Free Three 3G Mobile Broadband Dongle
May 13th, 2009
photo: William Hook
Mobile broadband has been all the fuss lately. It’s an alternative to using wi-fi for accessing the internet whilst you’re on the go but without the hassle of having to find a wireless network that you can use. Instead, you plug in a small USB stick into the side of your laptop and you can access the internet through the mobile telephone network.
For anybody looking to access the internet occasionally on the move, Three’s pay as you go mobile broadband could be a good proposition and they are offering a pay-as-you-go USB modem dongle for the cost of P&P until 31st May 2009.
From Money Saving Expert:
It’s currently possible to get a PAYG Three dongle for free, paying just a £4.95 postage charge for delivery. Dubiously named yet legit website 3dongle4free has been authorised to offer this deal by Three. It’s available to both new and existing customers while stocks last, 1 per household.
To get one, go to the site and fill out the forms, then wait for an email with your login details and a coupon code on it. Return to the site and login, then enter the code on the next page. Take care to click the ‘redeem coupon’ button, or else you’ll pay full price for the dongle.
photo: John Pannell
To actually access the internet, you’ll still have to top up. Three currently charge £10 for 1GB, £15 for 3GB and £25 for 7GB. Your top up lasts for a maximum of 30 days – if you don’t use it, you lose it.
According to Three, a £10 (1GB) top-up will allow you to:
- Send 1,000 emails
- Surf the web for 8 hours
- Download 5 four-minute videos
- Download 32 four-minute songs
Be careful though. If you go over your allowance, you’ll get charged £1 per MB. If you take it abroad, you’ll get charged up to £6 per MB. If you want to use mobile broadband, you’d be well advised to turn off automatic software update services, P2P programmes, etc. and to avoid using bandwidth-heavy sites such as Youtube.
The cost of actually getting onto the internet isn’t hugely good value. But if you just want to check your emails very ocassionally when you’re on the move,this might save you a lot of hassle: you won’t need to look for somewhere that has wi-fi and then figure out how to get logged on!
Keep your eye out for more about mobile broadband here in the coming weeks.
About the Author: Hi! I'm Ken. I've been using mobiles for over 10 years and technology for a lot longer! I'd love to hear from you.
More to the point, the site doesn’t work – not sent me any emails in the last 20+hrs. Bah. Guess I’ll carry on using my N95 as a modem instead then.
Same here, what a con just to get my e-mail address, no doubt I will no get loads of junk mail. Site dont work
Site works perfectly well for me, received the broadband dongle which works just fine. As have several others here in the office. Not the cheapest way to get on line, but handy for temporary or holiday use.
I received these 3 dongles , work well, but you can unlock, use an iphone PAYG sim, top up £10 and it lasts for a year
Paul, how do you unlock the dongle?
Does anyone know how to unlock the dongles from 3?
Please write an article about PAYG mobile broadband!! Thank You.
My Aspire 1 Laptop Dongle is no more working.
I got a voucher for free dongle when i purchased it in June 2009, how do i get it?
I’ve tried to apply for it on the line but there were many dongles, i dont know which is which. Thanks
Victoria.