Hot-Spot or Mobile Broadband

Orange yesterday announced it’s latest ‘connected laptop’, the Eee PC 901.  This time round the 3G connectivity is built in to the laptop instead of having to use a separate modem.  This is more convenient, with no chance of losing or accidentally breaking the usual usb modem stick.  The software should be very robust too, fully integrated so there’s no need to go through the install and set-up pain. Simple and easy to get online whilst on the move.

For those of you new to the Eee PC its part of a new category of so called ’sub-notebook’ or ‘web book’ laptops that are designed to be small, cheap and portable. To achieve this they have a lower specification than normal laptops which means that they are ideal for web browsing, messaging and email on the move, but you’ll likely still need a desktop or full specification laptop at home or in the office.

The laptop itself is based on Intel’s Atom processor which is specifically designed for small and portable laptops.  It’s available in black and pink, the battery will last 5 hours and it weights on 1.1kg.

Asus Eee PC 901

Whilst this is great if you want to use your mobile broadband solely on the supplied laptop this package is no good if you intend sharing your mobile broadband connection across multiple computers. For instance, if you wanted mobile broadband internet access whilst taking the kids away to Grandma’s house, and the kids have their own laptops you’re better off getting a deal that includes a separate modem, with or without a laptop bundled in.

Now the Bank of England has dropped the base rate of interest and everyone’s mortgage is expected to fall you may be lucky enough to find one in your stocking this Christmas!

The Orange 3G connected Asus Eee PC is launched in mid-November.  Go to Orange’s website for more details.

3 have launched a cool looking mobile broadband ready WiFi router which enables you to plug in your mobile broadband dongle and share your connection.  This could be at home, in an office or on hols (in the UK).  Very exciting stuff.

Only £69.99 at 3.  I’m definitely going to get one!

3 have announced that they will double their broadband speeds by the end of the summer.  They currently operate at a theoretical max download speed of 3.6Mb, although they only quote 2.8Mb as a top speed as 3.6Mb is virtually impossible to achieve unless you sit live under a base station.  Most people will receive 1Mb to 1.5Mb on average, which allows you to download a music track in no more than 30 seconds, so it’s still pretty fast.  Most home broadband connection’s only achieve a speed of around 3Mb according to a report late last year by the BBC.

Their network top speed is increasing to 7.2Mb which 3 state will get most customers to an actual download speed of 2Mb.  They aim t double the top speed again to 14.4Mb in the future, which we assume means a download speed of 3Mb to 4Mb which would challenge many of the home broadband providers.

Find out more about 3’s Mobile Broadband deals

GadgetStylist.com has revealed the details of the 3 Mobile Broadband with free laptop deal that is now available. There are 3 free laptops on offer, each with different features levels.

You can get a free laptop from £30 per month on a 24 month contract, up to £40 per month for the highest spec laptop.

Go to GadgetStylist.com’s mobile broadband and phone reviews website for more information

…and 1 million in total across Europe.This suggests that 3’s strong marketing campaign and courage to pretty much create a new market in the UK has paid off.  I would estimate that with 500k subscribers they probably hold about 25-35% of the UK’s consumer Mobile Broadband market, out punching their weight in the mobile phone market where they only have around 6 or 7% of customers.

Great to see 3 getting some reward for their efforts and really interesting to get some numbers on the Mobile Broadband market.