Dongles

Dongles explained

When it comes to new broadband technology, dongles are the gadget on everyone’s shopping list. The dongle is our key to accessing the internet on the move. We can carry a dongle around in our pockets and get broadband speeds wherever we are.

We’ve been told the tiny dongle will completely change our web experience. We’ve heard that getting our hands on a dongle could help cut home phone and broadband costs, or even that dongles could mean the end of home phone lines altogether. When it comes to making choices about broadband packages, dongles and dongle deals are popping up everywhere, yet many of us are still wondering, what exactly is a dongle?

The term dongle, or mobile broadband dongle refers to a device that you plug into the USB port of your laptop or PC and which provides you with mobile internet access via the 3G mobile network.

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The dongle is such a new concept that it’s not included in many dictionaries, and is often misspelled as ‘dongal’, ‘dongel’ or ‘dongall’. In fact the term dongle has been commonly used in the IT world for years. Dongle traditionally refers to any small piece of hardware that connects to a computer in this way, but as the mobile broadband revolution rolls on, mobile broadband dongle is increasingly shortened to simply dongle, so the word dongle is fast becoming part of our everyday language.

Dongles range from the size of your computer’s mouse to the size of a small phone and are usually connected to the USB port using a short wire. The dongle itself works exactly like any other modem but gives you the freedom to access broadband speeds wherever you are, provided there is mobile phone coverage.

How do mobile broadband dongles work?

Dongles use 3G Mobile technology, or third generation mobile technology, you can find out more about 3G in our guide ‘What is 3G?’

Dongles are designed to make life easy and with that in mind, they often require little or no installation. Most dongles are simply ‘plug and play’ so provided there is 3G network coverage where you are, you can start surfing the web straight away.

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Mobile broadband dongle deals

Dongle deals are available from almost every mobile broadband provider – you can even get pay as you go Mobile Broadband dongle deals from most providers.

As competition for your custom hots up, you will find you can get a deal on a mobile broadband package and dongle for around the same as you can get a home broadband deal.

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Dongles come free with many mobile broadband packages – providers currently offering free dongles with a mobile broadband contract are:

• 3
• Vodafone
• T-Mobile
• Orange
• O2
• Virgin Media

There are even some providers offering a free dongle and free laptop package to get you set up with everything you need for mobile broadband.

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Different mobile broadband dongles

Each mobile broadband provider offers their own dongle with their own mobile broadband packages. So you need to consider which could be the right dongle for you, as well as which package will best suit your needs.

3 mobile broadband dongles

3’s newest dongle is small, white and sleek:

• Curved modern design dongle
• Maximum speeds of up to 3.6Mb on the 3’s new faster network
• Dongle is compatible with Windows 2000, XP, 7, Vista and MacOS

Vodafone Dongles

Vodafone offer two dongles: the USB Modem Stick and the USB Modem Stick Pro. Both dongles are white and shaped much like a sophisticated USB memory stick.

Vodafone USB Stick Pro

• A compact, conveniently portable dongle.

• This dongle offers download speeds of up to 7.2 Mb, around 14 times faster than standard

• Weighs just 27g
• Dongle is compatible with Microsoft Windows 2000, 7, or Windows XP
• You need at least 100 MB free disk space and 128 MB RAM
• Mac system requirements: Software provided for OS X 10.3.9 Jaguar or higher.
• You need at least 50 MB free disk space and 128 MB RAM

Vodafone USB Stick

• A compact, conveniently portable dongle.
• This dongle offers download speeds of up to 7.2 Mb, around 14 times faster than standard
• Weighs 29g
• Comes complete with its own MicroSD card (up to 4Gb)
• Dongle is compatible with Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows XP
• You need at least 50 MB free disk space and 128 Mb RAM
• Mac system requirements: Software provided for OS X 10.3.9 Jaguar or higher.

T-Mobile broadband dongle

T-Mobile’s dongle, the USB Modem Stick, is a tiny black dongle designed to give fantastic speeds and value.

• This dongle offers download speeds of up to 4.5M and upload speeds of 1.4Mbps.
• Compatible with Windows Vista, XP, 7, and Mac OSX.
• Dongle requires 256Mb RAM or above and 25MB free disk space.

Orange mobile broadband dongle

The Orange mobile broadband dongle is the sophisticated Icon 225. This small, black dongle comes with the Orange Internet Everywhere deal from as little as £15 per month.

• Very small sophisticated dongle.
• Dongle offers up to 3.6Mb connection speeds
• Weighs 40g
• Dongle is compatible with Mircrosoft Windows 2000, 7, or Windows XP and Mac OS.

O2 mobile broadband dongle

The USB Mobile broadband dongle from O2 is sleek and small, easily portable and available free with a £20 per month mobile broadband package from O2.

• A sleek and sophisticated design
• Offers up to 3.6Mbps connection speeds
• This dongle automatically connects to the fastest available network speed
• Dongle is compatible with Windows and Mac OS.

Virgin Media mobile broadband dongle

Virgin Media's mobile broadband dongle is in a cool matt black and stands out for its amazingly compact dimensions.

• Fast mobile broadband connection of up to 7.2Mb.
• Compatible with Windows 2000, XP, 7, Vista and Mac OSX.
• Doubles as memory stick to give you storage on the go.

BT mobile broadband dongle

Only available when taken with a home broadband deal, this is a great dongle with

• Internet access at up to 7.2Mb depending on where you are
• 80 per cent coverage across the UK
• Neat black and silver design

Mobile broadband dongles abroad

If you want to use your dongle to get mobile broadband when abroad, it is worth checking with your individual ISP. In theory you can access the internet using your dongle wherever there is mobile phone signal, however, you may find that there are charges involved.

Find out more about using your dongle abroad in our guide Broadband abroad.

Future of mobile broadband dongles

In keeping with the mobile phone market, in years to come mobile broadband dongles will become more colourful and better designed. Signs of this happening already are the appearance of the limited edition Henry Holland mobile broadband dongle from O2 as well as eye-catching pink dongles from Orange.

More mobile broadband dongle information:

• What is a mobile broadband dongle?

• What is a mobile broadband stick?