Only require occasional access to mobile broadband then why not pay as you go
If you have a regular fixed line mobile broadband connection at home that serves your purpose for the majority of the time you may not require a mobile broadband deal that ties you into a 12 or 24 month contract but would still like to be able to use your laptop the odd time when you are away from home.
If this is the case then you would perhaps be best looking at pay as you go mobile broadband deals that will give you the freedom to have mobile broadband but also the freedom to use and pay for it only as and when you need it, just like pay as you go mobile phones do.
Here we are going to do a run down of the different pay as you go mobile broadband deals currently available form the mobile providers.
O2 Pay as you go Mobile Broadband
O2 have a nice range of different pay as you go deals, which include a Daily, Weekly & Monthly option so you can choose the one that best suits your needs.
For each of the Pay as you go mobile broadband deals the mobile broadband dongle costs £29.39.
Daily - You receive 24 hours access to O2 mobile broadband for £2 and with gives you 500Mb data transfer plus unlimited Wi-Fi
Weekly - You receive 7 days access to O2 mobile broadband for £7.50 and with gives you 1Gb data transfer plus unlimited Wi-Fi
Monthly - You receive 30 days access to O2 mobile broadband for £15 and with gives you 15Gb data transfer plus unlimited Wi-Fi
If you go over the data transfer limits each additional Mb is charged at 19.6p per MB
View more at O2 Mobile broadband
Three Pay as you go Mobile Broadband
The pay as you go deals from Three are basically set so you top up a specific amount and you receive a certain amount of data transfer for 30 days with it.
There is a range of options available when you are first selecting your pay as you go deal, you can either just have the simple USB modem (cheapest currently is £29.99) or you can choose a USB modem that is already loaded with a set amount of data transfer that you can use for up to a year, currently the most is £254.46 which you will receive the E169 USB modem & 24Gb data transfer over a year.
If you take one of the pre-loaded USB modems then once you have used the data transfer limits you can top up with a 30 day top up as listed below.
The top up amounts that last for 30 days are as follows:
£10 - 1Gb data transfer for 30 days
£15 - 3Gb data transfer for 30 days
£25 - 7Gb data transfer for 30 days
View more at 3 Mobile broadband
T-Mobile Pay as you go Mobile Broadband
T-Mobile offer just one pay as you go option with their mobile broadband, you can buy their USB modem stick for £29.35 and then top ups cost £2 and last for 1 day and give users 3Gb of data transfer & also Wi-Fi hotspot access.
View more at T-Mobile broadband
Vodafone Pay as you go Mobile Broadband
Vodafone are also another who only have 1 pay as you go mobile broadband option. The cost of the Vodafone USB modem stick costs £39 which comes loaded with 1Gb of data transfer included. After this top ups cost £15 per Gb and lasts as long as you need it.
View more at Vodafone Mobile broadband
Orange Pay as you go Mobile Broadband
There are two pay as you go options from Orange for their mobile broadband. To start with though the Orange USB dongle costs £29 and users have the choice of black, white or pink.
Each top up last for 30 days.
3Gb top up costs £14.68 per month
10Gb top up costs £24.47 per month
View more at Orange Mobile broadband
Virgin currently do not offer a pay as you go option with their mobile broadband.