile broadband could be just the ticket. You can access the web from anywhere you can receive a mobile phone connection. OK, so access to the internet might not be as fast as it is at home but its still pretty quick. We are developing a new website over at www.go-broadband.co.uk which will focus solely on helping you find the best mobile broadband provider for your laptop or ‘puter . Please, feel free to drop by and say hello. The website is still in its infancy but we hope to have things up and running over the next few weeks Years! (Ok – so its taking me ages to get round to building the Go broadband site

Compare mobile broadband

If you are looking for the best mobile broadband comparison websites then take a look at a look at compare mobile broadband- the website has a list of reviews of all the mobile broadband websites and is being added to by the broadband comparison community.