­

­Getting to Grips with Mobile Internet

If you’re already connected to home broadband, and miss it when you’re out and about or on holiday, you may want to consider mobile broadband – the ideal way to get online and stay in touch with friends and family when you’re away from home.

There are several ways to get online on the move, all with their good and bad points, but in general once set up they are pretty easy to use. If you’ve mastered broadband at home, and especially Wi-Fi, you shouldn’t have any problems making the step to mobile broadband.

Also, if you just want to keep in touch with friends and family via email, video chat or social networking, as well as visiting a few websites, it is also relatively cheap. Just be aware that if you go abroad, prices go from reasonable to astronomic – if you want to get online abroad, you will be better exploring other options, such as broadband in your hotel, or maybe internet cafes. Here we’ll be talking about getting mobile broadband in your home country.

How to get online on the move

Your first choice is whether to access the internet on your phone, or via a laptop or other device. Many phones, especially smartphones, now have fantastic internet and email services, as well as social networking and video chat. Even better, you can often get free or very cheap access through your existing mobile phone tariff.

The downside is of course the phone itself – they can have fiddly buttons and small screens or seem complicated to use, as they don't use the same menus you’re used to on a home computer. If these are going to be barriers though, you've got other options.

The most obvious is getting a mobile broadband USB modem (or dongle). This will plug into any existing laptop you may have and means you can use a gadget you’re already comfortable with. The dongles are very easy to use – you simply plug them in and they should install their own software, getting you online in no time. Alternatively, mobile Wi-Fi units are becoming increasingly popular. These little gadgets work just like your Wi-Fi at home, but use a mobile broadband signal instead. Again, they are relatively simple to set up and use – and both gadgets will pop in your pocket.

If you don't have a laptop, you may want to look into finding a mobile broadband with free laptop deal. If you use a PC computer at home, you'll find it simple to use a laptop – the system should be almost the same (it may be a different version of Windows, so it may take a bit of getting used to).

In general, stepping up to mobile broadband use is a much smaller step than the one you've already taken getting broadband at home. This just extends the experience beyond your home, which can be fantastically convenient.

This post was contributed by Chris Marling, from Broadband Genie, the online consumer portal where you can find information on the cheapest mobile broadband dongle options and expert advice and information to help get you up and running with mobile broadband.