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T-Mobile Mobile Broadband review

Our Rating :

Not the cheapest, but good customer service makes it a strong contender

This review was updated in September 2011 to reflect the findings of our latest survey

T-Mobile’s 3G service has a relatively slow stated download speed of 4.5Mbit/s, although its 2Mbit/s upload speed is competitive. These quoted figures don’t have much bearing in practice, though.

There are only three to be packages on offer, but the way they’re presented by T-Mobile could be clearer. Pay per day and Pay up front are both PAYG packages with no fixed monthly costs. The only differences between them is that Pay up front costs £40 and switches to a top-up model after 90 days or 2GB’s use. Pay per day costs £20 but requires top-ups from the start; shoppers are obliged to buy £10 credit. The 2GB allowance that comes with Pay up front is worth the extra £20.

PAYG top-ups are ostensibly bought in days rather than gigabytes, but in fact there are data limits in place too. £2 buys a day’s use up to 250MB, while 500MB lasts a week and costs £7, and 1GB over a month costs £15. Exceeding these data allowances won’t incur any further charges, though, and you’ll still be able to browse the web and use email, but downloads and streaming videos will be blocked.

The Pay monthly package is simpler. It’s an 18-month, £10-a-month contract and comes with a free dongle. There’s a 1GB monthly limit but, as above, you’ll still be able to access email and the web if you exceed it.

Despite the odd payment plans, T-Mobile customers were by and large happy with the service they received. Customer satisfaction was a remarkably high 72%, and reliability, technical support and easy of setup all scored well. Its prices aren’t as competitive as 3 Mobile Broadband though, either for light use on the Pay monthly package or for any level of use on pay-as-you-go.

See the next page for a full break-down and individual ratings of T-Mobile’s services and the results of our broadband survey.

Broadband survey performance results

These results were compiled from our online survey, where users were asked to rate their broadband supplier. In the case of customer satisfaction, this is an average of whether users would recommend their supplier and if they’re planning on staying with their current supplier.

T-Mobile Mobile Broadband graph

Feature table (click to expand)

T-Mobile Mobile Broadband table

Details

Price£0
Detailswww.t-mobile.co.uk
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