Review: 3 Mobile Broadband

3 Mobile Broadband Review

In a nutshell: 3 Mobile offer the cheapest mobile broadband service in the UK, starting at £10 per month, and offering 15GB for just £15 per month (enough for 20 hours of web browsing per day!) The USB modem is now available free on all except the 1 month contract. Download speeds are similar to T-Mobile, but slower than Vodafone. The HSDPA network covers 91% of the UK population and is easy to use. 3 are currently offering a range of free laptops when you take out a mobile broadband contract.
Best buy: Broadband Lite 1GB (£10 per month); or full 15GB Broadband (£15 per month) with free modem.

3 Mobile Broadband is the most popular mobile broadband in the UK. The 3 network has the longest established 3G network in the UK, and so is a natural supplier of mobile broadband services. The service is very easy to set up and use: you simply plug a modem (or "dongle") into your computer's USB port, and you can then access the 3 broadband network from home, work or on the move. You can choose between Pay Monthly and Pay As You Go options. The Pay as you Go option offers data at the same cost as Pay Monthly, although you have to buy a modem, which currently costs 19.99. On Pay Monthly the modem is free, except on the cheapest 1 month tariff, where it costs £9.99. Sign up for 18 months, or take out a more expensive tariff and the modem is free. You can choose a data allowance of between 1GB and 15GB per month.

The speed that you experience will depend on whether you are in an area with "excellent coverage" (i.e within HSDPA coverage), "good coverage" (i.e. within 3G coverage) or "marginal coverage" (i.e. on the edge of the 3G coverage region. 3's HSDPA coverage region currently covers 91% of the UK population (data correct in February 2009) and offers download speeds of up to of up to 2.8 Mpbs. 3 will be rolling out 7.2 Mbps coverage across the UK from April 2009. You can check coverage by postcode on the 3 website. If you find that the service is not as good as you expected, you can return your 3 USB Modem within 3 days of purchase. If you purchased it at a distance (via telesales or online), you can return your 3 USB Modem within 14 days of receipt provided you have not used your 3 USB Modem for more than 3 consecutive days. You'll also have to return the original boxed accessories and documentation "as new". 3 claim that most people on the HSDPA network can expect a speed ranging from 1 Mbps to 1.5 Mbps.

The 3 broadband modems are very compact, and are available in a choice of colours: white or black. They can even be personalised using "skins".

By the way, if anyone is experiencing slow speeds with 3 Mobile Broadband, one of our users, Paul Tait offers the following advice: right click on the network icon (two little flashing computers in the bottom right hand corner of your screen) and click on connect to a network. Click on the 3 usb modem but with the second button and click on properties. In the window that pops up, click the configure button and another window will pop up showing the maximum speed. Sometimes the maximum speed has been set to the default value of 115200 which will cause your modem to be slow. If this is the case change it to 921600 and click OK. If this works for you, please let everyone know by submitting a review below. And thanks to Paul! [Reply by Pauline on 20th May 2009: Followed instructions re changing to faster speed and it has worked brilliantly. Have had my 3 mobile broadband for around 5 months now and it gives excellent service.]

3 Mobile Broadband Consumer Reviews

Love your mobile network? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other people choose the mobile broadband network that's best for them. Please do not review this network if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!

Average rating from 108 reviews:

Reviewed by Dave from UK on 2nd Jul 2009
Don't touch it, the greatest trick the phone companies ever played was convincing the world mobile broadband exists. I am stuck with a 2 year 3 contract with an average of 0.0 kbps virtually 24 hours a day. Lovely 5 bar signal strength but whats the use when it can't even connect you to google or hotmail? I was tempted via another site to try T Mobile as an alternative, that went back to the shop after 2 days, the gentleman in the shop claimed an overnight basestation problem despite the device runnig at a 3 mobile equivilent (ie nothing) for 2 days. Please don't get into this, mobile broadband is a farce, basestations are shared by suppliers in my area so chances are if one compny sucks, they all do. Managed to submit this after 3 attempts, cheers 3!
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Reviewed by Kev from England on 2nd Jul 2009
i have a 3Connect PAYG USB modem. the quality of coverage area remains a problem. The modem had a software update (via 3) however it frequently slows to @ 5-7 kbps which is very poor. Customer service in retail outlets is non existent other than "phone callcentre- can't do anything" and online requests for help take days to respond. Overall, yes, there are some great cost benefits, but if the use is compromised by connection quality, its irrelevant. O2 in the same area achieves great speed at a price. Disappointing.
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Reviewed by Firoz from UK on 30th Jun 2009
I have been using 3 mobile broadband for 6 months. 1. The speed is very slow. It can download google.com (As they do not have ad on the home page), but I cannot download yahoo and facebook. If I try to attach a very small file (Only 1 A4 size MS Word page), it cannot attach. It keeps loading... loading... and loading... It never finish. Luckily if it finishes, it cannot send. 2. It will disconnect your line every two minutes and download again. For example, you are transferring your money from your a/c A to B in the same bank, before the transfer is done, you will see the line is disconnected and reloading. So you don't know what happened to your transfer. If you transfer again, you may be overdrawn and be charged. The time it took me to write this comments (Typing speed 30 word per minute), the line was disconnected three times. Please be aware, you will have to face this problem if you choose 3G (Fast / Rubbish). I would not recommend anyone to have one from 3G. You can do nothing apart from hitting your head with the computer or the computer desk. Thank you, Firoz
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Reviewed by Martyn Cullen from UK(Wales) on 30th Jun 2009
Fantastic! Had Vodafone on PAYG and could only get GPRS. Now on contract with '3' and constantly have HSDPA. Obviously it depends on individual circumstances (location etc), so it pays to shop around to find best provider for your area. By-the-way, went on '3' on 30 day 5GB contract just to try it out. Now on 24month contract 15GB per month - no other network offers such high amount! Amazing!
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Reviewed by James from UK on 29th Jun 2009
The tip about the maximum speed worked on my huawei e156g, but still IDK if its my modem or what but every 10 to 15 mins no websites will load giving me a connection error even though it says im still connected and the blue light is flashing.. I never bother using the 3 connect utility as it always freezes when I close and most of the time it doesnt detect the modem, i just connect using windows network & sharing center. Another thing is the huawei modem disconnects every 30mins or if it gets touched, (i dont mean prodded, but gently nudged), gonna go 3 store tomorrow and demand a new one. I have 1 and a half years left till my contract expires and am considering paying the £70 cancellation fee as the service and customer support is just terrible IMO
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Reviewed by Martin Hurton from England on 27th Jun 2009
My 3 broadband keeps dropping the connection, continually. I get 10mins or less before the connection drops. Apart from that, and really poor customer service, and really, really, really slow broadband...rubbish. Am now throwing it in the bin and moving providers.
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Reviewed by K from England on 24th Jun 2009
I too am unfortunately with 3- TROUBLE FROM THE GET GO. Reading all the accounts of bad experiences rings eerily close to mine- as i type, i am using my flatmates internet (TMobile)and it's working perfectly- i can do all the things an internet provider should. 3 on the other hand is a big con- to cut a long story short (AS THE ANGER AND STRESS from this has left me beyond exhausted to go through the details and ultimately regurgitate what the other bad experiences have stated) The 3 mobile staff are no different to an automated system. When I asked for them to call me back, I had to spend at least an hour practically begging them as I had already used a tenner on my mobile calling this conveniently premium rated number- They said they'd call me later same day- I waited 2 weeks and nothing. I had to call them back. they were adament they called me twice- when i asked which number- it transpired it was the number from the sim card in the dongle- I know for a fact they have my number from the details from the joke of an 18 month contract I stupidly signed. Anyhow- the 3 customer service person basically said in a long winded pile of tripe disguised as compassion was that because they were so understanding and knew how stressed i was, they are going to do me a favor by knocking off £5 a month of my monthly £15 bill until a mast is put in my area( might i add not until OCTOBER 09)- no offering to at least freeze my contract or let me end contract. Just last week i got a call from 3 , a sales call asking if i'd like to get a contract mobile with 3- a re you serious?!? SO I'M BEING MADE TO PAY £10 MONTHLY FOR A SERVICE I CANT USE. I'M CANCELLING THE DIRECT DEBIT- and if they want to sue me SO BE IT. ***It's a shame I couldn't rate this a ZERO- THATS WHAT IT DESERVES.
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Reviewed by phil-k smith from united kingdom on 23rd Jun 2009
To anyone considering opting for 3 mobile broadband i would suggest that they look elsewhere it has to be the worst provider in the UK.It is virtually impossible to contact them and when you do your kept on for ages which if you are using a mobile will cost you a lot of money.So before you buy any of their products i suggest that you check out other providers first.
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Reviewed by kim from uk on 27th Jun 2008
come on john (3 manager) get real! all these problems arent related to virus software. poor customer service poor signal strength (stick it out the window etc) etc etc arent you guys at 3 concerned about this? bad reviews everywhere - not just here
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Reviewed by alex harris from england on 27th Jun 2008
this is a great little gadget i pay £15 per month paid £69.99 and signed for 12 months be warned do not try to leave early as there is a sting in the tail give one months notice before your contract ends or they will come after you with the debt collectors i told them i had been made redundant and could i give them a months notice the answer was NO no matter what your circumstances
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Reviewed by Mark from London UK on 26th Jun 2008
Why do people keep going on about not being able to cancel a contract? If you're not getting what you're paying for then they have breached the contract. Just stop paying and then let them sue you. THEY WON'T
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Reviewed by Jon Martin from UK on 26th Jun 2008
I'm getting about 0.1Mb/s at home with my 3 'mobile broadband modem', when it works, and about 0.8Mb/s on a nearby hill with a laptop. I'm in the North of England. 3 say that my area has 'turbo' coverage. Pathetic. I'd hoped that this might replace my telephone line broadband, which can only manage 1.5-1.8Mb/s. Too late to return it, alas - my fault.
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Reviewed by Nik Bates from Uk on 25th Jun 2008
Have been working away for the past two weeks starting off on the south coast in Worthing working all over surrey then move up to stirling to Inverness across to Aberdeen down to Dundee, Edinburgh across back to Glasgow then finally home to Leicester and have surfed all the way faultless, not the fastest surfing, speeds can vary from place to place. Spent £10 on pay as you go and surfing a couple of hours every night not even used half of my 1 gig limit and still got 8 days left. Big thumbs up from me beats £5 an hour for travellodge Wifi.
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Reviewed by Sam Bell from UK on 25th Jun 2008
Once again 3 mobile have disapointed me at every step with their service. I receive a 0.2 mbs connection, in what is supposed to be a high speed area. They have not carried out my dd instructions leading to loss of service and now i have to run around to sort out their mistakes. Their advisers have been unhelpful, no apologies have been received and they have offered no compensation for their mistakes. If i dont like it, im to lump it or pay £191 to come out. DONT SIGN TO THIS!
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Reviewed by Lynn from England - Westcountry on 25th Jun 2008
Hi Jennifer, I downloaded free avast On-Access Scanner 7, and my 3 mobile broadband is working great with that, I had kaperski before and paid a lot of money for the year, (started last October), stopped working all of a sudden and they said I'd got to renew the key again to activate it, yet it shouldn't have run out until October this year! I uninstalled it and replaced it with avast as I said and I'm very happy with this, had it before on my old system and it was good then too, but when I bought my new laptop I was persuaded to go for kaperski, bad move! Hope you are able to sort your problem out with yours.
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Reviewed by Jennifer from UK on 24th Jun 2008
I got my 3 modem on an 18 month contract in Dec07. I was really pleased with it. I never had more than 1 bar of HSPDA reception despite being in a turbo area but this wasn’t causing me any problems; the speed was fine. But now after 6 months it’s stopped connecting (error 619). The customer support weren’t particularly helpful but I went to my local 3 store with my laptop and was helped by a member of staff, he got it connected and all seemed to be working fine. However, when I got home (15mins later) I couldn’t connect again (error 619). So, went back to the shop the next day, where they suggested that my Norton may be disabling the connection (if it was a free trial they would have deleted Norton). I sat with them for an hour whilst we ran through, and fixed, the issues Norton was reporting and they tested the modem on the shop laptop (it worked). The shop assistant managed again to get the connection set up on my laptop, however, when I got home the problem persisted. I will try deleting the Norton software and using an alternative to see if that enables a connection. I’ve also just seen on the 3 website that Cyberlink software may also disable the connection so maybe I’ll try removing that too. If nothing works I was advised that I would have to return to the shop where I bought the modem and it will be at their discretion as to whether my contract is cancelled. If not I’m stuck paying for another 12 months for a connection that won’t connect – seems a bit unfair?!
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Reviewed by Lynn Blackmore from England - Westcountry on 22nd Jun 2008
I bought a 3 mobile broadband as I travel a lot and needed to keep up with my e-mails etc. At the time I paid £99.99 but the device has now gone down to less than £50! Generally, it works very well in almost all areas of Cornwall, Devon is ok in most places, but not quite so strong a signal as in Cornwall. When we travel to Wales, well, just forget it as it's useless there, hardly any coverage anywhere! I'd say yes buy one, I'm very happy with mine anyway! Incidently, my friend has a vodafone mobile broadband and she's very dissappointed with it as it's very hit and miss and unreliable. Lynn Blackmore
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Reviewed by kevin rogers from UK on 22nd Jun 2008
i have had a zte usb 3 modem for about 2 mounths and my connection speed varies between 0.3m mbps and 1 mbps. To gain extra signal i use a usb extension cable and possition modem for best reception. Only problem is when i use ICS on a ADHOC between latop vista and desktop xp modem works for 10-20 mins and then disconnects, unpluging the usb cable and reconnecting it fix's this problem but proble repeats. I did not have this problem for 1st mounth and a half,this problem has been since i use multiple networks. has anyone had same problem email me on kevinrogers2006@hotmail.com
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Reviewed by Sarah Clarke from UK on 22nd Jun 2008
Hi, I am very unhappy with my 3 mobile broadband. I got it in February and got tied in to an 18 month contract paying £15 a month and £50 for the dongle. After a week of trying to connect it and having to go to the Irish 3 site and download software and messing me around, it eventually worked. In my second month I went over the 3GB allowance by 60MB and was cut off abruptly. I rang up 3 (Indian call centre obviously) and after confusion their end as to why I was calling, was told I had exceeded my amount and I could make a payment over the phone which would reactivate the connection- basically holding my internet hostage. I paid £10 to get it back and later received a bill for £60 for exceeding the allowance! If I could cancel the contract then and there I would have done. I was using it without a problem (Apart from the occasional refusal to connect and the constant slowness of loading webpages which apparently is normal?!!) until this week where it suddenly stopped working on 19/06/08 and hasn't worked since. The Connect box has gone grey, I've followed all the call centre advice and found out there is a fault with the modem. I would like to know if I can cancel this 18 month contract as it isn't as it was described at sale. If anyone can help I would really appreciate it!! I have had a lot of messing around from 3 and would advice you to GO WITH ANY OTHER PROVIDER AS THEY CAN'T BE WORSE THAN 3, if I'd have known other companies do the dongle I would have got it a lot cheaper. Apparently Vodafone also connect via 3-so steer clear of them too!! [Reply from John (Manager from 3 Mobile): Sorry that you are finding the service u have been offered isn't great. if you could provide me with more information about what issues you are currently having I am sure i can help. I would just like to also say that 3 and vodaphone work off 2 totally different networks. cheers]
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Reviewed by Carole from Glasgow on 20th Jun 2008
I got 3 purely because I was already a 3 customer. My friend uses it and its fine. I had a problem with the modem, on/off and waiting 5 minutes for a webpage to download. Sent it away got it back, apparently they did nothing to it but it now seems fine with good connection. I would suggest 3 review their customer service, it took 2 telephone calls to get agreement on sending the modem back to get checked then a further 3 before successful delivery. Those providing the customer service the contract is not just one ended. I pay money and expect a service, if the service is not received the I won't pay my money.
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Reviewed by John from England on 17th Jun 2008
Hey guys I am a manager for 3 mobile, post any questions or problems you are having and I am sure I can help you out. Most of the problems below could be sorted within 10mins and just the right advice, Look forward too hearing from you. Lots of you are saying that you are never getting a connection. One of the big probelms I have seen with this is when the software is loaded and your internet virus software will not let the modem connect to your pc. If you are having problems with no connect please follow the below. 1) Uninstall all the software for the modem. 2) When your PC is switched off add your MBB modem and this will reload the software. 3) During the software installaction if your virus software asks you if you would like the modem to connect to your PC, say YES!! This is normally not recommened by your virus software. 4) Reset your PC and this should sort out loads of problems. Anything else just drop me a message on here, Thanks John (3 Manager)
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Reviewed by luke from england on 17th Jun 2008
i need help with my pay as u go 3usb modem (dongle) it goes realy slow and i wonderd if ther is a way to stop this lese help me
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Reviewed by Rich from sheffield uk on 16th Jun 2008
I personally think this 3 mobile broadband is great, alright i've encountered a few problems whilst they upgrade there system but this is understandeble as you have to upgrade to get better! All these idiots who say don't buy 3 buy Vodafone are complete idiots because they assume without proof that Vodafone don't need to upgrade there system too!
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Reviewed by Jane Leena from India on 16th Jun 2008
Hi I have a 3 Mobile Broadband connection and am getting a frequent "Error 619 - A connection to the remote computer could not be established" while trying to connect to internet. The frequency of this error is increasing with every day(30 - 40 attempts at times.
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Reviewed by Ade from UK on 15th Jun 2008
Utter utter utter rubbish. I find it facinating how a company find 0.00 kbps acceptable and dont get done by trading standards for it. I sympathise with those of you who did buy it. I wont ever be touching mobile broadband again. Thouroughly ripped off ..
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Reviewed by Scott from Brum, UK on 15th Jun 2008
I got 3 broadband mobile. It worked fine for the first week and now ever since it hardly works at all. I have tried re-installing it many times and even had a fiddle with the network settings but to no avail. It is a pretty poor show really. You pay your money and you expect it to work.
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Reviewed by Sara from south east england on 13th Jun 2008
I've had this subscription for three months. I once got a download speed of 113 kbs for about an hour, but it's usually about 10 - 15, sometimes as "fast" as 30. I can check e-mail (make a cup of tea while the page loads) but that's about it. Mobile broadband - a great concept and it'll be fantastic if they ever get it up and running. Maybe other providers do better, but I'm far from impressed with 3.
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Reviewed by Pete Johnson from UK on 12th Jun 2008
3 Mobile "Broadband" is an utter waste of money! They should advertise it more correctly as 3 mobile dial-up - if you're lucky. I can regularly get speeds as quick as 1 maybe 2 kbps not Mbps. do not waste your money. And their "Support" just say tough. thankfully i got the pay as you go, and i won't be wasting any more of my money on this less than useless service.
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Reviewed by Kellygirl from midlands on 12th Jun 2008
On a good day if I nearly hang out of the window I can get about half the speed of dialup. I'm in a "Turbo" area. I'll say no more.
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Reviewed by Tel from England on 10th Jun 2008
Forget it.
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Reviewed by damian from england on 10th Jun 2008
To say the service i have recieved is shambolic is an understatement i will never in my life use 3 mobile ever again. Unreliable, poor technical support, slow connections I have nothing good to say about this service at all. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS EQUIPEMENT OR ANYTHING FROM 3 MOBILE FOR YOUR OWN GOOD
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Reviewed by Pelly from wales on 9th Jun 2008
I went for 3 cos - daft reason - the shop didnt have vodafone kit in stock. Wot a mistake. My advice offered in a genuine attempt 2 help is - even if it means shoppin around, askin mates etc, give 3 a miss and go with a reputable provider who someone you trust in your town can vouch 4.
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Reviewed by Tango from UK Midlands on 8th Jun 2008
If u wsnt 2 keep in touch via email, like I do wit m8s etc & ur thinking of 3mobile broadband for email on the go - save urself some £s and hassle, get sum stamps & envelopes, its cheapr and quickr.
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Reviewed by andydavidson-lee from UK on 6th Jun 2008
I bought the PAYG modem 2 days ago...and the last connection to the internet I had was at Sega Dreamcast speeds..that's under a meg by the way..this thing is terrible and as has already been mentioned..the connection drops all the time...and...just by checking emails, my space, facebook etc...i have used 80% of my credit in 2 days..don't be fooled into buying this thing..go to your nearest WI-FI pub...it's cheaper..and that includes having to buy a drink
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Reviewed by Marty from Manchester on 5th Jun 2008
It may be cheap and easy, but the connection is highly unreliable (especially at weekends), and I have not encountered a more aggressive or incompetent Customer Services Dept. They usually interrupted me with a reason why it wasn't their problem before I had fully explained the issue. The things I asked to be done weren't meaning going through 20-odd minutes of explanation with 4 different people for a simple problem. Not worth it.
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Reviewed by Nik from Leeds on 5th Jun 2008
Absolute rubbish. Brilliant idea but DO NOT BUY this 3 product....it sounds very convincing when you read up on it but it was nothing like described when i used it. The signal shows full strength but the actual connection is slower than dial up. It freezes constantly and cost me a fortune in top ups trying to set up as they didnt explain that you have to select the broadband lite option when topping up on 3 website. Also had difficulty trying to get a refund at first but just be firm and demand it back. Sounds like vodafone is the best out there at the minute
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Reviewed by Ginge from UK on 2nd Jun 2008
Easy set up, £5 per month for an existing customer. Quite reasonable download speeds and a nice dongle. What more could i ask for? I live in Blackpool and the coverage is great. I travel around alot and unless I'm in the Peak district (which i tried just to see) the coverage is quite fast and instant connection. What do you people want from them? Blood!!!
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Reviewed by Mike B from UK on 2nd Jun 2008
I purchased a PAYG modem just over 1 month ago. To be perfectly fair, I use it quite often as I travel frequently. It's good when it works, but more often than not - it doesn't! I would steer away from 3 if you are thinking about getting a mobile broadband service. Even if you are in one of their "Turbo" areas, it's no guarantee it'll actually work...
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Reviewed by Matt from UK on 2nd Jun 2008
The below reviews speak for themselves. I was told by 3 tech support that the signAl in my area was cut off recently as they no longer work with Orange who were supplying the signal. I don't understand why some people here don't go to their bank and cancel the direct debit and hand the thing back to the store. My advice - CANCEL YOUR DIRECT DEBIT NOW AND THEY CAN'T GET HOLD OF YOUR CASH!!!!
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Reviewed by Steve from UK on 2nd Jun 2008
Like many others here I was sucked into the concept that this service would be the answer to my problems. I had just moved into a temporary property and therefore didn't have the option to get tied into a contract for a BT line/Cable. I went for the Pay as you go option and was told that the coverage at my house was good because I was located right between the two masts in town. 3 months after first using this service I must say it is terrible. It is so unreliable and frustrating that I don't even use the internet as much anymore. I haven't bothered contacting tech support as I know what balls I will be told. I am just dreaming of the day I can get back on cable (at the same cost I should add!). Do not get this service and certainly do not get a contract!
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Reviewed by Chris from Scotland on 30th May 2008
I took out a 3 Mobile Broadband for data use in a 2G area. Data transfer over GPRS is slow, but enough for me. 3 customers can roam on the Orange network when they are outwith 3's 3G coverage area. Well, they could. Up until this week. This week, my 3 Mobile Broadband service stopped working in the 2G-only area where I work. After three (ha!) phone calls to 3 India, during which I was repeatedly lied to, I was finally told that, as 3 have 'total 3G coverage' (which is laughable), they now no longer offer services over 2G. We were not informed of this change - indeed, the 3 website still shows this area as having good 2G coverage. I immediately cancelled my contract. 3 has gone from good to appalling in my mind in one fell swoop.
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Reviewed by Marco from United Kingdom on 29th May 2008
I got "3"mobile broadband and to surf normal website is fine.My problem is that I can't watch websites like (youtube).I was attracted from the pay as you go but is a theft.If somebody sell a product that doesn't works is a theft anyway.
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Reviewed by david from uk on 28th May 2008
i wish i had read these reviews before buying...luckily it was PAYG so only £60 down the drain .... i cant beieve how bad this is..have yet to see a received rate above 400k..as reported tends to send in bursts and will spend a lot of time at zero and most of the time below 100k...connected at 3.6M message you get when you plug in is a complete joke ...can you introduce a category with negative stars?
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Reviewed by Roy from UK on 28th May 2008
Do not ever consider using 3 mobile broadband. They have the worst customer service i have ever experienced. Slow service in every sense of the word!
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Reviewed by samurai from Midlands on 27th May 2008
I could repeat what so many on here have said, but think you have the picture. I'll just say: Avoid. Like. The. Plague.
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Reviewed by kim from uk on 27th May 2008
thank goodness i only took out payg and wasted £50 on a dongle and £10 on a top up. the support centre telephone number is wrong on the welcome letter, you find this out after a 30 minute wait in a queue to be told to start again. eventually after about another 30 minutes you might get through to india. they kept telling me my sim card wasnt activated and i had to wait upto 48 hours. this turned out just to be a lie to get rid of me. eventually after lots of fiddling around and reinstalling i got it working. im supposed to be in a turbo area, but its just snails speed, in fact slower than normal dial up via a mobile. so a complete waste of money. i had a 14 day cooling off period so asked for a returns number which i eventually was given. they are supposed to send a pre paid bag to send it back but as expected it hasnt turned up. Seems like a nice idea if you get it working but dont bother with technical support because they will just fob you off with daft excuses like restart your laptop and wait 10 mins, wait for the sim card to be activated etc really just anything to get rid of you.
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Reviewed by J from UK on 26th May 2008
Bought a pay as you go as they seemed cheap and a good alternative as I didn't have a landline. Regretting spending out any money for it. On the days I can connect I have a very poor and laggy performace even though I'm in a turbo area and can get up to 4 bars of signal. Signal strenth drops whenever anyone else is using a phone or this box so you can't even load a webpage. Seems weather conditions can also affect the signal, I pray for sunny, calm days. I have to spend a lot of time refreshing my browser. Contacted 3 to get the usual scripted responce "go closer to the window". I get the same performance outside in the garden which is a wide open area. Have tried e-mailing but rudely got an automated response. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. Three have had major issues in Northern Ireland over their poor service and they've decided to milk the mobile broadband market as much as possible in the UK. A dial up landline would be faster and more reliable and a lot of the time the modem sometimes won't even be detected by my pc! Can't even use skype as the call is so broken. I hope OFCOM get involved soon and sort this mess out, in the meantime I have a very expensive paperweight.
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Reviewed by cloggy from uk on 25th May 2008
Been with 3 broadband for about 5 months now. im tied into an 18 month contract. First the positives- smart and compact , ideal for laptops if your wanting to surf anywhere. Negatives- ive seen slugs move faster, squeezed with a 3gb download limit . Would i recommend it?....NO Cant wait to get shut of my contract, even with the beauty of totally portable broadband its just too slow with a cap on downloads which is restricting.
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Reviewed by pete from england on 23rd May 2008
Do not get locked into a contract! This mobile broadband is next to useless for anything other than just checking yr emails. Try to watch a video? Don't bother, it will pause every few seconds. Want to use skype? Don't bother, yr call will be dropped every few minutes.I am now stuck with a long contract for something that basically works when it feels like it, even the signal bar gives no indication of the quality of the internet experience i can expect. I have been dropped off the network 5 times while reading the reviews on this site! DO NOT BUY IT!
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Reviewed by Warren B from England on 21st May 2008
I have tried all the mobile providers over the last 2 weeks all were brilliant with great speed. The only reason I did not go with the others is that they compress the data to offer worse quality and this cannot be turned off on a mac. 3 on the other hand have been disasterous. I have tried it around St pauls in central London and get an average of 4kbs, yes thats 4. I tried it at home in wimbledon and get an average of 20 kbs but it drops the line every 5 mins. The call centre is absolutely clueless and I for one will cut my losses, write-off my money and 3 are not even worth the hastle or effort. yes... thats how bad they really are.
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Reviewed by Dimyati from England on 21st May 2008
It's quite wierd to heard good comment regarding 3 mobile broadband. I used it temporary because I just move to new place. It's speed similar to dialup and it suck. I am glad I use PAYG.
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Reviewed by Bazza from uk on 21st May 2008
SUPERB!! ITS THE BIZ, had mine a few weeks now and no probs. Im very happy with it and it work well. I have windows vista and was up and running in no time. Also i get the 50% discount so i get 3gb per mounth for £7.50 WOW. WELL DONE 3 AAAAAA+++++++
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Reviewed by Graham B from N Scotland on 19th May 2008
Had my 3 mobile broadband account for 3 months now. Had high hopes - not looking for the rated speed of 2.8Mbps but hoped for close to 1Mbps. Nowhere near, and I'm in the centre of their turbo zone in Aberdeen City. My best ever speed is about 600Kbps but thats a one-off. It normally provides connectivity in bursts, often sitting at zero and averaging 50 to 90 Kbps. Not much more than a modem. I need to have mobile broadband since my flat has no landline but I wish I had waited for a more reliable provider. Not worth speaking to them - scripted answers every time. I'm stuck on a 2 year contract and at £10 a month its a couple of hundred quid down the drain. I'll go for another service if I can find one that works.
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Reviewed by Decky from England on 18th May 2008
Had the 3 dongle ZTE MF622 for approx 2 weeks now and on the postcode checker it says im in the turbo area,I always get a 5 bar signal because i live on a farm up in the hills in a high location but i wish i was getting a decent internet speed connection from my dongle.I am lucky to get 300 kbps max 600 kbps on a good day and down to as low as 140 kbps on a bad day with a constant 5 bar signal.The connection drops out regular and i think that there is room for vast improvement.A friend of mine owns the T mobile dongle and i did a speed test on his which came up at 193 kbps.I would avoid buying a dongle until things improve tbh.
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Reviewed by Vic from UK on 17th May 2008
the majority of people on this board haev my deepet sympathies. i applied for mobile broadband a couple of months ago as i was moving house and staying with a friend for a few weeks who had no internet. so i thought, great. i'll get the £25 7GB one for years contract, thus free dongle as i use the internet a lot - mostly for skype. despite being a 3 skypephone owner anf thus on 3 network for past 5 months, i was not informed at any point about the 50% discount offered to existing subscribers. anyway, so got the package, tried to set it up thinking as they advertise, you're up and running in a matter of minutes.. - NOT SO. took me the better part of the evening and several calls to their useless customer services center in india(!!!!!) and only the following day was i able to get online. so thought ok, carried on using it... after 1st month, i hear this odd sound on my pc, check and it has message symbol = open 3 inbox to find a score of messages telling me i had exceeded my 7 gb allowance and was being charged becuase of it. no mention of amount. so had to connect again, to my3 online to see what i owed, and they charged me £50.40!!! so ok, i thought, fine, paid, and made damn sure to check usage very carefullly thereafter. so about a month ago i bought my fist house, checked coverage on 3 site, shows ok on 2g and am on 2g/3g border. so figure hmm. ok, no signal on phone, no signal for modem. had spoken to a guy in their cust serv dept a few weeks ago and told him i would like to downgrade to minimum usage allowance as of next bill (as figure why shoudl i pay £25/month for next year if i can't use it?) told yeah should be ok, can downgrade. so when i move, phone up 3 agian, say i was told the abovem, i'd like to downgrade today please. then told no, you can't as you took contract out on £25 tariff, so can't downgrade - i could only do so IF i had taken out cheapest tariff, then upgraded to £25 ,then i could downgrade. so i said well thats useless to me, i can't see why i must pay £25/month for next year if i can't use it, the guy just kept repeating that they couln't let me downgrade, as i'd not taken cheaper tariff first. i said so ok, what the hell am i supposed to do, i have no mobile signal, no broadband signal - genius. he says ok, i'll transfer you to technical services who can tell you when signal in your area will be improved, so transfered me, and i ended up on hold for nigh on half an hour before i got completely narked and hung up. i'm highly unimpressed with their standards of customer care, and their willingness (or unwillingness) to help anyone but themselves bu making more money. however i just found this on another '3 are rubbish' thread, dunno if it'd be of help to anyone? advised to quote the Trade Descriptions Act of 1978 as well as the Provision of Goods And Services Act 1982 as amended - stating that service provided is not fit for the purpose for which it was sold, and give them 14 days to to sort something out, and threaten to sue on 15th day if nothing sorted. also report them to OFCOM. if anyone has any luck with this, let me know please. it's revolting that they are allowed to get away with this sort of behaviour. even other mobile networks let you downgrade/migrate to cheaper tariffs if you feel they are better suited to you. meanwhile i'm stuck throwing £25 down the drain each month for the next 9 months, and STILL have minimal to no reception on my skype phone. avoid 3 mobile broadband at all costs unless you're a sucker for punishment and enjoy a challenge. and have money to burn.
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Reviewed by Nigel from uk on 17th May 2008
Waste of money,worked fine for about 2 months now won't connect.Spent 3 hours on phone to 3 support and still no joy.Took modem in and had it repaired and it still won't connect.Now waiting for them to escalate my case.STAY AWAY FROM 3.TECH SUPPORT DON'T HAVE A CLUE.
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Reviewed by dave alexander from england on 17th May 2008
purchased pay as you go 3g dongle thank god for that !!! was considering a contract deal, its rubbish ! only good for checking e-mails and paying the odd bill. mega slow (grown a beard waiting for web page!) and unreliable. if you want proper internet get real broadband connection. the dongles are only usful for occastional usage and only get the pay as you go or you be paying for a service that dosent work all the time.
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Reviewed by Adrian from UK on 16th May 2008
I got my black usb stick before reading all the reviews on here.Imagine my horror when I found out how unhappy lots of you were. I cant understand what most of you are complaining about. Mine is faultless. Im away all week,and all all over the country. The only place I have been unable to connect is in my front room. This is not a problem as I can connect via wi-fi. In the lorry I have had good coverage where ever I have parked up. I think for £5 per month you cannot go wrong. Well done 3.
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Reviewed by Matthew Barrett from England on 15th May 2008
I've had the 3 modem for almost 2 months now and can't say I'm happy. It installed very easily which to date is the only positive experience I've had with it. The speed are seriously slow and the connection is unreliable and I'm in a hi-speed area. The highest data plan allows you 7gb for £25 when you can get a phone and unlimited data usage from a few other companies for the same price or less. It is very hard to get any decent help through the call centre and when you do it takes a few calls to get through to someone that knows what they are saying and isn't reading from a script. This was the first internet package I ever bought and it's taught me a valuable lesson. I didn't know a thing about what I was buying and looking back they obviously recognised and took advantage that. I'm now stuck in a lengthy contract and want out. I'm getting it half price due to having a 3 mobile phone contract but I still don't think it worth it. I'm actually thinking about getting another service provider and having them both running until my 3 contract is up. There is so much more I could say about this but it all comes down to me advising anybody reading this not to buy it. The 3 days they give you to decide if you want to keep it is not enough. My experience with this whole thing has really lowered my originally high opinion of network3 and I now just feel cheated.
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Reviewed by Ciprian from UK on 15th May 2008
rubish!rubish!rubish! yesterday did not worked at all.where is that 2.8 Mb/s that they advertised??!! Lol . i tested my 3g broadband in every 3 days and i`m amazed how fast the download speed is going down.40 days ago it was downloading at 1 Mb/s , now is downloading at 128k(2 times faster than a dial up) . basicly this mean i get 20 times slower broadband than what they advertise.i`m a pc engineer and my advise is : Do Not Buy This Broadband!!!
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Reviewed by Neil from Glasgow-Scotland on 15th May 2008
Hey.. I purchased the USB stick modem a week ago. I live in Glasgow and must admit that the connection speeds are generally great. Highest I've bad is 920kbps, which based on the reviews I had read, exceeded my expectations. Great product for the price - I am an existing customer and get 50% off. Would recommend you at least try it... you can use for upto 3 days and return if the signal is bad in your area.
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Reviewed by ninja from leeds , UK on 14th May 2008
Ok the first thing with the modem is the setup, I have a laptop and a desktop my intentions was to use the laptop, Problem I had vista which it didnt like it even though on the case it does state that it is compatiable, so pot luck i tried with my desktop which has xp and no probs. Loading times can be slow and I have lost connections a couple of times. But I notice at night the connection speed is pretty good and downloading videos and music is faster but dont do too much or it will crash on you. I use it pretty light for e-mails and web pages and watch the odd video when it works. Im on pay and go and it cost 50 but if your on a contract I feel sorry for you the service is not great but bearable
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Reviewed by kev from england on 12th May 2008
I was sold this rubbish, and after I set it up, the download speed went from almost nothing to zero, then it stopped completely. I have spent in excess of £20 on calls to a call centre in India, who keep telling me that one trans-mitter is down and will be up in 24 hours. THIS IS A STANDARD LIE, THAT HAS BEEN TOLD FOR OVER A MONTH. The truth is, the postcode check is an absoulute rip-off and false, to get you to sign up. There are no refunds, just a number to the same call centre where you are lied to again. DO NOT BUY THIS BASED ON A POSTCODE CHECK.
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Reviewed by Andy from Yorkshire on 11th May 2008
Well, it's faster than a dialup, but the hype surrounding mobile broadband from three might leave you with the impression that it'd be faster than the ADSL service that we all now realise doesn't deliver anything like the 'up to' 8M baud advertised. Even the pre-signon speed estimate (in my case 3.5M) turned out to be 1M in reality. So the 'upto' 7M advertised for three mobile should be better, right? Wrong. Even here in industrial West Yorkshire with a mobile mast on every mill tower (and not a few church steeples too) I'm only getting 300K baud. That's right, 0.3M. Yup, I'm a bit disappointed. So I checked my postcode with three's coverage checker, and apparently I'm in the 'video service' areaa (pink) so heaven help anyone in the 2G area. But it did 'just work' under Vista on my Fujitsu/Siemens Tesco cheapo laptop. So I'm satidfied if not delighted. Wonder when the 'turbo' will come my way? Andy
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Reviewed by lee from uk on 10th May 2008
despite not being in a turbo area yet, the service is extremely usable. The install was a bit of a headache but then being a linux user I expected that as they do not support linux. Speed depending on signal ranges from 50k/s to 1m/s. When i am in a turbo area that speed easily doubles. Great service, great price.
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Reviewed by MR ANGRY from UK on 10th May 2008
no stars whatsoever THREE ARE RIPPING US OFF THEY HAVE A VERY COMPLICATED SET UP IF YOU ARE A MAC USER THERES NO WAY TO MONITIOR YOUR USAGE SO I WENT OVER AND WAS CHARGE £50. I BELIEVE THE CARPHONE WAREHOUSE MIS-SOLD THIS PRODUCT SAYING YOU WOULD ONLY EXCEED THE DOWNLOAD LIMIT AND BE CHARGED EXTRA IF YOU WERE DOWNLOADING MOVIES EVERY DAY... UTTER RUBBISH... AN INDIAN CALL CENTE WHERE THEY FOB YOU OFF WITH SOME RUN AROUND ALL DONE TO A SCRIPT AND IF YOU WANT OUT IT'S £250 PENALTY . I BELIEVE THIS IS ILLEGAL AND WOULD BE UP FOR JOINING ANY ONE WHO WANTS TO TAKE THEM TO COURT. BEWARE !!!!!!
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Reviewed by John from U.K. on 9th May 2008
I got my modem in Feb. inatily lots of problems, modem would not connect and so could not instal, 3 shop was no help at all, kept refering me to call center, who finaly agreed that modem was faulty and arranged for it to go to repair center in Scotland. The modem came back as it went not working, I sent it back again with the threat of asking Trading Standards to look into the matter if I did not receive satisfaction, (I received a new modem,)which until last week worked faultlessly, at which point it started timeing out while trying to load web page, I got a load of rubbish advice from the call center, ie no credit left.
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Reviewed by kevan from uk on 9th May 2008
i had to set up one of these for a friend as the built in software(shows up as if it were a cd when you plug it in) was a bit naff i had to copy the software to the desktop to install it when it is supposed to boot by itself then had to disable the "huawei cdrom" in the device manager to stop it crashing other than the original problems with setting up it worked quite well and download speeds are not bad also will accept pay and go sims which is quite useful
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Reviewed by Ewan from Wales on 8th May 2008
3Mobile "Broadband"? Yeah. At a download speed of 4.4 kbs, I've no chance of getting anywhere near the 7gb limit that I pay for. But then again I don't get the coverage that I pay for. Avoid these shysters. Don't get tied into a contract like I did. Money down the drain. Would have awarded no stars, but that option's not available.
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Reviewed by simon demmon from uk on 8th May 2008
pure and unadulterated rubbish, avoid like the plague. Just another con for mobile networks to extract monies from your pocket without offering a service or understandable support.shame i cant give it no stars.work in IT and shan't be recomending it to any clients:(
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Reviewed by Natalie C from UK on 6th May 2008
i got the dongle when it came out... October, i thought great,i can work from home rather than going into uni(paid job) as well as the ini work whch requires a lot of computer based research, the coverage checker said I was in one ofthe hotspots. what could possibly go wrong? Doing graphics means i use a mac. I bought the dongle, read the set up information and said i had to install using a CD. What CD? there was no CD in the case. The next day i went back to Phones4U, 'oh sorry, they dont supply the CD in the UK'. helpful. I was told i needed to download a datacard driver...With what internet? I tried at my friends house, coffee shops and my uni. which ever installer program i was told to download,would not work couldnt even get it on the 3 website! He then told me to download some 'huawei datacard driver 2.2 version bla bla' or something, finally downloaded it and other programs to help open it also..then i plugged it in, followed the information it had in the pack numerous times and it did not work. For the third time i went back to phones4u, he got it to work. Got home and was excited to start using my internet. I then found out it would be more exhilirating to watch a snail move realisin how painfully slow the internbet was. i didnt understand, my area is meant to have high reception ( i have a 3 phone too! no reception on that either!!!!)i do not use the internet and this money coming out of my account for an instrument that i am unable to use is a great strain on me as a student. Spoke to a guy recently, said he tried out the 3 did not work AT ALL, went to vodafone and it was perfect. At least now i realise why it is so cheap. you get what you pay for. ( i agree,deserves no stars)
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Reviewed by Steve Ralph from UK on 4th May 2008
I have had my 3 black USB stick modem for a week and find it faultless. My speeds peak at around a very usable 1.1mbps and find connection very reliable. I have the 7Gb package as part of their 50% off offer for existing 3 customers. As for technical assistance, I have been with 3 for over three years and ok, its an indian call centre but have to say politeness and willingness to assist are superb. I certainly would recommend the mobile broadband offering!
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Reviewed by Andy from uk on 4th May 2008
3 Mobile broadband in one word....APPALLING!! I have never signed up to anything more atrocious than this service. Had it since xmas 2007, was great for a few weeks then has gone downhill rapidly ever since. SLOW, SLOW, SLOW !!!!!!!!!! If you want to run a business or use internet auctions etc... forget it, want to download videos & watch them?...Forget it. Rang India call centre loads of times only to be fobbed off with pathetic excuses, no more use than a chocolate fireguard in the winter!! Spoke to my local 3 store (Burton), can't (or won't) do anything, "speak to the call centre". You'll be drinking a lot of tea whilst waiting for pages to load then throwing the remains at it as the page fails again after 10mins of waiting!! Refreshing the page about 5 times may get you what you want. Wrote a nice letter to 3 head office, so want to return to normal broadband... PLEASE!!! Avoid like the black death or the grim reaper will come for you!! This is my 3rd attempt to send this!!
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Reviewed by jason from scotland on 2nd May 2008
since i am unable to recive cable/adsl broadband where i live three mobile broadband is an excellent alternative. yes it has teething problems but this will be fully resolved once three and t-mobile merge there networks.i dont know what antivirus you people are using i can tell you most free antivirus programs dont work well with the huwaie e220 dongle so if you use free antivirus program disable the web sheild this will sort the problem of no web page found. also mess around with dongle till you get at least a 3 bar signal. if you have to get a usb extension cable and have dongle near a window. once your firewall / antivirus has been sorted you will have stress free internet browsing / downloading. i hope this helps good luck
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Reviewed by Hannah from England on 30th Apr 2008
I got 3 mobile broadband about 6 weeks ago and it was fine for the first week or so. Now it will not let me on Tesco, Nationwide, my uni website, or even the 3 website (so basically all of the important ones), i just get 'page cannot be displayed'! It's doing my bulb in! Not to mention its slow.
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Reviewed by geoff from uk on 30th Apr 2008
Furthermore, I have now been told by 3 that it is possible to cap your limit, after a return visit to the Eastbourne store, where the "manager" Darren said this was not possible (although the salesman originally told me I couldnt go over the £15 a month charge even if I tried) When I phoned him to tell him he said "we just sell the contracts the way we are told to by the company!!" Also T mobile internet do not charge you if you go over, just advise you as any decent company would, not sting you for £100 a GB "overuse"!!I would switch to them but I am stitched into an 18 month contract now, even though they signed me up under false pretenses...some urgent new legislation is needed because these companies are not fit to regulate themselves, and they are taking full advantage of the situation..
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Reviewed by Geoff from England on 29th Apr 2008
Be very careful here, 3 (three) mobile have charged me an exorbitant amount for going over the monthly 3GB limit.They mislead me instore by saying this was not possible, and the customer "help" is dreadful, both on the Indian no-help line and instore (Eastbourne branch anyway). I was notified (by being sent 50 messages all at once!!) 2 days after allegedly going over my limit, and later told they couldnt contact me sooner as I hadn't been online!!! Overall they charged me £39 for one month for allegedly using 3.3GB, just 10% over the 3GB, normally £15 a month, the 7GB bundle being £25. Normally I could only use less than 1GB, the download speed being so slow. Avoid if at all possible.Three 3 mobile internet is a disgraceful rip-off. According to my maths,if you go over by 1GB they will bill you £100 plus vat, so £117.50 for 1GB!!! How can this be legal, I think its fraud/extortion/a con-trick.What do you think? 3GB of downloads (less than 3/4 of a DVD) for a bargain £352.50!!!Some kind of regulation is urgently needed.
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Reviewed by VL:Conception from UK on 28th Apr 2008
As an existing 3 customer, I get 50% off every month. which makes the 7GB data allowance go down to £12.50 a month. If you ask me thats brilliant for anyone on the move but want straight access to the internet and emails.
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Reviewed by Jamesy from Scotland on 26th Apr 2008
My landline broadband only ever gave up to 250kps due to distance from the exchange, but usually slower. Have used 3 mobile for a couple of months now and get about 850kps - big improvement! Have even been up to 1.6mps when in the city centre. No problems so far for me.
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Reviewed by Mojo from UK on 23rd Apr 2008
Rubbish! Got it in early March, things were fine. Now its nearing the end of April, and I'm struggling to stay online for more than 5 minutes at a time. Connections keep getting dropped, download cannot be completed, unable to browse any website for a long period at a time, speeds rarely exceeds 450 kbps - out of the possible 3600 kbps in the "Turbo" area I'm in. All this while the USB modem shows 5 out of 5 bars and some person in India is assuring me that the network access is good in this area - NOT SO. Now they are even encouraging more people to join their already overloaded network with a 50% discount on monthly plans! Don't bother! Oh, by the way, this is in Hammersmith at a top floor apartment and with a clear "line of view". But I have the same problems up in Bank, Central London though not as often. Not recommended! You're better off with two tin cans and string.
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Reviewed by Ned from UK on 22nd Apr 2008
Had an horrendous time trying to get it working on Mac OS X Leopard. Firstly, I was sent no mac installation CD, so had to use somebody else's internet connection to download all the drivers. Then it still wouldn't work. I needed to change the default APN ID for the modem from 3internet to three.co.uk. This took me ages to figure out as the installation documentation is almost wholly irrelevant and I'm not an IT expert. Now its working, it seems ok. I just hope it doesn't break.
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Reviewed by Tony from England on 21st Apr 2008
I recently purchased the 3 modem for £69 to use with a payg sim. I did some speed tests, and got between 330kbps and 530kbps, depending on the site used. I found i was able to watch YouTube video's with no problem, and after a week of surfing, making the odd download, remote desktop access 2-3 times a day to my home pc, and watching a few video's, I had only used about 300Mb of my 1Gb allowance. I am very impressed with it, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
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Reviewed by Shayne from UK on 20th Apr 2008
If you're having trouble, I would avoid the call centre and look for fellow 3 customer's solutions. I couldn't find all the drivers for a Mac on 3's website (the APN one seems to be missing) but managed to find it on another user's personal website by googling the driver name. The call centre was hopeless and even when I went to a store with a USB memory stick, the guys in store couldn't help as they're not allowed web access and the in store demo laptop has the USB ports blocked. helpful. Otherwise I've found the connection of a good speed and no problems with disconnections in various UK locations. That's not bad as I live in a church with super thick walls and have problems with normal mobile reception on Orange & 02. So once its up & running, all good.
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Reviewed by Dave Wheeer from England on 19th Apr 2008
Awful. I'm suprised I'm able to connect to this website to be honest. It's slower than my dial-up 28k modem 13 years ago. Three are absolute crooks. I pay 25£ a month for 7 gig allowance...I doubt I use half a gig in that time the service is so so SO slow!
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Reviewed by Darren Bown from United Kingdom on 17th Apr 2008
Definitely the worst customer services I have ever encountered. I have been using a 3g USB modem for the last three months, but recently it started to go wrong - downstream traffic dropped to zero after around 4 minutes of connection, timing web pages out and three's modem application often not connecting with the modem. I called customer services and followed their suggested steps. No change. I did it again. No change. I did it again. Again, no change. Knowing something about these things, I plugged it into a UNIX system so I could follow the output logs. I realised that the point of failure was when the modem contacted three to request *geeky dullery obscured*. This seemed to me to be proof that the service was at fault, rather than my computer (in fact, I'd already verified this on an old XP box). I called them to let them know. they advised me to turn off my anti-virus software and try to reconnect. I told them that this was not acceptable. In the end, I did it anyway and it still didn't work. Three days and nine phone calls later I still have very patchy internet access and have dropped some business as a result. I do not recommend three to anyone.
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Reviewed by steve from uk on 15th Apr 2008
Avoid these crooks like the plague!I bought a 3 mobile modem for my daughter to use at University,first 4 months fine,a bit slow and she found it impossible to use more than 1GB, despite paying for 3GB (and no the credit doesn`t roll over,even though you pay for it)Then over easter (she wasnt even there for 10 days) she logs on and she gets 50,yes FIFTY messages saying she has gone over the 3GB (2 days previously!) they have charged her £23 for an hours use,that she wasnt even aware of,even though an upgrade to 7GB is only £10 a month more.Now she needs to use it for studying, but cant for a further 10 days, unless I pay £23 an hour, until the next bill is due.Spent all day on the Indian call centres with no help at all just arguments.Point being, it must be impossible at that speed ,less than 2.8 meg,to run up a bill that big,and not even be warned,or capped, or offered an upgrade.I firmly believe they just make up the bills as I have spoken to other users with the same exact problem.
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Reviewed by Lawrence from uk on 14th Apr 2008
sorry have to totally have to disagree brought mine on saturday and being a coach driver brought mine for when at work and have not had 1 single prob with connection was using my n95 to connect through t-mobile....now that is a waste of time with connection always dropping but never had prob with 3 connection speed varies ive had little as 452mbs up to 2.1 which ok they advertise up 2.8 but for me it is fine as never lost connection yet which is more important to me so cos of speed will only give 4 but keep up the good work 3
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Reviewed by Gaz from u.k. on 14th Apr 2008
Just the other day i bought a 3 modem (costing £70) & broadband plus (costing £15). The reason for this is i cannot get a landline installed at my house. I knew it would be slow,but thought 'it's better than nothing'.Little did i know it only connects to the internet once out of roughly 30 attempts. I spent £30 phone credit trying to talk to women in India with 'o' level english.It was a real struggle to understand them,& they couldn't understand a WORD i was saying! What outstanding service,NOT! Whenever i did get connected (for example youtube) it just disconnects itself,& it won't let me safely remove it from the usb port,so i have to turn the pc off & try again.& again.& again.& again-ad infinitum. fones 4 u-fists for them. They blamed it on 'a weak signal/reception in my area'. The device is absolutely worthless. Worse than that you have 3 days to take it back or YOU DON'T GET A REFUND! They had better refund my money or i will get very very angry & i will probably be arrested,upon my release from prison i will know where to find them. On rating it doesn't deserve even one star. It's a rip-off! IT'S A RIP OFF! DO NOT GET ONE OF THESE,FOR YOU WILL BE RIPPED OFF & ENRAGED! I don't even blame these poor people in India,I BLAME 3. Don't get fooled. Don't buy one of these because you'll get ripped right off-IN A BIG WAY!
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Reviewed by Jess from UK on 13th Apr 2008
I hate this service! i purchased the mobile broadband ten pounds a month and with in a few days my limit was used which is fair enough, asoon as i was notified of this i stopped using it but when i accesed my details on the website (using my old dial up) it said i had spent another £21?? on what? i tried phoning customer services but i dont think they actually have people on the other end! any way im hopeing seens ive only had it a few days i can return it to the carphone warehouse and im going to cancell my direct debit asap, i read on this thing that they fine you for canceling your contract, i hope they dont fine me? its rediculous! companies make stuff up to take money off you! im appauled at their service and hope they die.
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Reviewed by Steve from UK on 11th Apr 2008
It's heartening to see I'm not the only one getting completely useless service from 3 Mobile Broadband. It's advertised as "the only broadband you'll need". I got it so that I could transfer the dongle from my desktop in my study upstairs to my laptop anywhere I choose to use it. I previously had a fixed Virgin cable connection (2MB) with no problems at all (£18 a month). The service from 3 is completely unreliable, transfer rates drop to zero on a very regular basis, it takes forever to download or upload large files etc etc. It doesn't fit my idea of broadband at all, let alone the only one I need. I've tried calling the call centre to be told that the signal strength must be poor (it constantly shows 5 bars), I live in a poor reception area (London inner suburbs) or that weather conditions must be affecting the reception (an average nondescript English overcast day). I'm so fed up I'm going to abandon the dongle to my occasional laptop use for the duration of the 18-month contract (I've only had it two months) and just swallow the cost of getting my cable connection reconnected. Bad for my bank balance but good for my blood pressure!!
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Reviewed by Rob from UK on 9th Apr 2008
I recently purchased the 3g mobile broadband on a contract for 18 months. My advise is to avoid 3G. The service is terrible, it keeps cutting out and wont let me upload a file bigger than 2.4mb. Most of the time I only get 1-2 bars. A dial up connection is the same speed and is more reliable. I've tried to talk to the support team in India and they tell me that I don't have good reception in my area thats it! Thats not what they told me in phones 4u (Tooting) who were very keen for me to buy this product but were not very helpful when I tried to cancel the contract. I am now stuck with a product that just wont work very well. 3G have ripped me off. I will never use any of their products again and will tell everyone I know of my trouble with them.
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Reviewed by spoonhunter from England on 4th Apr 2008
The service is terrible. I am keeping a diary of lost connections and poor performance so that I can terminate the agreement ASAP. It is impossible to use between 19:00 and 22:00 regularly, and often poor at other times too. When it works it is fine. Often see speeds slower than dial up.Avoid.
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Reviewed by Realbigg from UK on 4th Apr 2008
I have to say that the Three mobile broadband modem is not great. Download speeds are acceptable with some impressive peaks in performance that are an improvement on my dial up connection (30MB in 5 mins is better than 5 hours - trust me). The real problem with Three is their customer service. It is soooooo frustrating trying to speak to someone who can appreciate your problem when you have one. I use Outlook and can't send any emails as the IP range that Three have assigned to me (and anyone else???) appears as blacklisted and means I cannot send emails. I have reported this problem and after about three weeks of someone promising that "This has been escalated to high priority, Sir - and will be dealt with by our technical department" - the issue is still not resolved. It is affecting my work and my sanity. I will never use Three again and strongly advise anyone against jumping into a contract unless the service has been fully tested in the trial period they offer. My problem did not surface until after the trial period had ended. I have threatened to cancel the contract and direct debit but I have been told that I will have a debt collection agency on my back if I do this. Customer service - what customer service??? Take my advice and think long and hard before you leap.
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Reviewed by Jose M from UK on 1st Apr 2008
I got a mobile and modem contract with 3 2 weeks ago. So far, I think I have talked more to customer service than to anyone else. Regarding the modem, having 100% of signal, I get very low speeds (between 100kb and 600kb). The latency is very bad (min 250ms, up to 15s!!) I get disconnected very often; it is almost impossible to chat even on messenger. The solution from Technical support - even though you have full signal... try to get closer to a window. This service is rubbish. I am stacked with this contract for 18 months. Pay a bit more and go for one of the big companies...
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Reviewed by Mario from UK on 29th Mar 2008
I have had 3 mobile internet and have had nothing but trouble. Before I signed up I asked what speed I would get, I'm in Maidenhead. They said I should be get around 2.8meg. I signed up and was told that I had three days to return the modem if I wasn't happy. The three days included the Sunday when I signed up. I was moving house that Sunday. It took me two days to get the modem to work on my laptop. The speed was horrible. I was getting maximum speeds of around 120k. Sometimes I would get 800k on a good day and this would last about 30 seconds. I took the modem to the shop to have it checked. They confirmed that it was faulty and replaced it. I had to wait 4 hours to get the replacement as they had no stock in the shop and had to get it from another shop. I cinnected it up and the speed improved just very slightly. I was getting max speed of only 1011k. When I called 3 (in India)to say that I wanted to cancel my contract, they said that it would cost me £220 to cancel. I said that 3 were not keeping their side of the deal. The lady, who I must say was very polite and patient, said that the best thing to do is to speak to the shop ion Maidenhead where I got the modem from. I'm going to try that today. If I don't get this sorted I guess we will have to settle this in court. My advice is... stay away from 3 mobile internet. They are rubbish.
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Reviewed by Blake19 from United Kingdom on 27th Mar 2008
I Wana cancell my 3 mobile broadband i recently losted my job and dont no when il be back in work i cant afford to pay the £25 7mb i currently pay each month for the 3 internet dongle i rang 3 customer service and they told me that i would have to pay the early termination fee which as its a 24 contract and iv had it about six months would be roughly £500 isnt there anyway i can end this contract its becoming a total nightmare for me and my family a the bills are adding up each month! if you have a solution for me please email me on g-u.n.o.t@hotmail.co.uk, ThankYou.
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Reviewed by Andy from U.K. on 26th Mar 2008
Not that happy with the performance, had mine 4 months now and on average only see 500 Kbps. Once it did go up to 1300 Kbps (joyus time) but only lasted a couple of seconds then dropped back, this was on HSDPA & good signal. They do say up to 2.8 Mbps wish I could pay them up to £15 a month based on the performance, 3Gb download a month no chance not enough hours to wait. Mine will go in the bin when the 12 Month contract is up or I might just let the dog play with it.
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Reviewed by REJ from UK on 22nd Mar 2008
I've found this service to be brilliant. Places I've used it in are: London; Southampton; Aldershot; and Bedford. I've been able to play World of Warcraft without any problems. Well recommended!
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Reviewed by Sri from U.K on 21st Mar 2008
I've been using this for five months now but very disappointed with the connection speed. I had to choose 3 because of my constraints to go with other wired broadband providers. Most of the time (90%) I get connection speed under 500 kbps. In that more than half the time, I get 0.0 kbps. I have to restart the connection or simply wait few hours. Also my IE seems to crash ever since I installed the 3 software. So, if you want a mobile broadband connection, don't go with 3. If you do, assume you are connecting to a simple dial-up network and expect the slowest possible traffic.
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Reviewed by retr0b0y from uk on 19th Mar 2008
i've got the £15 a month modem on contract and it's fine, very fast and never had any connection problems recommended
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Reviewed by Reg from England on 13th Mar 2008
My 1 month long experience Of '3' and the 'free' mobile modem - I have had no real problems at all. Very occasionally the modem will drop out and disconnect, but this seems to be caused mainly by the computer. The modem is often left on literally all day, and remains stable and fast. As regards the '3' network, I was with them for 2 years (mobile phone) via Carphone Warehouse and must say that the service from both was faultless. I am on the 3GB/£15 per month contract.
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Reviewed by nigel jennings from uk Nottnghamshire on 10th Mar 2008
I decided to go on pay as you go and purchased the dongle for £99 and a £10 voucher, i was able to connect and surf the net for 20 mins max! The signal had only 1-2 bar and i live in a 7th floor flat during the week! I tried to contact customer service and was on hold for over half and hour. Due to a sleepless night rang at 4am and got straight through to their non uk call centre, it was very hard to understand the gentleman from india but eventually he told me that they were having problems with the internet and to try again in an hour. An hour later i still could not connect as it was only 5am i again got straight through to customer services and spoke to a indian lady speaking broken english again! This time i was given several excuses including my virus programme downloaded a large file and that when i credited my account i clicked the wrong button. Needless to say i returned the modem the next day. My vote goes to T-mobile who allow you to connect to broadband on your laptop through your t-mobile contract phone for an extra £5 if you have web and walk already otherwise its £12:50. Also you have 3gb max and a fair usage policy so as long as you use it reasonably they don't charge more than the £5.
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Reviewed by Gwen from UK on 3rd Mar 2008
I can see that Gary has had real trouble with 3. I am currently in dispute with 3 and Carphone Warehouse. I took out a contract for a 3 modem on the 27 Dec 07 from the Carphone Warehouse. Before going ahead with the modem I asked the sales rep if I could bring it back if it didn't work as I knew my boyfriend's house was in a bad area for mobile reception. Anyway it didn't work so on the 29 Dec 07 I took it back. After some discussion and glum faces at the Carphone Warehouse they cancelled my contract told me to cancel any direct debits that 3 may set up. To this date I am still receiving bills and statements from 3 and have recently received a letter from a debt collecting agency who are acting on behalf of 3 threatening me with legal action and that information will be placed on my credit reference file if I do not pay the outstanding debt. I have had lengthy telephone calls with both 3 and the Carphone Warehouse and am still waiting for it to be resolved. Apparently , the Carphone Warehouse have never sent 3 a disconnection code and until they receive this 3 will not cancel my contract. I thought everything had been resolved on Friday when I had a conference call with both companies but today 3 called again to say they still couldn't cancel the contract. Boyfriend to visit Carphone Warehouse tomorrow!
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Reviewed by Mark Richardson from UK on 20th Feb 2008
I had a row with T-Mobile when they wanted to charge me a fortune to upgrade my phone to a mobile broadband compatible phone to use as a modem with my laptop. Opted for 3 instead and got my new phone into the bargain. I have an 18month contract on the Mobile Broadband Max package. I'm very pleased with the service and the connection speed is often in excess of 2mbps (Manchester). I've used the service in London, Brighton, Portsmouth and southampton and have had similar results - it's better than my landline connection with Orange so much so that I'm going to ditch my landline connection altogether. Fab service, good price and excellent customer service from the 3 call centre. I'd highly recomend 3's service to potential new users.
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Reviewed by Neil from UK on 18th Feb 2008
I've been using the 3 broadband dongle on prepay for about a week now - never lets me down and is the only wireless broadband provider in the village where I live. In fact I have a near 100% success rate in getting 3G HSDPA coverage. Today, using at Leeds/Bradford airport I was getting speeds around 1.5mpbs (run a broadband speed checker found in Google search, don't rely on Windows as it'll tell you 2.8mbps all the time, which is isn't). My Vodafone alleged 3G card on the other hand, provided by my company, sped along at just 500kbps. So, is it worth the money - hell yeah. £10 for 1gb without a contract is sterling value - my company pay £25 a month on contract with voda and that is limited to 250mb.
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Reviewed by Tom from UK on 15th Feb 2008
Im a student currently on a years work placement in sheffield. As broadband provided in student housing is very poor, I thought that I would try something different and chopped and changed my 3 contract and bought a 6120 (£80) to replace my N73. This allowed me to recieve broadband speeds on my laptop, yet use my phone to connect to the HSDPA (3.5g) service that 3 provide, which is supposed to be patchy in Sheffield, as it is near the Pennines, however I receive no such problems and now am enjoying broadband wherever I go, be it on my laptop or my phone. Just ditch the dongle and just buy a cheaper phone that will connect to the exact same service with no loss of speed.
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Reviewed by gary from UK on 12th Feb 2008
I just wanted to share a warning about our experience with the 3 mobile broadband key. We took out the contract in London where the key was fairly slow but did work. I asked the 3 rep prior to signing up for the service that I would be moving to Hove in a few weeks. He said that this would work which confirmed what the coverage checker on the website said. On the day I arrive in Hove it turns out that 3 don't cover this area. The result is that I'm stuck with a £15 a month contract for another 21 months for something that is worthless. 3 are refusing to budge even though I was promised that it would work. The problem is that the trial period was only valid whilst I was in London. Again, I tried going back to the fact that the 3 rep (and their website) claim that you can receive basic coverage at my new address in Hove. I don't have any issues with mobile coverage in the flat I'm in at Hove (with Orange and Vodaphone). I'm assuming 3 just don't cover this location even though they claim to! Even more annoying is that there is an advisement board on Hove high street advertising their roaming service - yet just around the corner it doesn’t work. Amusingly I was told by a technical representative that 3 were planning to install a new mast on my road in Sept 2008! Not too useful to me right now. How can companies get away with this? You pay for an expected level of service yet they squirm and point to the small print when things don't actually work as they are supposed to. To even get to speak to a manager it took 4 phone calls to log the same problem and then a 1 week wait. Quite disgusting service. I would stay well clear and choose a provider with better coverage. Please spread the word about this. I can only assume that more people will go through the same problems with 3 and their broadband USB keys. The more of us that can build a case the better. Hopefully we could force them to own up and admit that they were wrong to claim that their wireless coverage would work in my area.
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