Half-price 3G broadband: Vodafone £7.50/mth on a 12 month contract

christillyer

I went to site via Quidco, there was no deal on vodafoe site for £15 a month (except where you pay a one off fee of £49.96) which makes the monthly cost £11.49. Any ideas /help please

02 Feb 2009

What's the deal?

A current deal from cashback websites means you can get £90 for taking out a mobile broadband contract with Vodafone. Factored in over the course of the contract, this halves the monthly cost to £7.50/mth

What's mobile broadband?

Instead of connecting through a landline, 3G web access makes use of mobile phone networks to send data, meaning you can connect wherever there's a mobile signal. Yet you don't need a mobile phone to do it; these packages come supplied with a little modem, or 'dongle', that takes its place.

Mobile broadband's generally not as fast as home broadband, and owing to its mobile nature, transfer speeds are prone to more fluctuation. Good 3G coverage is the most important factor; only a few areas of the country support the fastest data standard, but 90% can get a basic 3G signal, which should still provide much faster speeds than dial-up.

The Vodafone offer:

Sign up to Vodafone's 3GB, 12-month mobile broadband contract via a special cashback site and you can get £90 back, which over the year's contract effectively reduces it to just £7.50 a month (usual cost £15/month). The cashback offer applies to all of Vodafone's mobile broadband packages, but offers the best value on its basic 3GB, 12 month one.

Vodafone mobile broadband is especially suited to city dwellers and business travellers, since its special HSDPA 3G+ service offers 'up to 7.2 mbps' downloads in city centres and airports. The reality is you won't get too close to this speed wherever you are, but it'll be faster than others in those areas equivalent services. As ever with mobile broadband, coverage is limited, so check it before you buy (Vodafone coverage checker).

The package includes a free USB 3G dongle and everything you need to get started on the mobile web. The offer's ongoing, but could be pulled any time. Read the Cheap 3G Broadband guide for full details about mobile broadband, and more on Vodafone's service.

QUICK FACTS. Speed: Around 1.8 mbps, faster in HSDPA/UPA areas. Download Limit: 3 GB Modem & Connection Fee Included: Yes (subject to 12 month contract) Technical Support Phone Costs: 4p+ (0870) Additional Usage Costs: £15/GB

How to get it.

Specialist cashback sites list retailers and product providers and get paid by the retailers if you click through to them, but importantly, if you're registered the then give some or all of this cash to you. For a full explanation read the Top Cashback Sites guide.

Grabbing cashback

• Step one. Get a cashback account
  
  Popular sites Topcashback & Quidco are offering the full £90 (always check that's the amount you get, it can change). If you don't already have a Quidco account, then going via Topcashback will save you a fiver, since Quidco takes the first £5 you earn each year as its admin charge. Both sites are free to register on, and both have good feedback from MoneySavers.

• Step two. Sign up for the mobile broadband contract you want.
  
  Next, go to your chosen cashback site's Vodafone page. You may want to clear your web browser's cookies at this point, as old ones can (increasingly rarely) cause problems with the cashback sites' ability to track your transactions. Then click through to the Vodafone site from the cashback site's special link and sign up for the 3GB, 12-month package.

• Step three. Check the transaction has tracked, then wait
  
  Once you're all signed up, leave it a couple of days, and then log in and check that the cashback has 'tracked' - that is, that the transaction appears on the cashback site.
  
  One of the conditions of this offer is that you'll wait two months (so you don't try and cancel early to nab the cash) before you receive any payment, but you should nonetheless be able to see the transaction.
  
  If there's no sign of it you may need to get in touch with the cashback site, but read the full Cashback Sites article first.

WARNING! Cashback sites payouts aren't 100% guaranteed

As cashback sites rely on the retailers paying them, it's never a sure thing until it's in your bank account. And occassionally there are tracking problems too.

Yet both Topcashback & Quidco know we're including this deal in the weekly email so there's nothing to suggest it won't work for the vast majority of people.

If you're a first time cashback site user, please do read the full Best Cashback Sites article for a full explanation of the pros and cons. Plus to see how the different sites' payouts compare use the Cashback Sites Maximiser.

Note: Thanks to all MoneySavers who spotted & posted about this deal. This post has been started to provide detailed explanation.

[threadbanner]box[/threadbanner][/quote]

richleeds

Just call voda direct and its £7.50 a month on an 18 month contract and no worries about quidco tracking or paying out

methley

richleeds wrote: »

Just call voda direct and its £7.50 a month on an 18 month contract and no worries about quidco tracking or paying out

Thanks Rich. Spot on - can verify this works. Was offered £10pm for 24 months. Told them about Quidco and so asked for £7.50 for 12 months which they wouldn't do but would accept 18 months.

musical_norwich

This deal is even cheaper if bought through Vodafone Business and Quidco. With £105 cashback on broadband it works out at £5.93 per month including VAT, for 3GB on a 12 month contract, with a free dongle. You don't have to have a company to get a Vodafone Business account.

Certainly the cheapest way to get 3GB bandwidth. If you need 6GB buy two! But on separate orders else you'll only get one cashback.

Hope this helps.

richleeds

true but I prefer to pay £7.50 a month throughout the term rather than £15 a month and try and console myself with some cash back a few months ago!

kop4me

I contacted vodafone this afternoon to enquire about the offer for £7.50 per month and quoted quidco etc. The sales person indicated they were no longer doing the offer and the best deal was £10.00 per month for 1 gig or £15.00 pm for 3gig. first three months at £10.00.
These offers were for existing vodafone customer. Needless to say I declined his offer.
regards
kop4me

kop4me

sorry above post not to clear what I meant is the offer to myself was as a currrent vodafone customer.
regards
kop4me

cbs7

Hi

I'm considering the Vodafone Top Up and Go dongle for £39.99 with 1GB of free data mostly just as a backup when my home internet goes down.

I can't see it on the Vodafone website, but does anyone know if the data has an expiry (e.g. after 1 month)?

Thanks!

paceinternet

The website doesn't appear to say anything, but Vodaphone told me "To keep your account active you have to use it every 90 days." This suggests the 1gb lasts as long as you want it to, but you must fire it up every 90 days