mobilebroadband is hopeless

glasmale26

Hi,
Me and the GF signed up for Orange mobile dongle broadband about a year back, it was a 18 month term thorugh Phones 4 u.

I basically expected a reasonable speedy internet service but instead have found the connection speed to be completely hopeless, the speed is way slower than the old dial up and loading a page with a picture is completely pointless.

I stopped using the dongle in February as we got wireless through 02 int he flat but ever since signing up I have been wondering why nobody seems to have highlighted the fact that to advertise mobile broadband most consumers would surely expect a similar speed to broadband!!

I have called to complain a few times and been given updated software which makes a little difference.

My question is this, where do I stand if I cancel the contract?? Obviously they will chase after me and the debt will only be around £75, 5 times £15 per month however the principle is what gets me!

Any advice much appreciated or indeed share you views on mobile broadband as personally mine has been quite utterly worthless!!

hotkee

If you cancel you pay the termination fee, which is your remaining line rental to end of contract.

I gave mobile broadband a go with o2 for less than a month (as I really really needed to access personal email at work) - it was hopeless but I knew that before signing up. But in that time it took me an age to get onto hotmail trying to fiddle with keys to enter my email and password.

Phones need bigger screens, the mobile network cant supply the speeds yet - best option is wireless internet connections if you are near hotspots (but then you pay for that unless you are on o2 with an iphone and its free then on contract).

robt_2

glasmale26 wrote: »

Hi,
Me and the GF signed up for Orange mobile dongle broadband about a year back, it was a 18 month term thorugh Phones 4 u.

I basically expected a reasonable speedy internet service but instead have found the connection speed to be completely hopeless, the speed is way slower than the old dial up and loading a page with a picture is completely pointless.

I stopped using the dongle in February as we got wireless through 02 int he flat but ever since signing up I have been wondering why nobody seems to have highlighted the fact that to advertise mobile broadband most consumers would surely expect a similar speed to broadband!!

I have called to complain a few times and been given updated software which makes a little difference.

My question is this, where do I stand if I cancel the contract?? Obviously they will chase after me and the debt will only be around £75, 5 times £15 per month however the principle is what gets me!

Any advice much appreciated or indeed share you views on mobile broadband as personally mine has been quite utterly worthless!!

Maybe because not everyone on the planet has exactly the same experiences and opinions as you?

robt_2

hotkee wrote: »

If you cancel you pay the termination fee, which is your remaining line rental to end of contract.

I gave mobile broadband a go with o2 for less than a month (as I really really needed to access personal email at work) - it was hopeless but I knew that before signing up. But in that time it took me an age to get onto hotmail trying to fiddle with keys to enter my email and password.

Phones need bigger screens, the mobile network cant supply the speeds yet - best option is wireless internet connections if you are near hotspots (but then you pay for that unless you are on o2 with an iphone and its free then on contract).

That is mobile internet on your phone, not mobile broadband.

bigbulldog

robt wrote: »

Maybe because not everyone on the planet has exactly the same experiences and opinions as you?

Thats not really helpfull is it as all glasmale26 is doing is expressing his own experience.:(

Hotkey is correct as the termination fee is the remaining term of your contract however it does hurt not to ask for a reduction on this as you have not used it due to poor coverage as the worst thing they can say is no.:)

mobilejunkie

Actually I find this thread interesting - I have only dabbled with internet broadband on an old phone, so knowing that it is fairly useless even on one designed for the purpose would help me decide against bothering until things improve a lot! There must be many others yet to try it - so this thread may be helpful to them.

robt_2

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Actually I find this thread interesting - I have only dabbled with internet broadband on an old phone, so knowing that it is fairly useless even on one designed for the purpose would help me decide against bothering until things improve a lot! There must be many others yet to try it - so this thread may be helpful to them.

Someone else who is confused.

The major limiting factor on a phone is the render speed of the browser. Also, if it was an 'old phone' it probably did not have HSDPA anyway.

mobilejunkie

And the point is? Seems you're the confused one! Or perhaps you are contradicting those on here who are saying ANY mobile phone is not much good for broadband? If you are, speaking in PLAIN ENGLISH might reduce OUR confusion!

robt_2

mobilejunkie wrote: »

And the point is? Seems you're the confused one! Or perhaps you are contradicting those on here who are saying ANY mobile phone is not much good for broadband? If you are, speaking in PLAIN ENGLISH might reduce OUR confusion!

My point is the first line of the first post has the word 'dongle'. That is what mobile broadband is (unless you have an up to date phone which supports HSDPA speeds whilst being used as a modem).

You mention 'dabbling with it on an old phone'. That is NOT mobile broadband.

I think post #4 was pretty clear and in plain english.

Guys_Dad

Back to the original question "My question is this, where do I stand if I cancel the contract?? Obviously they will chase after me and the debt will only be around £75, 5 times £15 per month however the principle is what gets me!"
As this is mobile broadband via a dongle (i.e. on a PC) my advice to glasmale26 is to run one of the many speedtest programs on the internet that will confirm you mobile broadband speed. You then need to see what promises Orange made about the speed they offered. There are difference between mobile broadband and fixed line broadband contracts and contention issues are different.

If they fail to meet their SLA or t&c then you might - only might - have a chance to pull out.

mobilejunkie

Robt:- No wonder I'm confused! You STILL haven't said whether EITHER way of using it is actually any good - others seem pretty clear they aren't. I didn't have a dongle, but since those who have are pilloring it there's nothing you've said which actually makes anything clear at all with regard to the central question.