Home: Posted 19th August 2010

USB Modem Dongle

A dongle offered by the three network

The dongle is a small electrical device which plugs into the USB socket of devices such as a home computer, computer games console or PDA. The USB dongle was first created as a storage device, which could store between 20 to 100 megabytes of data.

Only recently the USB dongle has evolved to contain a modem. The modem within the dongle connects to the 3G mobile network. This allows for a wireless Internet connection. The USB modem dongle offered by three (picture above) offers,

7.2Mb download speed
2Mb upload speed
ZTE MF112 USB modem
Compatible with Microsoft Windows
Compatible with Mac OS (10.4, 10.5, 10.6)

A modem dongle is usually provided for free when you sign up for a mobile broadband contract. The one drawback with the dongle is that a 3G mobile broadband signal is not provided nationwide. Many postcodes cannot access 3G, and some of the areas which can, suffer from a poor signal quality.

Currently, the majority of 3G access packages have a fair usage policy. With a monthly download limit between 1GB and 15GB. If you are planning on using the Internet alot, then you may which to consider a landline option, which can provide superior download and upload speeds and a larger monthly download limit.